The Underground Colonies: A tile based strategy game
A short time ago we here at Twisted Studio discovered the awesome online services available at The Game Crafter! TGC is the world’s first web-to-print game publishing company. They’ve managed to create a platform which allows designers the tools they need to produce a wide variety of games, and gaming materials. One visit to their site and we were sold; this is the service we’ve been looking for!
We’ve developed rules for a number of different games, only some of which are based on our comic book titles. Considering we can’t possibly produce all of them at the same time, we’ve had to choose the most suitable concept to run with. The decision was more difficult than we could have thought. We wrestled with the idea of launching with a collectable card game, or perhaps a simple board game. No. The answer was found somewhere between.
The Underground Colonies is a customizable tile based strategy game. Players will choose an insect species, and start to build a colony. Gameplay will bring them on searches for valuable resources, and also conflict with rivaling colonies. Elements of the game will vary depending on whether or not players are above ground, or underground. The game rules have been structured in such a way to allow for continuous expansions, and customizations. Over time players can collect different game tiles, additional brood types for their colony, or new colonies as a whole.
Colonies has been and continues to be a really enjoyable project to work on, and we’re approaching the point of game-testing. As the final points of the rules are ironed out, we will be holding an email-based trial run of the game. When the time comes we’ll put the call out to our faithful twisted followers, and recruit four willing contestants to put the rules to the test. In the meantime, check out these game tile prototypes. They’ve been carefully designed to allow for endless combinations, and therefore endless selections of game boards. Are you ready to experience Colonies?
Lately I’ve been catching up on the Batman series. Truth be told, I’ve been really impressed with DC’s new 52. The massive relaunch encouraged me to revisit some old favourites, and even pick up some titles I’ve never read before. The Red Lantern Corps., All Star Western, both were captivating in their own way. Still, the creative team of Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder has continuously left me in absolute awe. I’ve always been a Batman fan, but the direction these two have taken the character into has given me a deeper appreciation for the man in the cowl.
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The Dark & The Fallen was one of the random story ideas put together for a pitch with Image Comics. Not surprisingly, we were not picked up by the company, and no publishing deal was made. In any case, we’ve held on to the artwork from the pitch, there are actually three pages of story drawn up. Perhaps we’ll post those later for a laugh. The story focused on Davor Dharkken, a warrior with a shady past. The Dark One, he is known as by villagers from far and wide. In a strange stroke of fate or happenstance Davor is forced into the protection of a fallen angel. From there our adventures would unfold.
The Outlaws 3 would have been thought up around the same time The Underground was actually. They were both inspired by the same family vacation spot, Smoke Rise Ranch. As the name suggests this western story followed three outlaws, though they were not all criminals to start. The trio is made up of an innocent bartender, a hardened bounty hunter, and a card hustler (who is really the only true outlaw in the bunch). A nasty vendetta with a crooked politician brings these three unlikely companions together in this tale. Once again the story was NOT picked up by any major publisher, but again we held on to the artwork for later reflection and laughter.
What is it?