Crossings a game that deserves play time

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #15.

Talk about a game that seems like it was created for ‘Project 8x8 & 48’

Crossings by designer Robert Abbott is actually far from a new game. In fact this is actually one of the older games in the ‘Project’ dating back to 1969, clearly making it a vintage game being more than 50 years old.

Interestingly, Crossings is quite obviously the root for the highly touted Epaminondas released by the same designer in 1975 with the same basic ideas involved albeit on an expansive14x12 board.

In pure abstract strategy terms Epaminondas is arguably a deeper game, but it is also more inaccessible – meaning it is more difficult to get your head around play on the big board whereas Crossings is a simpler game to absorb, while still offering a nice challenge.

Crossings has had its share of press too including being published in Sid Sackson's A Gamut of Games and Stephen Addison's 100 Other Games to Play on a Chessboard.

Each player starts with 16 pieces in the two rows closest to them.

The object of the game is to reach the opposite side of the board with a piece, while preventing the opponent from doing the same, by moving checkers in ‘phalanx style.

As noted Crossings is an ancestor of Epaminondas, but with two significant differences;

*When phalanxes collide, only the front piece is captured. This is huge because in the big brother game you can lose whole swathes of pieces and feel devastated. Here there is a more subtle give and take in-game.

* Successfully ‘crossed’ pieces are immobile and can't be captured.

Movement has a group; a series of one or more same-coloured stones adjacent to one another in a line (diagonal, horizontal, or vertical). A stone may belong to one or more groups. (From Wikipedia);

*A player may move a single stone, an entire group, or a subgroupA group consisting of a single stone may move one space diagonally or orthogonally into an empty square.

*A group must move along the line which defines it. It may move a number of spaces equal to the number of pieces in that group.

*When part of a group is moved (a subgroup), it must move along the line which defines it. It may move a number of spaces equal to the number of pieces in the subgroup.

*When a subgroup is moved it must involve one of the end stones.

*Pieces may not move onto an occupied square.

Capturing an enemy stone;

* If the first stone in a moving group encounters a single enemy stone, the group's movement stops there, and the enemy stone is captured.

* If the first stone in a moving group encounters an end stone of an opponent's group, it can capture that stone if the opponent's group is smaller.

* If it cannot capture the end stone because the opponent's group is the same size or larger, it is not allowed to move on to that square.

End of the game;

*A player possibly wins the game if they get a stone on the home row, or row furthest from their side. If the opponent cannot get a stone of their own onto the first player's home row in the next move, the first player wins. Otherwise, those stones are ‘locked’; they cannot be moved or captured. The next attempt at crossing, as this is called, will determine the winner (unless it, too, is immediately followed by a counter-crossing, and so on).

It is the locking of pieces, and the ability to respond with a follow-up Crossing which make it feel like you can comeback and win late, keeping you focused here.

This is an ideal ‘Project’ offering, and very much worth playing.

'Bloody' fine miniature set

Head over to heliostabletop.ca and if you are into gaming minis you will be in for some very big smiles.

This Canadian crew is doing some very sweet miniatures with an eye to them being perfect for D&D-style role playing games.

Each month they are offering up a small box of themed minis which actually come with ‘an encounter’ gamers can use to insert into their campaigns meaning the minis can hit the table without the GM having to bodger up an encounter and create a stats package etc – that can come later though.

Now some of the mini packs are a tad more versatile too – including the Haemoturgy Lab set being reviewed here.

As the name implies these are some blood-themed baddies, and they come looking decidedly dastardly, if not outright evil.

Now you might open a dungeon door in a D&D-style campaign and find theses blighters waiting to bleed you dry, but they would be equally fine on a post apocalyptic setting, or a gothic horror RPG, or one were vampires abound. There is some really nice flexibility in this set, and gamers will appreciate that as we don’t usually play only D&D RPGs.

So to get some insight to these minis – which I should note Jordan one of our gaming gang’s more enthusiastic painters fell in love with before they even arrived – I turned to Joel, the lead encounter designer and of the in-house DMs at Helios for some insights into the creation of this box.

Canadian designer

“One of my favourite things to do, and a strength of my DM’ing is creating fun, engaging and challenging combat encounters that get the players working together to succeed,” he offered via email. “Combat in 5e can be a slog if it involves standing still and hitting a sack of hit points turn after turn. That's why it's my goal to provide interesting objectives, difficult choices and ways to interact with the terrain to keep the players engaged during combat. 

“The first thing I like to do for inspiration is to look closely at the miniatures. That gets my imagination going, and allows me to start thinking about the overall theme. I also try to incorporate small details of the miniatures themselves into the stat blocks and overall objective/mechanics of the combat encounter.”

You can almost see the gears turning for Joel coming at the process from the perspective of a player with a design flair.

“With the Haemoturgy Lab, the first thing that stood out to me was that the minis we chose all had a certain level of human features to them,” said Joel. “This immediately made me think that a good narrative would be that these creatures had once been human, and had suffered some form of strange mutation. I noticed that the creatures had biological texture and bodies also had a blood/gore type appearance, along with shards and spikes that were protruding. So in my mind, this was some type of blood magic experiment that had gone wrong. The encounter begins with the players arriving at the abandoned lab. On the map that I designed, the sterile white tiles are covered in blood in places, and some stasis pods are broken open, with corpses half falling out of them. It immediately sets the scene that something bad has happened, and may well happen again...”

Here you can see the versatility that is inherent to this box from Helios in terms of crossing genres more easily than say the kobolds we recently reviewed which are typically D&D fare and not much beyond that.

As for the creatures, the Haemolyser is large, covered in spikes and looked brutish and reckless to me.

“I wanted it to be mobile, and have it feel cinematic as it crashes through players and the operating tables/stasis pods with its reckless charge feature,” said Joel. “Considering how much larger it is than the other creatures, I also wanted to incorporate a story reason for this within its stat block.

“That’s where it’s “Flesh Consumption” feature originated. The idea is that it can consume organic biomass (aka PCs in this case) in order to grow bigger and stronger. This ability is also fun because it creates a game play loop within the encounter, in which party members can deal slashing damage to the Haemolyser in order to try and cut open the monster to free their trapped allies.”

Here is a strength of Helios, the minis come as more rounded creatures ready for game play, not just a plastic mini to paint.

