The tale of forging a game
At first, there were two analytical brothers. Me and my brother utilized any trip or walk to talk about game design. The games we designed were one diplomatic and deeply thematic Game of Thrones game, one varied Coup game (based on a game by Rikki Tahta, 2012) set in Ancient Greece, and one asymmetric game in a fantasy setting. Since then such games have been published, but not from our pen: another Coup game (Rebellion G54) and asymmetric games aplenty, starting with Vast (by Patrick Leder, 2016).
My brother moved on to focus more on the digital side of design, and I was left with a thirst to design interesting cards, this time applied somewhere more original (without using an established intellectual property). Ancient gods from Kalevala were one playable faction in our fantasy-themed game, and that gathered interest from colleagues, and soon that became the centerpiece of an entirely new game.
The third iteration of a board game set in Kalevala revolved around the theft of Sampo with only two playable factions, and hidden movement between the starting and ending locations with combats in-between was a natural gameplay fit. The first prototype had a fascinating set-collection mechanism (I later discovered it was close to what Carl Chyduk used in his game Innovation, 2010) to combat multiple rounds, but due to the long resolution times, it had to be cut down. The movement on the map with traps in-between paths has been a staple of the game ever since then, and the game received positive feedback even from non-gamers. The game was showcased in a game design competition, in Essen Spiel, in libraries, playtested multiple times with university colleagues, game design colleagues, and family members and associates. It is remarkable how close the main features of the game were back then in 2017, to the eventual published game in 2023. Add it to the pile of many examples of the excruciatingly long last miles of actual development work which started after the game had received some interest (not enough) at Spiel in October 2017. One comment from a published candidate was particularly influential: Matagot recommended putting more work on the game map (and visuals). This was really surprising as it is common wisdom that a prototype should not be too deeply illustrated to avoid any sunken costs. Throughout the year 2017, a graphic designer who at the time hadn’t yet worked with board game interfaces had done a wonderful job in creating a pleasant enough interface and cohesive visual language to aid playtesting and sales pitching. For example, the wooden textures used at the time were pine for Red, bark for Golden and birch for Silver cards. In the end, they were deemed too chaotic, but I still very fondly think of these card background elements in reminiscence.
So started a rather difficult job in locating a third member for the team, or rather the lack of funds made it so. We were able to keep the project afloat by having the graphic designer gain funds from applications on graphic design platforms. Thank you FOT ry FREELANCE-GRAAFIKOT and Grafia ry. No such luck was in any of the multitudes of game design and/or publication applications I placed, and similarly, a lot of time went to waste trying to stay patient in coaxing one elusive illustrator to join in. The game’s graphic designer, Annukka Repo nicknamed Nukka located another illustrator whose works had been showcased in a game-themed cafe in the city of Tampere. This illustrator, Heikki Harmainen, was very suitable for our needs as he already was well-versed in a map and dark Nordic-themed portraits. While Heikki brought his artistic finesse and with that, new life to the team, the game received an overhaul in combat and rulebook design.
Publication remained an unresolved issue however with various loose ends not bearing fruit: We had manufactured 10 beautiful professional prototype copies but the game copies returned from the hands of publishers unwanted. In 2019 Nukka spotted a tiny new Finnish company specializing in board games, and this contact was willing to jump in the project. Nukka, clutch yet again! Having come to an understanding with Sami Styrman from Samsa Games, I and he steered the project towards doing a crowdfunding campaign. Before that, however, we needed marketing. And a new team member, Dina Ramse more than did that, again with very limited resources. She was the co-runner behind organizing a team of volunteers to do a promotional video about the atmosphere of Kalevala.
The short film really is quite a spectacle for something with 0 euros as a budget and is highly recommended to be watched from YouTube as it showcases a glimpse of who the main characters of the game are in a glorious fashion. To run the Kickstarter campaign, another force was recruited. This new member, Johannes Lund With, was also from Scandinavia (Denmark, Dina originates from Norway). As he conveniently works with art history, he also agreed to do an art comparison essay between the game’s two historical painters, Gallen-Kallela and Kochergin. The Kickstarter campaign unfortunately fell clearly short of the quite ambitious funding goals (when was the game anything less than ambitious though), and thus another time of recovery began.
The moods were quite low, but Sami remained adamant that he could fund the publication instead. The resources were so minimal, however, that a proper back-and-forth communication between a possible manufacturer in China and him, was limited to words and only a single non-functional prototype. The whole project seemed to have arrived at an ultimatum: whether to take significant risks with this manufacturer, or cut ties with Sami and possibly lose the last hope of ever seeing the light of day. As Sami paid 2 500 euros for the rights to use Kochergin’s artwork (as was necessary, and per the preliminary agreement), this spoke volumes that Sami intended to go the hard way even though it could cost his firm.
And so, “a last” wave of developmental work was conducted to get the files ready to print. On the to-do list was a serious catalogue of tasks to perform, including a complete overhaul of the rulebook (yet again it was necessary based on feedback from fellow designers and critics), to create Finnish data sets (a short version of the rulebook, and all cards), to ensure enough replayability to recreate the Journey system and with that the world of Kalewala booklet was also redone (including crucial work by Tuomo Kondie as having the Karelian viewpoint included as a critical essay), and every asset went through a final quality assurance check.
In order to ensure that the rulebook is as good as we can make it, Johannes agreed to join the project once more to help develop the rulebook with me. His efforts were of paramount importance in regard to the quality of the finished book, as I tend to write a bit elaborately. Probably due to being fatigued at the end of it all, and doubting whether all this work would even be of any use (as in whether the manufacturer would do a decent enough job with Sami), one or two cards were misprinted in the game products (which we will outline in a separate document downloadable in BoardGameGeek or BGG). And, the production included a bit too many wooden components (Sampo fragments and Boats), but, otherwise, the production was a success, and we got 1 500 game copies safely in Finland!
As for what the future holds for the project, we hope that somehow people could find their way to the game, as Sami does not have marketing plans as of yet. And half of the games are in English only (750 game copies) so we really would like to get them abroad! Please reach out to us, if you have anything you wish to tell us as we venture forwards.
Best, Tuomas Mansikka, game designer