Today we have an interview with the fine folk behind the game Philosophia coming to Kickstarter on September 10th 2019! We asked them about the hobby, their game and what we can expect from them. See that conversation below!
Tell us a little about yourselves and your business/company:
First, we just want to say thank you to Gaming with Sidekicks for inviting us to do this interview. It’s really great to connect with people who are dedicated to the hobby and delivering consistent high quality content! I’m a high school Philosophy teacher living in Tokyo, Japan, but I’m originally from the UK. I was introduced to modern tabletop games by a colleague and have been obsessed ever since. I’m not sure I’d call what we do a ‘business’ just yet, as this is our first Kickstarter and is very much a passion project for us, we just want to make sure that the best possible version of Philosophia gets made!
What inspired you to get into board game design and development?
Several factors really, it blew my mind when I first saw how much things have progressed from the old ‘classic’ games of my childhood. It feels like the renaissance in this medium is only just beginning, there are so many new ideas and games flying around and it’s very exciting to be a part of all this! What’s really cool is that with sites like Kickstarter the barrier to entry is now just whether you can make a game that people will want to play. The old gatekeepers are less relevant and that means more and better games!
What are your goals and hopes with the business?
As we are just starting out with our first game, the main hope is that our Kickstarter campaign is successful and the game ends up being made! Just knowing that there are people out there playing and enjoying Philosophia would be reward enough for us. That being said, game design is a vocation so whatever happens there will certainly be more games to follow!
What do you think will set you apart in the industry?
The focus of our games is to use our experience and game mechanical knowledge to create games that are exciting, good looking and fun! There is also no reason why you can’t learn something new or develop a useful skill whilst playing a game and Philosophia will certainly do that. Philosophia is built around ancient Greek philosophy and players will find themselves knowing a lot more about the topic after playing. We also are very happy to put our games to the test before launching them, for example, one thing that we have done from the very start is to let people play the game for free. Right now, on our website you can download the Print and Play of Philosophia or play the free digital versions of the game on Tabletopia and on Tabletop Simulator, you can even play the game in Virtual Reality with that one! We’re really confident that people will love the game and we get the feeling that the boardgaming community appreciates and rewards that kind of transparency – you want to know what a game is like before you buy it!
What was the first game you remember playing as a kid?
The first game I remember playing was, of course, Monopoly. While I can see the obvious flaws in the game design from a modern viewpoint, it has given me many fond memories from playing it in my childhood. For me, the great part of tabletop games is that you play them with other people who are actually there in the room with you. The whole thing is an experience that’s unique to when you play the game and who you play it with. Tabletop games are such a powerful way of bringing people together.
What is your ideal game night? Games, group size, snacks, etc:
I know it’s a little cheezy but for me I love playing games with my fiancé. It’s great that she loves them too, so much so that we designed Philosophia together! I do enjoy bigger game nights and party games, but most of the best experiences I have had of playing board games were played at two player. As for games, the perfect game experience for me would actually be playing a new game. I know this is unusual, as many people don’t like learning games because it can be time consuming, but from a designer point of view I love being surprised by discovering a clever game mechanic, seeing great art or just being able to appreciate the pure dedication that the designers have put into the game. Off the top of my head, three games that have really stood out for me as spectacular gaming experiences are, Inis, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and 7th Continent. They are all very different games so there’s not really a particular style of game that appeals to me most, it’s more about seeing the dedication behind the design. Our favorite food to snack on when playing a board game has to be chips and guacamole! We like to keep our copy of a game pristine though so no greasy fingers!
Tell us a little more about your upcoming game:
Philosophia is an Epic, Odyssey Adventure for 1 to 6 players. It’s a sandbox style game where you take on the role of one of Ancient Greece’s greatest thinkers; Socrates, Homer, Sophocles, Heraclitus, Plato or Aristotle. There is a huge scope as to what you can do in Philosophia, from building schools and followers to debating with your opponents and making deals with the Olympic Gods. What we’re really proud of in the game design is the focus on balance, replayability and player experience. Philosophia is designed with loads of different paths to success, each character has a special ability and there are randomised elements to the setup which, when combined, mean each game really feels unique.
Added to this, we paid great attention to how the game ends. Endings are so important to how we feel about events and we really didn’t want Philosophia to end with the simple adding up of victory points. Instead, the game ends with all players who have gained victory conditions battling it out in a final debate. They will use the Sophistry and Syllogism cards they have gained along the way, in a unique twist on the rock, paper, scissors, lizard, spock mechanic that allows for total player agency. In Philosophia you really won’t know who is going to win until that final card is played!
What type of style would you describe your game has:
In essence, it’s a medium weight Euro game which feels very connected to its theme. There are 13 different actions that power the game and once you get them it’s really intuitive. The game comes with a reference card to help you with the actions and victory conditions but you won’t really need this after the first couple of games. Basically, on each turn you move and then take one action – it’s as simple as that! There is very limited downtime and zero upkeep phases which makes Philosophia very streamlined and satisfying to play!
So you’ve got a Kickstarter coming up soon – What are the details?
Philosophia is coming to Kickstarter in September of 2019! The campaign will last a month and then, if successful, we will immediately start to get the game into production. We are already working with manufacturers and fulfillment companies to make this a quick, smooth process. All the art and playtesting is complete so backers shouldn’t have to wait too long to get their copy! If you like a well-crafted tabletop experience with an unusual theme then this is the game for you! Find out more at our website: www.philosophiagame.com
Thanks for joining us and good luck on your Kickstarter campaign!
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