“The Blood Symbiotes are a fun way to balance the encounter by turning up the stakes as the Haemolyser gets more injured,” continued Joel. “After certain thresholds of damage are reached, they slough off the body of the Haemolyser and come to life. They can both heal allies and hit the PCs with ranged attacks while slithering up the walls to stay out of the way. This gives players another problem to overcome, and allows ranged characters or spellcasters to shine.”

The ‘encounter’ for this one really is a moody one in the sense it fits the creatures like the proverbial glove.

“To add some randomness and a dynamic element to the encounter, the ‘Failed Sanguinations’ are randomly introduced to the battle on initiative count 20. A d12 is rolled to determine which stasis pod they burst out of,” explained Joel.

“For added fun, I like to let each player have a turn at rolling this d12 to determine their spawn location. These creatures are designed to grapple and debuff the party with their infectious bites, creating attrition and dividing attention away from the Haemolyser. They have relatively low health, so it is up to the players on whether they think it is worth focusing on the big boss, or taking down these creatures before they debilitate the party too much. 

“Adding decision trees into every combat is something that I love to do, because I think it makes things more interesting for the players. Instead of the barbarian standing still and hitting every time, they now need to choose between options such as: Do I try and kill the big damage dealing Haemolyser? Do I save my grappled wizard from the bites of the Failed Sanguinations? Should I smash the stasis pods to prevent new enemies appearing on the battlefield? Should I change from my Warhammer to my battleaxe to free the fighter who is currently stuck inside the boss and being dissolved? Etc. I think the Haemoturgy Lab encounter does a great job of being both fun and engaging, while also telling a cohesive story through the battlemap and stat blocks. The fact that it was also designed specifically around the appearance of the miniatures we provide also gives it that added level of verisimilitude, because the players can connect what they see on the table, to exactly what is happening to their heroes." 

Now in general terms the Helios minis are excellent and the encounters such a great add-on that it’s easy to suggest taking time to look through what they offer if you mini game – but Haemoturgy Lab is just a smidge above the average making it one to definitely search out.

Yahoo for Gee Haw!

It’s sort of a weird thing, I don’t usually go looking for solo games yet in the last few weeks two excellent ones have hit my little ‘in front of TV’ game table.

The first was Cavern Shuffle: Maze of the Minotaur by Canadian game designer Ryan Dawson, and now Gee Haw from veteran game designer David McCord.

While Cavern Shuffle used a special deck of cards it was very much a game built on the foundation of Patience.

With Gee Haw, McCord uses a standard 52-card deck but created a very different solo challenge.

“I had been brainstorming the use of standard playing cards for non-standard uses,” via email. “‘Cause…why not? At the same time, I’d been thinking about solo games and how patience-style card games worked. As such thoughts swirled around in my head, somehow the notion of red/right and black/left came together. A few hours of noodling around — et voila! — the game was born.”

When asked what were you trying to achieve with game? McCord replied, “Firstly, I guess, simply striving to create a unique solo game.

“Also, portability is always an element that I pursue in my designs. Most of my friends know that I’m the game guy, and I always have an emergency game case in my car. So using a standard card deck (which is already in there), all I need to carry is the peg board and 10 pegs. Gee-Haw fits nicely in little acrylic box or even a zip-top baggie. Slips right into a pocket, too.”

In addition to the deck of cards Gee-Haw has a very nice wooden score board and pegs -- rather standard fare from NewVenture Games in a very positive way.

Here the challenge is to get all 10 pegs – valued ace to 10 -- to either the red or the black side of the score board, based on the suit colour of the numbered cards and the ‘wild card’ powers of the face cards – kings and queens allow you to move any peg, jacks allow the movement of two pegs. You decide how to utilize most of the card values – so a 10 can be a lone 10 peg move, or a peg combo which totals 10.

You play through the deck hoping to win, but most often coming to the end of the deck singling another loss – yes Gee Haw is a tough one.

McCord did note, “a shuffled poker deck provides nearly limitless replayability. Even considering the probabilities offered by 52 cards, Gee-Haw can be won about 30 per cent of the time, which is a pretty good rate for a pocket-size solo game.”

So far I am apparently a below par Gee Haw player, but it’s quick and I will challenge it again with some vigour. As McCord also noted Gee Haw is “easy on the brain. “Relaxing, not taxing.”

McCord said he was surprised I had not asked about the name of the game (as most people do). He explains it in a how-to-play video, but being a farm boy I caught on before that.

But I will let the designer explain.

“I know a lot of horse people, and somewhere along the line I learned the Gee and the Haw use to drive a team of horses. The teamster is telling the horses to turn left or right, and left or right is what the game’s all about,” said McCord.

Ultimately Gee Haw is so different as a solitaire game – at least to me – that it’s an easy high recommendation. Simple rules and yet challenging time burner. Check it out at ww.newventuregames.com

Diploe 'stacks-up' well as part of 8x8 Project

 

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #14.

Dipole, a 2007 release from Mark Steere is basically an annihilation-style game in as much as you win if all of your opponent's checkers are removed from the board.

In Dipole each player starts with a single stack of 12 checkers. If you have chunky checkers like mine it’s a huge stack, but fortunately you will quickly be deconstructing the stack into smaller stacks.

A stack, or a portion of a stack, is moved a distance equal to the number of checkers in the moved stack. So, as an example a three-stack, can be moved a distance of three squares, and the initial 12-stack can’t be moved in its entirety.

Non-capturing moves must be made forward or diagonally forward – in a straight line, no changing direction.

Interestingly, in Dipole stack movement is not obstructed by intervening stacks, regardless of size or colour.

Capturing moves can be made in any of eight directions, but a stack can capture only equal size or smaller stacks.

To facilitate capture as a game continues stacks can be moved onto other, like-coloured stacks. Merging moves can only be made in the forward or diagonally forward directions as well.

This one won’t be mistaken for the best of ‘Project 8x8 & 48’ but is certainly worthy of inclusion with some interesting decisions in terms of building and deconstructing stacks, and limited move options unless capturing.

 

Simple rules but Stakko leaves one wanting more

 

Stakko – you might have heard of it under the name 27 – is a small box, two-player abstract strategy game from publisher Steffen Spiele.

