A Double Take Interview with Paul Peterson and Todd Rowland

Game designer extraordinaire Paul Peterson is at it again with yet another expansion for the smash title Smash Up! Paul, being the friend of the blog he is, agreed to once again have a cyber chat with us about Smash Up, and he brought along Todd Rowland, Director of Marketing and Senior Brand Manager for Alderac Entertainment Group.

Paul, thanks again for visiting us here at TOG, we’re glad to bring you back for another chat!

And Todd, welcome to the party! Glad you could make it!

So it got leaked a little earlier than AEG had planned. But the cat has escaped the confines of the bag, and word on the street has it that the next Smash Up! expansion will be a Cthulhu theme. 

When the this was revealed, some folks were a little critical of the idea that the expansion is so singular in its focus—that is, that it all revolves around the Cthulhu Mythos. What is the thought process behind that decision, and what would you say to the nay sayers?

Todd: Well, one thing we know that we want to do over time with Smash Up is include the occasional themed-release mixed in among “normal” mixed up releases.  Smash Up relies on tropes (even our own twist on them) and Cthulhu is probably the biggest trope in hobby gaming. So we took on the mythos and put our own spin on it, cracked a few jokes, and weaved it into the Smash Up universe.

Paul: It’s also a mythos that has a lot of room to explore.  It’s not all Cthulhu, there’s other elder gods, the ancient races, and the human factions with different goals.

You’re also adding a new card type to the game; what can you tell us about that?

Paul: Anyone who’s ever read Lovecraft or played a Cthulhu game knows how deeply the theme of madness runs, so I wanted to try to capture that, and a themed expansion seemed like a good place to explore some new mechanics for the game.  So we added a new card type; Madness cards.  No one starts with Madness cards in their deck, they only get added by other cards.

Madness cards are bad for the player. At the end of the game a player gets one less Victory Point for every two Madness cards in their deck, so some factions try to put them into other player’s decks as an attack. However, this isn’t always a bad thing.  Madness cards can be played as an action to draw 2 cards, so you could end up helping the player if they embrace the cards.  Also, as an action a player can get rid of the card altogether, so some factions will just do that to negate the penalty.

Just making them attacks in all four of these factions would have been a little boring, so I made several of the factions actually want them.  Cthulhu has cards that are more powerful, but they have to take a Madness as a penalty, and Miskatonic takes them and then burns them to power their cards.

It seems like Awesome Level 9000 just hit the market and now we have The Obligatory Cthulhu Set. How quickly will we see more expansions coming down the line for Smash Up?

Todd: Our intention at the moment is to have two expansions per year.  We aren’t married to that and it may change, but that’s the working plan right now.  Usually around early spring and September.

What are your favorite factions in Awesome Level 9000? (My [Firestone] 8-year-old’s favorite is definitely the Bears...)

Todd: I like Dinosaur-anything.  Though Dinosaur-Elder Things is a massive power surge.

Paul: It’s hard to pick a favorite, but at the moment I think I’m having the most fun with Steampunk.

Paul, last time we checked in with you, you had a few things in the works—something that involved rolling dice... Any news on that front?

Paul:  I have a bunch of projects going on right now, and the stack just keeps getting bigger.  The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game that I helped develop should be out soon.  I’m still working on the dice game you mentioned, but I keep making massive changes to it, so who knows what will happen with it.  And of course, there’s more Smash Up on the way!

Todd, we chatted with Jason Tagmire about the upcoming release of Maximum Throwdown. We’re super excited about that. Is there anything else exciting coming down the line from Alderac that you can share with us?

Todd:  Well we have Maximum Throwdown which is a blast.  We also have Agent Hunter from Mike Elliot which is a fun, fast deduction game for two players.  We have our Big In Japan line which includes Trains, Love Letter, and many more coming soon such as Cheaty Mages, Sail to India, Mai Star, and... yep Lost Legacy.  People were expecting that I think. We also have some new games we’re discussing with other designers from Japan.  And finally we have our own AEG stuff we’re working on for 2014 but it’s way too soon to spill on those yet.

Todd, you recently announced the Eastern Skies expansion for Nightfall. Can you tell us what that one brings to the table?

Todd: Eastern Skies is very cool!  It introduces some new starting minions, but the main new effect is known as “Link”.  Cards with Link have an effect the moment the are placed in the chain, rather than when it is resolving.  There is also a new wound effect.

5-Questions 5-words to answer them -

Captain America or Thor?

Todd: Captain America all the way.

Paul: Thor!

Autobots or Dinobots?

Todd: Dinobots are a smash up.

Paul: Me, Grimlock, likes Dinobots!

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Todd: Cesar Romero was best Joker.

Paul: Only the blood moon.

Classic Star Trek, The New Generation or J. J. Abrams?

Todd: I really prefer Star Wars.

Paul: I like them all.

Favorite bacon-based meal?

Todd: Mushroom Chicken wrapped in bacon.

Paul: Bacon wrapped prawns.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for talking with us. We’re excited to see what you have in store for us in the future!

You can find Paul on twitter @Warewolf00 and Todd is on Twitter as well @ToddRowland

Thanks for joining us for this special interview here on TOG, we had a chance to catch up with Paul during the Origins Game Fair, and we'll be posting that video soon as well!

As always you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now YouTube!

TOG Visual—An Origins Interview with Patrick Nickell

Crash Games' Patrick Nickell was kind enough to sit down with Jeremiah and tell us about Council Of Verona, Paradise Fallen, and more! If you want to check out Council Of Verona, you can do that right here. It's already been funded, so join in the fun.

