Posted in: Movies, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, gaming

Building A Better Game – The Outlaws By Bibelot Games

Published Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:00:16 -0500

Kristi Uhles writes for Bleeding Cool:

For decades, tabletop games have been made using cheap, disposable parts and pieces. Many of these you have to punch out and assemble yourself, trying not to tear or bend them as you do. These pieces are then thrown into a 2-piece cardboard box that spends most of its life stacked haphazardly in a forgotten closet.

A small company called Bibelot Games (it rhymes with Merlot) has set out to change all that. "We feel that a good game shouldn't just be fun, it should be a product that you're proud to own. Something you want to show off to your friends and family. And something that's easy to take with you and play anywhere," says Shea Looijen, one of the company's founders. They started a few years ago by recreating a series of historically accurate games, but they didn't just reprint the boards, they reimagined them as they might have been if ancient people had access to modern engineering. They etched each game board into leather using a CO2 LASER, and designed them to collapse effortlessly into a carrying pouch that holds all the pieces and fits pretty much anywhere. The finishing touch on these games was the solid marble pieces and wood dice. "They're the ultimate grab-and-go
entertainment," says Shea. "You don't need any power, or even a table, and they're surprisingly durable too. They are leather after all."

Now Bibelot Games is at it again, with their newest project on Kickstarter. Don't worry, this ain't their first rodeo. They've run 4 successful Kickstarter campaigns in the past, and all have shipped on-time or early. They even pioneered a feature called "Updateday" where they provide detailed (and entertaining) status reports every week once the project closes. These include everything from footage of the manufacturing process, to creative solutions for hurdles they're facing, to transparency about how much time and money they've spent on what. These weekly postings may have a bit too much "Yay!", but they are in-depth and entertaining.

This time they're branching into an area dominated by publishers who shave pennies everywhere they can: card games. "When we talk to people about their favorite board and card games, they basically tell us that the ones they love are the ones that are easy to teach to their friends and that don't get boring after a few plays," says Shea. "Unfortunately these games usually get hidden in the closet because the pieces are destroyed, the box is falling apart, or they just don't fit anywhere else."

Their current project is for a card game titled "The Outlaws". It's a euro-style game about competing posse's in the Wild West. Yep, that's right, a euro-style game with guns and shenanigans, no farms in sight! The game has logged over 1000 hours with over 200 playtesters, so they're fairly confident with the way it plays. The Outlaws is easy to pick up and there's not much of a learning curve, making it easy to play with friends who aren't "gamers". It takes about 30 minutes to complete a round, but the roller-coaster of anticipation makes it hard to put down. They're also planning a series of expansion
packs that can be used to make the game more complex, if casual isn't your thing.

The team at Bibelot Games partnered with a local artist, Laurel Carberg, to bring the wild west theme to life. Her artwork can be seen throughout the rulebook, and she'll also be doing caricatures of Kickstarter backers to be included in the game. That's right, 24 lucky backers will actually get their name and likeness included in the game as wild west outlaws!

For the physical product, they started by rethinking the box that most games come in. Those ubiquitous cardboard boxes are great to hold big, rigid pieces of chipboard, but the awkward size and large footprint work against any attempt at easy storage; usually they get added to wobbly stacks of other games that lean against the closet door in wait of some unsuspecting guest.

You may have noticed that most of your entertainment comes in uniform little plastic boxes, whether it's movies, TV shows, or video games; even paperback books are about the same size. This size is what your bookshelves and entertainment centers are built for, yet tabletop games don't even come close to the same package. "We asked ourselves why games don't come in those same plastic clamshells, and the answer we came up with was 'because nobody knows they should'," says Shea. Rather than just cramming some plastic pieces in a DVD case and calling it good, they used their typical Bibelot fashion and went for overkill. They make custom-cut foam inserts to hold all the parts and pieces, like the cards, dice and tokens. Those tokens are anodized aluminum with LASER etched symbols on both sides.

Bibelot Games is also tying back in one of their previous projects. Last year they introduced a line of playing cards that they handcraft from real hardwood, and they've made a unique reward that is the real gem of their current project. They're offering a limited number of card decks for The Outlaws made from cherry wood. These are part of a set that includes wood dice and a nifty token holder that spins and looks like the chamber from a revolver, as well as a bottle of wood conditioning oil. The display box this set comes in has a foam insert for all the parts and makes for a very classy presentation.

So now you've got a solid card game with universal appeal, illustrated by a talented artist that includes a slew of cool pieces, and comes in a familiar case that fits on the shelf with the rest of your entertainment. Time to search those couch cushions for change, head on over to Kickstarter and grab a couple copies of The Outlaws. This is definitely a game you'll want to show off!