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W. Eric Martin
United States
Apex
North Carolina
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U.S. publisher Gryphon Games, an imprint owned by FRED Distribution that publishes family-friendly games, is taking a different path to publication with two upcoming releases and using Kickstarter to gauge interest in both a new edition of Joli Quentin Kansil's Montage and a new title from Alf Seegert, The Road to Canterbury.
Montage, for those not familiar with the game, is a four-player partnership game played on an empty crossword-style grid. On a turn, the active player – known as the Quizzer – chooses a spot on the board where a word might be placed, thinks of a word, then gives a clue of up to five words to his partner. Colored circles placed on the board give clues as to which letters might be in particular locations. Both the partner and opponents can knock if they think they know the answer; if someone guesses the word correctly in the time alloted, then more colored chips are placed on the board, thereby forcing letter choices on future turns. The first team that wins four of the nine zones on the board wins. (Complete rules are available as a PDF on the Montage game page.)
And here's an overview of The Road to Canterbury:
Quote: You play a medieval pardoner who sells certificates delivering sinners from the eternal penalties brought on by these Seven Deadly Sins. You make your money by peddling these counterfeit pardons to Pilgrims traveling the road to Canterbury.
For you to succeed as a pardoner, you'll need to do more than just sell forged pardons for quick cash. To keep your services in demand, you will actually need to lead these Pilgrims into temptation yourself! Perhaps some phony relics might help? There is also one big catch. The Seven Deadly Sins live up to their name: each sin that a Pilgrim commits brings Death one step nearer, and a dead Pilgrim pays no pardoners!
(Designer Alf Seegert is working on a designer diary for Canterbury for publication on BGG News, so expect more details on how to play at that time.)
The Montage Kickstarter project was launched on April 8, 2011, with Canterbury scheduled to launch on Kickstarter soon. Why use Kickstarter when other titles from Gryphon and Eagle Games (FRED's imprint for more strategic games) such as Baltimore & Ohio, Charon, Inc. and Pastiche were released through the regular distribution and retail chain? Gryphon's Keith Blume explains: "We are presenting Montage as a Kickstarter project in part due to its unique nature. The game has a devoted following, but it is hard to determine how big that following is. We felt that a good option for this particular game was to have the different participation levels that are popular here on Kickstarter, but not so typical in a game print run. B&O and Charon are, respectively, a very well-received game that was recently released or a derivation of a very well-received game that was recently released. Pastiche had the demand and broader appeal in our opinion, so using Kickstarter did not seem relevant."
The $5,000 threshold for the Montage Kickstarter project seems absurdly low as it equals only 167 preorders at the lowest level of funding – but Blume says that's pretty much the point. "If we cannot generate 167 pre-orders, then, as much as we like the game, it does not make sense to proceed with publishing the game." As for what the final print run might be – and whether Montage will be available later via retail – Blume says, "There isn't an expected print run at the moment, which is part of the reason for doing Kickstarter. Hopefully it is above 167."
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