Emperor’s New Clothes is a board game designed by GeekDad’s Jonathan Liu and sponsored by Game Salute. When I saw what was in the box, I knew it was going to be a different kind of game. Though the pieces might make you think it’s a ruse…it’s actually far from it. The game is as complicated as you want it to be and rules can change every time the game is played.
I have had the privilege of playing the game a few times. The latest time, at GameStorm 15, my daughter joined me in the game. After a couple of questions about how to play the game, she beat the pants off myself, and three other experienced gamers. She understood the roles being picked, the dice rolls, and the strategy, even as a seven-year-old.
As an avid board gamer myself, I didn't want to spoil the game for you with a bunch of review lingo and "this is exactly what you will get when you back the Kickstarter". Instead, I went straight to the designer and asked some questions that I hope encourage you to try the game for yourself.
GeekMom: How many years have you been an avid board gamer?
Jonathan Liu: I played some board games as a kid, of course, but that sort of dropped off in high school and college. In college I played a lot of SET but I can't really remember playing a lot of other games at the time. It wasn't until I moved to Portland that I met some people who introduced me to games like Settlers of Catan
GM: Do you think this experience of running this Kickstarter campaign is similar to the experiences of others who have kickstarted board games?
JL: Yes and no. The emotional ups and downs of running a Kickstarter campaign, seeing feedback (both positive and negative) about your project, trying to respond to everything in a timely fashion and not having enough hours in the day—I think all of those are pretty common to any project, board games or not.
I suppose there are some games which have big ups and downs in their funding levels, but I think the theme of my game has really brought out the pranksters. The first weekend we had somebody pledge $10,000 and then cancel it after a few days. Just this past weekend we had somebody else drop out—who had apparently pledged $2,500. I don't see all the numbers since the campaign is run through Game Salute and Springboard, so from my perspective I really can't count any chickens. That's nerve-wracking, not knowing how many "real" backers I actually have.
But I suppose part of that is because my project isn't just the board game, but also incorporates a new printing technology and some gaming accessories. So some people may be backing because they actually want to play the game, while others are backing because they want to support the use of the Regulated Operator Optical Screenprinting (ROOS). That's probably less typical in other board game Kickstarter campaigns.
GM: What games inspired the mechanics system used in Emperor's New Clothes?
JL: There are a number of games with hidden roles: BANG!
The die-rolling is obviously Yahtzee
GM: Are there going to be any expansions with black backgrounds instead of white? Have there been any experiments with the Regulated Operator Optical Screening to experiment with colors? (grin)
JL: Well, the ROOS really works best on white backgrounds; that's why our T-shirt is the cover art on a white shirt rather than black (despite the preferences of most gamers), because you just really can't see anything once you try printing on a black surface. The ROOS is, of course, all about making the colors show up just as well for color blind players as for non–color blind players. We've simply tweaked it so that they appear invisible to people who are gamer-blind.
GM: How do you respond to other dedicated table-top gamers who have questioned the seriousness of Emperor's New Clothes?
JL: Well, first of all, anyone who is concerned about the seriousness of Emperor's New Clothes is sort of missing the point: it's not meant to be serious. Using the ROOS means that people who take things too seriously won't see anything at all on the cards and board, and they don't have to back it. The people who will enjoy the game are those who can see the game in the video and photos—those are the ones who will enjoy playing it, and it's because they're not so serious about it.
That said, there is a lot of serious thought that went into the design of the game, and that's harder to get across, but that's what the updates are for. If you go back and read the Designer Diary entries, that's where the meat of the project really is. You don't have to read all of that to enjoy the game, just like you don't have to study video game design to enjoy playing on a Wii—but some people (like me) really like to geek out over the back story and details, and I wanted to give people a chance to do that with me.
GM: Calvinball vs. Emperor's New Clothes. Go.
JL: Calvinball is, of course, a much more physical activity and thematically it's pretty chaotic. Anything goes. I think it could make for a really fun game, along the lines of 1,000 Blank White Cards, but of course you'd never get Bill Watterson to license that.
Emperor's New Clothes tells a story and is a lot more structured: the order of role selection, rolling dice, collecting resources, and scoring points happens every round. All of the characters and their abilities are based on the theme, and those are quite static. They interact with each other, but in predictable ways. But there is a sort of emergent behavior that arises from combinations of simple actions and rules that can feel chaotic, but it's controlled chaos. I think Calvinball is a little more unrestrained chaos—but then, I've never had the rules spelled out for me. I suppose for somebody watching a game of Emperor's New Clothes from the outside, it might seem like unrestrained chaos, too.
If you are still questioning if Emperor’s New Clothes is a game for your collection, you can check out the rules and the print and play from the Kickstarter page. There is also a video above where you can see how the game is played. I played the playtest version, and the pieces were pretty high quality. The final version promises to be even higher quality. The ROOS is not only an original game idea, it also gives the game the high probability of being played many times since the game is different every time.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/w0qGqCRB7EQ[/youtube]
If you are interested in Emperor’s New Clothes, there is still time to back it on Kickstarter (the campaign ends on April 1, and it is not an April Fools joke). The game ranges from $25 - $70 depending on if you want the four, six, or eight player game. My thanks to Jonathan Liu for taking the time to talk with GeekMom.
