In one of my recent issues, I shared my conversation with Romin behind making Midtown Mall.

It’s the first time I tried something like this, and I loved it. Stories behind games fascinate me just as much as the games themselves.

Because somewhere between all the mechanics, artwork, and clever little systems we interact with, there’s a game designer obsessing over something wonderfully strange.

And speaking of wonderfully strange things, there’s another game on my table lately that caught my attention on all fronts.

Rope Walkers.

It’s created by Curry, a creator whose games have consistently stood out to me for their entertaining themes and unique mechanics. Seven months ago, I played Teeny Tusslers, a wonderfully chaotic little goblin game where the madness of its characters shaped the puzzle itself. And now? Curry somehow went from angry goblins fighting over shiny rocks… to a world literally split in two.

A comet tears the planet apart. Oceans split. Mountains collapse. The sky cracks open. And somewhere in that chaos, one man ties a rope across the divide to keep the world connected. Every year since, people celebrate the Knot Festival by walking across that same rope.

The game carries that theme mechanically too. The Balance Tracker constantly pulls you between control and collapse. You keep pushing higher toward those perfect numbers, while stamina drains, mastery shifts, and lantern cards tempt you with powerful effects that often come with consequences of their own. Cramp, vertigo, thirst… suddenly your tiny little walker is having a very rough evening. But never impossible!

After playing Rope Walkers over the past few days, I wanted to know what went on behind creating something this unusual.

So I reached out to Curry, and here’s what he had to say:

"Rope Walkers has been a joy to create. My games, so far, have always been solo only, but I’m very deliberate about trying new things with each new design. The mechanics change, the art styles change. It’s how I explore as much as I can about this wonderful board gaming hobby of ours, and it keeps me creatively rejuvenated.

The idea for Rope Walkers came out of the Deck Builder contest on The Game Crafter, where it got a semi-finalist award due to the deck building element not being the main focus. Oops! Still, I essentially was able to get this game, art and all, completed in 90 days, which shows I was locked in and inspired. I designed the game on index cards until I got the core right and finished the artwork. Then, I migrated it over to Dustin’s Designer Den and playtested it digitally, tweaking and experimenting, you know, tackling all those small but major nuances that are essential.

It’s always when you think that you’re finished that a brilliant idea occurs to you and you have to try it, then implement it if it works… BUT implementing it often requires the components around it to also be tweaked, which is all to say a lot of energy went into this delightful game.

To this point, I’ve designed a lot of dark stuff. Dead End. Disturblings. Monstrosity. I’d spent a decade or so writing and illustrating picture books for children, so I needed a change of pace, which is why my games tend to be dark. But, recently I decided my library of games needed some diversification, needed some balance, which started with the brightly colored Teeny Tusslers, and continued with Rope Walkers. I knew going into Rope Walkers that I wanted an art style inspired by Don’t Starve, but happy, full of whimsy and hope and that’s been the through-line for everything.”

“Yes, something extreme with the world being cracked in two led to the events of this game, but unity became the theme. The characters of the game are its meat and potatoes. Rope Walkers is very much about the Walkers themselves. I wanted the gameplay to be quick and simple, but still strategic, and still full of streamlined choices to make, despite dice rolling being a central element.

It’s not a hard game to win. That’s by design. The challenge comes with winning as each Walker, because they’re all so unique. I wanted to make collecting them worth it, so aside from stats, fun illustrations, and silly names, they have their own tailored story on the back of their card. I hope to have fifty or so Walkers, and when the physical version releases, they’ll be in randomized packs, so the Print and Play version is definitely the easiest way to get them all.

If it sounds like your thing, please stop by and give the rope a try yourself."

The experimentation, the balancing act between mechanics and theme, the shift from darker projects toward something more hopeful, all of it makes Rope Walkers even more interesting to me.

I genuinely believe this is one of those little gems that deserves far more eyes on it.

Check out the Rope Walkers Kickstarter campaign here.
Read my detailed review of Rope Walkers here.

- Tas.

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