I still maintain a day job which means I can’t travel to things like GAMA (Game Manufactures Association) and distributors conventions to reach out to game retailers. What are some plans to change that and give Summoner Wars a stronger presence at retail?ĬD: I wish I had all the answers here. My good friend John Clowdus of Small Box Games suggested the name Plaid Hat Games and most of the rest of my friends thought it was an excellent name.ĪFi: Summoner Wars has gotten great reviews, and developed quite a strong following, yet doesn’t have a real presence in game stores. I had an illustration of me done in that hat which I used in a blog I kept for awhile and still use as my avatar on various sites. Something I felt like I wanted to do and something I felt like Summoner Wars would be a great backbone start up product for.ĪFi: What’s the story behind the name “Plaid Hat Games”?ĬD: I sometimes sport a plaid hat. I felt like anything smaller than that meant Plan B, which was start a company of my own. I felt like those were the big dogs whose names and resources would do the most for the game. I also submitted it to Fantasy Flight Games, but I’m still waiting for their submissions department to return my email asking them if I can send them a prototype.ĪFi: How did you come to the decision to start up your own company?ĬD: I told myself pretty early in my efforts on Summoner Wars that I was going to shop it to Hasbro, the biggest mass market company where I had the best connections, and Fantasy Flight Games one of the biggest and my favorite hobby game company. I kind of knew that it wasn’t going to be right for them, but I had to try. One of the designs that came out of that calling was Summoner Wars.ĪFi: You tried to shop Summoner Wars around to other game companies, correct?ĬD: The main one I knew I wanted to shop it to was Hasbro. That was my part of the project while it was at WotC (shared with Chris Dupuis and Jerry Hawthorne) and I took it seriously.ĪFi: When did you come up with the concept of Summoner Wars?ĬD:Back when Heroscape was still at Hasbro and Hasbro was sending me other various game design jobs I started to feel the call to design something that was all my own. I will say that I always did my best to make sure that the game mechanics for Heroscape continued to be innovative and exciting. So talking too openly about my experiences and my feelings toward how they handled the line seems ill advised. I worked with WotC on the line and am under contract as such. It was those experiences connecting with other gamers and especially checking out GenCon that caused me to discover the wider world of hobby gaming.ĪFi: What were your thoughts when you found out Wizards of the Coast was pulling the plug on Heroscape?ĬD: This is a tricky question. I had the opportunity recently to chat with the Head Hat of Plaid Hat Games, Colby Dauch about his experiences starting up his own game company and bringing products to market.ĪFi: Colby, could you give us your gamer origin, so to speak? How did you get into the hobby?ĬD: I’ve always been into games of all types, but Heroscape is the game that I fell so in love with that I got involved with online communities and went to a convention for. I’m not usually one for card games, preferring miniatures games by far, but Summoner Wars is a fast and fantastic game with loads of options yet not tons of rules to bog things down. A variety of tools, different every game, are at your disposal to build up your gang and claim the city for yourself.I was recently turned on to a relatively new card game called Summoner Wars produced by an equally new company, Plaid Hat Games. Build districts that can provide you with advantages, production and income, but beware because a greedy opponent might sweep in and take over the work of your own hands.Ĭity of Remnants combines strong resource management, auction, and conversion mechanisms with spatial tactics, assymetric player powers, area control and direct conflict. Get an edge with weapons and other sundries from the black market. Many paths to victory lie before you.īid for gang members who provide a variety of shady skills.
Players will struggle to control the city, but only the winner can decide the city's future. In City of Remnants, players take on the roles of gang leaders, each one with unique qualities and motivations. It is a prison and a work camp, a place for those who lived through Yugai invasion to live out their remaining years as slaves. Here the Yugai, a species of militant humanoids, leave the survivors of the worlds they have ransacked and destroyed. Hot rain falls down upon a cold, rotting city.