Prototypes are go!

In which we wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and nervously await our prototypes arriving…

Hello everyone! And Merry Christmas! I recently watched The Muppet Christmas Carol (as we all know, one of the more faithful re-tellings out there, and I’m entirely serious) and so Christmas has officially started. As always, I’m Jess, part of the team and your narrator.

Forget Dickens and tell us what’s on the front of the box!

It’s pretty good. Here it is!

The figures on the box are:

Little Red Riding Hood (top left, being squashed by a coil of basilisk). A common folktale figure across Europe, Little Red Riding Hood is a young girl who escapes being eaten by a wolf, thanks to both her own wits and (usually) a friendly woodcutter. In some versions her grandmother is swallowed, in others she’s just locked in a cupboard. Our card for Red gives her the skills of fairness, navigation, stamina, and good shot.

Cheng Yat Sao, aka Ching Shih (far left on the bottom row, holding a sword). A remarkable woman – the leader of the biggest pirate fleet of all time, commanding up to 400 ships and up to 60,000 pirates. She lived from 1775 until 1844 and our card for Cheng Yat Sao gives her the skills of leadership, judgement, persuasion, and sailing.

Mary Seacole (middle left, dressed in blue and holding a purple potion). Mary was a British-Jamacian healer and businesswomen who nursed wounded soliders during the Crimean war. In 2004 the British public voted her the greatest Black Briton. She lived from 1805 until 1881 and in our game she has the skills of science, leadership, and medicine.

Athena (centre). She is the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, war, and handicrafts. Although with her Roman counterpart Minerva, Athena is a well-known mythological figure, most easily recognised by her spear and helmet. In our game we have given her the skills of strength, logic, weaving, and leadership.

Jo March from Little Women (centre right, wearing a red scarf and holding a mirror). Published in 1869, Little Women tells the story of four sisters. Jo is determined and headstrong, a gifted writer. We have given her the skills of storytelling, kindness, and conviction.

Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (centre right, leaning against Jo March). Alice is one of the most recognisable characters in children’s literature. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (published 1865) she follows a white rabbit into a land of nonsense and metaphor. Our game gives her the skills of positivity, flexibility, and curiosity.

The Chevalier d’Eon (far right on the bottom row, holding the basilisk’s tail with a rope). A French diplomat, solider, and spy. She lived from 1728 until 1810 and approximately the first half of her life was spent as a man, the second as a woman. We have given her the skills of leadership, diplomacy, strength, and resilience.

Hypatia (top right, leaning out of a coil of basilisk). A brilliant scholar and mathematician from Alexandria, in Egypt. Hypatia was also a teacher and a philosopher, and her advice was sought by politicians. In 415 she was murdered by a mob who suspected her of using her political influence in an ongoing political feud. Our card gives her the skills of logic, curiosity, and diplomacy.

I think you’ll all agree that Sam has done us proud. It’s a shadowy background without being brown, and has some amazing characters on the front!

What else is happening?

At the start of December Mill and I (remember, I’m Jess) went to Dragonmeet. Loads of fun as always, and some great games. We were pretty busy from when we arrived until almost the end of the day. Theoretically we had the table until 2pm, but no one else came to claim it, and so the lovely organising people said we could carry on. Here’s a photo of me when we’d just set up.

In the new year we have a whole slew of events coming up, finishing with AireCon in March.

We’re also giving away a few gift-wrapped copies of Disarm the Base, Jess’ previous game. Go and follow Dissent Games on Facebook for more details. AND (you knew there’d be another “and”, right?) there will be more Roll & Colour greetings cards. These ones are for Valentine’s Day and are hearts. Kickstarter coming mid January!

Next steps and BIG ask

The prototypes should be arriving soon after Christmas. Truth be old, I am feeling a little nervous. But when they arrive, we’ll need people to play them – and that is where you come in.

Do you have a local board gaming group? Or do you sometimes play with a group of friends? We would like to send a couple of our prototypes on tour!

What would happen is that we compile a list of people who would like to play the prototype. We pack it up in a box and send it to the first person on the list (that’s Person A). Person A opens it, plays it, and then tells us when they have finished. We look up the next person on the list (Person B), and then buy a postage label to their house. We email the postage label to Person A, who packs the game back in the box, prints the label we emailed them, and then sends it on to Person B.

If that sounds good to you, please let us know – either in the comments below, or via Twitter or Facebook.

If you haven’t already, then please do sign up on our pre-launch page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dissentgames/library-labyrinth. Please share as far and wide as you can!