Mid Level Meeple

My name is Jonathan, and my wife Jennifer and I love Eurostyle games! We love the balanced mechanics, the hard choices, and the sense of accomplishment when a well-reasoned strategy comes to fruition. But as fond as we are of games of this style, we’re even more fond of the times we’ve spent with good friends around the table. And truth be told, if we want to spend some quality gaming time with these folks, bringing out a heavyweight Euro can be a “dicey” proposition. Sure, two or three of them are down to play, but we’ve got two or three more who aren’t up for something so complex and time consuming. Alas, game night is looking to be another split affair, but we want to play with everybody! What to do?

Design a new game, of course! But design it with the express intention of bringing these two groups of gamers together. We already had a theme (medieval fantasy). We just needed to think through the parts of a good Euro game that we could tweak a little to fit our purpose. We started with …

Bigger player counts!

Why limit the fun to four or five when we could share the experience with a group as big as six? Sounded great in theory, but more players usually mean more play time, and we knew that was going to be a no-go. We wanted this game to be 90 minutes maximum, even with six players. The time limit lent itself to a round-limited game, with clearly delineated actions and phases to keep everyone moving. But we knew that this wasn’t enough unless we also had … An easy “on ramp”

We needed simple, stylish cards that told players what they need to know, set in an elegant reference board to make learning a breeze. No wall-of-symbols displays that new players would have to look up in a rule book over and over again. The mechanics of the game were shaping up nicely, but mechanics are only part of a good game. It also needs …

Bright, eye-popping color and art with a unique visual flair.

It’s just human nature that if we’re going to be looking at something over and over again for long periods of time (like a great game), we’d like it to look great, too! We found an artist who was perfect, and her special style was the final touch we needed on our new game. But would it bring everyone together as we hoped?

It did! Since it first hit tables, Fortune & Famine has been a popular choice for game nights, satisfying the strategy itch of veteran gamers and enticing novice gamers alike. We are thrilled to be able to bring this kind of simple joy to everyone, and feel confident that Fortune & Famine will be a resounding success at your next game night!