Fulfilling a dream and helping to create a historical strategy board game from the ground up.
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of board games from as long ago as the Early Bronze Age. There is evidence suggesting that board games actually predate literacy in some cultures. Even in today’s modern world of video games and Blu-ray movies, board games are still going strong. Part of the reason for their continued success is that there really is something for everyone. Toddlers and tacticians can all find a game to suit their needs.
There is a great deal of competition in the board game industry and a new game developer has a difficult task. They must come up with an original idea, painstakingly develop rules, and in most cases, find a publisher willing to bring it to market. In the case of Question of Empire, we were given the opportunity to stretch our creative talents to the extreme in order to develop a full-featured prototype for our client to present to potential publishers.
The premise of this game, and the knowledge and passion of the developer to make Question of Empire historically accurate, really gave us a lot to work with creatively and added to our motivation to make this a great-looking game. This blurb from the game’s Introduction explains it all…
“Question of Empire is based on the historical time of 1850 to 1880, which was a period of unprecedented growth in the economic and industrial strength of Europe. However, it was also a time when conflict threatened at every turn. The fall of Napoleon had left many questions unresolved about who would control the various minor states of Europe. Questions such as who would dominate the German principalities, could Italy be unified, and would the great powers eat up the possessions of a fading Turkish Empire? These critical decisions are all set against a diplomatic panorama where alliances and friendships between the great powers changed with the tides and minor events were used as excuses to loose the dogs of war.”
“Question of Empire is a game for 2-5 players who command the economic, industrial, military, and political strengths of the great powers: Austria, England, France, Prussia, and Russia. The players are challenged with resolving each of six major questions in a way that benefits their nation the most. When the dust of battle settles the questions of empire will be answered.“
BELOW: Game pieces, mockups, and playtesting …
Every detail of the physical game as it exists today was produced by DesignPoint. Working from evolving drafts of the rulebook and conceptual drawings, we worked closely with our client to find intuitive solutions for everything from the playing cards to the game board, chits to markers, and even the box. It is rare to find a project that required so many different physical elements, and nearly all of them needed to be handcrafted by our studio. The one major exception was the game board.
Question of Empire has a very large game board, and it had to fit into a small box. Commercially produced games have intricately folding cardboard maps and play areas, but to produce a single one of these for the prototype would have been cost-prohibitive. We needed to find something sturdy, that wouldn’t slip if bumped during gameplay, and would fit nicely into a relatively small box. We found the solution literally right at our fingertips. We divided the game board into twelve 11 x 8.5 inch panels and ordered custom mousepads. We informed the manufacturer of our purpose and they were able to perfectly trim each pad to our tolerances so that they could be assembled in a grid pattern to play the game. The final game may not utilize this type of game board, but for our prototype, it worked perfectly.
With a working prototype in our client’s hands, Question of Empire is currently in the testing phase and making the rounds to prospective publishers. While it may be a while before we see our handiwork on game store shelves, it has definitely been a fun project to develop and play. We are really looking forward to seeing this grace the tables of many wargame enthusiasts in the near future!
“DesignPoint was a creative partner from the outset who demonstrated the same level of excitement and commitment to the project that I did. And since I don’t know how many other people have walked through their doors and asked for help designing a wargame, it demonstrated the unbelievable level of adaptability and skill the firm possesses.”
— Craig Campbell, Empire Gameworks