Tell us a little bit about yourself and your gaming history?
We are a group of three video game developers who decided to try our hand at designing board games. We all share a passion for tabletop gaming (money made from digital games has a tendency to go directly to expanding the physical game collection), and collectively have decades of experience in the video game industry, but only recently decided to merge those passions together based on the nugget of an idea that eventually became Scathe.
What is your favorite PNP game?
Hive Mind by Richard Garfield
How did you first discover PNP design contests?
Brenden has been active on BoardGameGeeks for years, and was always intrigued by the quality and numerical increase in WIP games during contest season. We had the rough idea for Scathe as a 2 player hybrid dice/card game, so when we saw the 2 Player PnP contest, we realized it would be a perfect excuse to turn that idea into a functional game.
Could you describe your game from a thematic point of view?
Scathe recalls the turn based tactical RPG video games we loved growing up. The pixel art style, party member combat mechanics, and turn based gameplay all harken back to the sense of adventure and strategy that defined that era and genre of gaming, and with Scathe, we extended that feel into a competitive head to head game.
Could you describe your game from a game mechanics point of view?
Players act as battlefield tacticians leading teams of heroes into battle against an opposing force. Each hero has unique and powerful abilities which can be strategically combined to dominate the battlefield. The player who successful wipes out the opposing team of heroes is the winner.
Players begin by recruiting a team of 3 to 6 heroes from a selection of over 20 unique hero classes. They then take turns rolling special dice that determine which of their heroes’ 6 abilities they can use, including powerful ranged physical attacks, armor bypassing magic attacks, or ally empowering buffs. They can also coordinate hero abilities to unleash powerful combinations and ultimately outplay their opponent.
What were your design goals with the game?
We wanted to create a game that succeeded in the middle ground territory between high strategy and casual play; this required a careful balancing act with the role that the luck of the die would have on composing and implementing a strategy based on intelligent planning with your heroes. We also wanted a game that was quick to play (30 minutes or less), but with enough customization and variety that it would support many play sessions and long term value. And ultimately, the game wouldn’t have been a success in our eyes unless it achieved in evoking some of that feel from playing tactical role playing games in our youth.
How long have you been working on your game?
Ideation started nearly a year ago, but we really started experimenting with and implementing the mechanics 6 months ago.
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