In Episode #104 of X-Band: The Phantom Podcast we had the unique opportunity to chat with author and The Phantom: Treasures of Drakon board game co-creator Dale Maccanti. He and colleague Alex Wynnter have been burning the midnight oil to get the game up and going, and we are thankful that he was able to spare the time to share their progress to date.
There's lots of great stuff in the podcast chat but for those who are not on that wagon yet, here's a quick summary of where the board game is up to. If you've listened to the episode already, you'll know all of this. But you should read on anyway - it's a handy refresher!
The main question on everyone's lips is: "when will the Kickstarter campaign launch?" Initially planned for October 2018, there have been delays caused by wedding planning, game refinement and artwork creation. The Kickstarter campaign is now scheduled for March with a delivery date for the board games to be under our trees for Christmas 2019.
Dale stressed the importance of signing up during the Kickstarter, as the likelihood of the game being available in stores is slim, even in Local Comic Shops. While Frew may have some in stock for sale in their online store, the deal is that only those who sign up during the Kickstarter get the extra stretch goal rewards (we'll explain this in a moment!). So, if you don't sign up, you may not get the all the collectible extras and there is a very real probability that you may miss out altogether.
Dale detailed some stretch goals which sound like great ideas that we at Team CC certainly want to add to our collections. Most phans, and certainly any serious collector, will feel the same. Stretch goals is a term used by Kickstarter. Basically, once the project has surpassed its initial target fundraising level, they try to 'stretch' that to new levels. Each time the total reaches a new pre-determined level, the project has achieved a stretch goal and there's a subsequent reward for ALL backers in the form of added extras.
Stretch Goal: Kid Phantom
Kid Phantom is something we would all love to see successful as Frew targets the next generation of Phantom phans. According to Dale, Dr Paul Mason has designed a Kid Phantom figurine that will be produced by the professional 3D sculpture artist doing all the miniature playing pieces.
The Kid Phantom figurine would be used in a stand-alone single player version of the game, complete with the unique comic strip style cards that tell the story and indicate the number of turns. These will also be created by Paul.
Stretch Goal: Extra Universe Cards
Frew cover artist Jamie Johnson is creating some Kickstarter exclusive variant Universe Cards to be included with the game. At this stage we don't know exactly how many extra Universe Cards will be available, but obviously these would be characters from the Pirates of the Red Dragon storyline. It seems evident that characters would include Waldo and Orkhan (left) at least, with maybe a couple of others to also be created. If you’re a ‘completist’ collector, you will need to ensure these are added to your Universe folder.
The other side of Kickstarters to remember are the different levels or rewards. These are earned individually when you as a campaign backer choose your financial investment. Basically, at base level you will receive a complete standard board game together with any Stretch goals the campaign has achieved. However you may also choose to spend more to receive more, at higher reward levels.
Reward: Variant box covers featuring various Phantom colours
Dale, Alex and Frew have a desire to see the game published in as many languages as possible including Swedish, Norwegian, Hindu and Spanish. One of the ways to encourage phans to purchase more than one of the games is by releasing colour variants on the cover. The four likely designs are purple, blue, red and grey. As used by Pop Vinyl figurines and Ikon Collectables statues, these have become almost the world-wide standard colours of the Phantom.
Part of the impetus for this move has been the desire to increase international appeal. After the guys decided to include the variant box cover reward level, they contacted Egmont to let them know. They received an overwhelmingly positive response, and Team Fantomen have since included an advertorial (above) for the board game in Fantomen 21/2018.
The English translation:
Play with The Phantom
The Ghost Who Walks has friends all over the world, and two of these friends, namely Alex Wynnter and Dale Maccanti in Australia, are in the process of creating a new board game with The Phantom!
As a partner they have Frew, who is the Australian publisher of The Phantom series. The game is based on the adventures involved in the "Red Dragon Pirates" as we reprinted in double numbers 22-23 / 2017.
You will be able to preview and order via Kickstarter.com in the near future, so check out the project! Search for "The Phantom: Treasures of Drakon board game”.
Fun Fact: Dragon is in Swedish “Drakön” as Frew failed to translate.(at the moment we have no direct link to the Kickstarter, unfortunately)
A really exciting project and we are looking forward to playing this in the editorial garden!
See ya, Micke
Reward: Trade Paperback Comic
Supplementing the original three-part story, Frew has published Dale's two-part prequel and Julie Ditrich is apparently charged with writing a sequel. Julie is perhaps best known as founder and CEO of Comics Mastermind, an Australian company providing professional development for comics creators.
Plans are for all parts to be gathered into a Trade Paperback which would be available at a Reward level for Kickstarter backers.
Reward: Original Art
Likely the top reward level will be the opportunity to own some of the original artwork for the game itself. With 16-20 different card designs, the game board, comic strip style game play, Universe cards and figurine designs there should be enough original art for the most dedicated phans to add a piece to add to their collection. Artists that we know to be connected with the project are Glenn Ford, Dr Paul Mason and Jamie Johnson.
Thanks again to Dale for being available to answer our questions regarding the board game and his new stories. Of course, if you want to read our past articles or listen to a past podcast follow the links below.
And check out the video below to see the game in action, as played by the ChronicleChamber team at Sydney Supanova, June 2018:
