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20 Jun 2016

Launching on Kickstarter today: Trump Trumps!

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You may well wonder where's our Tax Avoidance Game? Where's our Brexit Game? Where's our Refugee Game? Well, in truth, we got a little distracted. First with children's books, then with strange game festivals in Paris and most recently with trying to design a single-player game with no components. All true.

But then out of nowhere: Trump Trumps!. This is actually a silly thing we had knocking around for a while, predictably filed in the "that's nice, dear" bin. But then one playtest, we added Donald Trump masks and... wow, think David Lynch directing Monty Python. Then at least double the amount of horror you're imagining. Suddenly we had to try and get it made.

Like 'Cards Against Humanity', but rather than giving players permission to be hideously bigoted, we just give players permission to be Donald Trump

As you can imagine, Trump Trumps! doesn't vary much from the traditional 'Top Trump' model. Each card has a Donald Trump quote, rated on things like "Racism", "Plain Lies", "Misogyny" etc. And that's a good thing, because there's plenty of mileage to be got from wearing a freakish Donald Trump mask and trading hateful, bigoted, whacked-out, border-line fascist quotations. Strangely, taking a cartoon character politician and making them even more cartoonish has the result of making his words even more disturbing.

The twist in Trump Trumps! is that when there's a tie, the players involved in the tie resolve it by taking it in turns to offer supporting statements and arguments in favour of the quotation on their card. The first to hesitate, crack, laugh or otherwise deliver anything less than Trump-level convinction loses the tie. And it's at this point where you realise just how disgustingly objectionable this soon-to-be-the-most-powerful-man-in-the-world can be. Good luck out-trumping Trump; few have the stomach for it.

Please help us spread the word and let's get this hideous product out there in the hope that people will recognise and wake up to the horror that is waiting for them just around the next political corner.

It's live now! Back Trump Trumps! for as little as £10

 

Posted by TerrorBull Games on 20 June 2016 - 1 comment

Comments so far:

  1. Hello I worked for a french boardgame publisher (https://www.morning.us/), I stumbled on your website and I really enjoy your take on Boardgame and the fact that it can convey political messages rather than just fun and "poetry". I don't think our needs and desires could match-up, but you'll never know... We are quite found of disruptive thematics and visual universe, the "Kill the Unicorns" game speaks for itself. But we are mainly working on the form rather than the content, that's maybe the reason our vison could complete each other at some point. Here's the kind of games (in terms of gameplay), we are looking for in a few words : * Simple and easy to learn, no need to go over the rulebook again for each play. * Game lenght around 15 to 45 minutes top. * A little bit of strategy, but enough chaos to prevent the players from analysis paralysis. * A lot of direct interaction between the players, even some mean ones... * "We'd rather have a group of players yelling at each other than not talking to each others * An immersive game, where you are able to tell your own story after one playthrough. * A way to work on a strong visual universe around the game. If you are attending Essen, maybe we can meet. Speak soon.Simon from France - 27 September 2018

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21 Sep 2015

Talks: one gone; one coming up

First up, look at our lovely new website! Cor! Second order of the day - if you're in or around London this Thursday (24th September) and you enjoy learning niche facts about esoteric subjects, then why not come along to listen to Andrew Sheerin from TerrorBull Games talk about "The Political History of Board Games".

Thursday 24 September, 18:00 - 20:30 at Newspeak House, 133-135 Bethnal Green Road, E2 7DG, London

On a very similar note, a few weeks ago, we gave a talk at Ely Creative on the history of board games and the nature of play. Tom Morgan-Jones live-illustrated the talk and there were balaclavas being thrown around the room. It was great fun! Anyway, you can see that talk (or most of it) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Iup7O1TL0

 

Posted by TerrorBull Games on 21 September 2015 - 0 comments

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17 Aug 2015

New news about new things

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We've been busy these past few months working on a new website - a modern one that you can use on one of those phones that's also a computer. Or should that be a computer that's also a phone. Do people actually use the phone function still? Anyway, that's coming.

And with that, we have some new games too! Free games that can be printed off and played anywhere and any time as long as you have friends.

And we'll have news of an exciting new Kickstarter project too. That's new.