You might think of Stakko, by designer Laurent Escoffier, at least the version reviewed here, as a sister to Ringo and Nonaga, and is also the weakest of trio.

Each player has a stack of pieces at opposite ends of a nine-disc pathway – all the pieces are wood here and in that regard Stakko is very nice.

A player’s discs must be moved to the other end – basically crossing the field to the spot your opponent starts.

Pieces are moved based on the number of stacks you control.

If you land on an opponent’s stack you end up controlling that stack as your piece is on top.

This one should have been a fun ‘coffee break-style’ filler, based on easy rules, nice game pieces and quick play – but it wasn’t.

This one just never rose above, it's too quick to get into, at least for Trevor and I.

In Canada you can find Stakko at ilo307.com

Solo game drips steampunk theme

 

If you are into solo gaming, and you enjoy a darker world to explore then you might want to look at Clockwork Insanity : A Solo Steampunk Card Game.

This one drips atmosphere albeit a bit of a mixed bag in that regard.

At it’s heart it looks and feels steampunk, but there is a healthy dose of gothic, and a full dash of horror in this one too.

So what of the story here?

“While deployed as a guard to suppress a riot at the Claybury Asylum for the Criminally Insane you discover you are trapped by the automata of the notorious inmate Dr Von Klutzn,” notes its Kickstarter page.

“Can you escape from the asylum by journeying through its dark halls and cells to discover the 5 keys needed to successfully exit the building while maintaining the precious air supply that powers your pneumatic suit and weapons, or will you become yet another victim of the mechanical monsters roaming the asylum?”

This is a nice build as a Print n Play, card driven you can sleeve the game driver rather easily, and then the rules which I at least prefer in print rather than on a screen. The cards here fits the theme, being steampunk through and through but they are AI if that is a factor in your game buying decisions.

From there game play is straightforward and rather well-laid out too.

“Clockwork Insanity is played through a series of rounds which represent the areas of the asylum you are searching for a key,” notes the KS page. “The end of each round is triggered when you retrieve a key, (you are seeking five), within the Exploration deck. The last round is completed once you have retrieved the final key and played to the end of the Exploration deck to successfully escape from the asylum. . .

“Once you have acquired the fifth key you play to the end of the Exploration deck to complete the final turn. If you succeed in reaching the end of the Exploration deck with the five keys you have still succeeded in escaping from the Claybury Asylum for the Criminally Insane.”

This is very much a theme-driven one, that you best be into before hitting print, but once into it Clockwork Insanity is a solid little time burner.

Fianco a 2005 design by Fred Horn

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #13.

Back a few when I added Renpaarden to the 8x8 & 48 project because 9x9 games work so nicely using the checkerboard intersections I said there would be another game or two that used that little trick.

Well here is the next on; Fianco a 2005 design by Fred Horn, and a production board produced at one point by Gerhards Spiel und Design.

Fianco, which I have seen online is Italian for ‘side’ or ‘flank’, has a rather unique initial lay out – see photo – with the simple goal to be the first player to move one of your pieces to the opponent's back line.

The rules here are rather straight forward too, making it an easy try with your own 8x8 & 48 Project set.

On a turn, you move or jump with one of your pieces either forward (whether orthogonally or diagonally) or sideways. In this one backwards movement is not allowed.

You can capture in Fianco too – in fact you must if possible.

You capture by jumping (diagonally forward) over an enemy stone – so very much like regular checkers -- landing on the immediate empty cell.

While capturing is mandatory as noted multiple / maximum is not enforced.

Fianco is not particularly unique, but you start from a very different formation, that provides just enough difference that it’s a good one to add into a play mix.

Generatorb more game than expected

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #12.

This one is interesting as it reminds me how long I have been reviewing board games.

It was back in July 2015 I first reviewed Generatorb for Yorkton This Week.

I liked Tim Schutz’s 2001 well-enough back then, and it remains solidly interesting today.

Generatorb is a game of jumping and capturing where you attempt to get one of your own pieces in your opponent's generator square – basically across the board which is positioned as a diamond between the players.

The orientation of the board, while not unique to Generatorb, is not used too often, so it gives this abstract strategy game an unusual visual playing field. It makes you visualize moves in a slightly askew fashion from the norm.

Each player requires 24 stackable game pieces – so the max for the 8x8 & 48 Project.

The playing pieces are called Orbs.

Orbs move by jumping in a straight line over another playing piece to the empty space behind it. Orbs can go in any of the eight directions when moving, but must jump over a piece to move. Orbs can do multiple jumps if it is possible, similar to a checkers jump.

With four pieces starting on the board the remaining 20 are held in reserve off the board.

After an Orb moves out of the Orb-Generator and vacates a space, a new playing piece is placed in the empty space. This is done at the end of a player's turn. It's not considered a turn to create a new Orb. Only one new Orb can be created per turn. Players may leave a space in the Orb-Generator empty until another turn if they so desire.

Capturing opponent pieces is an element of Generatorb. Orbs capture by jumping over a playing piece onto your opponents playing piece. Orbs can only capture Orbs not Spheroids.

So what is a Spheroid you ask?

Spheroids are two Orbs stacked on top of each other to create one playing piece. They are created by jumping an Orb over another playing piece onto one of your own Orbs.

Spheroids are more versatile pieces as they can move two ways, either like an Orb or one space in any direction. Similar to a Chinese Checker.

Spheroids capture by landing on your opponent's piece. Spheroids can capture Orbs and Spheroids.

To split a Spheroid move the top piece like a Spheroid and leave the bottom piece behind. You can split a Spheroid as a move or as a capture. Yes, a splitting Spheroid can capture another Spheroid.

That was basically the game when created.

However, good games evolve, and Generatorb did just that, becoming much more in the process of that evolution.

A few years after creating the game Schutz revisited his creation and added a third piece; the Globe.

Globes are a stack of three same coloured game pieces and are created by stacking an Orb on a Spheroid, a Spheroid on an Orb or by splitting a Spheroid and stacking half of it onto another Spheroid.

Place a stack of three pieces two spaces in front of your Orb-Generator … each player starts with a Globe.

Globes have several rules attached to them which add depth to the game.

Only your own orbs and spheroids may use your globe to jump over as a move.

