13 votes

Poetry Slam - A word/party game from Mayday Games. I'm the designer and we went live on Kickstarter this morning!

Hey all, I'm a board game designer named Adam Wyse and I just wanted to share my latest project that went live on Kickstarter this morning!

A little bit about me; I'm a former software engineer who now works in the board game industry full time. I have a few published games (Head of Mousehold, Masque of the Red Death), and many more that have been signed and will be coming out over the next year or two. I work for Roxley Games doing logistics and development. If you're a fan of modern tabletop games you've probably heard of Santorini or Brass.

Anyways, Mayday Games is publishing Poetry Slam; a word/party game for 3 to 8 players (10 if we reach the stretch goal). It's all about writing a word based on a prompt, then coming up with a short poem that allows other players to guess your word. Each player loses a letter each round that they can no longer use in later rounds. Coming up with your word faster will earn you more points, but you will lose more valuable letters! It's a strategic and hilarious word game that you can play with a big group - it makes for a pretty fun and unique experience.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maydaygames/poetry-slam-a-beatnik-3-8-player-party-game

I did up a full how to play video here a couple weeks ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Y-0FBCjyM

One of the cool things that Mayday is doing is a referral system. If you back the game you get a referral link. If you get someone else to back the game using your link, you get a free playmat. Whoever refers the most people will get a cool prize pack!

If you have any questions about Poetry Slam, board game design in general, the tabletop industry, or Roxley Games, I'm happy to answer! I hope you'll give the project a look!

Edit: The project was cancelled because it kind of stalled in the middle, but the game is still going to be produced! It will be available at Origins board game convention in June, and then in retail shortly afterwards. If you are interested in checking out a gameplay video, we recorded on at my local game store last night: https://www.facebook.com/sentrybox/videos/10156328694703428/

15 comments

  1. [7]
    Deimos
    Link
    Hey Adam, congrats on another Kickstarter launching! How has Poetry Slam changed from the original concept/prototypes that you came up with for the game? Is it still pretty similar overall, or...

    Hey Adam, congrats on another Kickstarter launching!

    How has Poetry Slam changed from the original concept/prototypes that you came up with for the game? Is it still pretty similar overall, or does it feel like a significantly different game?

    3 votes
    1. [6]
      LoanWolf
      Link Parent
      From the start I knew I wanted to make a word game that was the opposite of word games where you have a letter pool you're building words from. I wanted players to lose letters as the game went...

      From the start I knew I wanted to make a word game that was the opposite of word games where you have a letter pool you're building words from. I wanted players to lose letters as the game went on.

      The original theme was awful. Adults have 32 teeth and there are 26 letters in the alphabet... pretty close, especially if you have your wisdom teeth out. So the game, at first, was about old people losing their teeth. That didn't last long, because no one wants to think about that.

      Overall, this game had the shortest design and development time of any game I've ever done. Some games take years, but I started Poetry Slam in Feb 2016, pitched the basic concept to Mayday in March 2016, asked for another month to develop the game, and it was signed by May 2016. It really changed very little since that time.

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Qis
        Link Parent
        oh rad, this actually looks like a great word game!! Usually I feel like I have no reason to branch out into difficult vocabularies (the fun part!) or rarer letters. Did you play either of Tim...

        oh rad, this actually looks like a great word game!! Usually I feel like I have no reason to branch out into difficult vocabularies (the fun part!) or rarer letters. Did you play either of Tim Fower's deckbuilders? Those were the last ones I really tried and I stepped away feeling like the genre needed a new approach.

        Seriously, great idea, dude. Is it good? Does it work with people who aren't very comfortable with games?

        3 votes
        1. LoanWolf
          Link Parent
          Thanks! I Kickstarted Paperback and we don't play it super often, but I do like it. It just seems to drag a bit between turns, but the overall concept is fun. I've met Tim Fowers and I'm really...

