Golem Arcana Hits Kickstarter With A Fantastic Gaming Idea
September 10, 2013 by brennon
Golem Arcana has been bubbling along beneath the surface for a while now and it has finally burst out onto Kickstarter. You might have heard us talking about this on the Weekender just gone but the way this works looks phenomenal...
Golem Arcana is much like any other miniatures game you would play with mighty forces clashing on the field of battle however the bonus addition of the TDI Stylus allows you to speed up your gaming with a fantastic piece of kit that stores and relates information from miniature to miniature.
"When you touch a figure with the stylus, information is transferred to the app via Bluetooth technology. The App immediately identifies which figure it is, all its capabilities, and its position on the game board. When you touch the stylus to a new region of the game board, the app instantly knows whether the move is valid or not."
...they continue.
"The Golem Arcana App knows all the game rules so you can’t accidentally break them. You don’t need to read a rulebook because everything you need to know is available on screen or with a tap of your finger or your stylus. New players learn the game quickly by following the onscreen prompts and listening to the audio feedback. Record keeping is a snap because the App tracks everything for you. It’s a referee, rule book, and tracking device all-in-one. Together, the TDI stylus and App allow you to focus on what's important: face-to-face tabletop gaming in the exciting new game world of Golem Arcana."
...well that just sounds fantastic doesn't it? A way of gaming which is fair, modern and works with pieces of kit that most people already own. However that's all well and good but it doesn't work very well if the miniatures aren't top notch does it? Thankfully they look original and quite frankly astounding.
As you can see these 'Golems', which remind me a lot of some of the creatures from Shadow of the Colossus, are all fantastic realised and as if that wasn't enough they are also fully assembled and painted. Think Skylanders or Disney Infinity but on the tabletop with epic fantasy creatures.
Being a digital game with no real need for a rulebook you will also be able to download new scenarios, rules updates and more and if you have to take a break, just save your game. Simple.
The world itself is already fantastically realised and sees mighty Knights riding on the back of these Golems that have been created from a variety of different sources, be they the earth itself or something darker like the bodies of the dead. I think artwork wise you will agree that they have done well here.
You can read more about the storyline to this epic struggle but needless to say it features some pretty titanic forces clashing to seize power. I love this modern take on the tabletop wargame and it's something that I could see taking off.
What sells this game for me is that it's all practically done for you. The App is ready to go, the Stylus has everything programmed into it and the miniatures are painted and ready to go. Much like a good board game it's something you can play right out of the box.
Check out the gameplay mechanics video above and check out the Kickstarter.
Drop some comments below with your thoughts.
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Sounds like playing at the supermarket checkout.
Wonder if you can get special offers. Hit one get one free. lol
“Unidentified Golem in the Bagging Area” 😉
Very nice Idea, I bought something similar “Barney” for my son, 25 years ago.
The most unfortunate thing about the game is that it cannot be used without a computer, or a lot of paper. Yes it is the same author as that note taking game BattleTech. As for the TDI Stylus, I will probably be using something like this in 25 years time, memory what it is, but it reminds me of the GW lazer.
One very nice point is an aid memoir on the base of the figs. Could lots of other companies copy this? Is this a Harebrained Schemes?
Come back to me with a better game.
What is the point? I don’t think anybody actually asked that question when designing this.
What is the advantage of this over using cards or counters as record keepers? Especially since they have to keep “tapping” on their cards anyway? Does it make it easier to see the state of the game? Nope. If anything it’s harder because now it’s confined to a low-resolution (data resolution, not screen resolution) tablet display. Is it more convenient than using cards or counters? Nope. If anything it’s less so because now I have to tap my units (in the right spot on the base btw), wait for the tablet to respond and then proceed with the game?
When moving, you have to tap the figure and then tap the square you’re moving to. If I’m buying a special piece of hardware (the board), why can’t I just move the figure to the square, and the board keeps track of its location? (I know the answer. The answer is money, but there’s no advantage to the current design so why would I pay anything for it even if it’s less expensive?)
This interface is actually worse than the standard interface for tabletop games. So from a pure UX perspective we’re moving backward here so far. But maybe we gain something in exchange for that. What could we gain?
