Danger in the Waters
Updated: Aug 20, 2019
One of the earlier inspirations for Tentacle Town was a conversation explaining some differences between “Euro” games and more “American” style games.* Among many things, one key difference is the amount of danger the players face. There are always plenty of exceptions, but many Euro-style games restrict or eliminate the possibility of negative progress, relying instead on competition between players’ building and development strategies. Whereas American-style games often have players’ pieces being attacked, damaged, or destroyed.
Huh… what if we made a game that included the competitive, strategic construction of a Euro-game AND had plenty of danger? And what if the danger came from the outside, and was something all the players had to contend with, while trying to build and develop their empire/city/etc?
In Tentacle Town, you have to balance the benefits of recruiting new residents and constructing buildings with the dangers of the Tentacles that surround the town. If the waters next to any district get too choked with Tentacles, you’ll find it hard to make progress there. But if you spend all your time hunting tentacles and keep the waters clear, you may find that you’ve helped your rivals more!
* Always a contentious topic – there’s probably as many definitions of Euro and American style games as there are games. And there are so many exceptions!
Tentacle Town from Monster Fight Club is coming to Kickstarter in August.
