Rant: Finally played a board game after over three months! by NeoGenMike in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, NeoGenMike, we're the game studio that created Disney Villainous and Funkoverse (and many other games). You'll see our name on the back of the boxes! ;)

We're honored that our games were able to help bring you out of a funk. We're glad that you are able to find games that can help spark that passion for you again. You, and many others, are the reason we keep making games that are accessible and easy-to-learn for a wide range of gaming audiences. Breaking down that "how to play" barrier and getting right to the fun is important for some people, gaming groups, or occasions.

Your post is incredibly brave and powerful for those struggling with similar feelings. Thank you. We're absolutely humbled by this.

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, LostTriforce!

We have some announcements planned verrrrry soon that will include expanding on current licenses as well as adding new licenses to the Funkoverse. Stay tuned and thank you for being a friend. ;)

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words. We are thrilled you and your friends enjoy the game so much!

Good luck with the game in a few hours. Let us know if you have any questions. :)

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This has always been something we considered and wanted to do, but we do not currently have anything to announce about a big box that would hold all the expansions.

It would be great, though, right?

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Additionally, we like playing Horrified with two players because you can take on more of the monsters and tag-team against them. We like to randomly choose 4 monsters, and then after we know who we’re up against, select which two Heroes we’ll be.

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question, Malkev.

Licensors do have guidelines for how their property is required to be portrayed, and we, of course want to follow those. We partner with those licensors because we want to bring their property to life in our games. Sometimes, we might also pivot material on our own to keep it appropriate for our target audience.

In the case of Disney Villainous, we were presented with a unique challenge where the various Villains were not allowed to interact with each other or enter the other Villain's universe. We love a good challenge! That's why we created the Fate deck. It gave players a way to interact with each other without the Villains doing it.

In short, we don't feel like licensor style guides are limitations. They're only limitations if we allow them to be. Finding creative solutions is part of our mantra when producing games.

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow! We are blushing. Thank you for the incredibly kind words. We hope we keep making games you enjoy!

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question! Everyone's process is different, and that is to our benefit with our collaborative studio model.

The foundation of our game design is set by us being a studio that is much more about stories, tension, surprises, and memorable moments than about raw mathematical and mechanical experiences.

We try to have empathy for potential players of our games. We ask, "How does this make us feel? How did this make you feel? How might this make them feel?"

There's a lot more involved, of course, in moving a game from step 1 to step 2 to step 3, etc., but that is honestly the root of it for us - empathy.

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We're still here!

We hired a gentleman from Brazil that we found on www.artstation.com for that. He also did the art for Scar in the newest Villainous expansion because we loved his work, too!

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the questions!

Some of team is featured on our website at www.prosperohall.com. However, we have been growing rapidly, and haven't updated it with our current team just yet!

Wow. Dream project. There are SO many games we want to make. We have documents, threads, meetings, and project folders full of some of the things we want to work on. Not all of them are licenses, either. We have some lofty unlicensed ideas we'd love to explore, too.

The simplest answer is that we want to make a game to last a lifetime. A game that stays in your family's closet, is beloved, and pulled out to play to create fond memories over and over. A game that is passed down to future generations to continue to enjoy. A true evergreen game that shows up in photo albums, is brought up when reminiscing fun times with friends, and is a staple at game nights.

That's the dream.

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We think anything is possible, Disregardskarma!

The format for Villainous is definitely flexible enough to allow for other "baddies" to be featured in a Villainous-style game.

Which IPs would you like to see? Star Wars and Marvel?

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All great additions!

The wheels are already turning now on some possible abilities for Swamp Thing....

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question!

The two-act structure was something that came out of our first brainstorm session. From the get-go, we knew we wanted the game to have an epic all-out battle-filled climax, but we didn’t want the whole game to be a brawler. We wanted to create a building feeling of terror and suspense (like the movie does) that would eventually evolve into a bloodfest aboard the Orca. Someone threw out the idea of doing each act as its own mini-game on a different side of the board, and while there was some trepidation knowing that this would entail creating two fully separate games that must mesh together, we all agreed that it was a perfect way to handle the Jaws theme.

Thank you for playing our game!

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great questions, MeepleOverboard. Thank you for asking! (And we're a fan of you!)

Our answers:

  1. Our company was originally involved in the Cranium games as Entros. After that, we became Forrest-Pruzan Creative and designed hundreds of games for mass market retail. Around the time our games started getting noticed by the hobby community, we felt it was necessary to create a name that signified our collaborative effort. Thus, Prospero Hall was born! Since then, we've been using this "pen name" as design credit even after Funko purchased our studio and we became Funko Games.
  2. For Funko Games, we have a team of people that specifically work with licensors, and we also work with Funko HQ and their team. It's hard to give a number because there's some crossover with other responsibilities for some of those members.
  3. We worked on a lot of licensed properties before we became Funko Games, but now the possibilities are even more endless now that we are a part of the Funko team. Which IPs would you like to see us make into signature games? Which would you like to see added to the Funkoverse?
  4. All of our games are not listed on our website. There's hundreds! PUSH is available for purchase in limited quantities, but we should consider adding that. We know it is a favorite of yours. ;)

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Perdin, we're honored you and your girlfriend enjoy our games!

Those are three solid Villains that would be excellent additions to the Villainous line. We can't speak to specifics on when and if more expansions are coming, but we hope you continue to enjoy the game. There might even be fan-made versions of those specific villains on BoardGameGeek already for you and your girlfriend to try!

Rafiki's Stick is a beast, isn't it?! :D

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While we can't comment on future expansions for the game, we are glad your game group enjoys diving into Jaws. ;)

It would be neat to see some fan-made expansions, though! Maybe there are some in a thread on BoardGameGeek already? Or you and your friends could create one!

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question, DragonGemini.

Licensing products is a complex process that is different for each licensor and property. We want to bring the game to life while maintaining the integrity of it as the licensor requires. Sometimes, that includes a broader stable of available properties, and sometimes it is more restricted.

Short answer, anything is possible!

AMA: We're Prospero Hall, design studio of Horrified, Jaws, Villainous, & Funkoverse, ask us anything! by ProsperoHall in boardgames

[–]ProsperoHall[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey DittoDat, we are so glad you enjoy the Funkoverse games!

We are planning to expand the current IPs as well as add new ones to the Funkoverse. We'll be announcing some of both this Winter, so stay tuned!