Thanks for reading, and make sure you subscribe over on the right! ---------->

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIulzoHL5OU]

TOG Visual—An Origins Interview With Kevin Sorbo

Lately we've had a couple of awesome opportunities to reach out beyond the board gaming community and talk to some geeky cultural icons about their faith. Kevin Sorbo, who has been a major player in the science-fiction/fantasy genre in pop culture, was at Origins this year, and he was kind enough to take some time and have a chat with Jeremiah. Our discussion was about faith, Hollywood, and Sean Penn.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_axX39Yfc]

We're excited to bring you this visual coverage of Origins, and hope you're enjoying it! We'd love it if you subscribed to the blog and our YouTube Channel!

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

You can find Kevin Sorbo on Twitter @KSorbs

TOG Visual—An Origins Interview With Jason Kotarski

We're very excited to bring you an interview with the designer of The Great Heartland Hauling Co., Jason Kotarski. Jeremiah had a chance to sit down with him at Origins Game Fair in Columbus this past weekend and he gave us a look at 2 new games he's developing, and chatted about his church plant in Flint, MI.

Jason gave us a look at a barber shop themed trick taking game he's working on, as well as a game called Fidelitas he's designing with Philip duBarry! Both are in an early developmental stage, but have the foundations of a couple of interesting and fun games.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHTfwQpYFc8]

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And you know where you can find us... Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

YouTube! A Video Interview With Pixel Lincoln Designer Jason Tagmire

Jeremiah got to meet up with some great people at Origins—one of whom was Pixel Lincoln designer Jason Tagmire. In this, our first YouTube video, Jason talks about Storyteller Cards, Maximum Throwdown, and expansions for Pixel Lincoln! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNUUVwXVf60]

The Real Princes of the Dragon Throne—An Interview With Fred and David MacKenzie

Today we have the pleasure of interviewing the team behind Clever Mojo Games’ Princes of the Dragon Throne: Fred and David MacKenzie.

Guys, thanks so much for taking a few minutes to answer some questions with us today.

Let’s start off by having you guys tell us a little bit about yourselves.

FRED: Hi! Happy to be here. Well, what’s to say? I’m just a typical middle-aged guy who loves playing games. To be honest, I might actually enjoy designing them even more.

DAVID: Well, I’m just this guy, you know? I’m more of a game adjuster than a designer. I look at game ideas that Fred and others have, offer feedback and suggestions, then help them bring the design to tip top performance.

FRED: Don’t let David fool you. He’s a good designer with a couple good ideas already in prototype stage. He just doesn’t have time to work on his own designs now.

How did you get mixed up in this crazy gaming industry?

FRED: That would be David’s fault. We grew up playing all the standard fare that everyone else was playing in the ‘70s and ‘80s, then just party games with the family, then pretty much nothing for several years. I was introduced to Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne in 2006 and I showed them to David soon after. We were hooked. The discovery that games like these were available re-awakened David’s creativity. One day he told me he was working on a game design and asked if I would like to help. This game became Ogre Castle.

DAVID: Actually, Fred and I each had game ideas independently of each other and we just dove in and started designing and playtesting. Fred’s idea was called “Oubliette” and mine was “Ogre Castle.” Oubliette was going to be the first game we published, but we lost momentum after a game agent turned it down. We put more work into Ogre Castle and in mid-2009 we put out a homemade garage production and Clever Mojo Games was born.

So let’s talk about Princes of the Dragon Throne: Where did the idea for the game come from?

FRED: It needs to be said that the game we now call Princes of the Dragon Throne was originally intended to be something quite different. My first inspiration came from the fact that I love dragons and wanted to design a dragon game. My second inspiration came from a poem David wrote, which tells of the life of a dragon, from birth to death. My first version (in 2009) of a game based on that (which was called Dragon Frenzy) required 125 dice! I knew there was no way a game could be affordably made with that many dice (this was before Quarriors) so I scrapped that idea. I won’t bore you with the details, but Dragon Frenzy went through many iterations over the next two years as I attempted to discover just what this game wanted to be. Near the end of 2010 I played my first games of Dominion and Ascension and I just knew I wanted deck-building in the game. For the next four months Dragon Frenzy was developed to be similar to those games, with a few tweaks. But the game just seemed to be missing something, so I told David of my ideas for adding worker-placement and area-control to our current resource-management and deck-building mechanics, and actually making a board game instead of a card game. This is the game we have been developing ever since. With these changes the name Dragon Frenzy didn’t fit anymore and Princes of the Dragon Throne was born.

DAVID: Yup, what he said.

Can you tell us how the game plays?

FRED: Thematically, players are dragon princes making a claim on the now-vacant dragon throne. Mechanically, players use their starting decks to gather resources. They use those resources to recruit more influential prospects into their hands. They use those recruits to place supporters on the board. They use those supporters to gain control of as many kingdoms and guilds as possible. They use that control to influence the clan houses in the dragon parliament. When all members of the dragon parliament have chosen a prince to support, a new king is crowned.

What about Princes of the Dragon Throne will make it stand out from other games in its genre?

FRED: I guess that depends on what genre it is placed in. Is it a deck-building game? Then its area-control mechanics will make it stand out. Is it an area-control game? Then its rich theme will make it stand out. Is it a highly thematic game? Then its worker-placement mechanics will make it stand out. Is it a worker-placement game? Then its deck-building mechanics will make it stand out.

 DAVID: In my mind, what makes PDT stand out is that it uses deck-building in a non-traditional way. Deck-building is not the game; it’s the engine that drives all of the other game systems. The cards you recruit into your deck control the resources you can acquire and the guilds you can control and the clan houses you can pack with your loyal dragon lords. It’s really a whole new animal, and we think gamers will be intrigued.

Can you tell us a little more about the designing process—did one of you handle certain aspects and then put them together, or was it a collaborative effort from beginning to end.

