I DO MY OWN STUNTS Update #9

 I DO MY OWN STUNTS Update #9

What's better than a handful of meeples? A handful of MORE meeples!! Let's examine the question, how many meeples are enough meeples? 

But first, let's examine the word meeple. Meeples are wooden figurative pawns originally found in German strategy games.  Heimlich & Co. (1984) was one of  games to use these wooden figure. They  are supposed to be spies but they look like British bankers to me. 

 Europa 1945-2030 (1998) had both male and female meeples.

The standard meeple, as we know it today, first appeared in Carcassone (2002)

The term "meeple" was created when gamer Alison Hansel mistakenly mashed together the words "my" and "people" when describing the game's wooden figures. She shared her spoonerism online, it caught on and has been used ever since.

In 2024, Carcassone's publisher Hans um Gluck trademarked the term meeple in Germany and Europe and sent cease and desist letters to publishers who used the word in their games or even in their company's name! As a result, for example, Cotswold Games and its worker placement game, Meeple Inc., had to be renamed as Tabletop Inc.

 

 

Needless to say, this created a backlash from gamers who just assumed the term was fair use.  Meanwhile in America, a group of concerned game creators banded together to trademark the term here in the US. They vow to make sure the term remains free for everyone to use.

I DO MY OWN STUNTS will use meeples, but I still have a few decisions to make. Firsst of all, in the game's rules, they will be refered to as "stunt performers" or "stunt peeple". 

As for their form-factor, I have yet to decide whether they be standard meeples - but with heat-transferred or screen-printed faces and/or details on them. Or they might be a slightly different version of a meeple (note the upraised arm) - to differentiate them from the Hans Um Gluck meeple. 

However, these alternate components would have to be tested to see if they work as well as the standard meeple does. My samples should be arriving in the mail soon, so then I can start testing!

 

Speaking of testing, I was able to playtest a rough version of the game this weekend - which I estimate at 65% complete gameplay-wise. I was pleasantly surprised that the game did what I wanted it to do, the players had fun (and lots of helpful feedback) and wanted to play it a second time!

 

One thing that was resolved was the question: "how many meeples should be in the game?" I estimate there will be 24-28 meeples in the final game. I'll write about why that number is important in a future update. 

Another note, unlike the Red/Blue/Yellow/Green meeples in my prototype, the Stunt Performer Peeples in I DO MY OWN STUNTS will use color vision deficiency friendly colors.

One more note about the playtest - we had another half-dozen backers back the game! And a small quantity of the game will be (eventually) carried by Geeky Teas and Games, my favorite board game store in Burbank, CA! If you want your friendly local game store to carry I DO MY OWN STUNTS, please send them my way!