I’ve been a fan of secret role games ever since I played the Battlestar Galactica board game. There is something exciting about keeping the other players in the dark as you work against them from behind the scenes. Our newest Kickstarter of the Week seeks to take hidden roles into a quick playing, team based environment. Of Mice and Lemmings, designed by rising star Scott Almes (Bigfoot, Tiny Epic Kingdoms), is an easy to learn card game with what seems to be some addictive game play.
From the Kickstarter Page:
At the start of each round, players are given a single role card that they must keep secret. This will put them on either the Mice team, meaning that they will want to build the bridge, or the Lemming team who want the bridge to fail. Players are also give a handful of bridge cards, numbered from zero to ten, that they will use to try and reach the other side of the river… or not, depending on your secret role.
Every round, you must do one of two things: either play a Bridge card from your hand or flip your secret role card, revealing yourself to the rest of the players. However, once one player has shown their true colours, no other players may do so for that round – only bridge cards may be played!
Once all players have played a single card, the total value of the bridge is worked out. If the target has been reached or beaten, the player who revealed themselves that round successfully gets across the bridge, scoring a point if they are a Mouse but nothing if they flipped a Lemming! However, if the bridge was a failure, a Lemming will score a point while a Mouse gets nothing.
Play continues until all Mice and Lemmings have been revealed, then end-of-round scoring takes place, where the team with the majority of successes each score a further point! More rounds take place (the amount dependent on how many people are playing) until a winner is found… and that’s about it!
Of Mice and Lemming is currently on track to just barely hit their funding goal (according to Kicktraq). If you’d like to become a backer, a £15 pledge will get you a copy of the game and any stretch goals met. The game is scheduled to be in backers hands in July of 2014 and you have until Wednesday, April 23rd to become a backer. So head over there today and check it out.
