Posted in: Movies | Tagged: entertainment, film, idw games, kill shakespeare, NYCC

Looking At IDW Games At NYCC

Published Sun, 12 Oct 2014 18:30:25 -0500

Jon Johnson writes for Bleeding Cool:

The Idea and Design Works, more popularly known as IDW Publishing, has made a large number of acquisitions, moves and announcements since its inception about 15 years ago. Their growth has been unprecedented and exciting, and in the case of their game division, a little surprising.

It's no secret that board games have reached incredible sales heights in recent years. Cooperative, combative, media tie-in, classic revamps of older games, you've likely seen one or all of these not just in smaller stores, but in the big box retailers like Toys R Us. Nate Murray, manager of the games line at IDW, explained to me that IDW's founders are game fans and wanted to get into the market. Quickly spearheading development of short to mid-length play games, the division hit the market with a bang, and is only looking to push further.

Their most recent release, KILL SHAKESPEARE, was a successful Kickstarter campaign. The game, a pseudo-cooperative system set in the many lands of William Shakespeare, pits the players against the great bard, Lady MacBeth and King Richard III. A visually appealing board draws you into the game, which you can play as Machiavellian as you'd like, or as cooperative. It and other recent releases are on demo and for sale at the IDW booth at the New York Comic Con, which Nate will gladly introduce you to. He'll also tell you of the upcoming releases, such as a board game based on the hit Image Comics' series CHEW, or the X-Files television show tie-in. Do not expect another Kickstarter push for any of the future games, though. While the model works great for many other up-and-coming publishers, and it did allow for extra attention to the Kill Shakespeare game, it isn't something IDW wants to continue with. Game retailers should take notice of this, especially those that dislike how Kickstarter may affect their sales. IDW Games will follow traditional routes of development and distribution, possibly including extra incentives to the supporting game stores. It's definitely an ambitious project, one which gamers should be watching intently.