DAVID: As I mentioned before, I’m less of a designer and more of a project manager and game doctor. PDT is Fred’s game and he was the driving force throughout. He’d give me a new version to try and I’d run it through my local play testers and then give Fred the feedback and ideas we had. He’d consider them, reject most of them, keep a few, and then we’d do it all again the next week. So, yes, it was collaborative to a point, but Fred was always “THE” designer.

Is there anything else you guys are working on that we should keep an eye out for?

FRED: I have a small press-your-luck dice game called Monsters and Maidens that has already launched for support on JumpStartCity.com. I have dozens of other ideas, several of which are at varied stages of development, but none of which are actively being worked on at the moment due to concentrating on getting the first two produced.

DAVID: Well, PDT is the major project for Clever Mojo Games at the moment, but I’m also working with several other designers on projects you’ll see on Kickstarter later this year. The two closest to the top are Magnum Opus by Ian Steadman and King’s Forge by Nick Sibicky. Magnum Opus is yet another riff on the deck-building mechanic that will make people re-think that genre, and King’s Forge is a dice-building and management game that’s fiercely competitive. Oh, and there’s a new expansion for Alien Frontiers coming to Kickstarter in a couple of months. 2013 is a VERY busy year for the Clever Mojo Game label.

Since launching the initial Kickstarter you’ve taken down the campaign to re-tool and re-boot it. Can you tell us a little bit about your thinking behind that decision and what changes were made to the campaign?

DAVID: Basically we learned that games are not like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Chocolate and peanut butter might taste great together, but Euro-game mechanics and Ameritrash minis just cause confusion. Euro-gamers maintained that the game was overproduced and Ameri-trashers were wondering why their minis were bogged down with a game. The other lesson I learned personally, or rather I should say “re-learned”, is that Kickstarters don’t really want a FINISHED game. They want to see a game at bare-bones and then get the thrill of building it up through stretch goals. I learned this in Formula E and I learned it again on Princes of the Dragon Throne.

We’d love to hear your top three games of all time, and why you love them!

FRED: There are so many games I haven’t played that any list of favorites will seem severely lacking to most people. Currently my favorite light game is a tie between The Great Heartland Hauling Company and Biblios. Both games are easy to learn and fast to play and just a ton of fun. My favorite medium game is Finca. I love rondels and hope to design my own rondel game at some point. For my favorite heavy game I am totally going to cheat. I have only read the rules and watched several reviews but I know that I will absolutely love Stronghold when I finally get to play. If that answer doesn’t count, I also love Trajan and Castles of Burgundy.

DAVID: When people ask me “Have you played X, or Y, or Z”, I always tell them it’s best to assume I have not played it.  I spend so much time playing prototypes that I can hardly remember the last time I played a published game. The games that are my favorites now will be your favorites 2 years from now. That’s the best answer I can come up with for that.

So why board gaming?

FRED: I love the challenge of testing my mental aptitude against my opponents. I love the fellowship of hanging out with friends, or making new ones. I love the escapism when I just want to get away from the daily grind. Of course, these days the daily grind includes board game design, so sometimes it‘s hard to distinguish between the grind and the escape. But I still love it.

DAVID: It’s about the socialization for me. I’m no Brainiac and I lose nearly every game I play, but I have fun with the people who are playing. If a game is too serious and thinky and tense, then I’m not having fun.

David, your email signature says you are the “Shepherd of Games” at Game Salute, could you explain the thought behind that title?

DAVID: Game Shepherd is the summation of what I’ve been saying about my role in game development. I work with designers to bring their games to life, grow them into strong healthy titles, and then lead them through the production process. It’s very rewarding when a game I’ve been shepherding for a year or two finally hits the dealer table at a convention.

1 Word Questions - Please answer these next 5 questions with only 1 word (or phrase).

Favorite director?

FRED: Spielberg

DAVID: del Toro

Do you have an archenemy?

FRED: Social Anxiety Disorder

DAVID: Sweets

Favorite ice cream flavor?

FRED: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

DAVID: Caramel

Favorite lyrics?

FRED: I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak.

DAVID: We Will, We Will, Rock You!

Let’s say there was some sort of crazy cyclone thing that picked up you and one book, and took you out to sea where you were stranded alone on an island for one year: What would you want that one book to be...? (Let’s assume this island has plenty of fresh water and food. And no hatches or polar bears.)

FRED: The Bible

DAVID: Unabridged Oxford English Dictionary

You can check out the rebooted Princes of the Dragon Throne campaign here. Thanks for joining us for this fun interview!

An Inteview With MST3K's Michael J. Nelson!

Today on Theology Of Games, we’re super excited about our special guest: Mr. Michael J. Nelson! You may know Mike best as the great American novelist who penned Mike Nelson’s Death Rat! And he’s done a little work on TV, as well, but nothing of note... :)

Mike’s latest project involves some voice work for a current Kickstarter game project called Armikrog, which is a stop-motion animated game for PC/Mac being produced by the folks who brought you Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood. Yes, video games aren’t our usual fare here on Theology Of Games, but IT’S MIKE NELSON!

Mike, thanks for taking a few minutes to chat with us.

My immense pleasure!

First, for those who really might not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a transplanted—perhaps “uprooted”—Midwestern guy living in San Diego, putting a couple kids through college. Trying my best to make people laugh by writing hundreds of thousands of jokes for more than a quarter century now.

How did you end up getting involved with Armikrog? Were you familiar with Doug’s work beforehand?

I was. Doug is a good friend, but I had, of course, known about him and his work for years.

So you’re the main character, Tommynaut; what can you tell us about him?