          Thanks! I Kickstarted Paperback and we don't play it super often, but I do like it. It just seems to drag a bit between turns, but the overall concept is fun. I've met Tim Fowers and I'm really impressed with a lot of his games. He suggested I go the self-publishing route instead of pitching games to publishers, but I don't think that's really for me.

          I think Poetry Slam is fantastic (though I'm a bit biased)! It does a lot of the things I wished other word/party games would do and I feel it fills a unique space. Some of the selling points are:
          -Plays 3 to 10 players and it's equally good at any player count
          -It doesn't outlast its welcome. Games will be about 45 minutes in length. Shorter if you play with 3 to 5 players.
          -Good with non-gamers, it's very easy to pick up. It's one of my mom's favourite games and she is not a gamer at all.
          -It's very easy to handicap if you're playing with kids or people who are intimidated by the poetry - make it so their poems don't need to rhyme. (though once people play one or two rounds of the game they usually find it easy)
          -There are so many funny moments. Often people's words and poems are just ridiculous, and it leaves you with a lot of memorable things that you'll talk about later.
          -It makes you think in a really different way. Trying to wrap your words around the word prompt and the letters you're not allowed to use is interesting to me, and then the poetry part sends you thinking in a different direction again. It's far from a mindless party game.

          Conveniently, if you're interested in seeing it in action, we recorded a live stream at my FLGS last night:
          https://www.facebook.com/sentrybox/videos/10156328694703428/

          Mayday cancelled the Kickstarter, which was the right move, but they'll be selling copies at Origins (I'll be there to demo) and then releasing to retail shortly after.

          1 vote
      2. [3]
        Deimos
        Link Parent
        Haha, I think the theme switch was a really good call. Tooth loss (teeth loss?) is something that a lot of people seem to have a real phobia of, and a pretty common nightmare subject. What's made...

        Haha, I think the theme switch was a really good call. Tooth loss (teeth loss?) is something that a lot of people seem to have a real phobia of, and a pretty common nightmare subject.

        What's made it take 2 years to go from signing to Kickstarter? Developing the art, manual, etc., or something else?

        1 vote
        1. cfabbro
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          I don't know why that would possibly be... Teeth are totally not creepy at all. And yeah, I am curious about the art development for the game too... it's really gorgeous work, which is what made...

          I don't know why that would possibly be... Teeth are totally not creepy at all.

          And yeah, I am curious about the art development for the game too... it's really gorgeous work, which is what made me think about a mobile app for it.

          2 votes
        2. LoanWolf
          Link Parent
          Often a company will take a long time to produce a game simply due to not having many resources (small staff) and having a lot of other games in the queue. Since there was really no development...

          Often a company will take a long time to produce a game simply due to not having many resources (small staff) and having a lot of other games in the queue. Since there was really no development needed for Poetry Slam from a game mechanics perspective, all the effort was in art, graphic, and component design. I feel that for the most part the game sat for almost a year before much progress was made on it.

          Mayday has another of my games under contract that I'm hoping will also Kickstart later this year. I've just heard very little in the way of progress so far. I'm loving the end result of Poetry Slam, but it's definitely taken some time.

          2 votes
  2. euphoria066
    Link
    I pushed hard for this game to be called Rap Beefs, but the art and end style has really won me over to the beatnik theme now! ;)

    I pushed hard for this game to be called Rap Beefs, but the art and end style has really won me over to the beatnik theme now! ;)

    3 votes
  3. [4]
    krispykrackers
    Link
    Hey Adam! Congrats on the game! I'm super excited to see how it turns out :) I have a general question. What are some of the best designed games you've come across? As in, "Wow this must have...

    Hey Adam! Congrats on the game! I'm super excited to see how it turns out :)

    I have a general question. What are some of the best designed games you've come across? As in, "Wow this must have taken years to develop!" What comes to mind for me is Twilight Struggle and 7 Wonders, but curious if you have a different take on those or other games you've come across that are deeply woven and well done.

    Checking out your kickstart now!

