Make Me Design a Game

My pals over at Calliope Games (including, especially, my old friend Ray Wehrs) have been running a Kickstarter for nearly two months now, called the Titans Series, and it’s about to come to a thundering close. The project is fully funded (which means IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING!), and it shattered its first stretch goal.

It’s an ambitious project for which they’ve lined up a baker’s dozen of the top tabletop games designers in the world, including:

  • Peggy Brown: BuzzwordBackseat DrawingQbitz, and many more!
  • Rob Daviau: Betrayal at House on the HillHeroscapeRisk LegacyAxis and Allies: Pacific, and many more!
  • Mike Elliott: Dice MastersQuarriors!ThunderstoneBattle SpiritsDuel Masters, and many more!
  • James Ernest: Kill Doctor LuckyLords of VegasLord of the FriesPairsUnexploded Cow, and many more!
  • Matt Forbeck: Marvel Heroes Battle Dice, Brave New WorldDescent: Journeys in the Dark Quest CompendiumSpace Hulk: GenestealerMonster Rancher, and many more!
  • Richard Garfield: Magic:The GatheringKing of TokyoNetrunnerRoboRallyThe Great Dalmuti, and many more!
  • Seth Johnson: HeroClixGolem ArcanaDouble Double Dominoes, and many more!
  • Eric Lang: XCOM: The Board GameQuarriors!Marvel Dice MastersKaosballWarhammer 40,000: Conquest, and many more!
  • Mike Mulvihill: BattleTechShadowrunPirates of the Spanish MainGolem ArcanaMage Knight Dungeons, and many more!
  • Paul Peterson: GuillotineSmash UpPairs, and many more!
  • Mike Selinker: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Axis & AlliesBetrayal at House on the HillLords of VegasMaze of Games, and many more!
  • Jordan Weisman: BattleTechMechWarriorHeroClixShadowrunGolem ArcanaMage KnightTsuro of the Seas, and many more!
  • Zach Weisman: Golem ArcanaGot ’Em!, and more!

I’m honored to have my name on that list, alongside many legends of tabletop game design I’m proud to call friends. If and when the Kickstarter cracks $175,000, I’ve agreed to chip in a brand-new design of my own for the project. I talk about it a bit here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg34wEN4lJY

We recorded that during Gen Con last year, so if you want to know what I sound like a few days into a massive convention, here’s your chance!

The way the drive works is that you can pick any game you like by backing it at $25, and you can choose up to four more games for $25 each. Once you go over five games, though, you can get nine games for $145, which is a much better deal, and you can add extra games for $16 each.

They have ten games to choose from at the moment, and mine would be the eleventh. If the drive hits $200,000, Peggy Brown joins us for the twelfth game, and you could then get the whole set for $193. That’s nearly half off the entire series.

These are all going to be gateway games, the kinds of games hardcore gamers can sit down and enjoy with people who’ve only played Poker or Monopoly to that point. That makes them perfect for players of all kinds and wonderful for families too.

My kids are going to be helping me out with this one, and they could not be more thrilled about it. (That’s a picture of us playing Tsuro of the Seas at the Calliope Games booth at Gen Con last year.) If it sounds like it’s for you too, join the over 1,100 people who’ve already backed the Kickstarter, and brace yourself for a flood of great games.

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