He’s like a hotshot pilot guy who, without giving too much away, has to go through something of a hero’s journey. But because it’s me voicing him he’s probably got more of a wry, deadpan thing going on, as opposed to the kind of square-jawed confident hero.

Did you have any input on the creative/humor elements of the story? Or was it pretty much “Stick to the script, Nelson!”

We had some back-and-forth beforehand, just in terms of my characterization, but as far as creative elements, that’s ALL Doug, Mike, and Ed at Pencil Test studios.

We usually don’t talk much about video games, but we’re curious: Are you a gamer: video, board, card, or otherwise? If so, what do you enjoy about that type of gaming?

I probably don’t rise to the level of “gamer.” Among my friends and family, yeah, I’m probably considered hardcore, but on an Internet-judged level I’m a dabbler only. I’ll get a PS3 game (I know, I know...) every couple of months and play it rabidly until something else catches my eye. But I do not keep up much on a day-to-day basis. Part of it is just time: I’m almost always always writing or recording. But I do enjoy the games that are a bit more social, that is, that I can play with my sons, pass the controller back and forth, talk while playing.

I think many of our readers want to know if there ever was any sort of love triangle thing going on between Servo, Crow, and Gypsy—I mean, you were on the satellite of love after all...

I’m afraid you’ll have to wait and buy my tell-all book.

Most of your “onscreen” career has been voice work, in a sense. RiffTrax is a recorded performance, and much of your time on MST3K was just your voice (and lots of pointing, of course). But that work has been Mike Nelson as himself. How do you handle the adjustment in voicing a character that is NOT you?

It’s not much of an adjustment because it’s tough, at least for me, to even manage to play myself. You’re still doing a character, someone who’s really not you. It’s extremely unnatural to attempt to pretend to be anyone for any performance, so you have to be something of a lunatic to even attempt it.

You and the RiffTrax crew ran your own Kickstarter campaign just a few months ago; can you share some of that experience with us? What did you learn? What surprised you?

We were all very grateful and humbled to smash through our goal pretty quickly. We have the greatest fans in the world: generous, good-humored. (Except for that one guy—you know who you are.)

Some of your recent RiffTrax releases have been video-on-demand titles rather than the new-release commentaries. (I plan on downloading “Dr. Who and the Daleks” this weekend. Can. Not. Wait!) Is that a trend you expect to continue?

Yes! The ease of delivery is great. That said, we plan to continue covering the blockbusters, too.

When is James Lileks going to do another Rifftrax with you?

It’s been too long. I plan to see him pretty soon; I’ll bring that up with him.

As you probably guessed from the name of the blog, we’re a couple of guys who are Christians and trying to view games through the lens of our faith. I read an interview with you a few years ago where you said you’re “heavily involved in [your] church,” and mentioned reading people such as J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig. What are some of the difficulties you’ve found in maintaining your beliefs in a business that’s often hostile toward Christians?

Honestly, not a lot of difficulty. You’ll run into people, or small groups of people, who are so dark, and openly hostile to your beliefs that it can get a little uncomfortable but that’s probably true for everyone regardless of views. And I’ve been blessed to work with a lot of great people. After I became a follower of Jesus Christ in my mid-30’s I quickly realized it was just as odd to be in the business I’m in and be in a church as it is the opposite, if you see what I mean. So I was used to feeling a little out of step. Also, I dove into Apologetics pretty much from the start and also felt out of step realizing that that’s just not that common in the Church, either. Bottom line is I like to take great care to not fit in no matter where I am.

But it’s funny to even be having this discussion, because I am a completely orthodox Protestant member of a mainline denomination; my kind were as common as blades of grass a handful of years ago. Now to some, evidently people like me are dangerous radicals. (Dangerous radicals are usually cool, though, so I’m pretty sure I’m not one of them.)

It seems that many Christians are ceding culture to the secular world, and walling themselves off in a sort of Christian ghetto, where they make “safe” movies and books and music that are often...terrible. How can we reverse that trend, and who are some of the people you’ve see trying to do just that?

Retreating from culture and ceding that ground completely—how’d that work out for us?! Everything follows culture; it’s the whole ball game. As to how to reverse the trend, I don’t pretend to know. I would say it’s critical followers of Christ not despair. And also to realize that still, the majority of people agree with us that it’s probably not a good thing to have unmitigated filth, murder and darkness flowing into our houses from every available source of entertainment. Those pushing it want us to feel isolated, alone, and out of step, but I don’t think so. (Gallup doesn’t regularly ask the question: “Do you want unmitigated filth, murder and darkness flowing into your house from every available source of entertainment? Yes/No,” though, so I can’t be 100 percent sure.)

Okay it's time for the: 5-Questions-That-You-Can-Only-Answer-Using-1-Word-Or-Perhaps-A-Very-Short-Phrase section (we really need to work on that name).

Favorite Stooge? (Iggy Pop is not an acceptable answer. We mean The Three Stooges. Well, Four if you count Shemp. And we do. Joe and Curly Joe are anathema.)

Larry, of course.

If you could have added one character to the MST3K cast, but it had to be a character from another show on TV, who would it be?

Alien (or Predator).

Favorite episode of MST3K?

Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders.

Favorite Michael Bay film? (And by favorite, we mean the one that should be stricken from existence last. But still stricken...)

Coyote Ugly (he makes only a cameo appearance)

Rebecca Black or John Daker?

John Daker. Never ceases to make me laugh, bless him.

Thanks so much for answering our dumb questions, Mike! And for the countless laughs you’ve given us over the years.

My pleasure; thank you.

Thanks for joining us for this special interview. You can find Mike on Twitter here, the Kickstarter for Armikrog right here, and be sure to check out Rifftrax.com!

