Games aren’t just for kids anymore. However, drawing on strong emotions we had when we were young can be a great way to create the experience that we want when sitting down to enjoy a game as an adult. The Blood of an Englishman, a very serious strategy game with tough decisions, was inspired by my young son, Benjamin. He must have been about two-and-a-half years old. It was story time and we had exhausted our usual picture books. After scanning the bookshelf, I came across a beautiful hardcover book with very few pictures that included one of my very favorite stories, Jack and the Beanstalk.

I figured I'd see how far I'd get.

I remember his eyes going wide when I read (doing my best booming baritone), "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum! I smell the Blood of an Englishman!" He moved closer to me and looked up with a smile on his face that was a mix of fascination and terror.  I leaned in, "Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread!" He made me finish the whole story and then asked me earnestly if giants were real, assuring me he'd have an axe ready if he was ever chased by one.

The next morning, I was getting ready for work and I heard, "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!" Benjamin was stomping around the house, coming to get me.  It was fun to see his imagination come alive, and how he had instantly picked up on those four iconic words that ultimately don't mean anything.  They're almost onomatopoeic.

On my way into work, I immediately saw a game where those words were on separate cards, and when the Giant was able to bring them all into the right position, it meant he had gotten Jack.

Over the next few days, I had settled on stacks of cards representing the beanstalk and the castle.  The general outline of the game fell into place quickly, and the core of the asymmetrical gameplay - nimble Jack versus the powerful Giant - was clear and present.  But it turned out that that part was just the beginning.

Jack is able to make three small moves on his turn, collecting or rearranging beanstalk cards in order to create three beanstalks each with a treasure on top. This represents the three trips that Jack took up the beanstalk to steal items from the giant. The Giant is slow, but can make larger moves. He is only able to make one move per turn. He can move four cards all together, move two separate cards, or discard a card from the game. His goal is to connect Fee, Fi, Fo, and Fum vertically or horizontally. Simple moves, but very tough decisions!

I wanted to create something that evoked that mix of emotions Benjamin had felt: fear, excitement, anticipation.  It needed to be balanced.  Imbalances make games more predictable. The beauty of playing a game again and again versus a story is that we don't know how a game is going to end.  But that's only as true as the balance you're able to offer in that game.

I went through more than 80 different versions of the rules, trying to find just the right set of interactions to provide that deep and engaging play experience that made that ending feel tense and unpredictable. I knew what I wanted, but the solution eluded me.  I got stuck and put the game aside for three months at one point, but I came back to it and tried more ideas.

Finally, after years of taking Jack and the Giant to meetups and conventions when I could, I felt it was just about ready.  I took it to Unpub 6 in Baltimore with the intention of proving to myself that the game was balanced by handing out copies to playtesters and asking them to log their plays.  That's where I met Scott and Sara from Renegade Games.  They played the game and enjoyed it and asked me if I was looking for a publisher.

We worked together, organizing massive playtesting events which, in conjunction with my own statistics, resulted in a database of playtest results that finally showed that the game was working the way I wanted.  There was fantastic parity between the roles and I am so happy that the final set of rules achieved the balance I was looking for.

Now that the game is going to be shared with the world, I invite you to rediscover a story that makes you wide-eyed with wonder, and tempts you to dive into battle as a penniless hero or a ravenous giant. After all, it only takes four words to bring us all back to childlike excitement and fascination: "Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!

Dan Cassar is a game designer originally from New York. He loves to create card games that present a world for the players to experience.  He believes the best game is the one that ignites your imagination. His first game, Cavemen: The Quest for Fire, was published in 2012 by Rio Grande Games, and his second, Arboretum, published in 2015 by Z-Man Games, was nominated for two Golden Geek awards.