An easy-to-play game of exploration & teamwork set in the wonderfully dangerous Outer World.
Hey everyone, happy day three of our kickstarter!
Long time BREAK!! play-tester Red Cog wrote about his experience with the game in a blog entry that I think is a very helpful read for anyone interested in our project! Give it a look if you get the chance.
I’m absolutely blown away by the results of our first day of crowdfunding. This has been validating, humbling, and overwhelming all at the same time. I can’t thank all of you enough. I figure a good way to celebrate today is to talk a bit about how we managed to get here, and why I ended up writing this zany thing.
BREAK!! initially came from a desire for a fantasy adventure game that suited me perfectly, as I realized no one was going to do it for me after reading a dozen or so of them in my lifetime. What was going to be a couple of personal notes eventually grew into something much, much larger thanks to the encouragement and enabling from my co-creator, Grey Wiz.
I had been inspired by Shovel Knight, which was based on well tread mechanics and a nostalgic aesthetic but had catapulted itself far beyond that, resulting in a video game that had a familiar chassis to draw people in but was quite forward thinking and well developed under the hood.
BREAK!! clearly involves a synthesis of things I already enjoy, wearing its influences very much on its sleeve. But this particular look and feel had applications for me beyond just being what I like - it was a permissive style, one that gave us the leg room to create the exact tabletop rpg that we wanted to make.
My goal with BREAK!! was to make something that would be quick to teach and easy to play, where newcomers could mostly get by with just their character sheets, but also something with enough depth and substance to it that there would be a reason to keep coming back to it. Something where choices were meaningful, resolution was quick, and the rules managed to keep you out of dead ends without being too strict. A game where all the seams were showing without being obtrusive, so people could break it apart and put it back together in a way that worked for them or add to it without much of an issue.
And you know, I think we managed that. No effort is perfect of course, but I’m proud of this one.
I’m not particularly high-minded when it comes to games writing, but with this I also wanted to move away from trying to emulate things too closely while still drawing inspiration from them. In short, BREAK!! is inspired by many, many things, but it’s beholden to none of them. It is a creative effort that I hope stands on its own and provides others with many fun hours of going on adventures with their friends.
(Also, it’s a good thing Grey has been there to help me out. His input has been invaluable and his art rules so hard.)