Amber: The Board Game?

RPGPundit · December 13, 2012, 08:54:57 PM

Has anyone heard of this Amber board game?

Is it for real? Is it official?

RPGPundit

RPGPundit · December 14, 2012, 02:02:07 AM

Also, why are the four playing pieces Corwin, Brand, Julian and Caine; why not Eric or Bleys? At least those two actually tried for the throne, unlike Julian or Caine!

RPGPundit

Sydius Mendoza · December 14, 2012, 01:51:48 PM

This looks pretty janky. Appears to be real, but as to official? Who knows. I read through the game description and I don't think this game is right for Amber. And the art work is all wrong. It looks like it came off of a Howard or Moorcock cover. Also, why the fuck is Corwin holding what appears to be either a zwei-hander or possibly a bastard sword? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I thought Greyswandir was supposed to be of a size with say a sabre or cutlass, possibly a basket-hilt broadsword, but no larger. I agree with your Q's about the choice of Princes? Caine and Julian were backing Eric for the throne. Just stupid

Panjumanju · December 14, 2012, 05:38:59 PM

If this board game cannot win over an Amber forum, I don't see it doing very well.

//Panjumanju

jibbajibba · December 14, 2012, 10:28:10 PM

As someone that spent a log time writing an Amber Card game I can tell you that starting with 4 princes and then looking to expand it later is a sound approach (and one of my many downfalls). Though I would have started with Corwin, Eric, Bleys and Brand but can see from a design position eric and Corwin are similar and so occupy the same design space to a large degree.
The artwork is average but then maybe the designers did their own or had a mate.

As for Caine and Julian not being after the throne.... well what nonsense just because they were playing the long game does not for one moment indicate that they had no interest

It might be worth a look and you really have no way to judge until you feel the weight of the box in your hand.

From the blurb it sounds like a strategy game using something akin to the diplomacy rule concept but with a board that you create each time by shuffling out (I am guesing 16 to 25) board tiles which represent Shadow Earth, Avernus, Lorraine and of course Amber which one suspects you deal out at the beginging in the centre of the play area.

Totally guessing of course

RPGPundit · December 15, 2012, 02:11:42 AM

Yeah, who knows, maybe those four were chosen because of special powers each was supposed to have in the game?

RPGPundit

jibbajibba · December 15, 2012, 02:30:08 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;609112Yeah, who knows, maybe those four were chosen because of special powers each was supposed to have in the game?

RPGPundit

I just read the blog and i was right with the board layout and the basic stuff but wrong with the game play I expected you to be recruiting armies from shadow rather than having pieces up front.

Definitely seems that he Princes were selected to provide a range of play options as opposed to simply mirroring the books.

RPGPundit · December 16, 2012, 04:02:27 AM

But shouldn't mirroring the novels be kind of the point?

RPGPundit

jibbajibba · December 16, 2012, 08:56:42 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;609302But shouldn't mirroring the novels be kind of the point?

RPGPundit

Well games aren't books and unless you had a game with a core narative mechanic that drove it like the book, and you were prepared to run a game where one player starts off hugely gimped and another starts in the winning position

Rather i think you want to use the background and flavour to create a genuinely playable strategy game.
Now having said all that I would want the game to be able to play like the books which here i think is impossible.

I went through similar dilema with my own card game looking for a satisfying endgame i never fixed it because i wanted to replicate the idea that one player could seize amber via politics or military force but that they still needed to defend it from the other players.
That created a game that played for hours and where the only viable solution was to kill all the other players who by their nature are not easy to kill. Similarly i put far too much into the game and so i can definitely see the benefit of paring it down as no one needs a 6 hour card game :-)

RPGPundit · December 17, 2012, 12:40:46 AM

Yeah, I find I'm getting too old to play board games that last more than 4 hours, even ones I love.

RPGPundit

doom2.wad · January 02, 2013, 11:36:26 AM

Hello, I have just discovered this thread. I am the author of Princes of Amber: The Board Game and I would like to respond to your questions and doubts.

The game is real, though it has not been released yet (except of 50 low-cost non-profit boxes in Czech language last fall). It has been dormant in my drawer for a couple of years (for various reasons, lack of time one of them) and had been heavily playtested a couple of years before that. It was mostly positive feedback from around 100 players which made me decide to finally go out with the game.

Sadly, it is not official yet. I am working on coming to an agreement with the current copyright holders and do not intend to release the game without it. Not being a huge company makes it a bit harder. No need to say it is the main obstacle now and I am considering various scenarios.

The artwork is original, not final and subject for feedback. We got pretty positive feedback from Amber-unaware players and are ready to receive some serious criticism from die hard Amber fans

As you have suggested, the princes were chosen primarily for their powers. And their powers primarily for the game diversity AND balance. It is a strategy and diplomacy game and it does not mirror the story of the books as much as it does mirror the diplomacy between the brothers (and sisters). The diplomacy in the game is really as unscrupulous as you remember it from the books.

