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This week I was fortunate enough to have a chat with the guys over at Everything Epic, and they were nice enough to answer my questions and tell me about their current game Metal Dawn and their future plans.
I will be honest I only came across Everything Epic when looking at the Big Trouble in Little China Board game, you have quite a following already though and have ran a fair few successful Kickstarter’s. Where did it all start?
It all started when I discovered co-operative games quite some years ago. We were inspired by adventure games and games with great narrative. We wanted to tell a story like screenwriters do in film: so we took those skills and passions and put them into our games! Secrets of the Lost Tomb is where it started; from the minis, to the story, to the awesome artwork, ultra-replayable scenarios Tomb tiles, our love to board game publishing was born.
We made the game from the ground up having the help from our amazing Kickstarter backers! We’ve distributed Secrets of the Lost Tomb worldwide and then went on to Big Trouble in Little China: The Game! A passionate favourite film of ours, Big Trouble has been a dream project to work on.
To be able to add new stories and adventures to the world and make it come to life on the tabletop is what we’ve always wanted to do. Soon coming to pre-order direct from us, with a Deluxe Limited Edition, we’re so excited to share the game with the world! And now, our latest game, on Kickstarter now, Metal Dawn!
So what can you tell me about your current game that is on Kickstarter Metal Dawn
Metal Dawn is a highly thematic co-operative game of saving the world from the robots controlled by a rogue artificial intelligence named Dominus.
The story begins in Washington DC where our players, control agents, each from a division of a secret agency tasked with the mission to protect the capital at all costs.
Dominus pushes you to your limits, testing your skill, strategy and resolve with every round. You’ll collect weapons, gear, use various zone abilities, and work together to fight the units sent in by Dominus, holding them back long enough to get the intel needed to hack his control codes bringing him down to Earth.
But the fun doesn’t stop there, once he’s been hacked, he transforms into Robot form, giving him new special abilities and allowing him to move around the board and attack the agents more directly. These ingredients make up an exciting and challenging co-operative experience that will have you telling stories afterwards.
The Kickstarter still has about three weeks to go and has a great deal of limited edition items to offer to backers!
If you could do anything differently on any of your projects which one would it be and why?
There’s probably nothing we would go back in time to do differently. However, in each of our projects we’ve learned and evolved. But most of all, we’ve learned how to work together with our community, our backers, to make the project better overall.
For our original Secrets of the Lost Tomb campaign, we created a ton of product for our first game. We made over 12 boxes of product. It was very challenging, but it helped us learn everything we’d ever need to know about manufacturing and working with a tight budget.
I cannot help but notice how open and honest you are with your fans do you see this as an important factor to your success?
Communication is key! Being transparent with the people who support you and believe in you is invaluable. They’re like our family, they’re all a part of our team. Without amazing fans and backers, we can’t make the epic games we make 🙂 “Of the Gamer, by the Gamer, and for the Gamer” is our motto. We are also gamers and we believe that we should treat our fans how we would want to be treated. And so we try even harder to exceed that goal.
As I mentioned above I only came across Everything Epic due to the Big Trouble in little china game you are making, does this license cause any extra pressure in making a game?
Going through the licensing process, as well as the approval process, can certainly be stressful and difficult. But it also is all worth it to be able to create a game based on one of your favourite movies. Certainly the main pressure is that we are so passionate about the game that we want to make sure that the game is true to the gamer.
We are not in the business of “pasted on or slapped on themes” or cheap games with a license on it. We take the time to create amazing artwork and game mechanics to go with the game so that it serves the fans in the best way possible.
Will BTILC be funded via Kickstarter?
Big Trouble in Little China the Game will not be on Kickstarter and is being sold directly to fans via our own direct pre-order website and directly into retail. On our Pre-order site, we will be offering fans who pre-order a very special Deluxe Limited Edition version of the game. We want to do this as a special fan service, for those who love Big Trouble like we do, we want them to have something very special that they can truly enjoy.
Something with not only a unique box cover and design, but something that adds substance: like two more players to the game, like an entire quest campaign book with a whole new story line expansion, and a lot more which you’ll be able to check out on our site very soon!
What does the future hold for Everything Epic?
Well, the near future is making Metal Dawn the biggest success we can. Then shortly after that, we will be Kickstarting “Secrets of the Lost Station”, the sequel to Secrets of the Lost Tomb, set in the future and in a mystical and legendary space station with all new characters, stories, locations, and updated game mechanics. We also plan to make it fully compatible with its predecessor SotLT.
After that, in October, we’re Launching another project called Coma Ward. It’s a horror themed board game where players are patients who have awoken in an abandoned, yet still functioning hospital with no memory and no idea of what is happening. Patients must search the hospital for clues and in their search, patients may find unspeakably terrifying things and eventually come across a phenomenon where the entire game changes.
Finally, we most recently announced another amazing licensed game: Rambo: The Board Game! Rambo will be on Kickstarter in 2018! We’re really excited for that one too!
If you could make any computer or video game into a board game what would it be and why?
There’s so much amazing stuff out there that we have epic ideas for to make into board games. For computer games, the original Fallout series (1 & 2) would make outstanding adventure/RPG games for the tabletop. I know there’s currently a tactical war game version in the making, but I’d personally love to do a Fallout board game with story and even perhaps an area control game with all of the Fallout factions in it.
Tons of fun ideas for that one if it ever opens up as a new opportunity.
Be sure to check out Metal Dawn on Kickstarter and subscribe to Everything Epic’s newsletter to be one of the first to hear of their new projects.