Heartcatchers, a two player bluffing card game, has launched a Kickstarter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czZ9Cy3tkK8 Heartcatchers was designed by Emma Larkins (who was interviewed by TechRaptor) and showcased at Playcrafting's Fall Expo 2015.
The game itself is relatively straightforward. Two players each have three random cards placed in front of them. The players take turns trying to "catch" stacks by placing down cards on top of them in a rock-paper-scissors sort of gameplay. Players can also elect to play cards face down underneath stacks as "Secrets". Once all 20 cards have been played, the Secrets are resolved one by one and the points are tallied. A game of Heartcatchers takes around ten minutes but can be played more quickly once the players are familiar with the rules.
The Secrets add a bluffing element to the game - players won't know what's underneath each stack until the game is completed. There are both positive and negative secrets, so players will have no assurances that the stack they've just caught will be helpful to them in the end.
The prototype of the game used art created by Emma Larkins, but the retail release will be using art created by d2omonkey webcomic author Brian Patterson. Heartcatchers is being published by Brooklyn Indie Games. Brooklyn Indie Games have successfully funded and delivered three card-based games (Backstory Cards, OMEGAZONE, and Ghost Pirates) and failed to deliver one RPG called Hyperreality.
Heartcatchers was nominated for Best Tabletop Game at the First Annual Playcrafting Awards and was a showcase game at the Boston Festival of Indie Games 2015. The Heartcatchers Kickstarter has a goal of $5,000 and concludes on Saturday, Feb 27 2016 at 9:30 AM EST.
Quick Take
I've had the opportunity to meet Emma Larkins in person as well as play a bit of Heartcatchers. I don't yet have enough experience with the game to be able to give a concrete opinion of it, but I definitely enjoyed playing it with a tabletop group for the few hours that I have so far. I've spent quite a few hours stuck in lines at anime and gaming conventions and I would have really liked to have a game like Heartcatchers in my pocket to pass the time.
What do you think of quick two-player tabletop games? Do you prefer your tabletop games to be longer, shorter, or do you like a mix of both? Let us know in the comments below!
