Corey Konieczka is working on a new board game that uses a mixture of comic book hero setting and nineties flair: The Initiative. Konieczka announced the title of the parlor game through his new studio Unexpected Games. A brief and mysterious teaser had previously been published that referred to today's Tuesday and even included the title of the board game - albeit in the form of a puzzle code.
The Initiative is the title of the new board game by Corey Konieczka, author of games like Star Wars: Rebellion or Mansions of Madness. The designer will publish the new work through the publishing house Unexpected Games, which is working on projects under his direction. The Initiative is the debut of the young publisher. Due to the Corona situation there were delays, so that new game postponed to 2021 had to become. Now it is clear what the premiere title is about and that it should appear this spring.
Board game with a mystery puzzle setting
The board game The Initiative is set in the nineties, or more precisely: in 1994. The focus is on a group of four young people who find a mysterious game - The Key - that is strangely connected to their lives. Because this only becomes apparent during the game, the teens have no choice but to get to the bottom of the matter. The theme of Konieczka's board game sounds suspiciously like the cliché of the well-known teen mystery setting known from TV, film and series.
Much more exciting, however, is the combination of storytelling and code-cracking, enriched with some secrets that, according to the publisher, players can still reveal after the story is over. One focus is on a 48-page comic book that tells the background story. Before starting a game, players read the story and set up the game board according to the given scenery. Basically, players slip into the roles of comic heroes and continue playing the story.
"Missions vary widely and build on player discoveries."
Unexpected Games
In the course of a game you have to solve puzzles, such as deciphering a line of text or mastering a logic task. The core of the actions is driven by cards. As a result, the characters move through the established game world and collect clues that are necessary to solve the puzzle. Even the game packaging itself could be part of the solution in some cases.
For the first time, Unexpected Games vaguely announced the title via a mysterious teaser that referred to a date and contained a line of code. As it now turns out, it was already the name of the board game:
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Another highlight: the story continues regardless of the outcome of a game, but you can gain various advantages with a win. The individual missions should take between half an hour and an hour.
The studio Unexpected Games was only founded in 2019. At the time, author Corey Konieczka had resigned from his position as Vice President of Design at Fantasy Flight Games. The works of the new publisher should be "novel, humorous and accessible" and offer gaming experiences that have not been made in this form before.
In the meantime, a preview of the board game has also been published:
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Sources: Unexpected Games
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