The latest entry in our series Why You Should Kickstart Plant-Based Riot Board Game Kickstarter. The theme and different mechanics working together look like a great mix. The game launches on Kickstarter on July 28, 2021. Check out the link below to go directly to The Plant-Based Riot Game Kickstarter page or continue on to read the interview with the creator.
Plant-Based Riot Board Game on Kickstarter
1. How would you describe your product in a few sentences?
Plant-Based Riot is a light strategy, set collecting, card matching tabletop card game for 2-5 players. First you’ve gotta work out what villainous vegetable gangs you’ve got to collect. After that, it’s all about assembling those gangs whilst simultaneously screwing over your opponents – you do that by stealing from them using action cards.
Once you’ve got your veggie gangs, you can start a turf war with the Cartel – that’s where you find out if you’ve collected the right gangs. If you have, you win! It’s a fun, fluid family game that’s ideal for gatherings, game nights and parties.
2. Introduce the team bringing this to market. What is your background that brought you to launch this?
There’s a team of three bringing this game to market. I’m a copywriter by trade, but I’ve gradually become more involved with Bubblegum Stuff over the past couple of years – especially around card game development. But previously I’ve worked in numerous other areas, like mental health and brewing – I was a teacher in Vietnam for a while. That’s where I first discovered Uno, believe it or not. The high school kids there love it!
Courtney Wood is an old school friend of mine. He worked as a designer for several years before starting Bubblegum Stuff from a desk in a Hong Kong office building back in 2013. He appeared on the UK version of The Apprentice in 2016, where he got all the way to the final. His focus was always on creating fun, innovative pop culture gifts, but that has definitely shifted in recent years in favor of games. He’s had a few hits that have made appearances on TV, here in the UK.
Roberto Rotaru is an artist, graphic designer, motion graphic designer, video editor – you name it. He’s originally from Romania, and he quickly became a key player in the team when he joined last year. He’s the biggest gamer of the trio, and he’s really opened our eyes to the universe of different games out there. Without Roberto, we’d probably still be playing snap (that’s slapjack for you guys in the U.S.).
During lockdown we reflected on the card games we’d previously made and decided we hadn’t been doing ourselves justice. The things we love about games weren’t reflected in what we’d made. We also looked at longevity and the environmental impact of creating games that might be played once and end up in landfill. So with that in mind, we set out to create something we hope will remain on families’ shelves for decades. Maybe even generations.
3. What existing games would you compare your game to?
The mechanic of Plant-Based Riot is fairly close to that of Monopoly Deal. The set collecting and stealing elements are very similar – it encourages cut-throatiness from the word go. We played Monopoly Deal a lot during lockdown and actually developed a bit of an addiction to it. I know that’s the card game equivalent of saying Shawshank Redemption is your favorite film, but it brought us a lot of joy last year when there wasn’t an awful lot to be cheerful about.
There’s elements of Love Letter in there, too, in terms of the way the cards you draw can affect your ability to win – but that’s only a small part of the mechanic. You also need your powers of deduction, like in Love Letter, only in Plant-Based Riot you’re using them to work out what gangs you need to collect.
Lastly, there’s a minor similarity to Sushi Go, due to the way you assemble your cards and the fact that both contain cartooned-up food.
4. What sets your game apart?
Plant-Based Riot’s unique mechanic allows you to scale the difficulty level. This is determined by how many Cartel cards you choose to select at the beginning. It’s helpful if there’s younger players in your group, or conversely, if you’re finding it too easy.
It’s also quick to learn and extremely fluid. You can be on top one minute and cruising to victory, only for someone to play something like the Turf Rotation card – meaning all players’ cards rotate one player to the left or right! There’s also the Just Say No card that can prevent any move at any time during the game. The ebb and flow of Plant-Based Riot gives it a similar feel to the Mario Kart dynamic. Which, again, is something that enables younger players or beginners to duke it out with experienced veterans.
And that was our ultimate goal: to bring all types of gamers to the table and allow them to compete on a level playing field, with the hope of putting more people onto gaming. In a world with way too many electronic distractions, face-to-face interactions are invaluable.
There’s also numerous cultural references from our favorite films and TV shows, and there’s loads of vegetable-based puns and wordplay.
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?
Even though this is our first Kickstarter campaign, we’ve been getting things designed, made and shipped for a number of years now. We’ve got a long-established supply chain and numerous manufacturing partners. So we know all about the issues that can arise from getting a product like this made. And we’ve also got the know-how to overcome them. It’s knowledge gained from years of headaches and frustration, I can tell ya!
6. Why should someone back your project?
You’ve no doubt been starved of social interactions over the last 18 months. We definitely have. While this game was largely developed remotely, it did provide us with a focus during those solitary days of lockdown.
We massively benefited from the interactions our daily meetings via Zoom enabled. And this is something that definitely carries through in Plant-Based Riot. Sure, it encourages some pretty evil behaviors, but it’s all in the wider context of bringing people together for a shared experience.
We worked hard behind closed doors in the hope that, once those doors were opened, we could share something that would bring joy to a lot of people. And if that’s something that resonates with you, please support us in making it happen. Thank you.
Well we are satisfied!
Great insight and enthusiasm from a passionate design team. This seems like a wonderful light and fun game that players of all ages and intensity levels could love. 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 or website for more info!