Check back for more board game news, reviews, and interviews. And please check us out on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

The State of Euphoria—An Interview With Jamey Stegmaier

One of our earliest interviews here at Theology Of Games was with Jamey Stegmaier, and we’re privileged to have another chance to talk with him as he’s halfway through his latest Kickstarter project: Euphoria.

Jamey, thanks for talking with us. First, how are things going with Viticulture now that it’s in people’s hands?

Hey guys, thanks for having me back. It’s been a pleasure reading your blog over the last 9 months. As of this writing, Viticulture has an 8.12 rating on BGG, so that’s definitely a great start. Of course, it’s about much more than a rating—it’s about creating memorable, fun, sometimes nail-biting moments around the table with friends and family. From what I’ve heard, we’re definitely achieving that goal so far.

I (Firestone) have had a chance to play the finished Viticulture now, and it's definitely a solid game. Well done.

What are some of the lessons you learned through your Viticulture Kickstarter campaign?

A LOT. :) In fact, I’ve been writing a series of Kickstarter Lessons on the Stonemaier Games blog over the last four months to help other project creators learn from my mistakes and insights. Here’s a small tidbit that I don’t think I’ve mentioned elsewhere: If you’re making a board game in China (or anywhere), just because it’s on the boat does not mean the boat is leaving. The boat doesn’t leave until it’s full. To extrapolate that to Kickstarter, don’t tell backers that something will happen. Tell the things that have happened. Otherwise you’re going to run into some frustrating delays that require backtracking.

How do you feel about already successful game companies (and Hollywood, now!) using Kickstarter to finance projects?

Nice topical question! You know, I’m all for any Kickstarter project that builds community and relationships. I’m against any Kickstarter project that is all about the money, whether it’s a $500 project from Local Artist Guy/Gal or a $5 million project from a celebrity. But if you’re building something together with people, I’m all for it.

You recently launched a Kickstarter for your new game: Euphoria. Can you tell us about the game?

Euphoria is a dice worker-placement game set in a dystopian world. The numbers on your dice represent their knowledge, which has varying impacts on the game depending on your special abilities (on recruit cards) and the other dice that have already been placed on the board. It’s a meaty game with a lot of replayability. If you like Alien Frontiers, Tzolk’in, and The Manhattan Project, you’ll like Euphoria.

So what’s the “hook”—the thing that’s going to make Euphoria different from other worker-placement games?

I’d say that element of knowledge is one of the big hooks of the game. The numbers on your dice thematically and mechanically mean something, and yet there’s very little luck in the game. The other aspect is the flow of the game. There are no rounds and phases, no seasonal upkeep costs or anything like that. Once the game begins, it doesn’t stop unless someone has to get up to go to the bathroom (which doesn’t happen often because the game plays in almost exactly 15 minutes per player once everyone knows how to play).

Why did you choose a dystopian theme?

I really, really love dystopian fiction. Ready Player One, The Giver, The Hunger Games, Children of Men...I think the theme has always been in the back of my mind. But what really brought it to life was something that happened during the creation of Viticulture. I was playtesting the game last year when I stopped to think about who the little workers were. They had no personality—they did whatever I wanted them to do without complaint, blissfully unaware of their bleak existence. And it hit me: Every worker placement game is a dystopia. And thus the idea was born.

Why do you think people are so draw to dystopian themes in literature and film?

I think we see a lot of ourselves and our society in dystopian fiction, but to the extreme. That often makes for really interesting fiction. I personally love the element of discovery in dystopian literature. How does the world work in the future? What caused such drastic changes? What can we learn from the extremes presented in the book?

We're so glad you hit the stretch goal that gets us those cool steampunk dice—those are awesome!

Thanks! I’ve played the game with the samples a few time, and for some reason they’re just way better than normal dice, even though they’re functionally the same.

You mentioned that this game “incorporates mechanical elements” from The Resistance. WHA?! (That’s our excited way of asking: “What, pray tell, does that mean, exactly?”)

Before you get too excited, let me explain. :) The comparison is that just like in The Resistance, you don’t know whom you’re aligned with in Euphoria, and there is some amount of bluffing to make people think you are someone you’re not. Basically, each player starts the game with an active recruit and a hidden recruit. The hidden recruit could be one of any of the factions in the game, and you activate that recruit by reaching certain thresholds in the game that can be triggered by any player. Thus at any point, you might be helping another player unlock their hidden recruit without realizing the folly of your ways. It is different than The Resistance, but I think there is definitely a common bond there.

I love the artwork for the game—so many games these days seem indistinguishable from one another, but that certainly isn’t true of Euphoria. How closely did you work with artist Jacqui Davis to drive the aesthetic?

Jacqui is really fantastic. Basically, I told her the story of the world of Euphoria, and she took it from there. She created a unique style for each of the factions, both in terms of architecture and clothing. I can’t speak highly enough of her visual creativity.

Your press release mentions you playtested the game with more than 60 people. How do you know when you should let someone’s opinion affect your game—how did you decide what input to listen to and what input to ignore?

Well, let me clarify that point: The game has been blind playtested (i.e., without me present) by over 60 people. They were all Viticulture backers who volunteered to help with Euphoria. I, of course, playtested the game tons of times with Alan and other local friends, but we’re not included in that 60+ number. I would say that I listened to all of the feedback, and then I’d try to get to the core of what they were saying. Sometimes it resulted in a mechanical tweak; other times it required a graphic-design change. And sometimes I didn’t do anything with the feedback. But I learned from everything they said, and I think the game significantly benefited from their input.

What are some things that changed from the original prototype?