There are definitely the other princes coming in form of expansions. They are already made up but that thoroughly playtested as these four. (The game has a big potential for expanding and I have already created some new unit types, card types and even The Courts of Chaos faction. But first things first.)

I have just revamped the site to look less amateurish. We have (me and a group of students I lead in an Agile Web Development university class) also released a teaser game Flip the Prince. It is much simpler than Princes of Amber but give a taste of the artwork.

You are welcome to check it out. I would appreciate any feedback.

jibbajibba · January 02, 2013, 10:11:14 PM

Quote from: doom2.wad;613811Hello, I have just discovered this thread. I am the author of Princes of Amber: The Board Game and I would like to respond to your questions and doubts.

The game is real, though it has not been released yet (except of 50 low-cost non-profit boxes in Czech language last fall). It has been dormant in my drawer for a couple of years (for various reasons, lack of time one of them) and had been heavily playtested a couple of years before that. It was mostly positive feedback from around 100 players which made me decide to finally go out with the game.

Sadly, it is not official yet. I am working on coming to an agreement with the current copyright holders and do not intend to release the game without it. Not being a huge company makes it a bit harder. No need to say it is the main obstacle now and I am considering various scenarios.

The artwork is original, not final and subject for feedback. We got pretty positive feedback from Amber-unaware players and are ready to receive some serious criticism from die hard Amber fans

As you have suggested, the princes were chosen primarily for their powers. And their powers primarily for the game diversity AND balance. It is a strategy and diplomacy game and it does not mirror the story of the books as much as it does mirror the diplomacy between the brothers (and sisters). The diplomacy in the game is really as unscrupulous as you remember it from the books.

There are definitely the other princes coming in form of expansions. They are already made up but that thoroughly playtested as these four. (The game has a big potential for expanding and I have already created some new unit types, card types and even The Courts of Chaos faction. But first things first.)

I have just revamped the site to look less amateurish. We have (me and a group of students I lead in an Agile Web Development university class) also released a teaser game Flip the Prince. It is much simpler than Princes of Amber but give a taste of the artwork.

You are welcome to check it out. I would appreciate any feedback.

Dobre Den doom2.
Vítejte v theRPGsite.

Limit of my Czech (although I have a Czech wife, daughter and a house in Prague, go figure

) .

You are I suspect unlikely to get copyright. The Amber license I think just covers RPG material and not card and Board games and the full rights are well... hmmm.

I can totally see where you were comign from I have an Amber Card Game that has been gathering dust for about 5 years although I just pinched all my artwork from the Web apart from a could of amberite sketches i got from a mate, as it was always a home use project

RPGPundit · January 04, 2013, 01:09:11 AM

I really wish you luck; I assume you've tried to contact the Zelazny estate?

I'd be very interested to hear about how that progresses, if you get responses, what they say, etc.

Its believed that the Zelazny estate hasn't even allowed the current holders of the Amber RPG license to do a new edition of the game with the Amber material; its unclear whether this is a strict refusal or an issue of money demands.

In any case, welcome to theRPGsite! Please keep us informed, as I imagine that if you get this off the ground you'd have some interested potential customers here!

RPGPundit

doom2.wad · January 09, 2013, 05:35:47 AM

Thank you, guys, very much for your support. I'm in contact with an attorney of Zelazny Estate. It took a while just to get in touch. We didn't get to the numbers yet.

I consider several other scenarios for a case we don't come to an agreement. One of them is making the game a donation-funded fan project.

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime you may enjoy the companion game Flip the Prince.

@jibbajibba: Nice to see Czech language around here

If you come to Prague please let me know, I'd be happy to grab a beer with a fellow Amberite and see the game of yours.

jibbajibba · January 09, 2013, 09:11:39 PM

Quote from: doom2.wad;616279Thank you, guys, very much for your support. I'm in contact with an attorney of Zelazny Estate. It took a while just to get in touch. We didn't get to the numbers yet.

I consider several other scenarios for a case we don't come to an agreement. One of them is making the game a donation-funded fan project.

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime you may enjoy the companion game Flip the Prince.

@jibbajibba: Nice to see Czech language around here If you come to Prague please let me know, I'd be happy to grab a beer with a fellow Amberite and see the game of yours.

Currently in Singapore Doom2 so prolly not about for a year or two as I want to explore other places. However if you need to buy or rent a House I have the prefect opportunity for you , možná .....

PM me your email address and I will see if I can bundle my Amber card game into an email or something. The end game still doesn't work but its certainly fun to play with and shares some basic DNA with your game.