In case you haven’t noticed by now, I like games. I play all types of games. Video games, board games, card games, hunger games, I’ve played them all. I’m always on the look out for something new and fun to try, so when a buddy asked me if I had heard about the game Conan: Rise of Monsters, I was of course interested. I must admit I have not read much of the Conan books or know about the Conan mythologies. My very limited Conan experience flashes back to the 1980’s with Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fluffy loincloth and Grace Jones with an upside-down clear plastic visor on her head. To discover a vast array of Conan lore was pretty shocking, to say the least, so now I’m even more intrigued as to what this game could offer. I set my sights on hunting it down and giving it a good play through with my buddies. Sadly I can’t.
It’s still in its development phase! What? So what the heck am I supposed to write about? Heck, why the hell am I still writing this article? I tell you why, but first let me give you a summary of the game so I can whet your appetite for the awesomeness that this game could be. Conan: Rise of Monsters is a skirmish level game that is the brainchild of Pulposaurus Entertainment spearheaded by these four industry names: Jack Emmert, Shane Hensley, George Vasialkos, and Timothy Brown. The game is played using some cards, some dice, and collectible miniatures. These photos off of their Facebook page show you the cards for some of the types of warriors you have in your arsenal and the abilities they get.
The key point to these games are the collectible figures they come with. Some of these games have figures you build and paint yourself, but Conan: Rise of Monsters comes with pre-painted figures which Pulposaurus states are going to be the highest of quality. It was hard to locate a direct photo but thanks to figures.com I was able to see a prototype of the figures from the GAMA trade show this last March. Ignore the sign in the photograph that says no photographs as this photograph was photographed with permission making the no photographs sign in the photograph void (I will stop with the photograph joke here, but I think I had like five more photograph jokes to go with this). Looks pretty sweet to me.
Okay so there is a bare-bones look at the new Conan: Rise of Monsters. Now remember earlier when I asked why I was still writing this article, well here’s the answer, (Pulls out soapbox, steps up). New games with new ideas or fresh perspectives are hard to come by. We don’t find them in our local chain store, and not all of us have a local game store that meets our RPG, collectibles, cards and/or other gaming needs. These games are hard to find and are probably even harder to develop. Conan: Rise of Monsters will begin a Kickstarter this summer and I implore you to research this game, and if you like it, donate. This formula of backing new games is great, as we as a gaming community are able to bring new ideas to life so that others can discover and enjoy. Tabletop games like this have a specific group of players and its nice that our genre can have options to play versus just playing the same old game due to lack of variety. We have an opportunity to not only support our gaming community, but help shape it‘s future. I say we do it!
Okay enough soap boxing, I need it back anyway. Laundry day.