Here are two specific examples:

1. Retrieving workers is a big part of the game. On your turn you either place a worker OR retrieve any/all workers—you choose one, like in Tzolk’in. In Euphoria, you have a choice to feed your workers or not when you retrieve them. Feed them and you gain morale; don’t feed them and you lose morale. Simple enough. But I made it WAY too complicated early on. There was this big chart on the board that told you how much you had to feed each worker and how much morale you would gain or lose as a result...it was too much. So based on the feedback I received, I simplified it so that the number of workers you retrieved didn’t matter.

2. The allegiance track improvements are a prime example of the value of blind playtesting. The allegiance track is essentially a tech track that any or all players can benefit from, depending on their active recruits. Once you reach certain tiers on the tech track, you unlock new bonuses. Again, simple enough. That is, if you designed the game. If you didn’t, the allegiance track bonuses were way too much to remember, and they were often forgotten. So we simplified the bonuses, added a new bonus that triggered at the end of a track, and added tokens to the game to help players to remember to take the bonuses.

I know you’ve got plenty on your plate as this campaign winds down, but are there any other games on the horizon that you can share?

I’m working on a few ideas for an 8-player game, and I always have Viticulture expansions on my mind. Alan is working on a Prohibition-themed game.

5 Questions with 1-Word (or Phrase) Answers:

• Who’s your favorite comedian? Seinfeld

• What’s your favorite line from Shakespeare? How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world. (The Tempest)

• Have you read Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick? I haven’t! Should I?

You should! It’s a utopian novel—series of short stories, actually—that is one of my favorite books. It’s just beautiful.

• What is your favorite Proverb? Proverbs 25:16. "If you find honey, eat just enough—too much of it, and you will vomit."

• A strange old man with a kind face knocks on your door one day. When you answer, he takes his hat off, holds it gently against his chest, and says, “Jamey, you don’t know me, but I sure know you. I’ve been watching you for a long time now—since you were a boy, really—and I’ve decided to give you a gift...though you might think of it as a curse. For the next year, you can only eat one thing for lunch—the exact same thing. You can try to make or order something different, but it will always change into this thing. So I’m going to ask you a question, and then I’m going to walk away. You’ll see me again in 14 years, but not before then—so don’t try to find me. Now Jamey...what is that thing you want to eat every day for lunch for the next year?”

I have a strange temperament at lunch...if I don’t eat protein, I get woozy. So I’d have to ask the old man for shrimp tempura sushi. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.

Jamey, thanks so much for answering these questions for us!

I (Firestone) was seriously impressed when I got my copy of Viticulture recently—Jamey knows how to run a Kickstarter campaign, and the presentation, bits, and aesthetic are top-notch. Many people in my game group thought the same thing—in fact, when they found out the guy who was in charge of the game we were playing had a new game on Kickstarter, a couple said they were now going to back it based on Viticulture's presentation.

With two weeks to go it's sitting at ~$135,000, so head on over and add yourself to the list of backers. And as always, thanks for reading!

An Interview With Kyle Gabhart, Designer of Arctic Scavengers!

Today’s interview is with Robert K. Gabhart (but he goes by Kyle), designer of Arctic Scavengers—the very first deck-building game to come out after that...other...mildly popular one. We’re super excited he agreed to answer some questions from us. And awaaaaay we go! Tell us a little about yourself.

Well, I’m a Pisces; I enjoy candlelight dinners, and long walks on the beach.

 You’re from Texas. My (Firestone) wife is, too. Why are you people so stinking obnoxious about being Texans?

Never ask a man if he’s from Texas, because if he is, then he’ll come right out and tell you.  And if he’s not…well, why embarrass him?

The truth is that Texans are a proud bunch because we have just a little bit more awesome inside of us than anyone else seems to have. We have our own electric grid, we are the only state that gets to fly our flag at the same height as the US flag, and we only remain in the union out of pity for the rest of you.

So, Arctic Scavengers: Were you working on a deck-building game before Dominion came out? Or was it designed after you played Dominion? Tell us the design story of Arctic Scavengers.

So Dominion was only the 5^th designer board game that was even introduced to me.  A buddy introduced me to the hobby in November of 2008.  My initial games included: San Juan, Ra, Pandemic, Manila, and Dominion.  Dominion particularly piqued my interest.

The truth is that the winter of 2008 / 2009 was a very difficult one for me.  For years I struggled with chronic, severe back pain and then in December of 2009 I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS, a rare form of arthritis that is similar to Rheumatoid Arthritis). That led to a bit of depression and an intense need to pour myself into something.  So I poured myself into creating a euro-ish game set in Feudal Japan.  That was in January 2009.  Then in February, after several games of back-to-back Dominion, it dawned on me that Dominion could really benefit from a more tightly woven theme and more direct player interaction.  Starting at 11:00pm one night, I proceeded to work on the core mechanics and structure of Arctic Scavengers (AS) in a marathon design session consisting of pencil and note cards.  By 7:00am the next morning I had the bulk of what became the base game.  Roughly 70% of what went into the base AS game was designed during that initial night of crazed inspiration.

What made you decide to self-publish the 1st edition?

I wanted to see the game come to light sooner rather than later and I didn’t have any existing connections in the industry.  I looked around at a few publishers and no one really seemed very eager to accept design submissions, so I figured I would just go ahead and do it myself.

We noticed that the Rio Grande Games version includes the HQ expansion. What does that add to the game?

The HQ expansion really opens up the play possibilities.  There are Tribal Leaders, which grant unique player powers (The Cannibal eats tribe members for food, The Mentor can use a Refugee to modify any action, and The Organizer has a special draw action), Buildings (Bunker, Hydroponic Garden, Armory, and Pharmacy) that the Engineer mercenary can construct back at your base to enable hand management, A Medic mercenary that enables you to acquire medicine through hunting and serves as a counter to Sniper Team attacks, and there are gangs that bestow end-game points based upon accumulating certain resources.