Well, the main argument for something like this is that the rules are too complex, and the computer is helping us stick to the rules without cluttering up our brains. But gamers are pretty accustomed to complexity. It’s not just us tabletop gamers who have the rules for our complex systems laid bare for us in rule books. When video game designers go out of their way to obfuscate the mathematical systems behind their games, gamers will spend hours, days or weeks of their spare time reverse-engineering those systems to gain some advantage, then they’ll share that information with their fellow players (see, elitistjerks.com), and all of them will internalize that information (or some abstraction of it) so everybody at some point starts to metagame. Even the people who didn’t do the reverse engineering themselves try to benefit from the effort of those who did.
So one could argue that we’re actually okay with complexity. But let’s say that we want a game whose systems are so complex that even we number-crunching metagaming geeks can’t internally map all the info we need to really play effectively? One could argue that complex systems enable richer tactical and strategic interactions (though they don’t always succeed at creating those interactions). Certainly Jordan Weisman knows what I mean. He did, after all, co-design Battletech, a game system currently represented in six different core rulebooks with a seventh one on the way (it’s also the largest of the core rulebooks, a set of rulebooks that so far numbers well over a thousand pages of rules without fluff. The fluff is now into the tens of thousands of pages).
But this new game isn’t actually that complex. Movement is grid-based, and it’s a square grid which is even simpler than the hex grids Weisman has played around with before. Combat is simple arithmetic. Damage tracking is significantly simpler than almost anything Weisman has ever made before. This game’s rules (as they have been demonstrated so far) are so easy to follow, that one could probably keep track of it all in one’s head. The tablet adds needless complexity to the game rather than helps players manage it.
The game is simpler and easier than most tabletop wargames, including X-Wing and HerClix which are widely considered “gateway” games for people who have never tackled a miniatures game before. So we’re not gaining anything in terms of complexity. Again we’re actually losing some tactical richness.
Why? That’s the question that was never asked. Because it’s “cool”? It’s cool just because an electronic device is involved? Is that it? I’ve seen video games that are very similar to this “miniatures game”, grid-based tactics games that have been around since the NES. This is like Skylanders. It’s not a miniatures game. It’s a video game with props. The props are replacements for the menu actions in Final Fantasy Tactics. The props are the replacements for a d-pad and two face buttons (all the hardware you would really need to play this game as a video game). The props do not represent the richness of the interactions we tabletop gamers are used to. They don’t represent the myriad options available to a mini that can move/fire at any angle measured in inches, where a millimeter-wide gap is just enough for your attack to fall short. The props in this game are just props.
Tycho of Penny Arcade wrote about Skylanders and Disney Infinity recently, http://penny-arcade.com/2013/08/19/savagery . I don’t read PA much these days, but this post resonates. When we buy these products, we’re not paying for a better game. We’re really not playing for the game at all. We’re paying for the dongle. We used to hate software that required us to plug in a dongle to use it. But wrap that dongle in a plastic-injection molded toy and we’ll pay for it, we’ll buy thousands of them.
This game is a collection of very elaborate dongles wrapped around a very simple game that probably wouldn’t sell for more than $3.99 if it were just an iPad game (and it mechanically resembles some iPad games already available, just with added plastic attached). I am actually interested in what digital technology can do for our hobby. I’m very interested in how digital technology will change the publishing models, the funding models and the community models of our hobby. I’m very interested in the “idea” of using technology in the games themselves. But I want that technology to serve the game. I don’t want the game to serve the technology.
I want a better game, not a more elaborate dongle. This is going in the wrong direction.
I wanted to talk about that… and then I realized you had already said it better than I ever could ! Bravo and thank you, sir.
We’ve already seen this with Ex Illis, by the way, and this time it’s going to be pre-painted injected plastics. Ugh ! Pre-painted ? Low detail ? Puh-LEASE, we are not ten year olds.
They do sell resin versions of the miniatures, but they don’t show them in detail and it’s a Kickstarter exclusive, so I am not inclined to pledge (and help them finance their endeavor) just to get them.
I don’t wish failure on anyone, but they are asking for a huge amount of money for something that looks like crap minis and a weird stylus around yet another Ipad game… I think this is throwing money away.
