Sure, we love irreverent games, but combine that with compelling art and gameplay brings people together to share dark humoured laughs? Consider us smitten. The creators of The Endangered Orphans of Condoyle Cove created such a game, premised on the fact that all the imaginary orphans players control in the game, save one, will be eaten by The Boogeyman. So yay for that one surviving orphan (if you’re a glass-half-full kind of person)! When the tagline for a game is, “the most fun you can have dooming helpless children” you know this is the kind of game you can play with friends while reveling in what kind of terrible people you all are.
The game’s board is built using Cove Cards, which are shuffled and are laid out differently every game, keeping it fresh each playthrough. Your orphan have Options, which you’ll have to play one of each round. to When an orphan runs out of Options, they can go to the Kiddie Korner to get more, though they also risk encountering The Boogeyman, who presumably will do horrible things to your make-believe, adorably sculpted meeple orphan.
All that said, one of the most charming aspects of the game is actually the dark humour imbued throughout the game and Kickstarter itself. Take, for example, this plea from the creators of the game:
The game funded within the first 8 hours of the launch of its Kickstarter (with a measly goal of $4097), and as of this writing this game is close to the $250K mark. In fact, the creators are overwhelmed by the support for the game. Being pessimists, their early stretch goals included giving away one of the creator’s direct cell number, and once reaching $200K, the creators released a set of anti-stretch goals for the Kickstarter.
Suffice to say the entire Kickstarter and response has been a surprise to the guys at Certifiable Studios. In talking to Jesse (the game’s artist) and Opie (the game’s writer), they admitted they didn’t even know that Kickstarter featured them when it happened, and it was backers who were the ones who let them know. As Opie embarassingly admitted, “We had to Google the difference between a staff pick and a project we love. Picture us, two intelligent grown men asking Google something we really should know.”
“We hope people love what we’re doing,” said Jesse, talking about the game as a creative project. ”We’re having fun. We are in that wonderful spot where we’re just happy to enjoy the ride.”
While the Kickstarter is wrapping soon, they’ll likely have a fulfillment service allowing people to buy pre-orders, given the game’s massive success. And even if you don’t buy, reading through the Kickstarter will at least give you a laugh or two.
Are you the kind of gamer who loves games that are morbidly funny? Let us know in the comments which are your favourites!
Featured & Blog Image Credits: Certifiable Studios
Teri Litorco probably like dead baby jokes too much, and gleefully explodes all the kittens (in the card game, of course.) She’s also the author of The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming. Send her your thoughts or comments (or dead baby jokes) via social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.