Recently, we took our upcoming Board Game — Attack of the SNACs — to one of Mexico’s biggest board game conventions, Roll A Game Guadalajara. Visited by 1000’s of attendees, hundreds of board game designers and dozens of publishers — it’s a fantastic event to be part of. Guadalajara is home to Alex, one of Pieland’s game designers, so he was there to show off the game!
We invited Alex to tell you all about his experience and learning from the expo. Grab a tasty snack, settle in, and read all about it…
Right away, we notied that Pieland stood out at the expo among all the other games on display. With its unique art style, there’s nothing quite like Pieland and the Octopies. Once we had gotten set up, our table was never empty. All weekend, players of all ages were busy rolling dice and hunting the spooky monsters in Attack of the SNACs. Many players commented on how easy it was to learn to play, and how much fun it was trying to defeat the monsters with their dice and abilities. One group of players told us that they were surprised at how many mechanics and systems there were at hand, while the game still remained cohesive and made sense to play. A 10-year-old player told us that he loved getting more health and dice for his character, making his character better at fighting monsters.
Like all board games, Attack of the SNACs is best learned through play. Once players get through their first turn and the rules start to click, then the game can really begin. As we showed off the game, we found that there was usually at least one player who really understood the mechanics and could help keep other players right if there was any confusion. This was really nice to see, as well as really helping us in refining the rulebook in the weeks since the expo.
Another thing of note is that Attack of the SNACs is designed and written in English, but we found that it organically translates well into other languages. Besides the all-essential puns, there is no important rule text written on any cards or abilities–everything a player needs to know is shown in the dice symbols. Learning from this, we’ve doubled down and revised some of the symbols to allow the game to have its own language through clear imagery.
On day 2, an entire family came by to check out the game: Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Uncle watched 3 siblings as they rolled dice and strategized on the best way to defeat a Carroten! (One of many quirky monsters). By the end of the game, it turned out to be this young player’s favorite monster card in his collection — who could blame him?
Games of Attack of the SNACs usually last between 45 to 90 minutes, with the game ending once 1 or 2 decks of monsters are cleared from the game board. In this game with the full family of monster hunters, they actually changed their tactics to make the game last longer once we reminded them how the game ended! They defeated almost every single monster in the game before it was over. Needless to say, we were pleased as pie that they enjoyed it so much.
We can’t wait to bring Attack of the SNACs to more expos like this one, as we continue to show the world what Pieland can do! For now, look out for more info on our website and social media pages. We’re going to be sharing more details as we get ready to launch our Kickstarter campaign in the first quarter of 2024!
