Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/652704
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 MARCH 2016 37 This Week Why did you decide to add a digital counterpart to the board game? Our plan was to be a digital game development studio, so Posthuman was a digital game from the start. We had actually adapted it to a board game in order to test the market and see whether the IP would be success- ful. As it stands, the board game was far more successful than we had anticipated, so it delayed our plans for its digital counterpart. Would you say the success of your board game crowdfund- ing campaign will guarantee the success of its digital game counterpart? Before we even considered a crowdfunding campaign, we knew that funding the digital game would be far, far more dif- ficult than funding the board game. There are several reasons for this, but to name a few: 1) Board games are on the rise – looking at sales and successful crowdfunding campaigns, board games have been increasingly popular and successful, whereas video games are increasingly more difficult to fund. This was a result of a saturation of games on the market, but also of the rise of certain other distribution platforms, such as Steam Early access. 2) Many people play on their mobile devices – one of the most common questions we are receiving is whether Posthu- man: Sanctuary will be avail- able on mobile devices. For the KS campaign we are promising development on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. Eventu- ally we intend to port the game to mobile devices as well, but the respective app stores don't make it at all easy to distribute a crowdfunded game to its backers on those platforms. This means that we cannot directly offer the game on mobile platforms with- in the campaign. That's out of our control and there's not much we can do about it. 3) We had a starting audience who are tabletop gamers. Many of them are also video game play- ers, but not all of them. Although this gave us a solid starting point for the digital game campaign, we need to reach many more people in order to fund. We are constantly trying to reach out to as many people as possible and ask our backers to spread the word about the game. 4) For the board game we had a goal of $27K, and the aver- age pledge was around $58 per backer. This meant that we only needed 466 backers (approx.) to reach our goal. For Posthuman: Sanctuary, the goal is $40K (be- cause it costs much more to de- velop a video game), and the av- erage pledge is $15, which means we need at least 2,667 backers to get funded! So, mathematically, it's almost 6 times as hard to get the digital game funded. How would you describe Post- human: Sanctuary to prospec- tive players, and how would you say it differs and/or com- plements the board game? Posthuman: Sanctuary is a sin- gle player game which is a sur- vival game, unlike others. It has exploration, team management and combat elements, but it is al- so part interactive fiction, where the choices you make will shape the player's experience. It takes place in a near future where ge- netic tampering has resulted in widespread mutation. This led to a class war, which resulted in the mutants overthrowing human society completely and hunting down the last human survivors. In the game, you play as one such survivor, who starts out on his journey to find sanctuary. On the way he will find other people to join him, but though there is strength in numbers, each of them has her own outlook, and they might not be happy with the choices you will have to make to survive. Although they have some similarities and common ele- ments, the board game and the video game have a different fo- cus. Whereas the board game is more rule-based and focused on the journey itself while trying to remain human (mutants can also cause you scars which eventu- ally mutate you too), the digital game starts off in the same man- ner, but focuses more on the narrative within the world, and also on the challenges of leading a team with different psycho- logical profiles through a hostile landscape where resources are rare. You still have to watch out for your humanity – you can still become a mutant, in which case it's game over and you have to start a new character. Overall, I'd say the digital game is intended to be enjoyed as a story that you shape yourself (not dissimilar to a choose-you-own-adventure book, or the famous Telltale Games, such as the Walking Dead), but with very different mechanics which have root in the board game. Would you say that Mighty Box and its games are an anomaly for Malta, or do you think the local talent pool of digital game creators is wide enough to accommodate other, new companies? There are already other game dev studios in Malta with a lot of talent and a lot of potential, and from the look of things this is an industry that will continue to grow. We don't see ourselves as an anomaly – we're just early on the boat, and we know of other talented people locally who are working on projects of their own which are very promising, both in the tabletop gaming world and the video game one. To follow the Posthuman: Sanctuary Kickstarter, log on to: http://kck.st/1VJ0ohM. For more information on Mighty Box, log on to: http://www.mighty- boxgames.com/ Early on the boat Malta's Kickstarter Kings – game development company Mighty Box – who successfully financed their board-game Posthuman in record time last year, are now attempting the same with the dystopian game's digital counterpart, Posthuman: Sanctuary. TEODOR RELJIC speaks to the startup's CEO Marvin Zammit about the game and the challenges they face in getting it funded FUNDING UNDER MALTA'S RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (RDP) 2014 – 2020 Pre-Notification for new Applications and Payment Claims related to Area Aid Schemes for Farmers and Livestock Breeders The Director General Funds and Programmes Division, within the Parliamentary Secretariat for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, notifies that new applications for Measures under RDP 2014- 2020 as well as payment claims for the year 2016 will be issued in the coming days. The following are the RDP 2014-2020 measures that will be launched: - NEW Application: Malta's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 - Measure 10.1 - Agri-Environment Climate Measures (AECMs). o AECM 1 – Measure to control weeds in orchards and vineyards by mechanical, instead of chemical, methods; o AECM 6 – Measure for the integration and maintenance of autochthonous Maltese species (Maltese Ox, Carob and Mulberry trees). - NEW Application: Malta's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 - Measure 13.3 - Payments to areas facing natural or other specific constraints: Compensation payment to other areas affected by specific constraints (ANC). This Measure replaces Measure 212 under Malta's Rural Development Programme 2007-2013. - Payment claim: Malta's Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 - Measure 212 – Support for areas with handicaps, other than mountain areas (LFA); - Payment claim: Malta's Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 – Measure 214 – Rural areas conservation scheme (AEMs) Application forms and payment claims, including applicable guidelines, will be available online by following links on www.eufunds.gov.mt; these will also be accepted at the Front Office within the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC) at Pitkali Markets, Ta' Qali (l/o Attard) or at the Front Office, Governmental Experimental Farm, Xewkija, Gozo. More information can be obtained by calling Tel 2292 6148 (Malta) and 2215 6974/5 (Gozo). Registered farmers will also be notified by sms, as per standard procedure. Rural Development Programme for Malta 2014-2020 Part financed by the European Union Co-financing Rate: 75% European Union; 25% Government of Malta The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas Mighty Box, left to right: Fabrizio Cali, Mark Casha, David Chircop and Thom Cuschieri. Top: Marvin Zammit (Photo: Ray Attard)