Here are the 5 finalists for the 2019 design contest.
Pangaea by Brandt Brinkerhoff
Pangaea is a medium-weight, competitive, deck-driven, tile-based, perpetual-puzzle, strategy game with mechanics based on plate tectonics.
Players: 3–4 / Time: 60 min / Recommended age: 12+
In a time lost to history, powerful Demigods have learned to control the dry land. With displays of seismic activity they rage across the supercontinent Pangaea.
Primitive human species live in awe of these superior beings. In reverence, they seek elevated regions to worship and erect monuments to their name. The Demigods derive greater power from these sacred places and in turn favor their Followers.
As a Demigod, you and your Followers now compete for eminence over all of Pangaea.
Hailing from Orem, Utah, Brandt Brinkerhoff holds his BFA from Brigham Young University–Idaho. There are a devastating 26 letters in his name, and he has an unhealthy obsession with the late 1960s North American folk band, Buffalo Springfield. A pattern mapper and systems thinker, Brandt enjoys dissecting the underpinnings of exceptional moments, distilling complex concepts into simple ideas, and designing a better way. This is partially due to his ardent belief in the magic, power, and beauty of balance. It’s safe to say Brandt is a tactile man, highly concerned with craftsmanship, quality and really great tacos. His love for his wife and four children is nearly surpassed by his deep-seated and highly irrational love for three-sided polygons. That’s right, you heard me. Once resident of Chicago’s Roger’s Park neighborhood, Brandt is currently Fellow of Elven Robot Manufacturing and Time Travel in SLC. He is also the founder of Mastodon, a rebel design cohort established by the person, for the people—Insurgo Edere!
Curators – Collection Conundrum by Pablo, Jacob and Tove
Curators is a puzzly 1-4 player euroesque tileplacement game. In Curators, you take the role as the chief curator of a museum. Your job is to allocate the museum staff efficiently to: Create interesting exhibitions, Fulfill loan contracts and Attract visitors. If you are successful, your museum could win the prestigious title “Most visited museum of the year”!
You can follow curators on twitter or facebook: @WorldshapersBG
As a kid, Jacob Westerlund always enjoyed playing games like Risk and the lost Valley of the Dinosaurs. When he received Settlers of Catan as a christmas present, the hobby really took off. A year later he had learned about several designers: Uwe Rosenberg and Vlaada Chvatil.
Jacobs own design career started when he met others who not only loved board games, but also created their own. Designing turned out to be a fantastic way of learning even more about the hobby and meeting like minded peers.
On Pablo & Tove first date they played board games, so many that Pablo thought Tove was just trying to impress him. When Pablo asked Tove if she was playing because she liked games, they both found out that they each loved games a bit too much. Since then their love for games and each other has deepend.
In 2017 Pablo & Tove started Worldshapers to publish their first game. After a successful kickstarter campaign they wanted to develop the company and found Jacob who was working on what would become Curators. Pablo tried an early prototype of the game and made some changes that he showed to Tove and Jacob. Since then the trio has continued to developed the concept in to what the game is today.
Currently the three are finalizing the design to launch it on kickstarter in 2020.
Tankard of Toxins by Adam Desaulniers, Jeff Massicott, Dan Kozikowski
Tankard of Toxins is a 3-10 player party game in which everyone assumes the role of a servant to the King. Although you know you would never betray your beloved King, you cannot say the same for the other servants. Take turns passing the King’s tankard to taste test the delicious drink while attempting to slip a bit of poison in for those lesser servants. The last one standing gains the illustrious title of Loyal Servant, but be careful not to poison the King. If he perishes, surely no one will be found worthy!Adam: “Adam Desaulniers is the team’s in-house artist with a passion for both playing and designing games, especially with unusual themes and mechanics. Permanent resident of the testing/tweaking cycle and an avid fan of roguelikes and RPGs. Whatever new art he’s currently drawing, some of it was most likely made on the wrong layer.”
Jeff: “Jeffrey Massicott is an analytical chemist, who enjoys games of all kinds in his free time. Gaming has always been a part of Jeff’s life, and he enjoys games of all kinds. His favorite games are ones that make him laugh or make him think complex strategies. He is thankful for the opportunity to share his love of games with people, and glad he can be working on projects like this with two great friends.”
Dan: “Dan Kozikowski is a Fallout fanatic and video editor living in the Boston area. When not stuck in rush hour traffic, he’s usually questing in games he should have completed years ago. When not immersed in a screen or tabletop game, you can usually find him spoiling someone else’s pet.”
Expect Delays by Patrick Brennan, Alisha Wilkerson, Ari David
Expect Delays is a 20 min light strategy game for 2 players about the joys of riding public transit. Players take on the role of busy commuters desperately trying to get to work via an underfunded and barely operating subway system. The player who reaches the most destinations before every train is taken out of service and the whole system grinds to a halt wins the game.Patrick Brennan is the co-designer of Complicated Board Game the Card Game, the designer of Status Report!, and the head of Offcut Games. When not making board Games he works as the Scene Shop Supervisor at NYU.
Alisha Wilkerson is an illustrator living in Brooklyn. She spends her free time plotting world domination with her cat.
Ari David is the leader of many cults and self help groups. When not writing for Offcut Games he works in film and television.
Twisted Alchemy by Adam Zwain
Twisted Alchemy is a strategic deck and bag builder for 2 to 4 players and plays in around 75 minutes. The game’s unique twist is that players must slide glyphs on-and-off their own tablet to match patterns on cast their spell cards in order to capture demons, purchase more powerful spells, upgrade their tablet, or earn end game objectives. Once enough objectives are claimed, the game ends and the player with the most points is dubbed the master alchemist. Adam Zwain currently lives and works in the Philippines. A lifelong gamer, Adam decided to take the plunge into designing games in early 2018. Now he spends most of his free time creating prototypes, playtesting, and, of course, squeezing in as many other board games as he can. When he is not gaming, he enjoys traveling, hiking, rock climbing and spending time with his newborn daughter.
