With just a couple days left to go in the Kickstarter campaign, Calliope Games is closing in on the first of its stretch goals for the Titan Series: a game designed by James Ernest.
Since my last update, the project hit its initial funding goal, which means Callliope Games will be producing nine games by some fantastic names in tabletop gaming. (You can see the whole list below.) But there are two days left to hit some stretch goals. James Ernest, founder of Cheapass Games, has already been working on his train-based game design, was just unlocked yesterday at $150,000. Next comes Matt Forbeck, who has written a bunch of novels, co-designed Marvel Heroes Battle Dice, and is an occasional contributor here at GeekDad! After that is Peggy Brown (designer of Buzzword), and there have been hints of a “mystery European game designer.”
In case you missed Dave Banks’ initial write-up of the Titan Series, here’s a brief run-down. Calliope Games assembled a team of well-known game designers, and asked them to design “gateway games”–that is, games that can be enjoyed by newer gamers, generally play in under an hour, and don’t take half an hour to teach. The initial funding goal is for the first 9 games, which will be delivered over a three-year period.
You can pledge for individual titles, at $25 per game, or you can sign up for the whole thing for $145, which brings the price down to $16 per game–about half the expected retail price. For the stretch goal titles, you’d increase your pledge based on how many games you wanted. (So, for those of you who have already backed at the Titan level, you might consider upping your pledge by $16 or $32, which may tip the project over that first stretch goal.)
Although I do play a lot of heavier tabletop games, I’ve found that Calliope’s games make great openers for game nights, and some of them are my go-to games for a big group or when I’m introducing new folks to board games. I’m excited to see what these game designers come up with, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll hit a few of the stretch goals before this is all over.
For more about the project or to make your pledge, head over to the Kickstarter page.
Calliope Games is a sponsor of GeekDad.