How has your faith affected your journey as a game designer?

Interesting question. Game design is a creative activity driven by passion, and it borders on being a spiritual experience for me. I have been blessed with an immense passion for games and with a spark of creativity and wonder. As for the game design journey itself, my faith has helped me to not sweat the small stuff and leave the process of how and when things unfold in the far more capable hands of my Lord and savior. His timing is perfect and his perspective is far broader and more informed than my own. Things will happen when they need to happen, and in a way that is far more awesome than they would if it were all up to me. This awareness frees me from a lot of the stress and anxiety that could potentially exist as a game designer and publisher.

Do you have a game group you play with regularly? (Besides your wife and 6(!) kids, of course.) Which recent game has come out of left field and surprised you with how good it is?

I try to get over to the Dallas Games Marathon as often as I can.  Usually that is once every couple of months.  I also have a couple of guys that I collaborate with on game designs. Finally, my wife and I host a game night at our house several times a year. So I wouldn’t say that I have a regular group, but I do find lots of opportunities to play games. That having been said, it is true that I have probably logged more games of Zombie Dice, Martian Dice, San Juan, and Pandemic than most of the designers of those games. These are favorites of my family and so we play them an inordinate amount of time.

What are your five favorite games—and what do you love about them?

The Resistance – Bluffing, acting, and shifting alliances

Galaxy Trucker – Controlled chaos

Agricola – Farming and making babies

Tichu – Wishes, Dragons, and Bombs

Arctic Scavengers – They put my name on the box!!!

So do you have any upcoming designs you can share with us?

I have a game that I designed a month BEFORE Arctic Scavengers that is just waiting to see the light of day.  It has a euro-style economic engine and victory point system with an American-style combat system. It’s set in Feudal Japan and manages to fit into the 60-90 minute window.  It’s called Kingdoms of Rice, has absolutely STUNNING artwork, and will be Kickstarted (Lord willing) this summer.

One-Word Answer Questions! (Short phrases are allowed if necessary)

Favorite Pixar movie? KnickKnack

Favorite Dr. Who episode? When?

Favorite comedian? Louis CK

If you were one of the Three Amigos, which one would you be? Martin

Favorite Proverb? Proverbs 27:14

Thanks so much, Kyle! Go check out his game—it's a solid addition to the deck-building genre! Thanks for reading! And make sure you check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and now Instagram!

In the Jungle—An Interview with the Foxtrot Games Team

Today we have the distinct pleasure of chatting with the brains behind Foxtrot Games, and the creators of Relic Expedition, Randy Hoyt and Tyler Segel.

Guys, thanks so much for taking some time for us today!

First off, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves, and how Foxtrot Games came to be? RH: My name's Randy Hoyt, and I work professionally as a Web developer and a technology educator. I teach Web development for a startup called Treehouse. I live in Orlando, Florida, with my wife and two boys, ages 6 and 1.

TS: I’m Tyler Segel. I am the Creative Director and co-owner of Factory North, a graphic design studio in Portland, Oregon. I enjoy playing board games with my wife and our friends, going to Timbers soccer games, and camping in the Pacific Northwest.

We have a family reunion every summer, and Randy and I always bring a few board games from our collections. Last summer, we struggled to convince the rest of our family to play games with us. We realized that there was a gap in the market for a game that was easy to learn and had a relatively short play time, but still had enough strategy to hold the interest of Randy and me. We brainstormed quite a bit during that weekend, and then Randy took off with our idea and came up with some solid mechanics. Being in the creative field, it was really important to me that the game looked good. There are so many fun games out there that just look slapped together. I really appreciate when game designers pay attention to those little details.

How did you first get into board gaming? What game sealed the deal for you as a gamer?

RH: I've been playing board games and card games for as long as I can remember. Every year at Christmas we would get a new family board game: games like Clue, Life, and Yahtzee. I would often play games by myself, physically moving around the table each turn and playing each player separately. I remember doing that with an old copy of Risk I found at my grandma's house; I still have that copy. I still love playing cards, the combinations of suits and ranks, plus the possibilities for amazing artwork on the face cards.

I took a bit of a break from board games during and shortly after college, but I'd have to credit two games with bringing me back into it. The first was Texas Hold 'Em. I couldn't believe that people were watching others play cards on television, and I had a lot of poker nights. And then Settlers of Catan. That was my first Euro-style game, I suppose, and I've since been playing the new ones as they come out.

TS: I grew up playing games like Monopoly here and there with my family, but I first got hooked on Euro-style games about 6 or 7 years ago. I was hanging out with some friends, and someone brought Settlers of Catan. I was immediately drawn to the mechanics and strategy of the game. There was so much going on and it was so interesting. That game really opened the door for me to board games.

Have you ever gone on an expedition of your own? Or are you both just big fans of Indiana Jones?

TS: I can’t say I’ve ever been on an expedition. I liked Indiana Jones when I was a kid, and I really thought that the jungle theme was fun and accessible for our game. I’ve always been intrigued by vintage comics, and I had seen some with a jungle theme that I had in mind for our game. There’s something about that aesthetic that really attracted me.

RH: I actually never really got into Indiana Jones; The Empire Strikes Back and Back to the Future are my favorite movies from the '80s. Space travel and time travel appeal to me more than hacking my way through a jungle with a machete. I probably wouldn't make it one day on a real relic expedition!

Take us through the design process of Relic Expedition; were there any games that influenced or inspired your design?

