Have you pledged towards an established companies kickstarter? One where they could fund the game themselves? One where the rules took a long time in arriving and the rules lack variety and balance?
Have you?
Only kidding. I like Mantic, and I pledged for the original DreadBall, but I would like to draw peoples attentions to this really cool looking game:
SLAUGHTERBALL Set in a Cyberpunk future (the indie creator of the game has written a novel in the same universe: Dead Dwarves Don't Dance, under the pen-name of Derek Canyon, check it out!) where genetic science has led to the creation of genetically engineered creatures known as neo-humans that are specialized for certain tasks and roles, Slaughterball is THE entertainment of choice for the billions of jaded citizens who live in the megaplexes (mega-city sized complexes, where people are kept by the Global Government in order to return the greater part of the Earth to a natural 'wilderness' state).
Yearning for some form of entertainment to distract them from their corporate saturated lives, the citizens of this future demand blood, and when you can genetically engineer teams, what's to stop you designing a game that's both brutal and fast?
In Slaughterball every team fields every kind of player, and every player can handle the ball to score goals. There are no resets, no time-outs, and play continues for six turns or until someone has more points than the others! And did I mention you can also score points for knocking other players down, and for injuring them? (Violent teams can win simply by racking up enough knockdowns!)
The game box itself comes with 52 high quality pre-assembled miniatures; four full teams and four mavericks (MVPs). The board is double sided, providing a gaming arena suitable for 2-4 players, and is superbly detailed with four goals, sponsor ads, the central 'Meatgrinder' and more besides. Not to mention the slew of cards, tokens and the fistful of chunky dice that come with
The rules provide for Scrimmage play (all teams are the same, get it out of the box and play a la boardgame style); Exhibition (the teams are different, have special rules and have certain tokens to gain an edge); and League, your classic team building route with 50 skills to choose from!
The box comes with four teams: the distracting Valkyries; tactical Nemesis; accurate Swords of Damocles; and brutal Carnage. More teams are planned, including the feline neo-human Fury team, the Japanese esque Katana and more besides. It currently is just over half-way there, with sixteen days to go!
With free US shipping and international rates significantly reduced, this game offers incredible out-of-the-box value for money. I for one really hope to see it funded, as the passion and skill of the designer really comes through.
Head over to the kickstarter page to see:
Gameplay videos
Pledge levels
Artwork
Updates on characters and models
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frogthewhatgames/slaughterball Or have a look at the website,
http://www.slaughterball.net/, for more art and team info.
Check out the preview rules here:
http://www.slaughterball.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SlaughterballDraftRulebookFirst33pages.pdf In short I seriously recommend considering this game. Give it a look, and soon it'll be time to PLAY BALL! *Disclaimer: I am IN NO WAY affiliated with Frog The What Games or Slaughterball beyond being a fan and wanting to build a community for a cool-looking game. I have pledged in the kickstarter, and hope to see a nice game develop to widen an ever-more popular market. Shoot me a
PM or post in this thread (I'll check back in regularly) if you have any questions and I'll try answer them! All the best