Globes move along the board like a queen in chess, giving them significant freedom in terms of traversing the board.

Globes cannot jump over other game pieces.

Globes cannot be placed on an Orb-generator core, but may be placed onto any other Orb-generator space.

Globes cannot be captured or capture other game pieces.

Globes cannot be placed or created orthogonally next to another globe regardless of what colour the other globe is.

Once created, Globes cannot be split into its component parts.

The abilities and limitations of Globe pieces add much to the game.

In addition, a new win condition was added as well.

You win by taking control of five of the Front Line spaces. This is the line of eight spaces across the middle of the diamond.

With the revised rules Generatorb goes from the rather mundane, to a game that edges its way into comparisons with some of the best alternative games for your checkerboard, in the conversation with great games such as Lines of Action and Dameo.

This is certainly more game than I think most might imagine and deserves some play exploration.

 

Fine art enhances game play of Embers

 

When it comes to 18-card game offerings nobody produces more games on a regular basis than Button Shy.

And more often than not the games they release are ones you will want to take a look at.

Now you can add Embers to that list.

Embers comes from designer Steven Aramini, and artist Steven De Waele.

And we must start with a tip of the hat to the artist for doing a really fine job on this one. I get a Norse mythology vibe off it, although I believe there is no specific culture this one is tied too. Still the art works.

As for the game play, well to start with this is a solo game of survival – and the copy I am reviewing was Print n Play. At just 18-cards it’s a quick print, cut and sleeve affair.

In Embers you are using your heroes to defend against waves of encroaching monsters and to keep your campfire lit. It’s a simple enough premise, but it works.

You have a band of heroes and through the game you will use each hero's unique strengths and movements to defend the fire from attack and prepare for the next onslaught.

The fire is ultimately the key. If it dies --- well so do you.

As you might expect though monsters tend to be relentless critters, and in each turn of Embers new monsters spawn – again not new but then you must have a challenge for it to be fun.

In the game you spend each hero’s action points to move heroes around the campfire, attack monsters, upgrade abilities, support each other, and forage for material to keep the fire going. Herein lies the meaty part of the game. There are decisions to be made and never enough action points to do everything you want to. Making the right choice at the right time is crucial to a player’s success.

After the heroes act, the monsters strike: damage the nearest hero or even the fire itself.

When the night card appears, a new round begins. Survive four full rounds without the fire being extinguished to win.

A compact game supported with fine art making Embers a great solo option as evenings darken sooner as fall arrives.

Check it out at www.buttonshy.com

Sneak through or blow things up

 

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #11.

In terms of ‘Project 8x8 & 48’ few have more straight forward rules than Boom & Zoom (Second Edition) from designer Ty Bomba and released in 2018.

This is a much more basic design in terms of components than the first edition, making it perfect here.

Each player has four towers, three pieces high, as seen in photo of the game’s starting position.

From there, on a turn players do one of two actions; they can ‘boom"’ (fire) or ‘zoom’ (move). In both cases the action is the number of spaces equal to the tower's height. The move is in a straight line.

Pieces can zoom or boom in all eight directions, and ultimately you want to get pieces across the board and off so they count at the end of a game.

Along the way you get to blow up pieces. If you are in range you simply remove the top piece of any opponent tower. You want ‘fork’ situations where a boom hits more than one stack.

The twist here is that the game ends when only one player's pieces remain on the board, and the player who managed to exit the most pieces off of the opponent's side of the board wins.

Therein lies the crux of Boom & Zoom, finding a balance of getting pieces through to score, while maintaining some forces to defend against your opponent getting too far ahead.

Games are generally close and you can find yourself facing decisions about whether to boom a piece as it would bring the end of the game closer, and you can see you are behind.

This one plays fast, but there is more depth, and strategy than a first look might suggest.

A most-pleasant surprise to explore.

Around we go with circular chess

When it comes to chess it has been played on so many different boards and configurations its almost impossible to keep track, although amid the myriad are well known versions on 3D boards, hexagonal boards and perhaps less know circular ones.

It appears the first circular board was used in Byzantine Chess (900); an “ancient chess variant which uses a 16 X 4 circular board. Piece movement is the same except that Queen moves only one space diagonally and Bishop moves two diagonally, jumping the first space. Additionally, two pawns blocking one another's path may be removed (both are removed),” details Board Game Geek.

Then in 1983 David Reynolds developed a Circular Chess rule set “after reading a reference to chess being played on a circular board in medieval times. Imagining how it might have played, he developed such a version,” again from BGG.

“His board consists of four rings (files) and sixteen radii (ranks) with a large, unplayable center circle. Mr. Reynolds would often adorn the center with the crest of the city of Lincoln, U.K., thus the design is often referred to as a "Lincoln board".

“A standard set of chess pieces is used. However, each player gets two ranks of pieces surrounded by two ranks of pawns. The king and queen are placed on the innermost file (ring). Movement mimics standard chess, allowing the rooks and queen to move fully around a ring. Castling and en passant capturing are not allowed.”

As you might imagine circular chess and its specific board are not readily available – I was happy to find a set at a thrift store some time ago.

But a set is also available in a small box, cloth board set from kanare-abstract.com

I have come to really respect what Kanare does in terms of preserving some very old abstract strategy games while also offering new design efforts to what is admittedly a niche market.

The rules included in the Kanare set are the original version which more strictly follows both rules of Byzantine chess and orthodox chess.

“The board shape makes the game slightly different from regular chess, and there are no established tactics. Therefore, both familiar and unfamiliar chess players may find this game refreshing,” notes the Kanare website.

Something of a chess novelty, the fact the rules are familiar with the board offering the twist, it’s an easy to learn chess variant which still puts a refreshing take on an old classic, making it a fine addition to a chess collection.

Shrinking the board a wee bit with India

 I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #10.

When it comes to this little 8x8 & 48 project, it is being fuelled in part by the versatility of the basic checkerboard.

While the checkerboard is 8x8, it just as easily plays as a 9x9 board as noted in the posting previously with Renpaarden.

And now I will shrink our versatile board just a bit, with a game that plays on a 6x6 board.

Now of course you can go pretty wild in terms of smaller configurations within an 8x8 board, but of course it can be confusing remembering which squares are in play and which aren’t taking away from the actual game experience.

