It’s been almost 9 years since our very first card game, Viewpoint, was released in September 2009.  Since then, we followed it up with its sequel, Viewpoint Reflections, and two other passion projects – Monster Town and No Fish!
 We think it’s time to introduce Viewpoint to the next generation of gamers and show those who have enjoyed Viewpoint since day one how much better this new version is.  And, to continue the theme of vision-related puns, we’ve called the new game Viewpoint Revisioned.
Viewpoint Revisioned takes all the great things from the original game and enhances them for an even greater gaming experience.

ARTWORK
While it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, the original Viewpoint artwork captured a retro art style suited to games of the era.  The artwork for Viewpoint Revisioned, however, transcends all eras and shows how committed we are to producing games that are visual masterpieces.
Our illustrator, Kerri Aitken, and graphic designer, Ashley Kenawell, are two of the most gifted artists that we’ve met.  Once you feast your eyes on their work, I’m sure you’ll agree.

STORYLINE
We introduced gamers to the eye folk in Viewpoint and Viewpoint Reflections; however, Viewpoint Revisioned goes far beyond basic one-eyed characters.  Viewpoint Revisioned introduces the Blinkers (Eyenstein, Iris and Hawk) who, after a cataclysmic lab accident, are lost blinking between different dimensions in the Viewniverse.
 Viewpoint Revisioned is just the first set in an all-new episodic Viewpoint card game series.  Each set introduces new worlds and new characters for the Blinkers to encounter.  We are fully committed to providing a fun-filled and expansive narrative and have developed the design, storylines and artwork for three additional sets with even more on the way.  Check out our website for more information on these Viewpoint episodes.
Episode 1: Viewpoint Revisioned
Episode 2: Eye vs Eye
Episode 3: Prehistoric Park
Episode 4: The Winking Dead

GAMEPLAY
Just as in classic Viewpoint, players collect Viewpoints to help the Blinkers back to their home world of Myclopia.  However, from Prehistoric Park onwards, players must meet additional challenges to survive or fulfil alternative goals to win the game.  We’ve also designed each set so that it can be played as a standalone episode or mixed in any combination for a deeper, more challenging gaming experience and an even more thrilling adventure.
 “Will you be eaten by one of Dr Crichton’s creations in Prehistoric Park?  Will you survive the Zombeye plague in The Winking Dead?”

PRODUCT QUALITY
We’re not only bringing players exquisite artwork and action-packed gameplay but we’re also packing it into a product with the highest quality components.  Using the lessons learned from classic Viewpoint and our other games, we’ve implemented a lot of intelligent design into what will be the final product.  Some product design highlights include:

• All game cards will be made using high quality linen card stock with blue core.
• An outer and inner box combination will be used.  The outer box, which holds all components, is a sturdy telescopic box for showing off the game on your shelves.  The inner box is a handy tuckbox, which can fit all cards and more but takes up limited space so that it is perfect for carrying around in your bag.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Whilst our illustrator and graphic designer are very busy crafting the artwork and visual style that will showcase Viewpoint Revisioned and the next three sets, we are finalising the rules for all sets, with particular attention being paid to Prehistoric Park, our most innovative design yet.
 As we move closer to the Viewpoint Revisioned funding campaign in September/October 2018, we’ll be spending more time showcasing how much fun a Viewpoint gaming experience is.  This means that we’ll be visiting local game stores/clubs and attending expos to spread the word.  If you’d like to join us on our journey, then here’s what you can do…
 GAMERS: We have Print & Play (PNP) copies of the first four Viewpoint Revisioned episodes on our website.  We’d really appreciate you giving the game a play and sending us as much feedback (in person or via our website or info@93madegames.com.au) as you’d like so that we can adjust the rules to deliver the best gaming experience possible.
 REVIEWERS: Production quality prototypes of Viewpoint Revisioned will be available at the end of August 2018.  We’ll be sending plenty of these out to reviewers but, if you have a particular interest in Viewpoint Revisioned, we’d love to hear it so that you can be one of the first to receive a copy.
 STORES: We want to work with you to help promote Viewpoint Revisioned to your gamers.  We’ll be contacting many of you leading up to the launch of Viewpoint Revisioned and asking to come in and demonstrate how exciting a Viewpoint experience can be.  If you’d like to get the jump on this exciting new game then feel free to drop us a line on our personal emails (sean@93made.com and/or anthony@93made.com). 

STAY UP TO DATE
You can be kept in the loop about Viewpoint Revisioned and other episodes via all the regular social networking channels:
FACEBOOK (https://www.facebook.com/93MadeGames)
TWITTER (https://twitter.com/93MadeGames)
INSTAGRAM (https://instagram.com/93MadeGames)
TUMBLR (http://93madegames.tumblr.com/)
BOARDGAMEGEEK (https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/10997/93-made-games)
Or simply stay in contact via email (info@93madegames.com.au) or by visiting our website (www.93madegames.com.au).

As well as receiving copies of the game, certain Monster Town backers will receive limited edition merchandise, such as Monster Town playmats, the Art of Monster Town book, artprints and so on. All backers have been listed in the credits in the Monster Town Comprehensive Rules but we'd like to give special mention to the following backers and supporters of Monster Town:

• Mega Games who hosted the Monster Town launch party, were our first backers and are always so welcoming to us.
• Natural 20 Games and Hobbies who are big supporters of Monster Town and of 93 Made Games in Western Australia.
• The Campaigner who encouraged us and allowed us to advertise Monster Town on their website for free.
• The Dice Men Cometh who interviewed us and allowed us to share Monster Town with their audience.
• Good Games, The Games Cube, The Hall of Heroes, UOW Guild Gaming Society and QLD League of Extraordinary Gamers who helped us demonstrate Monster Town to their fans and ours.

