|
Slowly, but surely, I was initiated into different game groups, met new people, and played lots of games. One evening, when I arrived early to a gaming session, the host showed me a game while we waited for the others. “Have you ever played Xe Queo?” asked the host. I hadn’t. So we played and for the person I was at that time, it was a revelation. It’s difficult to say exactly what made the game click so much for me; while I generally like bluffing games, I often have issues with them. But, Xe Queo was different. Maybe it’s the purity of it, the beautiful simplicity you can find in a lot of Alex Randolph’s games. I’ll always remember the time I played with my father as we were having a beer on a hot summer evening and had such an enjoyable and intimate game. Or that other time in a bar with a dear friend, Julien, who loved the game so much he went on to make his very own copy at home.
A year ago, I started working for FoxMind at around the time they were searching for new titles for 2017. Xe Queo, as it happens, was never distributed in North America, and so I thought it might be a good idea to bring in the game. One thing lead to another and a few months later we had acquired the rights for Xe Queo! Xe Queo was originally a 2-player abstract, but we decided to pimp it up a little by giving it a theme, better visual appeal, and adapting it for three and four players. The process of going from Xe Queo to Museum Heist wasn’t easy and I must say that having Alex around would have been a great help on many occasions. But, he wasn’t. Still, I truly believe that he would be proud of what we’ve done with the game.
So, what’s Museum Heist? Let me give you a quick run-down. The goal is to be the first to acquire three Artworks. There’s seven characters placed semi-randomly on the board. On each round, an Artwork is put in play and each player must select a secret identity among the seven characters. On their turn, a player may either move any character piece or challenge another player if they believe they discovered their identity. You win if you manage to get your character to the artwork without being discovered, but only if you’re the only player with the identity you’ve chosen. There’s also secret passages, switch tokens, and additional subtleties to get gamers from all levels hooked!
So, if you’re someone who likes cutthroat bluffing — the kind of bluffing where every little blink, sigh, eye movement, or hand gesture might be taken as a clue of your opponent’s identity — then Museum Heist is the game for you! I hope you derive as much joy from it as I did.
|
We all have our reasons for being into board games. Many had parents or siblings passing on the torch to them. For others, it may have been their friends or significant other that made the introduction. In my case, I believe I got into the hobby a bit in reverse. You see, I’ve always liked to create stuff. Over the course of my life, I have tried many different things, from writing, to drawing, to music. While I can’t say I was really good at any of them, it’s always been a process that I enjoyed. So, one day, I decided to try my hand at creating board games. Not only did it seem fun, but I couldn’t resist the potential of creating something that would earn me even less money than music! But, before I could start designing games, I first needed to play a whole lot of them!