But, 6x6 is easily envisioned, the outer squares around the entire board out of play.

And, as you will see in the photo here, you can easily use a felt marker to ‘gently’ mark your 6x6 area, without taking away from the overall board.

So welcome to Martin Windischer’s 2003 designed India.

This is a crossing game of a type. You win if you move a stack of size one to the opposite side, or conversely a player with no stacks of size one, loses.

India starts with each player having 12 pieces on the two rows closest to them, and an additional 12 pieces off board.

On a turn a player must do one of the following actions:

• Drop an off board stone over a friendly stack.
• Move a friendly stack to an (orthogonal or diagonal) adjacent empty cell.
• Capture an (orthogonal or diagonal) adjacent enemy stack with exactly one less stone than the moved stack, with captured pieces removed.

India isn’t the greatest game ever, but the need to grow stacks to hold dominance in capture, but also maintain single stones to win – you best have two because lose the last one you have and you lose the game – means some tense decisions. This is very much a game of resource management and balance that makes it a fine first 6x6 game for this effort.

Stacking rejuvenates Morris variant

Kanare Abstract has earned a very solid reputation for putting out small box abstract strategy games which are well worth a look for those who lean toward such games.

In some cases the games available – check out kanare-abstract.com for the full range – are recent designer creations while others such as Morris being reviewed here reaches back a few centuries.

The Kanare website notes, “Morris is a classical game that existed as late as the Roman era and was especially popular in medieval Europe. The players place their pieces on the board one by one, and then move them on the grid. When three pieces are placed in a straight line, one of the opponent's pieces is captured.

Arguably the most famous version is Nine Men's Morris, which uses nine pieces for each of the two players.

“Nine Men's Morris is a very old game that has been played for thousands of years all over the world. It was most popular about five hundred years ago and was played by Monks in churches as well as on village greens throughout England,” details Board Game Geek.

“. . . The first player to reduce their opponent to two pieces wins.

“In the first stage of the game players take turns placing their pieces on the board, attempting to make a line of three. Once all the pieces have been placed, players may slide them, still attempting to make a line of three. Whenever a player makes a line of three, they remove an opponent's piece of his choice. When one player has only three pieces left, he is allowed to move any piece from any point on the board to any other point in order to more effectively block the winning opponent and to make a line of three.”

But as often is the case with Kanare games, there is more offered in the small box. The version also includes Twelve Men's Morris, which uses twelve pieces for each.

Again from BGG, “Twelve Men's Morris is a traditional board game similar to Nine Men's Morris. It was most popular during the Middle Ages when it was played in courts across Europe. It is played on a board with 24 nodes joined by lines; each player has twelve pieces.”

The game proceeds in three phases:

* Players alternately place one piece on a node in each move. If a player makes three in a row, he or she can capture one of the opponent's pieces.

* Once all the pieces are placed, players take turns moving the pieces to adjacent nodes. Again, whenever a player forms three in a row, one of the opponent's pieces may be captured.

* When one player is down to just three pieces, the remaining pieces may ‘fly’ to anywhere on the board (not just adjacent nodes).

So far the Kanare set is just a handy little version of an easily taught classic that offers some historical interest but not much in terms of last challenge.

What makes this version worth a much longer look in that an original variant -- "Stacking Morris" -- using a piece-stacking mechanism included.

In this interesting variant “the player who makes a ‘mill’ during the game chooses one of the opponent's singletons on the board and puts it under one of pieces of the mill to make a stack. The stacks are owned and controlled by the player who has placed the top piece. Whenever you move a stack, you move the entire stack and cannot separate two pieces,” details the Kanare rules.

While other rules follow ultimately “The player who makes a mill that consists of three of their own stacks immediately wins the game. This includes when this is accomplished as a result of using an opponent's stack to make a mill, or when it is accomplished by an opponent's move. Also, this winning condition by a mill made with three stacks takes precedence over all one-level mills,” explains the rules.

It is the stacking version of Morris which intrigues here, a different experience within a well-understood core rule set, which makes this one worth a very long look, and ultimately recommended collection addition.

Attraction an unheralded gem from a quarter of a century ago

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #9.

As I continue my 8x8 & 48 project I step back to the last year of the last millennium where I find the largely unheralded gem; Attraction.

As noted this one from designer Mathieu Rivier with a published version from Dujardin came out in 1999, and if there was fanfare then it didn’t last obviously, and frankly it should have.

Attraction is a game which will make you think hard, and it will take your mind in different directions from most games, and those two things are good when looking into abstract strategy games.

This is one of those games where the goal is familiar, move all of your pieces across the board to the initial spots where your opponent’s pieces started.

Each player has eight pieces starting on opposite sides of the board.

Where the ‘thinking’ comes in is in how pieces moves.

The pieces -- by the thin theme here the planets -- may move in orbits around another orthogonally adjacent stone of either colour – again from the planetary theme termed the gravity centre. So the moving stone can move to an empty cell which is orthogonally adjacent to the gravity center.

The tricky element is that an isolated piece/planet cannot move.

By contrast, you are looking to chain moves. Orbits, or swings around that gravity centre, are multiple, after one orbit, the moving piece can continue to move, if the direction remains the same -- if it began clockwise, it must continue counterclockwise, or vice versa.

Adding to the move options and giving you one more thing to look for, is that if there is a third ‘planet’ in front of a possible orbit, the orbiting stone can move to its place and push that stone to the immediate next empty cell in the same direction of the orbit). If that next immediate cell occupied, the gravity push is not possible.

The movement here is perhaps not unique, but I have not seen it before that I recall, and that really enhances play. Something which is so different is challenging in that uniqueness.

In terms of ‘crossing’ games, and there are many, this one is certainly among the best and since it fits this project perfectly, Attraction is highly recommended.

Run your 'horses' to a win in Renpaarden

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #8.

Renpaarden is a game which really shows the versatility of what I am now terming the ‘8x8 & 24 system’ really is.

This one from designer Fred Horn back in 1981 is actually played on a 9x9 board, so in this case you play on the points of your checkerboard – yes it is that simple.

In this one the checkers take on the movement of knights from chess which already hints at some fun ahead.

On your turn you move a piece and like the chess knight can jump over pieces to get where it is going.

