Hello Everyone! My name is Greg Santo and I am happy to now be a part of this community! I have been designing and programming video games since I was in middle school. For a while I worked at a videogame company called Pandemic Studios which was purchased by EA. Recently I stumbled into the world of board games and haven't turned back since! I am happy to announce that my first game project, Spell Stealers, is currently live on Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1wktZ7G
Spell Stealers is a press-your-luck dice game, racing game, and party game all rolled-up into one unique gaming experience that is fun for the whole family! It is for 2-6 players, ages 8+, and plays in about 20 minutes. Spell Stealers is being praised by critics for being incredibly fun, super-easy to learn and teach (even to younger players), and for its unique stealing gameplay mechanic that keeps every player actively involved in the game – even when it's not their turn.
I have a lot of other ideas that are in development that I am excited to bounce off of the community here! Also, I am creating a video blog series detailing the process of bringing a board game from an initial prototype all the way to launching it on Kickstarter. I have the first 10 videos filmed and will be filming more each week. I will share this in the appropriate forum when they are published.
Please check out Spell Stealers and let me know what you think! Thank you everyone!
It's funny you should mention both a grandma and an 8-year-old! The most recent review I received for Spell Stealers came from Diana over at Today in Board Games. When I asked her to review the game I had no idea that she was a grandmother. Here's what she said:
"I have played the game a few times now and absolutely love it. It was really fun with my grandchildren as they like to always take risks and will always go for the extra rolls...lolol"
You can read the full review here: http://todayinboardgames.com/spell-stealers-review/
So there is at least one grandma out there who can keep up :)
It is true, though, that the dexterity aspect might be a bit much for some players. The instruction manual actually comes with some rule variants for younger players and beginners which eliminates the real-time aspect but still keeps the game exciting.
Thank you again for the great feedback! I will make sure to note the dexterity aspect somewhere on the Kickstarter page.