I totally agree. I think technology really is best used to enhance the immersion of the play experience. AR on a smartphone, where the camera is placed at eye height of the of the model could bring up a targeting array on the enemy model or some such. That is where technology can provide more for us. All this is, is a technological curtain to the mechanics, no different to playing turn based rpg games.
tl;dr
Use technology to enhance the gameplay, and do something a normal tabletop game can’t do. Don’t use it to make pre-existing gameplay clunky. Use technology to augment the game, to bring it more to life, through tech like AR.
Speaking of fancy dongles – I recall a game from many years ago a game with robot models that you assembled and plugged into a console. Your robot in the game resembled the configuration of the model you assembled. It was part lego, part robot war kind of thing. I never saw anything but pictures, but I can and do see the appeal of a “fancy dongle” game if done correctly.
For example, while that robot game may have been limited to Japan (?), there are whole toy aisles full of kit-type toys: model cars where you can change out parts, build up the engine, change tires, etc. While easily replicated purely in digital form (and there are tons of games that have done these for decades), some people enjoy the hands on. Instead of a memory card, bring your tuned up model car or skateboard with you to a friend’s house. Two hobbies in one.
This isn’t so very different than most of our tabletop hobbies. Why do we need cards and counters, dice, and little army men when it can all be done on screen? Simple, we enjoy the other aspects of the hobby, too. The assembly, the physical representations, and so forth (for me, I’m not so great at the modeling, so pre-made stuff like X-Wing appeals to me – btw, wave 3 just shipped!). I like light-gun games, myself. I’m far, far better at them than the “more accurate” mouse & keyboard interface. I like the feel of it, I understand the “controls” immediately, and it plays into my existing muscle/reflex memory. The success of the Wii and motion interface games all play off that. Lots of folks loved the idea of lightsaber dueling (it just never delivered on the software end). I’m also reminded of Back to the Future II – “you have to use your hands?! It’s a baby’s game!”
While this pen gizmo isn’t quite hitting the mark for me, I do like the idea of being able to point a zapper at something and calling up stats and special rules instead of page flipping and hope the idea goes forward and evolves. While it is easy to point at complex games and say “see, success. We like complex” it’s not really the norm and less so on a site like this where you preach to the choir. On the RPG side of things, you can really see a wide spectrum of opinions on crunch levels. Many people won’t try new stuff because they don’t have time to learn alllllllll that again, they’ll just stick to what they know. Remove the complexity barrier and you might find more game clubs that do more than 40k because that’s what they know, or that’s what other people play and they can’t find anyone who plays other stuff, on and on into this circular, incestual, 40k only thing. I once encountered a game group that only played one game… no one in the group even liked the game, they only played it because that’s what the others played and now they are too vested. How horrible!
Tech can certainly enhance stuff, but it needs to be used to enhance the experience. The experience doesn’t always have to be streamlined to enhance it, I’d be willing to do an extra step if the payoff is there. I’m sure someone thinks the Space Hulk soundboard offered here enhances their game, for example. Like mpopke stated above, the tech has to serve the game not the other way around.
Seems overly complicated for a game.
I just dont see the point.
I like the urugal design
I think the models look awesome for this game. As I mentioned in the article I like the idea of this Shadow of the Colossus style affair with massive Golems being ridden by Knights. That backed up with the artwork makes this a very good looking game.
The TDI Stylus may add another mechanic to the tabletop but it’s just that, a mechanic. Why is it there? Because it looks cool. In my opinion you’d feel like you’re actually using some magical item of power sending these Golems across the battlefield to do battle.
It’s the same reasoning behind why a light gun game is awesome. You could just use a controller OR you could use a light gun and have a bit more of an interesting experience.
The way it transfers data seems very immediate too and that’s a big bonus. It might not be needed, but because its quick and shows what’s happening right there and then on a screen, tracking your entire battle means you can just get on and game.
I think it’s a great way of bridging the gap between the video gamer, the board gamer, and the war gamer. In a way it’s better than the video game because you actually have to sit down and play this against someone opposite you. You get the tabletop feeling from this mixed bag of gamer ideas.