In Renpaarden – which apparently means Racehorses in Dutch – a piece can also jump to a cell occupied by a enemy stone without capture, and in that case, it can jump again. This move can be repeated until the stone lands on an empty cell.

This is where the fun of this one ramps up. Finding and/or planning chained jumps are a key to success.

The goal of Renpaarden is to be the first player that moves all your stones to the opponent's initial position.

Games are generally close, and a chained jump or two can be the difference, as can getting close to home is a good position so you are not wasting moves getting into a final spot. Games are tense as a result and fun too.

This one clearly owes its existence to the classic Halma (1884), and the more recent Chinese Checkers (1893). This one is better – although it’s only two-player – where Chinese Checkers is still for four-to-six.

Interestingly, expanding to 9x9 games doesn’t actually add a lot of options to ‘the system’ but Renpaarden is lots of fun, and there just might be a sister 9x9 before I am done.

Bashni's stacking mechanic good twist on checkers

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #7.

Bashni is another older game that really is a good one and it fits the ‘8x8 & 24’ exploration I’m on.

Created 150 years ago – at least Board Game Geek pegs it as from 1875 – this is a game in the Checkers-family out of Russia.

The game is identical to Shashki (Russian Checkers) in the rules regarding movement, capture, and promotion – check them out at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_draughts.

But what makes Bashni most interesting is that every time a piece is captured, it is put at the bottom of the capturing piece or stack. If the captured piece is itself on a stack, only the top piece is captured, and the underlying pieces are thus ‘liberated’.

Pieces are never out of the game – only held hostage if you will.

The mechanic allows pieces to be ‘freed’ which means comebacks at least ‘feel’ more realistic here.

The top checker in a stack determines who controls it, and the entire stack is moved.

A piece/stack can move diagonally forward to an empty cell, as in draughts.

When it reaches the last row, it is promoted to an officer.

An officer can move forward and backwards over a diagonal line of empty cells -- a bishop move in chess.

Capture is mandatory and multiple. Players must choose their capture sequence, it is not mandatory to maximize the number of capturing pieces.

Basic pieces captures by the checkers short leap, while officers capture by the long leap.

A players loses if they have no valid moves.

Bashni was the inspiration for Laska, Chess world champion Emanuel Lasker's stacking game created in 1911. It utilizes a smaller 7x7 board but frankly doesn’t seem to add much to recommend it over the original.

This is a pretty dynamic game with captures and releases happening with regularity one the two sides ‘meet-in-the-middle’.

The potential to regain pieces – multiple ones at times – really keeps one ‘in the game’, and when it happens is just plain gratifying.

This one is an elite offering among 8x8 & 24 games.

Owlman provides a enjoyably different game experience

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #6

If you want to truly experience the potential of an 8x8 checkerboard with only two sets of 24 pieces then I highly recommend you give Owlman a try.

Created as recently as 2010 by Andrew Perkis Owlman lets you delve into an asymmetric board game experience.

Asymmetric games have unequal forces and have been around as long as board games have been most notably through games such as hnefatafl, and bagh chal.

Now Owlman might not be up to the level of those games, but it’s a fun one just the same.

Of course Owlman is not balanced, nor of course is it supposed to be.

Which side has the usual advantage I’ll leave up to players to discover with a few playthroughs.

Now if you Google this one suggestions have using pieces from both a checker and chess set, but checkers are really all you need.

In terms of set up the dark squares on the board represent the trees of Mawnan wood; pieces move between the trees on the light squares.

On one side you have Doc which can be represented by the white chess king – but a stack of two checkers works perfectly well, and his helpers are the 12 single white checkers.

The other player has the Owlman which can be played as a black knight – since he makes a 'swoop' move from corner to opposite corner of a 4x2 rectangle- a kind of elongated knight move – but a single black checker or stack of two works just as well.

The Owlman's main objective is to frighten all of Doc's helpers out of the woods.

By contrast Doc aims to reach the Owlman's lair, along with one of his helpers.

Doc’s side plays first.

All pieces (both white and black) may make a 'step' move to any adjoining white square- the move of a King in Chess and many checker variants.

When the Owlman makes a swoop it may move over other pieces. 

Owlman can also make a 'super swoop'.

Owlman can only generally capture helpers, and can only do so with a step move, not a swoop move. Whenever Owlman advances by making a step move towards a helper, he instills such terror that the poor helper immediately runs out of the woods and plays no further part in the game.

There is an exception you will find if you check out the full rules at https://owlmanthegame.blogspot.com/

One other method of capture is possible for Owlman, and that is by super swoop. A super swoop may only be made when Owlman is placed on Doc’s starting spot (the church tower). From here he may super swoop to any square occupied by a helper. The helper is then captured and removed from the board. From the tower Owlman must make a super swoop move; other move types from the church tower are not permitted. 

The game ends as a win for White if Doc reaches Owlmans start position and has also moved a helper to next to him. Doc also wins (though this happens but rarely) if a trapped Owlman is unable to move on his turn of play. Owlman wins if he either captures Doc or all of Doc's helpers.

This is a game most may not know, even abstract strategy fans, but one that fits this ‘list’ so well, it deserves greater exploration.

Canadian game company hits mark with kobold minis

If you are an avid role player you probably crave new miniatures to get onto the gaming table.

At least that’s the general case with most members of our ‘Meeple Guild’ each of us having dozens of minis we have gathered through the years – admittedly some never glued together, others never or barely painted, and many never seeing game play – but we always look longingly at the next one we want.

Well mini fans Canadian company Helios Tabletop has just ramped up things in terms of our collective collecting addiction.

This company really has burst on the scene in the most exciting of ways.

In a world where increasingly minis are purchased as stl files and you are left to print them hoping your printer is up to the task Helios still produces physical minis.

But they have taken that a step further creating what are essentially ‘theme packs’ releasing a small set of related minis monthly. You can get in on a month delivery schedule and this little white box – nothing fancy in the packaging – of mini joy arrives in your mailbox.

And, better yet the minis inside are complete. No gluing which we all know is the absolute worst part of miniatures.

Now this review specifically is looking at the Cavern of Kobolds, Mythic Box.

Now kobolds are what we might term an under-appreciated dungeon denizen, but one look at this box of kobold baddies will change that. These are fierce defenders of the dark which will have your RPG characters wishing they were back in the local tavern with a mug of grog.

