ANNOUNCING CARTOONER: A GAME OF DRAWING COMICS
NOW ON KICKSTARTER FROM MOCK MAN PRESS AND JAPANIME GAMES
!
San Francisco, CA (November 16, 2017) – Mock Man Press and Japanime Games are pleased to announce the Kickstarter launch of Cartooner, A Game of Drawing Comics, the world’s first comic-drawing game based on the themes and trends of American comics, accessible for artists and non-artists alike!
Designed by Jason Bradley Thompson and Jumana Al Hashal, with art by Konstantin Pogorelov, Cartooner is a fun and fast-paced game for 1 to 8 players, ages 12 and up, that lets everyone experience the thrill of creating comics.
Influenced by improv, Cartooner challenges players to draw a 4-page comic over four rounds, five minutes per round. Start by drawing three Theme Cards at random to determine what your comic will be about. Will your comic involve Dinosaurs, Secret Hideouts and Car Chases? Or Pirates, Blobs and The Last Human on Earth? Then each player takes a Comic Page with pre-printed Panels and the round begins! Players get Fame points for expressing their Themes in a way the players can recognize, whether they draw them out or simply mention them in a Word Balloon. Additional Fame points come from meeting your deadline (drawing something in every panel, no matter how simple) and keeping it succinct by using three or fewer Word Balloons on the page.
Rounds two through four introduce Trend Cards, beautifully illustrated by Konstantin Pogorelov. Unlike Themes, which are personal, Trend Cards represent the market and affect every player, adding Fame incentives for different new goals. Your fickle readers may want you to inject Superheroes…Funny Animals…Medical drama…Disaster stories…Mystery… Romance…or any one of 52 Trends into your story. It’s every artist’s dilemma: stick to your original story, or sell out for Fame? Each round brings more Panels to draw and Trends to chase. When the final round ends, the winner is the one with the most Fame Tokens…but every player ends the game with a comic of their own creation.
“This is a game about drawing, but it’s not just a game where the best artist wins,” says codesigner Jason Bradley Thompson. “We wanted to make a game where artists and non-artists could compete on a level playing field, so you’re never judged on whether your art is ‘good’ or ‘bad — it’s about communication. Because of the different combos of Trend Cards, each game is different and has different goals. The real magic is in exercising your creative muscles and taking random elements introduced by the game and making them work together, using speed, humor and creative rules-bending. In Cartooner, stick figures are all it takes to win.”
Cartooner is seeking to raise $25,000 by December 17. If it meets its Kickstarter goal, it will be printed, containing 52 Trend Cards, 136 Theme Cards, 200 Fame Tokens, 64 pre-printed Comics Pages and an illustrated rulebook.
Cartooner is a standalone game, but is also completely compatible with Mock Man Press and Japanime Games’ previous tabletop game, Mangaka: The Fast & Furious Game of Drawing Comics, available now from Japanime Games. Building from and improving the Mangaka ruleset, Cartooner does for the tropes of American comics what Mangaka did for manga and anime. By combining cards from the two games, players can mix the two great comic traditions.
Codesigner Jumana Al Hashal says, “Cartooner combines our favorite things: comics, drawing and tabletop games. If you like any of these things, we think you’ll like Cartooner too. Please support our Kickstarter to bring this game to life and bring creativity and excitement to your game night!”
*********
Jason Bradley Thompson is a storyboard artist, game illustrator and comic artist. His illustrations have appeared in Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop roleplaying games, and his comics have appeared in numerous anthologies. His book Manga: The Complete Guide, inspired by his 10 years as a manga editor at VIZ, was nominated for a 2008 Eisner Award.
Jumana Al Hashal is a product manager, engineer and artist.
Konstantin Pogorelov is a mobile game developer and artist.