Crownfall is part of the Epic Adventure Expansion. Now Available for Pre-order
Crownfall is a game designed and developed by Move38's wonderful class of interns ** this summer: Rob, Nicole, Jacob, & Conner. Watch the video below and read on.
We talked further to Rob and Nicole about Crownfall
Describe your game/gameplay/why people would enjoy this game?
Rob: Crownfall is a modular competitive flicking game for 2-4 players that incorporates elements of dexterity, tactics, and strategy. The gameplay can be fast and frenetic or slow and more methodical. From customizable armies to home-brewed battlefields, Crownfall allows for endless replayability as it teeters between the tactics of Chess and the frenzy of Crokinole.
In the end, despite all your plans and strategies, it will always comes down to how well (or poorly) you flick.
I think people will enjoy this game because of how modular each game can be. You can keep it simple with only a few roles in your army and play on a simple table, or you can go all out and create your own unique army composition with more complicated roles and a battlefield full of obstacles and blockades. You can also play in teams of 2 and work together.
Nicole: People would enjoy this because gameplay will always be unique and challenging with the competition becoming intense as you play more. Challenging your opponent, playing the game always keeps you on your toes in order to protect your King and fellow Blinks on your team while trying to get rid of your opponents. It’s an energetic game and it always makes you think of your next move.
What is the Origin Story of your game? How did it come to be.
Rob: Crownfall was the product of a constraint - my own lack of Blinks programming knowledge at the beginning of my internship. My goal was to create a game that was simple and did not require too much real-time communication between Blinks for my first project. So I thought I would create a game with multiple roles where most of the communication would happen once in the beginning.
Nicole: As we were progressing through the weeks of our internship, we all agreed to push his idea and work on it together for our Thesis Game. Through weeks of playtesting, adjusting the rules and roles of the Blinks, programming, and creating artwork, Crownfall became what it is now! We grabbed inspiration from Chess, Flic Flop, and our interests of medieval / fantasy games, movies, and shows to come up with roles and the narrative of the game.
Rob: We made team formation a part of the strategy. Depending on how you clustered your Blinks together in the beginning of the game, your entire army could be different, opening up unique team compositions and strategies. I wanted to blend tactics and dexterity so you felt like you were playing a larger strategy game but with real-time “combat". Later on, Connor worked tirelessly on ways for the Blinks to pass on information between one another for specific roles such as the Cleric. It took us a little while to convey the roles in visually distinct ways while also displaying team color, but Jacob and Nicole persevered and made each role easily recognizable from a distance.
What do you like best about Blinks? about developing games on Blinks?
Rob: What I love most about Blinks is how they bring the two worlds of physical board games and digital gaming together. What I like most about developing games on Blinks is the possibility space of new and wacky ideas. It’s easy to assume it’s just lights and communication, but if you remember the physical nature of the Blinks themselves (magnetic attraction, flicking, clicking, spinning, etc.) you’ll realize that combining both the digital and physical together into one experience will allow you to harness the unique power of these devices and create something that can’t be experienced any other way.
Nicole: Blinks is definitely a unique game system. I think that was what I liked most about it. People know about game engines and how video games are made for the most part, but Blinks are definitely a new way to make and play games. Blinks requires a different way of thinking when creating games and this challenge was something I enjoyed. I also really liked how visuals were thought of for Blinks. Animating the lights and colors makes Blinks all the more enjoyable to look at as well as interact with.
About the Designers
Jacob Surovsky is a playmaker based out of San Diego. Some past projects include creating the show Happy Puppet Hour at USC, designing interactive experiences for the Two Bit Circus Foundation, and most recently developing games as an intern at Move38. Crownfall is the first game Jacob’s worked on that has been published.
Website: jacobsurovsky.com Instagram: @coolthingsbyjacob
Rob Canciello is an indie VR and game designer based in NYC. He founded Stuido Studios back in 2017, a small production studio focused on novel interactions, emerging tech, asymmetrical play, and collaboration. Rob has taught several courses on game production throughout New York and New Jersey, and has worked with Playcrafting and other organizations to foster the growing indie game dev community in NYC. He's obsessed with board games, and has a pug named Pug. https://stuido.co/ LinkedIn
Nicole Polidore is a senior at Parsons School of Design studying Game Design and Immersive Storytelling. This summer, she had an amazing opportunity to be a Game Design Intern here at Move38! Along with designing games, her work included illustration and graphic design. Having an art background, Nicole strives to create games that are visually appealing and entertaining to play. More of Nicole’s work is accessible at https://www.nicolepolidore.com/.
Connor Wolf is a rising senior at Bradley University in Peoria, IL. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science with a major in Game Design and a minor in Computer Science. Between his classes and work at Move38, he is working on several personal projects which can be viewed at connorwolf.info.
** The Team at Move38 is so, so grateful to have worked with these stellar up-and-coming designers. It's been a fun summer and we're excited to play the games they'll develop in the future ***