Tell me a little bit about Pack the Pack. What has you excited about it? Pack the Pack is a real-time tile laying game that is about what happens AFTER the adventurers slay the dragon. They are standing around the loot pile and have to figure out how to shove all of that beautiful booty into their packs and get back to town before the rest of the party to be crowed the true victor… the hero that the town tells stories about. It has me excited because it’s exactly the type of game that I like to play- a quick game that you can play multiple times so you can build strategy over the course of an evening, not the course of a year, and has you laughing with and yelling at the people you are playing with. The mechanics are completely generic in that I could play this with my mom, but nerdy enough that it’s the perfect game to play before (or after) a night of role playing. When I first started designing it, I thought it would be a super small, super niche game but the more and more I really worked on it, the more I saw that it really could have a broad appeal and that’s pretty exciting.
I’m also excited that it was chosen out of 500 entries to be one of Cards Against Humanity’s Tabletop Deathmatch finalists. That’s crazy to be pulled out of a pool like that. This was the first game that I really put myself into and it’s a really odd feeling to have that sort of public scrutiny but also that validation too. Games, almost by definition, are a hobby, and to have it be a “professional” thing is a really weird and exhilarating feeling. It’s also probably the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt. Games are such a passion, such a part of ME that to get critiqued is much more personal than feedback at work. So that feeling, as weird feeling as it is, also has me feeling alive and that’s pretty damn exciting.
What inspired Pack the Pack?
I was inspired to make a game in general. That nugget was floating around in my brain for a long time. I really just wanted to make a game that my group of friends could play because I think we’re a pretty typical group of nerds, I mean gamers. We need a game that will get us ready for a night of game play- space wise, brain wise and just overall physically pumped and so I started to look for that game. At the same time, I’ve always just been one for the underdog. That idea of inventory tetris, which so many people roll their eyes at, I KNOW can be fun and I want to show people it CAN be fun, dammit!
What was it like to compete in Tabletop Deathmatch?
Stressful. And I don’t really get stressed. I speak in front of people a lot. I do trainings as part of my day job. I just had a full film crew in my crappy, tiny house judging me as a parent for a video that is going to be put up for all to see and that was NOTHING compared to this. I really think it goes back to that idea that the judges were people who I really, actually cared what they think. So many times I don’t let myself get stressed about a situation because I recite the whole idea of “sticks and stones” to myself… well, these judges know their shit inside and out and know it way better than I do, so that was almost intimidating to go up in front of them, raw and vulnerable and open myself up.
And then to have it put on youtube for all to watch? I’ll take the film crew judging me as a mom any day.
Tell me more about your mechanics of Pack the Pack. How do they work?
Pack the Pack is a real time, tile laying inventory management game. What that means is that 3-6 players have tiles in a big pile in the middle of the table. They each draw five tiles, face down and when everyone is ready, someone yells, “PACK!” and everyone flips and starts packing their pack- the playmat in front of them. You pack by matching the gems (circles) on the tiles that you’ve flipped to make complete circles of a matching color. Everyone is drawing new tiles to fit as much loot (represented by the tiles) into their pack as efficiently as they can. If you draw something you don’t like, you can declare that it’s “Junk!” and toss it back, but it goes back in face up so everyone else can see it and get the advantage from it and now you have to take two tiles. When you think your pack is packed, yell, “To Town!” and you are done. Everyone else keeps on packing and stuffing. The game is over when it’s down to two players and one of them yells, “To Town!”.
In the basic version, you count how many complete circles of a single color you have made, extra points for three or four tiles (using quarter circle pieces). In the advanced version, you instead are scoring the loot items on the tile but they only count if the tile was part of a complete circle. This version, on the back side of the playmat, is much more strategic and for the more serious gamer. In both versions, you get extra points for going to town first because you got the best prices at the market and more time to schmooze with the townsfolk.
What do you hope to see happen with Pack the Pack in the future?
Well, of course I want to see the kickstarter super successful and the game take off and be on every game store shelf in America with expansions and a spin off Role-Playing game! But that’s dreaming big. I’d settle for it just to have a wildly successful kickstarter 😉
I interviewed Jürgen Mayer about Shinobi Clans and he provided me with some images from the game, including some exclusive pieces that you’ll see later in the article!
The Shinobi Clans box.
Tell me a little about Shinobi Clans. What’s exciting about it?
You’re the master of a ninja clan! You recruit the most skilled ninjas, arm them with the deadliest weapons and send them on secret missions! Will you try to assassinate the shogun? Will you allow the daimyo to hire your clan to protect him? But most importantly, will you manage to keep your plans hidden from the other ninja masters and see through theirs?
