It's been a long road, but CounterClockwork Games finally got Shadow Over Westminster out! Our copy arrived in the mail today, so if you also backed this and were wondering when it was going to arrive (IF it was going to arrive), you can rest assured your copy is on its way or may already be waiting at your door.
For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it was a finalist on Cards Against Humanity's first Tabletop Deathmatch (which is a contest the company has hosted twice to find new games by unknown designers and help them get publish; we also have Penny Press, a winner from the first competition, and you can expect to hear more about that game in the future). Up and coming game designer Robert Huss submitted his game and made it to the final 16. At GenCon 2013 his game was tested and analyzed by the CAH team and their friends, all experienced in different aspects of the gaming and publishing industries. While not publishing ready, Robert received some great critiques and exposure so he set out via Kickstarter in the footsteps of so many others, and with the aid of game publisher Zenion he raised the funds he needed and was on his way! Or was he?
SOW was due to ship in February 2015, but many publishers using Kickstarter are just starting out so delays aren't surprising. However Zenion went defunct, and there was dead air for a long time with the few updates posted only referring to convention demos. With Zenion being defunct, and speculation going around about bankruptcy or other monetary loss, backers started getting nervous. It took Robert a while, but he made good. Due to the Kickstarter being under Zenion's account, he did not have access to the original page for a while. However, he posted in the comments section, and eventually got control of the page. It was still listed under Zenion, but Robert was able to make updates and gain access to the original survey responses. And of course, there were more publishing delays. On the bright side everything is looking great, and he had all that extra time to build up hype and have his game played at conventions all over. A little over 10 months late, but that is the risk of backing a Kickstarter,
So, what exactly is this game? It is a cooperative deck builder where players act as members of an agency in London whose job is to save the world from an impending cataclysm. (the game provides 15 different ones, offering a lot of replayability). Heavy flavor text creates a wonderful environment and really sets the mood for this horror adventure.
Have we played it yet? No, but we will. There may or may not be another write-up about it, but once we get the rules down you can expect to see a play make its way onto our channel.
Links to check out:
CAH Tabletop Deathmatch (season 1)
Shadow Over Westminster on BGG
CounterClockwork Games
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