“The decision to do a Kobolds Mythic Box came about for a few reasons,” offered Nick Di Scipio with Helios via email.

Canadian company

“First, they're classic fantasy enemies and almost everyone has faced them before in their campaigns.

“Second, we meet a lot with local DMs and players and during a specific round of interviews with local DMs it was one of the enemies a lot of DMs wanted to see in our Mythic Box line and so we took that input and decided to make it the next Mythic Box encounter at the time. Since many players have encountered kobolds before, we knew we had to make our version stand out and get people excited about Kobolds again. We didn’t want it to feel like just another throwaway skirmish - so we set out to create something that felt fresh, dynamic, and memorable.

“That meant bringing a lot of depth to the encounter like tasking the party with a time-sensitive objective of interrupting a shamanic ritual to prevent the awakening of an ancient dragon, incorporating environmental puzzles that players must solve to progress through the encounter, and designing unique combat mechanics that push beyond the usual kobold tactics.”

Oh yes, Helios makes integrating their mythic boxes into a campaign – at least a D&D 5e one with an included ‘combat encounter’ a more or less random encounter to drop into a dungeon as a very good excuse to get these beauty minis to the table.

“The idea for the Mythic Boxes came from a desire to make Dungeon Master's lives easier so they could focus on the parts of DMing they love without all the stress and time that comes from the hours of prep before a session,” explained Di Scipio. “We wanted to create immersive, ready-to-run encounters that deliver both high-quality miniatures and a range of DM tools like stat blocks and story hooks in one package. With two-thirds of the Helios leads being Dungeon Master's, we know how time-consuming it can be to prep all the aspects needed to run an exciting and unforgettable encounter - so we wanted to make it much easier to deliver a consistently exciting experience for their party, while still allowing the DMs to keep their creative freedom intact.”

So what does The Meeple Guilder in charge of 3D printing, and a mini-painting addict think of the Helios minis.

“I did some work on those kobolds last night, I need to know what resin these guys use it's pretty resilient,” Jordan noted in a  group chat we have going. “Tiny bit of support clean up but no printing errors and the detail is pretty good on them.”

The detail drew praise from Jordan as well, noting he “appreciated the fancied up cave bases for the kobolds.”

When asked about a fav kobold, well Di Scipio has one.

“Most people would probably say the Kobold Shaman is the best piece in the set with his potions, crude staff, and skull mask but I personally think it's the Kobold Thief as his design is quite unique and we wanted to incorporate the bag he carries as part of his combat mechanics by giving him an ability to 'scoop up' smaller players,” he said. “I'm sure DMs will be delighted to work this into their combat and snatch players away when they fail the dexterity save because we sure enjoyed that!”

Overall the kobolds are very nice, and can be very useful for an DM or D&D table, which is really what Di Scipio said was Helios’ goal.

“Just like all our Mythic Boxes, we hope the Cavern of Kobolds set offers DMs a plug-and-play encounter that’s easy and enjoyable to run while giving their players an exciting, cinematic experience filled with surprises, clever enemy mechanics, and meaningful choices that go beyond simple combat,” he said. “Overall if the players are happy, the DMs are happy and we want to help to create that satisfaction.”

Toward that goal Helios hit the target dead centre.

Check it out at https://heliostabletop.ca/products/cavern-of-kobolds-april-2025-monthly-mythic-box

Project 8x8 & 48 - #5 3 Crowns

Over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #5.

Three Crowns, a game designed by Larry Black created back in 2000 is certainly one of the lesser known games to make this little project, but certainly deserves to be included.

With Three Crowns you begin with each player (as all of the games in this project it is for two) having 10 pieces which are placed around the outer edge of the board (see photo).

In the game you are trying to create Triokas. A Troika is formation of three or more ‘uncrowned’ stones in a row, all belonging to the same player, in an orthogonal or diagonal direction.

To alleviate a first-player advantage the first player must move the same stone on the first two turns.

On a turn a player has a few options depending on the in-game situation.

The first is to move either a crowned or uncrowned stone – more on that below. Pieces move to an adjacent empty cell – think a king in chess. 

If an uncrowned stone becomes part of a 'Troika' after moving, it becomes crowned – add an off board piece as in creating a checker king.

You can also make a jump with any piece. The jump though must make a double jump over two opponent stones.

However, there are some restrictions here, and the real depth of the game comes out. There’s a lot to digest but therein lies the attraction of this game.

Crowned stones can only jump over opponent uncrowned stones, and uncrowned stones can only jump opponent crowned stones. 

So a jumping move consists of moving a stone two cells in a direction (orthogonal or diagonal) into an empty cell while passing directly over the opponent stone. After making one jumping move, a stone must make a second. The second jumping move can be made in the same direction, or in a different direction. 

Also a third jump move is not permitted. 

If no second jumping move is possible, then the first jumping move cannot be made.

Jumping moves are not compulsory.

When two uncrowned stones are jumped then the second jumped uncrowned stone is captured and removed from the game. 

When two Crowned stones are jumped, as long as it would not become part a 'Troika', the second jumped crowned stone becomes uncrowned. If a 'Troika' would result from uncrowning, the second crowned stone is captured and removed from the game – so when to jump is a big decision at times.

If an uncrowned stone becomes part of a 'Troika' after making the double jump, it is crowned.

You win if you are the player that first captures three stones, or makes a crowned Troika (i.e., a Troika with three crowned stones).

The more recent LoT (Lines of Three), a 2012 design from Néstor Romeral Andrés reminds quite a lot of this one, it being simpler and Three Crowns more ‘thinky’

Again if you are going to explore the basic premise of this ‘list’ then Three Crowns is a must to try. Just make sure you give it several plays because initially this one can be a bit hard to absorb in terms of its intricacy.

Time for some inner reflection as a robot

To begin this week’s review, I will admit that while I have played a number of solo games over the years You Were Made: A Solo Journaling RPG is unique in my spectrum of experience.

So to define this one I went to the Kickstarter teaser page where it stated “You Were Made is a minimalist, rules-light solo role-playing game crafted to inspire introspective storytelling and creative journaling.

“You take on the role of an Echoform, a synthetic being built by humanity in its final days. Not a servant, not a conqueror, but a vessel of memory.”

