Head to head drafting card game

PBL ROBOTS card & dice game is a head to head, card and dice drafting game where you blow up robots! You control a 100 foot robot, you select a pilot, slide him/her into your robot and build up your robot's armor by stacking cards on top of it. As the game progresses your robot either gets bigger and stronger, or gets blow up limb by limb. Check out: www.robotcardgame.com 

To start the game each player takes turn drafting piles of cards to build their deck. Each player gets to craft their strategy and tries to assemble combos and a well rounded deck. 

The game play itself is a mixture of Magic the Gathering and Risk, as you play resources down onto the field (crew, armor, pilots, hangars) and you roll dice for the combat. Each card in your hand can be discarded to buy extra dice during combat. At the end of the game, each starter pilot goes into critical mode and you get a special boost or power up. 

If you enjoy table top games, and you enjoy complex competitive head to head battling games, this is a great one to pick up. In addition, if you enjoy games like Magic the Gathering, YuGiOh, Pokemon the trading card game, Netrunner, Mucnhkin, Risk, Hearthstone, or deck building games like Star Realms or Dominion you should give PBL ROBOTS a try! 

Learn more: www.robotcardgame.com 

Hidden Ladder Collective Art Tour 2017

Between April 10 and June 2 Hidden Ladder Collective will be touring in Asheville, Nashville, Atlanta, Richmond, Pittsburgh, Philly, and NYC! Any connections or suggestions? We are looking to set up art, music (The Bumbling Woohas), and game (PBL Robots) events on the street and in venues.

Check out what Hidden Ladder Collective did in 2016!

ROBOT CARD GAME Gallery and FAQ

PBL ROBOTS card & dice game has just published the full gallery for all of the cards in the base set (the game will is released Summer 2015). You can find a gallery of Crew Members, Action cards, Armor Upgrades, Expert Pilots and Hangars. Some of the popular cards will be getting bios where you can learn about the characters and the back story. You can order PBL ROBOTS on the website.

Another excellent feature on the website is the extensive Frequently Asked Questions section which covers the questions that many first time players have when playing the game, and other interesting interactions that certain cards have with each other. If you enjoy card drafting games, PBL ROBOTS is perfect for you and the game comes with everything you need for 2-3 players to play over and over.  The website is completely prepared to assist new players getting into the game, and will be adding new questions weekly as players submit them. 

PBL ROBOTS: 24 left on Kickstarter!

PBL ROBOTS the card and dice game is down to its last 24 hours on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robotcardgame/pbl-robots-dice-and-card-game

William Hessian and John "Sighless" Supinski have spent the last two months playing demo nights in every game store in greater Portland area, calling game stores across the country, e-mailing friends and family and posting everything on social media. Their goal was to raise $22,000 to print their brand new card and dice game PBL ROBOTS! This last week they had to turn up the volume on their effort and make a trip with 3 friends to New York City on a mission to play PBL ROBOTS with as many people as possible, in as many places as possible. The mission was a success as the trip generated over 6 thousand dollars in new donations on Kickstarter.

William and John started Hidden Ladder Games in Portland, Maine a year ago after deciding to develop the game and turn it into a real thing. William and John both belong to the Hidden Ladder Collective, a group of artists and musicians in Portland. This artist collective helped develop the game from the ground up, inventing characters, play testing and editing. Other local companies like Walker Film Productions helped create the game play video for the company. R Choice 2 Gaming in Portland, and Weekend Anime in Westbrook has hosted weekly demo events during the last two months and have been extremely supportive.

"The card game itself is a blend of Magic the Gathering, Risk and Settlers of Catan: only with giant Robots!" says William when explaining PBL ROBOTS. Each player own a giant robot and builds cards on top of the robot to upgrade armor and increase the power. Other cards like crew members, hangars and action cards help develop a strategy. The game typically begins with a draft, where each player selects which card will be in their deck and not long after battles begin and the dice start rolling. Blow off all 4 limbs of the opponent robot and you win the game. The game itself is traditionally a 2 player head to head game, but has over 12 different variations, some for younger players and faster games and others for multi-player, tournament modes and puzzle modes. "The game can be played so many diverse ways that it appeals to wide range of people and a wide range of play styles."

Each game has 113 cards and comes with a variety of dice, a rule book and two control panel cheat sheet are also in the game box. This gives you everything you need to learn and play the game. With only 48 Hours left on the Kickstarter the pair of game developers are gearing up to place a giant order of 5 thousand games and will start to ship and sell them as soon as they arrive! You can find their Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robotcardgame/pbl-robots-dice-and-card-game

PBL ROBOTS is LIVE on Kickstarter!

