Why You Should Kickstart: Alien Puppies | Launching October 15, 2020

The latest entry in our series Why You Should Kickstart Alien Puppies Kickstarter. The creators have managed to bring together their love of sci-fi epics and puppies into one fantastic package and we commend them for that. This is a strategy game rife with replayability and a theme that will keep you entertained from start to finish. The game launches on Kickstarter October 15, 2020 at 8am EST. Check out the link below to go directly to the Alien Puppies Board Game Kickstarter page or continue on to read the interview with the creator.

Alien Puppies on Kickstarter

1. How would you describe your game in just a few sentences?

Alien Puppies is a strategic card game adventure with Cyberpunk Puppies. You need to collect 3 Alien Puppies in your backyard to win and avoid Barkmageddon.

2. Who is the person bring this to market? What is your background that brought you to this point?

I’m Piotr Hoang – a product designer and mobile games developer who spent many years building digital products. Most recently, I co-founded and was Chief Product Officer at Gotrade, a company backed by Y Combinator – an incubator in Silicon Valley that launched companies like Machine Zone and AirBnB.

I am very passionate about technology, science fiction and universes that exist beyond our imagination. In 2016, I even created a mobile game called Space Ball – an abstract casual infinity runner about a ball jumping across the changing block formations to discover new dimensions across the galaxies! The game briefly hit No.1 on the App Store and generated over 300,000 game plays (last time I checked).

After years of optimizing products that keep people glued to the screens with effective User Experience (UX) Design, I decided to use the skills and methodologies to build something different that would connect people offline. So in one of those stay-home weekends, my wife Kim Anh and I had an idea to create a game combining 2 of our favourite things: sci-fi and puppies. Kim Anh is behind many of the design concepts and loves to imagine how the universe would be ruled by these cute futuristic puppies.

3. What existing games would you compare your game to?

Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone and other collectible card games: Each Alien Puppy has a unique power that is activated once it enters your backyard – we gave each card illustration a premium feel of collectible card.
Uno: the game is easy to pick up and start playing. At times it could feel like reverse-Uno, as you will need to draw more powerful cards such as Alternate Dimension, Bark, Light-speed to be in a better position to win the game and protect yourself from Barkmageddon.
Exploding Kittens: the game gets even more interesting if someone draws a Barkmageddon card. This wild card mechanic could be compared to Exploding Kittens card, and the player is forced to block it by sacrificing some cards on hand or in their backyard. We incorporated this element as we felt it was a perfect balancer and introduces a suspense element to the gameplay that keeps all players on the edge.
Coup: easy to learn, yet highly strategic and replayable with bluffing and deduction elements.

4. What sets your game apart?

We have designed Alien Puppies to be highly strategic, yet easy to learn and fun to play.

Each puppy character with the corresponding powers and details hidden in the cards has a story that tells you more about the universe where dogs are the primary intelligent species and exist across the galaxies with super abilities. The world they live in is advanced technologically, with possibilities of interstellar travel.

Having spent some time in Silicon Valley, feeling the energy and determination of the startup founders community there (which is comparable to the passion of tabletop game creators), I felt the need to create something that portrays tech advancement in a more optimistic light and picked the Cyberpunk genre. While Cyberpunk itself usually explores darker and serious themes, there is a cool spark to it that is attractive and formed big fanbase communities (for example – Cyberpunk 2077, Blade Runner, Deus Ex, Westworld). We hope Alien Puppies will make Cyberpunk more relatable to kids and youth with a more light-hearted theme – Cyber Puppies!

That being said, for hardcore fans of more adult and dystopian Cyberpunk, something special will be revealed during Kickstarter. Here is the first sneak peak of Cyberpug…

CYBERPUG *Board Game Halv Exclusive

5. How can everyone be assured that they are going to get quality components and you are going to deliver on all the promises you are making?

We will only work with the top reputable board game manufacturers and fulfillment partners who previously delivered on the big titles to ensure the highest possible quality of components. I am also fortunate to have great insights and referrals from my friends at Potato Pirates and Lord of the Chords who have successfully launched and delivered the most successful Kickstarter tabletop campaigns from Singapore (a futuristic city where Westworld Season 3 was filmed 🙂

6. Why should someone back your project?

The game is fun to play, features cyberpunk artwork with futuristic puppies and is easy to learn! There will be many Kickstarter-exclusive items you’ll love once the campaign goes live in October.

Well we are satisfied!

Great insight and enthusiasm from a passionate designer. Anytime you add puppies to anything you are bound to have a winner, so that was enough, but then they went and built a cool world and game around everything. It has clearly been guided by passionate hands and looks like it is going to be a top-notch product. Take a look at their Kickstarter, website or social media pages for more info!