This is the ninja game I’ve always wanted. A couple of years ago, when I started designing the game, the ninja-themed board gaming landscape looked rather bleak, and that’s what made me develop my own game. I wanted a strong theme with integrated game mechanics, not just an abstract game with a ninja theme tacked on. I wanted lots of secret moves and uncovering hidden agendas and thrilling assassinations, because that’s what ninjas are all about. And epic ninja battles, of course.
The Poison Maker card. Exclusive!
In addition, the game looks fucking gorgeous! With over fifty illustrations by NEN, in a beautiful watercolor style, and a full bleed on the cards to make the artwork really stand out. I’m very excited about her work and collaboration. The game is a real eyecatcher. It also plays well. *ahem*
What kind of mechanics do you use to emulate the ninjas actions?
There’s a lot of hidden information in the game. In addition to the secret missions mentioned before, which each player selects at the beginning of a round and doesn’t reveal until the final battles, there is secret unit deployment. That’s a fancy way to say you play your ninja cards face down. ^^ These cards form stacks on the various targets, and the physical position of a card in a stack determines its tactical position in battle.
The only information you get from your rival clans is to which targets the ninjas are assigned. But you can use spies to reveal ninjas or scouts to force other players to play cards face up, and that can help you to figure out their plans.
Silent Killer card.
Besides these spying abilities happening during deployment and the combat stuff that comes into play in the battle phase at the end of the round, there are more specialized ninja occupations, like for example poison makers. These specialists manipulate the card stacks themselves. The poison maker kills the card on top of it before that ninja is able to enter combat. Remember that ninjas are played face down, so you won’t be able to tell a poisoner apart from a standard ninja – if you don’t use your spies effectively.
How do epic ninja battles work in your game?
Once everyone has played all of their cards or passed, the stacks of ninjas on the various targets are resolved, by turning them over and placing them into battle slots to the left and right of the target (guardians go left, assassins right); the first card on each side gets the innermost slot, and subsequent cards get the next slots going outwards.
If the ninjas are lucky, they’ll find a weapon waiting for them in their battle slot. Unlike ninjas, weapon cards can be used for both assassination and guarding, and are played into the respective battle slots on the side the player chooses.
Fukiya card.
When all ninjas are in place, all their special abilities and those of their weapons are resolved, which often affect the ninjas in the same battle slot on the other side. So the Jutte might disarm the opposing ninja or the Silent Killer might outright kill her opponent on the other side.
Finally, simply count up all power symbols on both sides and compare them. If the assassins have more power than the guardians, the target is killed, otherwise it survives. Players then get rewards for their successful contracts.
What kind of art guidance did you give to NEN to help find the designs you wanted?
I gave her my basic ideas of the quasi-historic Japanese setting I had in mind. Also, the color schemes for the various card types, which she worked directly into the background of all illustrations. And then a short description of each card, including suggestions for appropriate weapons that a ninja of that type should be carrying.
Here’s an example, for the Old Ninja Master card: “Basically an old Japanese guy that doesn’t look like it but could kill you in a heartbeat. His expression is probably nonchalant, because he fears nobody. He should not wear a ninja outfit, just simple feudal era clothes of common folk. If he carries a weapon, it is most likely hidden (maybe a kusari-fundo hidden in a fist) or a not very dangerous looking thing like a bokuto (katana shaped wooden training sword) or even a cane.”
Old Ninja Master card. Exclusive!
NEN would then send me a sketch and then often make some changes after getting my feedback. If you ask her, I’m sure she will tell you that I pestered her a lot with requests to make changes to the weapons and how the ninjas should wield them (“a real fighter would never angle the wrist like that and here’s why”).
You know, that’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine, artwork or photos of supposed expert fighters that don’t know how to properly hold their weapons. I’ve been doing traditional Japanese martial arts for some time, and have had at least basic training with almost all weapons depicted in the game (I think with the exception of the fukiya), and I was very picky in that regard (sometimes even taking reference photos of myself with the weapon to get my point across). I’m sorry, NEN!
That said, NEN brought a lot of her own concepts into the illustrations, and came up with a lot of great ideas. For example, for one of the cards, a more powerful version of the poison maker, she had the idea to draw two sisters, and I eventually changed the card name to Poison Twins to reflect that. It became one of my favorite cards.
What’s up next for you after Shinobi Clans?
I currently have ideas for four different board and card games, all in very early stages (some pages of notes here, a sketch of a board there), and non of them even in a playable prototype stage. I don’t know if I will ever develop them to a publishable state. I guess that also depends on how well Shinobi Clans is received and if any gamers want more stuff from me. Until then, I’m happy to assassinate some hapless Ronin whenever someone challenges me at my debut game.
