Looking at the games from board game designer Keith Baker, you might think the guy is a little depressed. Illimat was a bit dark and mysterious thanks to the tie-in with The Decemberists, and Baker’s earlier game Gloom is all about trying to kill off a family as tragically as possible. All that changes with his latest offering, Action Cats.
Currently getting funded on Kickstarter, Action Cats is a simple party game featuring hundreds of adorable pictures of cats. Even better, if you back the game, you’ll have the opportunity to see your own cat in the game. While Action Cats is getting a full release, it actually started as something Baker made for his friends.
“I originally designed it as something I thought would be fun to play with friends - a small deck featuring pictures of my friends' cats,” Baker told Player.One. “But it turned out to be so much fun that we decided it was worth sharing it with more people. It's simple, it's funny, and it's a great foundation for collaborative storytelling.”
In Action Cats, the “judge” for the round picks a cat picture, and makes up a name for the cat. The other players then use cards with text on them to create a funny or interesting story for the cat. Think of it like Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity, but a lot fuzzier.
To get all these cat pictures, Baker is looking to Kickstarter backers for help. If you support the project, your cat could star in a photo on one of the game’s cards. That means Baker will have to sort through all those pictures to find the best cats.
“The critical thing is that it's not enough for a cat to be cute; we need cats that make the viewer say ‘There's a story here,’” said Baker. “It might be an unusual location, a prop, a pose, a particularly expressive face - but we're looking for pictures that really encourage storytelling.”
If you want your cat to be picked, make sure you send in the most interesting photos you can find.
Unlike many other Kickstarter games, Action Cats is a relatively toned-down experience. There aren’t any big stretch goals planned, nor are there any exclusives like shirts or mousepads. This is to keep production costs, and more importantly production time, down to a minimum.
“Our goal with Action Cats is to be able to go to print with it within a few weeks after the end of the campaign. The only thing we need to do is to choose the final cat pictures and layout the cards,” Baker said. “We're printing domestically, and we want to just turn this around and get it into backer's hands before the end of the year.”
Depending on sales and interest, Baker may be open to creating additional expansion sets. This means those who prefer man’s best friend may have something to be excited about down the line. “It depends entirely on how the game is received, but we'd certainly like to do expansions,” he said. “And yes, one of those we have planned is the "Mass Hysteria" set, which would introduce dogs.”
If you are interested in how board games get made, or want to see Baker fine-tune Action Cats, he is planning a livestream this Wednesday, July 19 which can be watched on his YouTube account. “We want backers to feel like they are part of the creative process - doubly so with Action Cats, where we'll be building the game with submitted pictures,” he said. “It's not just about preordering the game; it's about being a part of its creation.”
Action Cats is currently raising funds on Kickstarter, and is expected to ship out by the end of the year. More details on when the game will be released will come once the Kickstarter campaign has ended.
So what do you think? Are you excited to play a new party game featuring hundreds of cat pictures? What other games have you backed on Kickstarter recently? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
