Battle of the Gods

A couple of years ago I told my good friend Matt an idea for a game I had.  It's based on a game where the major gods or divine figures of different cultures faced off.  My hope was that it would turn into a game like Landslide or Masterpiece, two games I played constantly in the boring wilderness of Indiana, and which were fun but also, seemingly without my knowledge or approval, taught me about the Electoral College and fine art, respectively.  Truthfully, I probably teach Aesthetic Expressions now because I played so much Masterpiece as a kid; if I could find a copy (they're expensive on Amazon) I'd find some crazy way to use it in class today.  It's an idea that I thought had tremendous potential, but in the pantheon of my crazy schemes it got squeezed out (although I have trouble imagining that I'll make any money off my witless ruminations on Proust, so I think we know what a dope I am) so I suggested it to Matt.  Fast forward two years later and we finally had the chance to beta test it.  It was a lot of fun, and I have no doubt that with a little tweaking it will make an appearance on the shelf of a game store next you.  And when it does definitely pick it up.  It is the very definition of fun and educational.  I'm very impressed by how it came together, and it's a hell of a lot better than if I had tackled it.

Matt excited about breaking out his game. One of the cool things about it is that you can reconfigure the board and play a two person game or put it together for a six player melee. 

I brought my friend Mike and his girlfriend Alena along for the experiment.  They're sitting next to Matt's friend and colleague Rob.  

Part of the rules.  Matt did an extraordinary work - and research - in putting together this game.  

Some of the board pieces.  There are mortals and monsters and gods and heroes/heroines.  Like I said, he did a ton of research, and it's very clever.

I, of course, had to send a picture of this description to my friend Steve, who talks about Eshu in class.  I championed the Yoruba gods to a couple humiliating defeats, which I blame on myself and know the gods themselves or the design of the game.

Matt's wife Kim, who may or may not be intensely competitive, plotting Rob's demise.

My corner of the board suddenly became a very unfriendly place and I was dominated by an Evil Woman (submit appropriate and obvious joke here).