    3 votes
    1. [3]
      LoanWolf
      Link Parent
      Thanks so much! I actually haven't played Twilight Struggle, but it's been one I've been meaning to try because it's so well regarded! I should just buy the iOS adaptation so I can try it out and...

      Thanks so much!

      I actually haven't played Twilight Struggle, but it's been one I've been meaning to try because it's so well regarded! I should just buy the iOS adaptation so I can try it out and play against the AI.

      I feel the game I most recently felt that "Wow this must have taken years to develop" feeling is with A Feast For Odin. There are just so many action options, so many occupations, so many settlements and buildings. It's daunting to punch out the goods tiles (and takes forever) before you even get into your first game. But it just works very well. It's not as elegant and tight as Agricola, but it is really well designed and I'm in awe of it.

      Another two games that I feel that way about are from my favourite designer, Vlaada Chvatil. Through The Ages and Mage Knight both seem like they would be such an undertaking to design. Not just because of the amount of content created for the games, but playtesting and balancing a >2 hour game hundreds of times is an incredible amount of work. The designers who create these really big games owe a lot to their playtesters for sticking it out through what I'm sure are very many very long playtests.

      3 votes
      1. krispykrackers
        Link Parent
        Even Twilight Struggle has some wonkiness, my husband and I just started playing and often have to look up how to interpret different actions. But it's sooo much fun. I imagine the people who...

        Even Twilight Struggle has some wonkiness, my husband and I just started playing and often have to look up how to interpret different actions. But it's sooo much fun. I imagine the people who playtested the games we're talking about probably hate them by now :)

        2 votes
      2. Qis
        Link Parent
        Vlaada Chvatil is probably my second favorite designer. He's so creative and versatile, it's really exciting. I could take or leave Through The Ages, to be honest, but Mage Knight is a masterpiece...

        Vlaada Chvatil is probably my second favorite designer. He's so creative and versatile, it's really exciting. I could take or leave Through The Ages, to be honest, but Mage Knight is a masterpiece and I have NO IDEA how he organized the task of jointing it all together. I assume he started from the core hand-management mechanics, but he could just as easily have worked out from the exploration game -- the hex tiles are such a strange and idiosyncratic component that I can't imagine coming to them later in a design.

        I like his other stuff, too. I own Pictomania and Codenames, of course, and I really appreciate Tash Kalar and Bunny Bunny Moose Moose. Guy's brilliant.

        Definitely try Twilight Struggle. It is really a wonderful 2p thing. If you'd like to pick up the digital edition I would get online and teach you to save you reading the rulebook. It is an excellent reference rulebook, but difficult to digest on a first pass. PM me if that's something you might be interested in :-)

        2 votes
  4. [3]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Have you considered developing a mobile app version of the game? It shouldn't be especially difficult since your art assets are already all done, by the looks of it, and the concept looks like it...

    Have you considered developing a mobile app version of the game? It shouldn't be especially difficult since your art assets are already all done, by the looks of it, and the concept looks like it would translate well to mobile where word games are already tremendously popular. The main reason I ask is that I only get to play board-games in person with friends a few times a year, so I tend to play them mostly on tablet these days. Many other popular board game developers have gone the mobile route, too. E.g. Small World 2, Ticket to Ride, etc on iOS.

    1 vote
    1. [2]
      LoanWolf
      Link Parent
      I play so many board game adaptations on my iPad! I do think it would translate well for online play, but wouldn't really work for single player vs AI due to the creativity of the poetry. It's...

      I play so many board game adaptations on my iPad! I do think it would translate well for online play, but wouldn't really work for single player vs AI due to the creativity of the poetry. It's something I'll bring up to the publisher, because it would be in their court. Mayday has done an adaptation of one of their games before in Dead Man's Draw.

      1 vote
      1. cfabbro
        Link Parent
        Yeah, I was definitely thinking more 'online versus' or 'pass and play' style not necessarily vs AI.

        Yeah, I was definitely thinking more 'online versus' or 'pass and play' style not necessarily vs AI.

        1 vote