As anyone who is an abstract strategy enthusiast probably knows, getting one published is a royal pain in the rear-end. Publishers are understandably cautious about these wonderful games because they just don’t sell in the volumes that are needed to justify the production costs.
There are exceptions of course, like Tak and Azul, but they are definitely in the minority. For the most part, they are a novelty that someone might buy for coffee table appeal. The reasons for this have been discussed at length elsewhere. Some people don’t like the lack of theme (to me this is an advantage!). Some people don’t like how much deep thinking is required (they just want a “fun” game). Some don’t like that you can only play with two players (this is not always so, and is not true for NXS). Whatever the reason, they are not big sellers, and they don’t even tend to do well on Kickstarter.
I myself have had no luck in getting publishers to consider NXS. Eventually I’ll write up a rant about one of the more ridiculous reasons I have been given, but that it neither here nor there.
So, how does one go about solving these problems? I’m not honestly sure, but I feel like I am starting to see some light.
Let’s take the problems mentioned above one at a time.
Lack of theme:
At its core, NXS has no theme. Arrows, dots, and lines tell you everything you need to know about how the pieces move. And I absolutely love that. It allows me to imagine whatever battle I want. Cavalry and cannons? Space ships? It’s up to you.
But, for a lot of people, the lack of theme is a no-go. They feel like it looks “boring”. So, it is reasonable to look for an attractive theme to layer onto your game, especially if it fits the mechanics of the game well.
When I play NXS, I’ve always seen sailing ships from the Golden Age of Sail battling it out on the high seas. Frigates and cutters and brigs, oh my! So, why not embrace that?
So the arrows, representing direction, become sails. That fits well, and rotating your piece becomes tacking your ship to a different heading. The lines, representing attack, become cannons. That fits pretty well (although capture is by replacement, so the metaphor is a tiny bit tortured, admittedly). The only thing that was a bit challenging were the dots, representing distance. Basically, what I am going for here is fewer sails and cannons represent a lighter, thus faster ship. So what I settled on was little cannonball piles (or barrels) on the deck. It looks good, it’s easy to count, and it fits the theme. The barrels distinguish the 3-0 (invincible/unarmed piece).
And the good news is that I can cost-effectively 3D print these sets, and sell them on Etsy. I’ll have a separate post about the “fun” challenges of 3D printing, but at least I can produce something!
Additionally, games with miniatures seem to be extremely popular. Perhaps if I put this on Kickstarter at some point, with pictures of the pieces painted up like little pirate ships, it will catch on? We shall see.
Only two players:
Obviously, this is solved in NXS. The basic set comes with boards and pieces for three players. Why include three sets by default? Because NXS really shines with three players. The typical “kingmaking” problem in multi-player abstracts is solved in NXS (because of the requirement that you get at least 1/3 of your required territory from each player). Playing with three players adds a new dimension of interaction, tactics, etc.
But NXS isn’t only a three player game. It can be played with four players. Obviously, this requires extra equipment. A fourth set of boards and pieces, and a neutral middle board. I can see this being a stretch goal on Kickstarter. Four player games are really a lot of fun, in a way even the three player version doesn’t match. You have to get at least 1/4 of your territory from each of the two players not touching your board. This forces you to “sail” across the neutral board and engage with all of the players. There is a lot fun interaction between players. A lot of complex tactics emerge, etc.
More than 4? Possibly. There is no physical reason you couldn’t play with six players, but I honestly am not sure what that would look like. You would definitely need to put a clock on play to keep it moving.
Conclusion:
I feel like NXS has a lot going for it. But finding a publisher will continue to be a challenge. So I may have no choice but to go the Kickstarter route. The biggest hurdle there is not knowing what I am doing. From all accounts, running a Kickstarter is an art-form in itself. Half science and half voodoo. One way or another, you will hear about it here on the NXS nexus.
the NXS nexus 