#sixpence games

[dawn-appears]

I spent the day at Tacticon in Denver and got to play Fear of the Unknown tonight, ran by the creator of the game. Oh man, it was absolutely amazing!

Definitely must buy rpg, especially if you're looking for a more narrative based game.

[boardgamingftw]

Kickstarter Preview: Venture Capital

Kickstarter Preview: Venture Capital

In the past twenty years I have started two businesses & I still have them going. My Board Gaming For the Win site is just one of them & it is more of a hobby since it doesn’t generate any money. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about making it bigger & better. Just like in the game of Venture Capital I would love to take a small company like Board Gaming For the Win & turn it into a large…

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Check out some stuff I did for Six Pence Games!

[nsdillustration]

Check out some stuff I did for Sixpence Games!

[sameroomgaming]

Cultists of Cthulhu successfully returns to Kickstarter

Back in 2014 indie game designer Thomas Eliot attempted to fund his second game project on Kickstarter titled Cultists of Cthulhu, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Perhaps he was hoping to capitalize on the success and reputation of his first title, Professor Pugnacious, but was forced back to the drawing board to re-evaluate his approach to the ambitious board game. More than a year later Eliot returned to Kickstarter, and can now relax knowing he achieved the project’s funding goals, with time to spare.

Cultists of Cthulhu is designed for 3-6 players who participate in a semi-cooperative game, as they attempt to survive the horrors that roam the halls of the Miskatonic University. Most will play as an Academic who will investigate the destruction of the Elder Sign, a powerful seal that held back the eldritch horrors that would invade the world. However, in every group one person will secretly play as a Cultist, who hopes and schemes to usher in an era of madness and destruction. Players select their characters, choose a scenario, and use the map tiles to build one of billions of different possible combinations. Events both good and bad, items, and monsters will be uncovered as explorers open each new door. We had the opportunity to sit down with Eliot to learn a little bit more about his studio, Sixpense Games, and hear how he modified his approach to help ensure players could eventually experience, Cultists of Cthulhu.

Same Room Gaming: Tell me a little bit about how Sixpence Games got started. How did you meet your fellow team members?  Thomas Eliot: Growing up, I didn't know anybody who had started their own business. After college I moved to Berkeley, and all of a sudden half the people I knew had started one or more businesses! I was inspired: what could I make that people would pay money for, that I'm good at, and that I'm passionate about? The answer, of course, is games. I met the artist for Professor Pugnacious, Andrea Renaisse, through a mutual friend when I started asking around for good artists. I met the artist for Cultists of Cthulhu, Joshua Wright, when he gave me his card at a Professor Pugnacious demo. I met my cofounder and now wife Allison Eliot and the musician (yes, our games come with music!) Brent Hengeveld at university. SRG: You explain on your website that it wasn't until very recently that you realized you could fulfill your dream of becoming a game designer. What changed that helped you accomplish your dream? What had been holding you back? TE: I'm not actually sure where I said that, it's probably pretty outdated. I started doing this in the summer of 2012. I spent a year between graduating and working on games thinking "what sort of company should I start?" and being the personal butler to a retired Silicon Valley millionaire. SRG: How are you feeling about your career choice now that you have two successfully funded Kickstarter games? TE: Good! Anxious, but good. This isn't the only thing I do, but right now it's the most successful thing I'm doing, so I'm definitely concentrating my focus on the games thing. My plan is to use the momentum of a second successful, fairly large Kickstarter to be able to launch smaller Kickstarters for my smaller games, such as Venture Capital, a bidding game about startups, and possibly a decks of cards as well.

SRG: In a market flooded with Cthulhu inspired game ideas, what was your approach to Cultists of Cthulhu in order to stand out? TE: Design wise, I went in with a specific mechanical goal in mind and a specific emotional goal. I wanted players to feel distrust and tension, and to make interesting choices every turn. To achieve the former I used the Cultist mechanic, and for the latter I invented a specific ability check mechanic that forces you to make decisions between something bad happening to yourself and something bad happening to the group. On the Kickstarter page, I think one of the main things that makes this campaign unique is the sheer volume of positive reviews! Two full on video reviews and a half dozen positive quotes is pretty nice looking to me. SRG: Your original campaign for Cultists of Cthulhu was cancelled. What was the main cause for this? What did you learn, and how did you modify your approach to the re-launch?  TE: There were two main causes: the goal was too high, and I needed more outside social proof that Cultists was good, not just me presenting the rules and saying "trust me guys it's good." For the former, I did a lot of restructuring of what materials to use, whether to print the add-ons as a full print run or print on demand, all sorts of things, and I managed to get the goal down to half of what it was last time (which we raised last time). We're already past that, so I'm pretty happy there!  For the social proof question, mainly I got it in front of two established reviewers, Let's Level Up and Undead Viking, and got them both to review it openly and honestly, and they both loved it, much to my relief.

End.

For more information including in-depth reviews, the full rule set, and backer rewards make sure to visit the Cultists of Cthulhu Kickstarter page, or official website.