I had the chance to playtest Ape City Escape again on Sunday night. We tested out a few rules changes, such as letting players steal each others’ gold when their pawns landed on each other. The playtesters seemed to dig that, but then, what board gamer doesn’t love a good in-game mugging?
As I was explaining the game’s minimal thematic background (“You’re explorers trying to escape the city of the apes with the most gold”) it occurred to me this would be a good time to put my money where my storyworld mouth is. After all, the only reason the game even exists was that it came up as a hypothetical example of a board game that could tell a story and hint at a larger storyworld.
So what’s the big picture behind Ape City Escape? What’s the epic drama playing out behind the secret passages and between the players’ moves?
I don’t know. Not yet. The game comes first, so that’s where I’ve been focusing my attention. Still, past-me from Sunday night has a point: it’s time to put some story in this world, so I’d best start thinking about it… and then writing those thoughts down here to share with the class. We’ll go through the process together. Come on! It’ll be fun!