At this point I was thinking Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, and there is a sense of that here, you play a construct which is on something of a path of self discovery – with a somewhat understated but also apparent element of learning something of yourself in the process.

Canadian designer

So this one is from Canadian designer Deny Trudel – as regular readers will know that’s a bonus in my books, and Trudel was good enough to answer some questions via email for this one.

An obvious question was why a solo RPG where journaling is its core?

“Over the last few years, I’ve been encouraged to journal for mental health and mindfulness, but I could never really get into it,” offered Trudel. “I’d sit there staring at the page, scribbling a few mundane thoughts, then just stall out. 

“So instead, I built myself a journaling game engine (complete with lore) to help me write through a narrative lens. And that actually worked. It felt like I was keeping a diary from the perspective of a sentient android, but somehow the process still let me explore my own emotions and experiences. I was packaging my own stuff into a story and it felt honest and fulfilling.

“And since making stuff is literally what I do, I decided to turn that little journaling tool into a real game. You Were Made is my first full-fledged TTRPG. I’d done Kickstarter once before (two years ago) for Little Worlds Dice, a line of polyhedral dice sets. It was successful, but the production headaches and the intense competition kind of drained the joy out of it. This time, I wanted to make something personal. Something I was proud of. And it gave me the chance to source most of the materials locally (or semi-locally. lol), which honestly feels like a huge win.”

Not surprisingly there is a lot of Trudel within the game.

“From the start, I wanted You Were Made to touch on some of the philosophical and psychological themes that mattered to me at the time,” Trudel said. “I tend to build ideas around overarching concepts, and I knew early on that I didn’t want combat in the game.

“I also scrapped the XP system pretty quickly.

“What I really wanted was a game that gave space for reflection, something that let players explore feelings like loss, uncertainty, and quiet resilience in a world designed for introspection.

“Based on the play-tester feedback I’ve received, I think I managed to hit that emotional core. And honestly, that core is what holds the entire experience together. Without it, the game wouldn’t work. 

“But I also wanted it to be fun. A creative tool that’s easy to jump into (just a d20, the prompt deck, and a journal) and go. The kind of game that invites you to tell beautiful stories and slowly build your own little world. And really, bottom line, making stuff is just plain fun!”

At this point I will note my experience with this one has been more superficial than I would like. Now maybe if I were at a secluded cabin for a couple of weeks You Were Made would be a good fit, but summer is busy and extra writing journaling is not a good fit. But, the taste was still intriguingly sweet and I am looking forward to winter when time for such an endeavour will be more readily available.

When asked what players can expect Trudel noted, “Simplicity. Reflection. Creative sparks to keep the story moving. At its heart, You Were Made is a journaling game and journaling remains the core of the experience. But the game surrounding it is intentionally solid, even if it leans into simplicity by design.

“I also put a lot of thought into supporting that journaling with a lightweight power system: Fragments. They serve two roles: 1) boosting your rolls and 2) acting as a kind of currency to “buy” special cards that shift, enhance, or twist the narrative. The goal was to give your mind something to grab onto, something to play with, without bogging you down in a bunch of rules or mechanics. If I did my job right, you won’t need to reference the instructions for long. More importantly, I wanted the game to feel freeing, not like a set of rules you have to obey, but a set of tools you can use however you want. The ultimate goal was to create something that opens the door for the writer, not something that locks them in.”

Therein lies the flexibility to be yourself as a gamer and that is important.

Some RPGers will no doubt lament that there are no battles, yet might you recall fragments that harkened back to battles? Who can say what others might discover as the journey is the players own.

In the designer’s mind what is the best element of the game and why?

“At the heart of You Were Made is an emotional core that’s all about healing through memory,” said Trudel. “The adventure deck (the prompt cards) does a great job of tapping into those universal feelings that tend to linger and resurface as we get older. It’s therapeutic without being therapy. It gives you space to sit with your thoughts, to process, without ever feeling clinical.

“On a more practical note, I’m in love with the art. I worked with an amazing illustrator to craft the visual identity of the game, and I think we landed on something really special. I honestly couldn’t pick a favourite piece, but the artwork ties the whole experience together. It brings emotional weight and presence to the game, and when you sit down with the cards, the die, the tokens, it just feels good. There’s a real tactile joy to it.

“Almost all of the components are sourced here in Canada, too, with just a few exceptions (tokens from the UK, packaging from the U.S.). Being able to keep production close to home has made the whole thing feel even more grounded and intentional and helps support the Canadian economy during a difficult time.”

Trudel likes some of the elements built into the game to broaden the experience too.

“I think our dual Fragment system is one of the more unique aspects of You Were Made. Fragments serve a dual purpose: they’re both a power-up and a currency, which forces the player to make meaningful decisions. Do you hold onto them to boost your rolls? Or spend them to twist the story with special cards? That tension adds a nice layer of strategy to what’s otherwise a very introspective game.

“One of my key design goals was to build in multiple layers of choice. First, you draw a prompt: that’s your predetermined event. Then you choose how to respond: that’s personal agency. And finally, you roll to see how it resolves: introducing a bit of luck. That middle step, that choice, is critical. It ensures that the game isn’t just a prompt deck, and it’s not just a dice fest either. It’s a blend of structure and freedom, giving players space to shape their own story while still feeling the push and pull of chance.”

As for what is the most unique mechanic within the rules, Trudel said, “I think of our specialty cards as the spice that kicks the flavour up a notch: Companions, Paradoxes, and Code Augments. Each one adds its own dimension to how the game unfolds.

“Companions let you shift your point of view: You get to respond to a prompt through another voice, another lens. Someone who sees the world differently than your Echoform might. Paradoxes are the wild cards: They throw a wrench into your instinctual response, forcing you to answer in a way that feels off, inverted, or emotionally messy.

“Code Augments are your upgrades: They stick around and grant special permissions that reshape how you play. For example, letting you draw three cards and pick the one that resonates most. They’re core tools that deepen the narrative and open up new angles for play.”

Now this game will not be for all. If you are not a writer at all this may be a hard pass.

But, if you like to think a bit differently about things, and enjoy keeping a diary or writing stories, well here is a framework to work within while still offering creative flexibility.

Watch for this one on Kickstarter as it might be just the winter escapism you need.