93 Made Games opens their master design file and looks back over the last five years of the development of Monster Town. There are many differences to the original concept; however, a few key themes and gameplay elements have survived half a decade of play-testing.

Just three months shy of 93 Made Games' first birthday, Monster Town Lead Designer Anthony Condos, conceptualised an adventure card game where players would reveal locations (to be captured) and encounters (to be dealt with) from a central deck. Whilst this doesn't sound too different from the final game, it was the players rather than their gang members who were directly affected by the locations and encounters. Also, because there were no gangs, there was also no combat.

Thus, the first change was to add gangs and combat cards through which gang members could 'attack' each other, suffer wounds and be killed off or turned. This also introduced the idea of different races - Humans, Vampires, Werewolves and Zombies. Combat was further expanded to include combat abilities on the gang members and a mechanism to limit the exploitation of powerful abilities through the consumption of 'power'. So this is the origin of the blue Power Dice.

Through further play-testing, the design team found that the basic win condition of, what was then, capturing a set number of locations would not always be achieved prior to the location/encounter deck running out of cards. This lead to the creation of the 'end game' phase where a free-for-all final combat would ensue, with the winner being the player who had the last gang standing. The victory conditions were further tweaked over the five-year development and included timed games, combat-only games and varying the number of locations required to win. Eventually, the design team settled on a 'conquest points' system where players needed to reach 10 conquest points to win with locations being worth 1 each and gang members being worth varying amounts but only if killed during the end game.

At around the same time the end game phase was devised, Anthony started work on the artwork. Preliminary designs were rudimentary in order to get across the basic themes but were soon improved by using models for each of the gang members and non-playing characters used in the game. You may notice that all of the gang leaders look an awful lot like someone who is very closely involved with the creation of the game.

Whilst Anthony was compiling the artwork, he also added special items (weapons, armour and augmentations (which were at the time simply known as special abilities)) as a card type. Originally, each gang deck was going to include 10 special items; however, this number had to be reduced so that all of the flavourful combat cards could be retained. Fortunately, many of these special items will be included in the Reinforcement Packs that will be available to Kickstarter backers.

With the addition of special items and the artwork coming along nicely, the design team's next big job was to streamline the game by removing superfluous cards and rules. The first to go were the double-sided follower/attacker cards. Whilst having an image of a follower on one side and an image of an attacker on the other was visual appealing, it took away from the suspense and surprise of revealing cards from the location/encounter deck. Therefore, only one image was used and both effects were moved to the same side of the card.

Another significant change was the introduction of uncapturable locations, which played similarly to encounters but kept the theme of travelling through Monster Town. The game was eventually trimmed down from 200+ different cards to a much more manageable number across four gangs.

Even though the flavour of the game had been built up from an early stage, the specific themes and history of Monster Town and each gang was thin on content. This is where Design Manager Sean Carroll came up with the idea of 'power' representing the emanations from 'The Dark Spire', a mysterious monolith that has corrupted the denizens of Monster Town. The backstories of the gangs were fleshed out from this basis and thus Humans became the Renegade Militia, Vampires would be known as the Brotherhood of the Fang, Werewolves would don the name Wölfenpack and Zombies were all too obviously titled The Living Undead.

The last few months of design and development included some radical but necessary changes, such as the adjustment to scouting where players originally were able to reveal all of the scouting cards at once instead of one card at a time. This further increased the suspense and the “edge-of-your-seat” action that the game provides.

After five hectic years of development, Monster Town is now ready to claim. Successful beta play-testing has been conducted with no holes found whatsoever. We used some of our most cunning play-testers, who have repeatedly broken our alpha prototypes, to ensure the fidelity of the game. And also to make sure Monster Town is still as enthralling to play as ever. We will be launching the Monster Town Kickstarter campaign in the very near future so stay tuned to 93 Made Games for comprehensive details on all of the amazing rewards that are on offer.

My name is Anthony Condos and I am both a game designer and artist for 93 Made Games. I am, by nature, a creative personality. For me, being both a designer and artist gives me almost a paternal feeling towards my work. Watching something I have helped create, develop and blossom into something not just for myself to admire but for others to enjoy is extremely fulfilling.

As a designer/artist, I get to watch my work as it develops from a concept, grows into a work in progress and then matures into a final product. Then I, as the proud creator, get to see what it becomes.

In my personal opinion, invention and innovation are the pathways to the happiest place in which a designer/artist can be. Seeing your creations come to life and be seen by the outside world, whether admired or criticised, is a truly humbling experience.

My work on Viewpoint was my first attempt as an artist and I am proud of the final product and it is one of my proudest life endeavours to date.

With Viewpoint Reflections, it was a different kind of achievement I saw in this work as I saw not only my artworks advance and mature for the better. I also saw these same attributes in myself as an artist as well as a human being.

Lastly, with my work on the soon to come Monster Town, not only have I once again seen advancement and maturity with this project but I also get to feel pride in my having involvement in the actual design of the game and I eagerly wait to see what it develops into.