And if that weren't enough, we'll be officially launching The Hen Commandments

Stay tuned.... NEW STUFF: 1 September 2015

 

New

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Posted by TerrorBull Games on 17 August 2015 - 1 comment

Comments so far:

  1. IT'S SO NEW! I love it though. Good job.anonymous - 12 September 2015

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06 May 2015

Why I'm spoiling my ballot paper

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I've been torn about what to do tomorrow. My best bet seems to be to meekly vote Lib Dems (2nd in my constituency) to try and prevent the Tories getting one more seat and further dismantling the NHS (and whatever's left of public and social services).

But that cross doesn't say "Oh for fuck's sake, as long as the Tories don't get in again...", it says "Yes, please, give me the Liberal Democrats, sir!" - that's right, the same party that screwed the nation's students, cut welfare for the most vulnerable in society and supports trident... among many other crimes against compassion and common sense.

And that makes me sick. That's not democracy, that's not why I've been given a vote: so I can subvert my free democratic choice by shoring up some broken concept of democracy ... so it can go and undo itself even further. No, that sticks in my throat and I refuse to take part in that game.

We've been handed a pale version of democracy that's fundamentally broken and time and again we've been told we should be grateful for it So here's the thing: if you have genuine support for a party, vote for them. I don't care if it's UKIP or the Greens, vote for what you believe. As long as you're making an informed, honest choice, good on you.

But if you feel your vote is being thrown away due to the short-comings of a non-RP electoral process, or you feel you have to vote tactically OR you can't be bothered with it and you weren't going to vote at all... spoil your paper. If you're feeling let down, fed up, angry or just completely unconvinced... spoil your paper. If you want to protest the lack of representation... spoil your paper. Make those views shown in the only way you can: spoil your paper.

Unfortunately spoiled ballots aren't recorded separately at the moment, but they ARE COUNTED. If there are significant numbers, that would be unavoidable news; an unmistakable message. Just draw a line through all boxes on the ballot paper and write "NONE" across it or "NOTA" (None Of The Above). Vote None has more information on how and why to protest vote. It also gives this thought-provoking statistic:

In the 2010 General Election, the UK total of protest and 'spoilt' votes was around 295,000. That is a large number, but it represents only 1% of voters. So it was not news. Meanwhile, 34% of registered voters (16m) just didn't vote

If everyone who can vote actually votes, everything changes. Of course, we don't know why that 34% didn't vote, but if even a fraction of them aren't voting because they feel there's no point... if those people all spoil their paper, then they could form the majority voice in a number of constituencies.

We've been handed a pale version of democracy that's fundamentally broken and time and again we've been told we should be grateful for it by (mostly) rich, white men in extraordinary positions of power. No. I won't be grateful. I demand more from a supposedly developed democracy: more representation, more accountability, more of a voice.

I'm spoiling my paper.

 

Posted by TerrorBull Games on 6 May 2015 - 0 comments

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30 Apr 2015

Preorders for The Hen Commandments are now live

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We have a delivery date for The Hen Commandments which means we can now safely announce that our new game will be released at the end of June

We have just a limited number of games that we're going to make available to preorder from .... well... right .... NOW. As an extra perk, if you preorder the game, you get free postage.

Unfortunately due to the limited nature of this print run, we're restricting sales to our website for now and you'll only be able to get the game if you're within the UK. We know that will be a disappointment for a number of people, but please bear with us - we're testing a new model of doing things and the simpler we can make it right now, the more likely that it'll work in the long run. We must also ask that you restrict your preorders to a maximum of 4 games per person to make it fair on everyone.

You should also know we have no immediate plans to get the game into general distribution - again, apologies to all those wonderful small shops that have supported us over the years; we haven't forgotten or forsaken you.

Sorry once again about all the rules and restrictions. The Holy Chicken moves in mysterious ways, what can we say? With any luck, we'll have the opportunity to do a larger run later in the year - if the Great Egg in the Sky wishes it, of course.

Preorder the game here

Read more about the game here

Try out the online Holy Chicken wisdom generator here

 

Posted by TerrorBull Games on 30 April 2015 - 1 comment

Comments so far:

  1. Mine arrived today! It's a miracle! Thank you! May the holy chicken bless us all!anonymous - 12 September 2015

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