William Hessian and John "Sighless" Supinski have spent the last year creating a brand new strategy card and dice game called PBL ROBOTS! "The game is a interesting mix of Risk and Magic the Gathering, except this game has giant 100 foot Robots!" William said. The card game challenges each player to collect cards in a draft format in order to build their deck. When the battle begins each player slide their pilot card into the robot card, courtesy of a die cut cockpit in the center of the robot. Then players lay armor cards on the robot to watch the robot grow stronger and boost up the attack and defense. When players start attacking they roll dice to determine if the robot will blow of an arm, a leg or a head. Each pilot has a powerful critical form when you are down to one remaining limb, which gives the losing player a chance to make a comeback, but when a robot has lost of four limbs the game is over. 

William and John have spent their free time at their apartment on the East End of Portland developing this intense card game consisting of 113 unique cards and 3 different game play modes. William is a local visual artist and activist, working at Preble Street, teaching at Rivertree Art in Kennebunk and volunteering at the Meg Perry Center. William did all of the artwork and design for the game and originally invented the concept for the game over ten years ago in Minnesota, but did not start finishing it until meeting Sighless in 2012. Sighless is a local musician in the Bumbling Woohas and works at the Maine People Alliance, and was the host of Turnstyle Thursday open mic at CTN Channel 5 for over a year. Once Sighless began working on the game he created a business plan, invented characters and began writing back stories. A group of artists called the Hidden Ladder Collective, which William and John helped start, began play testing the game in-between hosting art shows, art making gatherings and busking out on the streets. Other members of Team Robots, Abbeth Russell and Kara Oster made important contribution to the game. 

Thursday, October 23rd the collective has launched the Kickstarter hoping to raise the $22,000 they need to print the first edition versions of the game. A Kickstarter video was created this September by local production company Walker Productions. Over 100 letters have gone out to game stores across the country. William and Sighless have been playing PBL ROBOTS demo events weekly at R Choice 2 Gaming on 449 Forest Ave from 6-9pm Thursday Nights which is a free event open to the public. They also have planned events to demo the game at Crossroads Games in Scarborough and Weekend Anime in Westbrook. "Many of the game stores have been extremely supportive and often have already asked to carry the game as soon as it is printed!" William said while praising the gaming stores in Maine.

While the game itself is optimal for players 12 years and older, due to the high level of strategy, the game is also very appealing to a younger audience. William teaches art and Lego Robotics classes at Rivertree Arts in Kennebunk and his 4th to 6th grade students have loved the PBL ROBOTS cards. "The kids come back the next day demanding to have another glance at the game, and their parents follow right behind curious to see what the kids are so excited about," William remarked. Because of the kids persistence William and Sighless invented a new way to play the game that makes it a little easier for a younger audience, but retains the fun and excitement of the longer game. The popularity of the game is already growing with over 800 Twitter followers and over 200 Facebook likes. 

To check out their Kickstarter event poster (attached) visit their website at: www.robotcardgame.com and click the Kickstarter link (starting at 7pm Thursday 10/23). The group is hoping to play the game with as many new players as possible all around the greater Portland area, and invite everyone to stop by R Choice 2 Gaming Thursday Nights to try out the game and meet the creators of PBL ROBOTS.   

Back PBL ROBOTS on Kickstarter today!  

ROBOT CARD GAME Kickstarter!

The KICKSTARTER for PBL ROBOTS runs from October 23rd until December 23rd, 2014! The card & dice strategy game for 2 players (alternate rules and expansions for multi-player is available.) For tabletop game players who enjoy collectible card games, trading card games, Magic the Gathering, YuGiOh, Risk, Pokemon or other competitive card games, you should check out PBL ROBOTS as a high intensity two player experience.

Visit: Robot Card Game to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Here is a photo from our Kickstarter launch video in Portland, Maine. We are very excited to be launching this game and sharing it with you!

Tormax Ressurected: Sketchbook Friday

I spent the last year of my life obsessed with a Robot Card Game called: PBL ROBOTS. In this game you control and upgrade a robot in the attempt to blow away your opponents robot. If this sounds interesting you can read more about the Robot card game on my older post.

One of my favorite characters is a crew member named Tormax. He is half wolf, half human hybrid. Although due to genetic alterations and government testing he is a little haywire in the pink stuff. At the same time he is bloody brilliant and has found a way to merge organic matter with metals to create unique robot armor for you to attach to your robot.

Here is the card art for the character in the card game. My watercolor version above was inspired by this Tormax done in watercolors. I hope you enjoy it.


Each Friday at noon I scan in one new sketch or drawing from one of my many sketchbooks. Many times my sketches are ideas for larger projects that you might find on my fine art website William Hessian dot com, or as projects right here on my Bearded Bunny art blog. If you enjoy these sketches make sure to also see all of the sketchbook friday posts.

ROBOT CARD GAME

A strategy card and dice game with unique stacking mechanics and inventive game play.

The PBL ROBOTS website has been launched. You can also read the earlier blog post all about the Ultimate ROBOT CARD GAME and see same game art that I created for it.
The Kickstarter for PBL ROBOTS runs from October 23, 2014 - December 23rd, 2014