Postcard Boardgames!

 Welcome!

 

This blog will accompany the Kickstarter journey of

Postcard Board Games!

     During the times of Covid-19, and all the lockdowns that come with it, I find myself reminiscing of simpler times of the past.  Memories of a childhood pre-internet, before social media, before (what seems like) the frenetic nature of modern workaday life. I sometimes have a vague nostalgia of things that are now so uncommon, one would be hard-pressed to find people that make use of them: ribbon typewriters, lever fill fountain pens, rotary telephones, the Atari 2600 (4-swtitch woodgrain), drive-in movies, TV dinners in aluminum trays, Sony Walkmans, View Masters, electronic Simon, jukeboxes that play 45's, cigarette machines... the list goes on and on.

   I'm sure we all have unique memories of things that we miss and haven't done in a long time, but they still exist somewhere out there in the world. For me, one of these things is the idea of sending and receiving postcards. Now, perhaps more than ever, many of us long to reach out to those we care about, to travel to foreign lands, to experience new and exciting things that will change us in some way.

   That's why I decided to take on this project. It's funny how sometimes a deceptively simple act or gesture can have a sincerely profound effect on someone. Sometimes you have been the one who has given joy to someone without realizing it, or perhaps something like receiving a simple note has given you warm feelings beyond what you expected. In a world where there is so much negativity, kind and thoughtful moments can have ripples that reach others in special ways.

   ...anyways, onto the games!

     There are four games, and they were all inspired by different themes.

 

TREZAAM!

     TREZAAM is an odyssey about finding treasure and getting it to a museum (TREasure + muSEUM = TREZAAM)!

     Some things I love are camping, metal detecting, and visiting museums.

     There is something exciting about being in the woods, knowing there are things buried underneath you that may hold clues to past societies. Hand-crafted items laying dormant and hidden for so long, just waiting for an adventurer to find them and unlock the mysteries of their existence. 

     The journey to a museum is equally entertaining for me. There's inevitably transportation involved to get there - a taxi, bus, plane ride, perhaps a boat or ferry.  There's the excitement of being in a new place, while at the same time seeing something very ancient, up close and personal in real life. When looking at an old painting or artifact, I always imagine what life would have been like for the creator in their day. 

      The layout of this game is similar to many board games I played as a child: a simple journey with both pitfalls and rewards, with a prized goal at the end.

ALIENA BELLUM

    
     Here we have a 2-player space combat game!

     I remember visiting New York City as a boy in the 80's. We went into a souvenir shop, and along with mementos of the city itself, my brother and I got two handheld Tiger electronic games. One was baseball, and one was football. By today's standards, the graphics were as archaic as the come. But the uncomplicated nature was what I enjoyed. It was so damn simple, and that's what I liked - the idea that you were just in battle against another team, fighting for the win!

     Watching films like The Last Starfighter made me feel like I too could be a part of something otherworldly. The main character, Alex, was just a dude in a trailer park. His thing was playing an arcade game at the little snack shop. And somehow, his passion for the game led him to being selected by aliens to help fight a space war! The idea of being plucked out of seemingly nowhere, to travel to fantastical lands, and the idea that something out of this world (an alien battle-skills testing device) could be hiding in plain sight (a lonely arcade game), were fascinating to me.

   These and other influences led me to craft ALIENA BELLUM. The title roughly means "ALIEN BATTLE" in Latin. Hopefully it will bring you entertainment if you ever get a chance to play it.

 

SNÖTÅG (SNOWTRAIN)

 

     One time I took a very long sleeper train up to the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia. It was a unique experience: traveling through the snow drifts, seeing wild moose and reindeer, passing by tiny towns and train stations, tasting new foods, and meeting wonderful Nordic people. Everything about the trip was a new and exciting experience. The culture was fantastic. And, as even the most well thought-out plans go, there were some hiccups along the way. But in the end, it was truly the journey - not the destination - that I remember most fondly. At one point, our train was delayed due to the snow for about an hour in a little village in the middle of nowhere. I took the opportunity to walk around a bit, and take in the sights of the picturesque snow-covered red cottages. Inside a small snack shop, I bought a postcard, filled it out, and dropped it in the town mailbox to send back to family in the states.

     That frosty train ride was the inspiration for SNÖTÅG, which means SNOWTRAIN in Swedish. The stations in the game are named Fjord and Fika. A fjord is an inlet of water between cliffs that stretches for miles inland in places like Norway and Iceland (truly a sight to see). And fika is the name of the Swedish tradition of taking a short break with coffee and a sweet baked food, in essence to relax and enjoy the moment a bit.

     This cooperative game was born from the joys of traveling with others through a foreign land. Whether in real life, or in games, my hope is that you enjoy the journeys you take.

 HETTIE'S REVENGE

     I always liked the idea of vintage games that people would have played many years ago. Simple yet challenging games that are easy to set up, and accessible to anyone. I envisioned a game that perhaps originated in ancient times (in the vein of TABLUT, which is essentially a game passed down from the Vikings), then eventually made its way into the homes of the Old West. Maybe in antiquity it would have had a Germanic name regarding monsters or war, but by the 18th century it would be known as HETTIE'S REVENGE. This is one of those games. 

 

 

So there it is! 

     I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about the impetus for these games.

You can check out the Kickstarter project by clicking here! 

Or visit the Instagram page here! 

     Have a great day!