Tabula Games, a newly-founded tabletop game studio, has announced that Barbarians will be their first project as a new company according to a press release.
Barbarians will be a worker placement style eurogame where players will control individual Barbarian clans in the mystical land of Fenian. The Barbarians had lived in relative peace with the civilized folk until the balance of power shifted, and now the clans are rising up to conquer the rest of the world.
Though Barbarian clans wouldn't necessarily shy from conflict with one another, the game's designer Pierluca wants to keep the focus on the players competing to conquer the most land rather than fighting with one another. This is accomplished largely through worker placement mechanics with a bit of a twist - and in this case, the twist is literal. The game board will feature three concentric circles set on separate tiers that will rotate throughout the course of gameplay. The shifts in alignment will change the ideal strategy for accomplishing your goals as the game progresses.
Tabula Games is the rebranding and formation of the studio which Kickstarted Jewels, a card game that I previewed for TechRaptor in August of last year. If you'd like to pick it up, you might have a bit of difficulty as the game is currently only available for purchase through Italian retailer Magic Merchant.
As for Barbarians, Tabula Games has stated that they will be launching a Kickstarter for their latest project in the coming months. All we know for the moment is that the game will likely be split into two versions (one with miniatures, one without, and the option to buy miniatures separately if desired.) You can keep an eye on the progress of the game at the official website as well as that of Tabula Games.
What do you think of the concept of Barbarians? Do you think the mechanic of a shifting game board will add an interesting element to a worker placement game? Let us know in the comments below!
