Just yesterday, our next game arrived: Pacts. Our first signed submission (in this case, from local upcoming designer Ben Brin), it has seen an interesting journey for us, one with a fantastic response from players and critics alike, and clearly a glowing future. The excellent work of the Jasper Beatrix team and the art of Gwenevere Singley are also on display, making one perfect, complete experience.
Pacts started its journey as a quick-and-dirty prototype we first saw at the CuseCon Game Design Guild, a scrappy two-player dueler with a simple printed map, handwritten factions, and the name Spirit Split. We remember the first time playing against the designer, who mentioned that the recent success of other DVC titles got them to think of making a small map for this project, and keep it really focused. And, critically, the very first split felt like a trick, like a bad fae deal. We hadn't even mentioned it, but we clearly saw a theme here, but Ben Brin was entirely focused on the prize: perfecting play.
As the game developed in the guild, it remained on our radar. It introduced what would become the Court cards, variations on factions, and smooth balancing. Early factions like Fire and Water would someday stick around and transform into Fir Bolg and Dragons, and we eventually broached taking on the project. Other hands on the project helped test and invent new factions, and add on variants like the auction system as well as the randomized point tiles. Ben (Sobine) then, upon thinking on it for a time, dubbed it Pacts, simply a game about the deals themselves.
The art tied it all together, but for awhile, we were a bit unsure how it would all land. It is more straightforward and mainstream than some of our other designs, and since the box art was finished last, we didn't have too much to really show properly leading up to GenCon 2025. But with a huge splash at PAXU behind us, and a fantastic amount of love and pre-orders, it seems we have a hit on our hands.
Pacts is our second of three 'gilded' games, along with Karnak and Inkwell, and is a beautiful piece of gaming art, as well as our first release with our new faux suede mats that lay flat and seldom crease. Pre-Orders are being processed as we speak, and then the game will go out to tons of reviewers, and hopefully give the world a taste of this gem of a game.