Publisher Portrait: Horrible Guild

Horrible Guild was founded in 2014 by Lorenzo Silva. Back when it was founded it was known as Horrible Games, but in 2019 they changed their name to Horrible Guild. This Italian board game company is known for making innovative and different games, which I’ll be talking about shortly. Horrible Guild is another company that does a lot of their initial funding for games on Kickstarter, but they have more of a retail presence than a Kickstarter only game company. You can find more about them on their website, here.

What Are Their Games Like?

So, I mentioned this above, but Horrible Guild really tries to create unique games. Now, not all of these games are small, but a lot of them fall onto the lighter side of board gaming. But because they are lighter, that gives them a really good chance to be creative in what they are doing.

Horrible Guild is probably best known for the game Railroad Ink. This was a roll and write that hit the markets towards the front end of the roll and write craze that we are still actively in. Now, a roll and write doesn’t sound that unique and it isn’t, but it is a good demonstration of the quality that Horrible Guild puts into their games. It came with dry erase boards and markers instead of sheets. And the dice are nice and chunky that you are using not just your standard dice. This is something that is consistently throughout all their games. They really give a ton of toy factor to what they create.

Board Game Spotlight

Railroad Ink/Railroad Ink Challenge

I have been talking about this game a lot lately. That’s mainly because there was an app that came out for Railroad Ink Challenge, and it’s great. But also the game is a ton of fun. I played it recently over on Malts and Meeples. But this game is really worth talking about, especially because in the Challenge version, it gives you a lot of think about. And because it is the game that put Horrible Guild on the map for them. Railroad Ink is all about connecting routes, making long roads and train tracks, and nothing that revolutionary. However, it takes what we already know and leverages that.

Then Challenge adds in a whole lot more, well, challenges. Basically timed requirements where if you get them done in time you get more points. Plus a few more places to score points. In some ways Challenges is less punishing because you can score points with towns and double up the use of dice. But it’s more punishing because you now have those goals or challenges you’re going for. And those sometimes don’t match well with the dice, or what how you started. Do you want to score well there or go more for routes. Both version, though, a ton of fun.

Potion Explosion

When I think Horrible Guild, though, this is the game I think of. And that is because this game has so much toy factor. It is like playing an app game, but as a board game. In Potion Explosion you pull out marbles and they drop down , if you hit two of the same color together you get those two as well. It can create a great chain reaction that is so satisfying. But beyond that, it also has fun combo game play. You use the marbles to make potions. You use the options to get more marbles. It’s not complex, but out on the table it looks like so much fun, and its good for a wide variety of gamers.

Similo

This game is arriving in the mail today. I have yet to play it, but it is a big one for them in that Horrible Guild has a ton of expansions for it. What is drawing me to the game is that it’s a cooperative party game. Now, cooperative party games are becoming more common, but this one seems like a lot of fun. It has almost a bit of a Codenames element to it. One player is it and they have a secret card, out of 10 on the table, they want you to guess. And then a handful of cards to give you clues. They can’t say anything but with the cards they play, they tell you if it’s similar or different. Then the other players need to eliminate cards. Super simple, but super fun looking.

Tiny Turbo Cars

Finally I have one that I backed on Kickstarter. This one hasn’t shipped yet, still in production and development. But this one again has that amazing toy factor. You race cars across the living room floor. Well, the board game version of a living room floor. But the toy factor element, a little controller, that you program how your turn is going to go is just amazing. It’s a sliding puzzle and it looks like an RC controller. So you slide it to create that program in real time. I am so excited to get this one in.

Final Thoughts on Horrible Guild

As I talked about at the end of the video on Malts and Meeples on Wednesday, Horrible Guild is a company that I really pay attention to now. I just like their stuff. They make really fun games, generally really accessible games, and sometimes that’s what I want. I clearly love massive board games like those that Mythic Games and Awaken Realms put out, but I can’t only have that in my collection. So Horrible Guild gives me so many unique and fun twists on games that I’d have never thought of.