What I think is cool is that if you can do this, what’s to stop them moving this technology on and using something like the Oculus Rift to help enhance the experience. We already have neat technology that allows you to see 3D versions of your ‘cards’ through a camera like with the DS so what about something that lets you see these Golems actually ‘fighting’ when you send them to do something – something that might end being present in the App itself, who knows.
Might not even be for the miniatures themselves, since it’s nice to see them on the board. The terrain could be animated so it looked like a proper landscape.
Just my extended thoughts.
And light gun games are almost completely gone now. The few that do still exist are just aging arcade machines, games that were made ages ago and haven’t been revisited or updated since. Nobody plays light gun games anymore except as a nostalgia trip or a gimmick. The reason is pretty simple, hardware finally improved to the point where light guns weren’t the best way to play a shooter anymore. They’re not awesome. They’re clunky, relatively inaccurate compared to the controls used in a modern FPS, and they force you to play a game on rails with no control whatsoever of your own movement or progression through the game.
Using this technology with Oculus Rift is not a tabletop game. It’s a video game. I like video games too, but they’re not tabletop games. This Golem Arcana is not a tabletop game. It’s a video game with props that replace buttons, and it’s a simple video game at that. Were it not for the props, it would probably be considered very boring when compared to other video games (just like Skylanders).
I play tabletop games because they’re better than video games. They’re more flexible. They provide more options. This game does the opposite, but there’s a shiny pen and a big LCD display that’s showing me less information at a glance than a spread of Warmachine cards would.
This is not a better game. It’s a collection of dongles attached to a game that would be considered a downgrade compared to what we normally play if it weren’t for the distraction provided by the tablet, whose novelty has already worn off because tablets have been around for a while. This isn’t even a step in a promising direction because nothing about this is an improvement over what we already have (like War Room for instance, which also suffers greatly from low data-resolution in it’s display but is still more promising than this).
This is tech for the sake of tech and nothing else (well, also for the sake of selling lots of little plastic dongles). There’s no improvement here, just a gimmick. This is like the version of Monopoly that uses cards and an electronic swiping machine instead of paper money. It adds complication to the player’s tasks rather than reducing it. It brings more disadvantages than advantages. But it’s shiny and “technological” (even though the tech is actually pretty primitive, stuff we’ve been using since the ’90s for other purposes).
Absolutely agree.
The game mechanics look pretty basic, apart from the masses of modifiers. I think the aim of the system is to manage all of that. If you play a board game/table top game it becomes increasingly hard to keep track of each figure as you add more, and add more modifiers. Games like DnD get away with it because you have one figure, and even then it’s too much for many players. But having lots of modifiers, does not a good game make!
Many games are better where there are simple universal core modifiers. How much does it add, to have specific modifiers based on the other models in the same square. Likewise, I can’t see this game “scaling up” massively. It will be far too slow. At the end of the day, I feel the dice are tacked on too. They just don’t want the computer to do “everything”, and while you “can” roll the dice, how many of us save time by using computer programs to roll dice for us? Not many in my area, anyway.
At which point you are stuck entering your dice rolls… :/ blech.
Well. The point is : games of the future will be playable by people who have no numeracy or literacy skills :o))
I do hope there’s Irony in here…
Have you ever seen the article online that examines the Star Wars movies and comes to the conclusion that the Star Wars civilization as a whole is functionally illiterate? Their technology has advanced to the point where literacy is no longer needed, not even for advanced technical tasks like repairing space ships (knowledge is different than literacy). yslaire’s comment reminded me of that.
I disagree with the article… and it’s not the most recent, nor the most lauded source.
Star Wars is literate enough : the display screens in all of the movies (when shown) show letters/numbers. In a weird galactic font, but even so, they’re written language. Also, soldiers seem to read reports every now and then.
Coruscant has written signs, as well, and there’s plenty of written things in the clone wars series.
Nowadays, very serious people argue that we have two very distinct languages (written, and spoken), and that text messaging is “spoken language” in a written form, while “formal speech” is written language in a spoken form.
I don’t think technology and advances will make written language obsolete anytime soon (unless we manage to download information in the brain quicker and in higher volumes than transmitting it through reading… and we’re very far from that feat !) but it sure will make our languages change a lot. Which is a good thing, and unavoidable anyway.
