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I had the privilege to catch up with Evangelos Foskolos of Drawlab Entertainment earlier this month. Read on to learn more about him and Drawlab's latest game on Kickstarter!
What was your gateway game into the hobby and how did Drawlab begin?
I used to spend a lot of time at a board game cafe in Athens where I played Catan, Ticket to Ride and a LOT of Jungle Speed! I became really hooked on board games. I'd often drag my friends every other day to try different games. Then, I was hired there as a Games Explainer, a position in which I stayed for five years. During this time, I became the one responsible for bringing over new games and training new Game Explainers.
In the meantime, my best friend from school, Stelios, was also addicted to board games and we started designing a game together. This turned out to be Spells of Doom. We submitted the game to a contest where it went really well, and we thought why not publish it ourselves. It became the first game we published as Drawlab.
What are your top three games right now?
Through the Ages will probably stay my favourite game forever. I've played about 30 hours of Middara the past month, so that must be the hottest game in my collection. As my number three, I shall add Puerto Rico - respect for the classics.
Looking at your previous Kickstarter campaigns, fantasy has been your chosen genre. What made you decide to make Fired Up in the sci-fi universe?
It's true that fantasy is a genre that I prefer and love in all formats (games, books, movies). However, Fired Up was initially designed as a futuristic sci-fi and we felt that the theme was working very well for it. We did tweak the theme a lot (made it a cyberpunk and turned it into an e-sport type of fight) but we never wanted to stay away from sci-fi in this one.
But don't worry, we have more fantasy games in the oven.
What are some of the standout and unique features of Fired Up?
Fired Up is probably the most unique game we have ever done. Therefore, there are plenty of things to talk about here! It is an arena game, in-which players are not the fighters, but the crowd. In order to win you try to guess what the characters who are actually performing the fight are going to do in order to get points and try to influence them indirectly.
The combat system also had to be unique since the players "should" not be able to influence it (they are just watching them fight after all, they are not even coaches) and has a cool system of custom dice showing the different body parts the fighters attack.
Do you have a favourite character in Fired Up? If so, why?
Marrow and it's Mico's fault. Marrow is one of the first characters that Mico made for the game and from the first look I could figure out his background. An arrogant villain, a Loki type that will scheme and do anything to take advantage over his opponents.
If you were a fighter in Fired Up, what would your name be? Also, what would be your signature move?
I spent way longer thinking this answer than I should! Probably someone who would, like me, prefer to do something interesting in the game than actually win it. I would also keep the nickname I use online, and since I would have absolutely no reason to be participating in the fight, prepare for Fokos the Audacious!
Thanks Evangelos! Fired Up is live on Kickstarter now!