What is your favorite Horrible Guild Game?

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Publisher Portraits: Awaken Realms

Awaken Realms was originally founded as a game that made minis. This is pretty apparent if you look at the board games that they have put out. Granted, not so much with the first one they put out, This War of Mine. That game was based off of the popular video game. From there, they have branched out into a lot of other genres of game with Cyber punk in Lords of Hellas, grim dark Arthurian legend with Tainted Grail, ancient China with Great Wall, dreams with Etherfields, and most recently space with ISS Vanguard.

What Are Their Games Like?

Awaken Realms prides itself in making games that have great theme in them as well as amazing components. This really comes across in all of their games that I have played. They also try and give you an unique experience in all of their games. This can be pushing the story element or it can be creating interesting mechanics.

When I did my different types of gamer article, found here, Awaken Realms very much creates those experience games. Great Wall is basically a euro game, but it has minis and tries to immerse you in the theme. But Tainted Grail, the combat is a very interesting puzzle, but the story element just has you exploring and discovering so much in this huge world. This is really a hallmark of what Awaken Realms does. The knock can be that their games can be a little rough around the edges, but that adds into the immersion and the experience of the game most of the time.

Board Game Spotlight

Tainted Grail

I’ve talked about it some already up on what type of games they make, but Tainted Grail is an immersive story driven game. It really takes you on an adventure as you fight monsters, try and survive and deal with this grim dark Arthurian legend. This isn’t about nights in shining armor, it is about surviving and seeing if you can save the lands of Avalon. The game is really driven by the exploration and the story that you play through in 15 different chapters, but the combat and diplomacy mechanics are interesting as well. I like the card puzzle that you are given when fighting someone and trying to figure out how you can optimize it. I’ve done a lot of videos on Tainted Grail that you can see below.

This War Of Mine

This is the only Awakens Realm game based on an IP (Intellectual Property) that I can think of. Another survival game, this one I have picked up but haven’t played yet. You are trying to survive in a war torn land, build things, go out and find food, and survive another night as fighting can break out at any time. It’s a very depressing game, from what I’ve heard, but has a solo mode which is why I picked it up. Rolling Solo has a video that goes over the rules and how a day works in the game.

Lords of Hellas

Lords of Hellas is a little bit like a ton of other games but also like no other game I’ve ever played. In Lords of Hellas you get a hero from Greek lore and are fighting to complete various objectives to win the game. But how the game plays is just wild, you can win by conquering lands, building and controlling temples, fighting and killing monsters, and more. And each hero that you can play is different and you unlock other things that make you even more different as the game goes on. Plus, you are building minis in this game, there are towers that you end up building and those minis are amazing looking. This game really highlights that Awaken Realms is good at minis. The Dice Tower has a great play through of the game.

Flick of Faith

Now, for something completely different. Awaken Realms also has a line of lighter games. This is one of them. I haven’t played, but I really want to, because it seems like a ton of fun. You are flicking discs onto a board and trying to get them to stop in different areas to score you points. Now, the concept isn’t the most unique, but there are discs of different sizes and values. And there are special rules each round that the players can vote on which one they want. The game seems like a lot of fun, and when Man vs Meeple played it, well, you can see for yourself.

Final Thoughts on Awaken Realms

Like Mythic Games, whenever Awaken Realms puts out a game on Kickstarter, or now on their own Crowdfunding platform GameFound, I am going to be interested. The experience of playing an Awaken Realms game is truly hard to describe. There is something that makes it unique every time. Whether it be the story that they create, or the mechanics that they put together, it works. Now, I haven’t backed everything of theirs, I did skip their worker placement in Great Wall, but even that has more theme than most worker placements. If you want a game that will have interesting mechanics and be dripping with theme, Awaken Realms does that so well.

Which Awaken Realms game interests you the most? Or do you have a favorite already that you’ve played?

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