RH: In that initial brainstorming session at the family reunion Tyler mentioned, we came up with most of the concepts in the final game: the expanding jungle board, the backpack constraint, the wild animals, the geographic features. (We had lots of other ideas that I felt needed to be pushed off to future expansions, such as roles with special abilities as in Pandemic.) We knew there would be collectible treasures but hadn't really worked out how someone would win. I didn't want the sheer quantity of treasures collected to matter; I wanted something more subtle than that. My love of playing cards, with their two attributes (rank and suit), came through here, I think, and I gave each treasure two different attributes (color and symbol). We talk about set collection at our house a lot, both the game mechanic and the psychological principle. Having that as the core mechanic for victory really appealed to me.

I made a few different prototypes. The first was made out of cardstock and pieces cannibalized from other games. I played that with widely different rules a dozen times over two weeks, about one game a day. It was a fun process of seeing what was working and what was still lacking. I'll give you one example. In the first few games, players had to get all the way back to the basecamp board in the middle to win, and players would explore different parts of the jungle independently. I added helicopter clearings to jungle tiles for the sixth game; they really worked with the theme and really helped both of those issues.

After about a dozen games, I had a decent idea of how many tiles, animals, supplies, and treasures would make the game work best. I ordered wooden hexagon tiles from some craft Web site, and lots of game pieces from The Game Crafter, and then I cut out the tile boards from the cardboard of an Amazon shipping box. I shipped Tyler the first prototype to play—

TS: I'm the younger brother. I get his hand-me-downs.

RH: — Yeah, Tyler got the hand-me-down prototype. There were still lots of small modifications to the pieces and the mechanics. I played with the number of supplies, the amount of dense jungle, and lots of other things, swapping out pieces and changing stickers and what-not.

TS: I started by researching and referencing illustrations and digging through tons of vintage jungle comics to find the look that I wanted. After that, it just became a matter of incorporating that look into the game from a functional perspective—figuring out how to illustrate all of the pieces of the game to keep gameplay running smoothly, while keeping the aesthetic that I wanted. I feel like we achieved a good balance of everything looking good but still serving a function.

I had fun designing the animeeples. I thought it would add more to the game to have animal-shaped figures as opposed to wood blocks with stickers or cardboard.

What is it about Relic Expedition that sets it apart from other games in the genre?

TS: I think the main thing that sets it apart is its accessibility. I play board games with a lot of people, and usually at least one person in the group is playing a game for the first time. If a game is difficult to learn, it’s not very fun the first time around for the person learning it. I think Relic Expedition is easy enough to get the hang of that it is fun that first time you play it, and it just keeps getting more interesting as your understanding and strategy develop. I also like that it plays in less than an hour and that you can play it with just two people. There’s not many games out there like that.

RH: Yeah, with so many games, the first few times through feel like trial runs or practice rounds while new players learn the rules. But with Relic Expedition, the tougher strategic choices really start once you have a full backpack. This gives new players a few turns to get oriented and to understand the mechanics, and then they can fully participate and enjoy that first game.

A lot of people comment that the game is like Carcassonne because the board is made by laying out tiles, with that board having a different shape each game. But it's quite different in Relic Expedition because your explorer is actually moving from tile to tile, revealing new tiles as he explores. I'm really happy with how well the variable board mechanic and the explorer theme work together.

Give us your top three games of all time, and why you like them so much.

RH:

• 7 Wonders: Simultaneous action, multiple approaches for victory points, lots of depth packed into a one-hour game.

• Tamsk: Abstract game with timers that you move.

• Yahtzee: Managing probability and risk; reconsidering your strategy with each roll.

• BONUS: Relic Expedition: Great theme, easy to learn, lots of replayability. I think it's now the game I've played the most number of times in my life.

TS:

• Through the Ages: Civilization building game. There’s a lot of depth in trying to balance so many moving parts.

• Pandemic: Working together to save the world! The cooperative mechanic is my favorite part about the game.

• Citadels: Fun 2-4 player card game. It has a really fun balance of strategy and luck and super-fast game play.

Gaming is great—and we enjoy it thoroughly—but what matters most to you outside of gaming? Or is life just another big game we’re all trying to win?

TS: What matters most to me is to enjoy my life with the people I care about and create experiences with them. Gaming fits into this because it is a way to connect with my friends and family. I appreciate the opportunity to unplug, turn of the TV, and use our imaginations.

RH: Well, I do believe life is a game, an asymmetrical game where players start from different places and have different objectives—with skills and objectives changing multiple times throughout the game! I think playing tabletop games teaches you (on a small scale) many of the skills you need to be successful in life: managing resources, recognizing patterns, planning ahead, and cooperating or negotiating with others.

But for me, games are primarily about spending time with family and friends. I see making a game as a serious responsibility and a great honor. It's almost magical or religious, taking unrelated bits of wood and cardboard and transforming them into something that brings laughter and joy to people I've never met. I have been so inspired by some of the feedback reviewers have been publishing over the last couple of weeks. One player said to me in an email, "The game has made my children and friends very happy. Not sure what more you can ask for out of a game or of life."

Ok, now it’s time for the 1 word questions! Not that the questions are only one word, but that the answers should only be 1 word (or phrase)!

Oreo or Hydrox?

RH: Oreo

TS: Oreo

Galadriel or Arwen?

RH: Galadriel

TS: Arwen

Heads or Tails?

RH: Heads

TS: Heads

Favorite Batman Villain?

RH: Riddler

TS: Penguin

K.I.T.T. or the General Lee?

RH: K.I.T.T.

TS: General Lee

We would like to thank Randy and Tyler for taking the time to answer our questions and share a little more about Relic Expedition with us! Their campaign is about 65% funded, so head on over and consider backing it!

We have also been supplied with P&P prototypes of the game and will be posting our reviews of the game shortly, so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our Facebook and Twitter accounts for more fun and information!