Definitely 😉 That doesn’t mean famous philosophers such as Voltaire or Diogenes, or let’s say…Terry Pratchett…^^ Never used irony, cynism or sarcasm to point out some genuine human flaws.
But who cares…. Within a couple of centuries kids won’t even know what’s a philosopher or what’s irony (unsatisfying R.O.I. For shareholders ^^)…
…. Oops! I did it again (B. Spears, 2000 A.D)
I have to say, I really like the art direction on the miniatures. They are really cool looking designs.
What I don’t like… the execution. they look cheaply made, poorly painted, and the tablet/phone tie in to me just reeks of gimmicky trends trying to coat tail on skylanders and disney’s infinity.
if this was for an actual miniatures game, with those designs as models you could assemble and paint yourself, i’d be all over it.
wasted potential.
Technology like this
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/2858588/list/Get-Ready-for-the-Smart-Coffee-Table
expanded to full gaming board size, with Minis that can communicate with the table using the software of the table to speed play and provide environmental amusement (keep track of wrecks, where casualties fall, animate various shooting etc) and other advantages (such as deeper more complex modifiers and unit stats/actions, etc) I think would provide the future, not this strange magic wand of tap, tap for the sake of it. Trying to compare this game to Ex illis, I’m not sure its even a step in a better direction, everything it seems to be trying to do Exillis did just as well or better, honestly… and with a lot less annoying bleeps all around.
a bit crude but here is an actual adaption of the concept for DnD using microsoft surface
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n94E3IeBquY
I imagine when the costs drop/tech/manufacturing improves on these pieces of tech to the point of being able to have 4×6 screens
Well, a little late to the party but after taking a look have to agree that I’m not sure what the point is. Like Skylanders it is just a video game with props. If I wanted to play a video game…I’d play a video game.
There is potential with merging tech with minis, but this is not it.
And if that wasn’t enough to sway me away from buying this game…
“…prepainted minis”
Meh.
I got to play this at PAX. It is a lot of fun, though much more casual than something like WH40k. I would put it on par with something like Memior 44. It is as complex as WIzkids Mechwarrior, though more abstract. A lot of the mechanics are more like a board game than a classic miniature ware game. For example, line of sight ot a figure is not important, but line of sight to the space the figure occupies is.
There are unpainted figures option, for those who like to paint. I have neither the time nor skill, so the pre-painted works for me. The paint jobs on the models at PAX were better than most pre-painted minis I have seen.
As for the skylanders comparison, I think it is fair. Though the difference is that skylanders is a figure meant to draw you to the television. Golem Arcana uses the software to bring people together around a table, in the same room. It should draw in people that are new to the hobby, and perhaps getting them to play other games. It should grow the hobby, which has to be a good thing.
This description is scaring me away even more : we’ve all known the fiasco that certain “electronic boardgames” can be… More often than not, they’re gimmicks and not bridges, even if they can be fun to play.
I like the minis, the artwork, and the fluff, but they had to add the stupid software component to it. I think once you add software you date the game and limit its life span. You look at how fast technology evolves and soon that stylus and program will be outdated and not compatible. Unless, the game becomes a hit and they keep it updated. The beauty of a miniature game is that its timeless. As long as you have the book and a few minis you can play the game no matter if the game is in print or not. For example, I can go back and play the miniature game Void 1.1 anytime I want and that game has been out of print for 13 years, but I can’t play my Star Wars X-Wing game for Windows 95 unless I go through a buggy emulator that freezes up every 10 minutes.
Despite what may be in the FAQ, I’ve seen nothing so far that would require the actual app to play. Substitute the electronic record keeping with traditional cards and tokens and it seems no more complicated than many other wargames out there.
I actually baked this game, wont say I’d give up Malifaux (my main game) however theres merit to a system like this. I have a limited number of friends to play Malifaux with, the others are on the fence cause A: they don’t want the added painting hobby. B: They don’t have the time. C: They fret the big old book ‘o rules to keep up with. So basicly this is my compromise 🙂 and at y
That a beautiful one to my opinion.
Thanks for the support!
Also, Jordan Weisman will be doing an AMA in r/games over on reddit on Thursday, September 19th at 2:30pm PST.
Come by if you have any Golem Arcana questions.