This week Michael taunts you with a game that you have almost certainly never played. (Ha Ha!)
Date: Thursday, July 23, 2009
Author: Michael Barnes
I hate to come down so hard on the production because it is a family affair- Mr. Harris’ wife did all the artwork and I completely appreciate the homespun, heartfelt attempt but it positions the game in a particular bracket in which it does not deserve to be. I’ve heard from many fellow gamers how they won’t play the game at all with the artwork as it stands, and that’s very disappointing. But it also speaks to the importance of graphic design and visual presentation. I would love to see the game professionally produced, with specific styles of artwork for each mythological realm and a painted and mounted map. The dime-store plastic jewels are a fun touch, but the total package feels more like a prototype than a finished product.
But that may be the intent. I am not sure what Mr. Harris’ goals are with this first edition of MYTHGARDIA but I hope that he’s thinking that getting the game out into the public eye after sitting in limbo for so long will increase its profile and possibly get a publisher interested in producing a more marketable, fully produced edition. I hope that it does, because it is a game that I believe would have a large audience and I also think that there is a lot that the game does that is particularly uncommon among games of its genre today.
This is one of those rare games that I think anyone can pick up and play, and unlike even TALISMAN there is very little that I would think could be off-putting or otherwise discouraging to non-gamers, children, or complete newbies to the world of hobby board gaming. It’s a game anyone can enjoy, and the fact that it has a rich theme and strong sense of setting and atmosphere despite Spartan production values says a lot about the quality of the design.
