Guild Ball: Guild Ball - A Tabletop Medieval Football Game Kickstarter

Guild Ball Kickstarter: After 12 months of development, Mat Hart and Rich Loxam are pleased to present “Guild Ball”, a tabletop medieval football wargame. Playing the role of the team coach, you will take control of a Guild Ball football (soccer) team and with a combination of tactics and strategy attempt to outscore your opponent whilst simultaneously trying to achieve additional secret political objectives and agendas.

Guild Ball takes place in a land now known as the Empire of Free Cities; it’s essentially a pseudo-historical setting with strong European flavours. The lands of the empire are made up of a huge variety of climates, cultures and landscapes each controlled by a sovereign City.

Mob football is a game generally played between neighbouring towns and villages on feast days (hence the popularity). The game was originally played in the middle of towns and villages where the objective was to take the ball to the opposing side of town. But to prevent the inevitable collateral damage it rapidly evolved into being played in the surrounding countryside, often in a special field set aside for the purpose. At its core, players on opposing teams, clash and struggle to control leather wrapped inflated pig's bladder and attempt to kick it into the opponent’s goal. Over the years, rudimentary leagues and tournaments have sprung up, there have even been some national level games between city states.

The Guilds have taken advantage of the huge popularity of the sport and have invested vast sums of money, creating professional teams and structured leagues. The public went crazy as the game was elevated to new heights of spectacle. Guild Ball was born amidst a blaze of interest and publicity and with it, a whole new business and revenue stream for the Guilds. Games are now played out in front of vast crowds of fans, whilst behind the scenes the results can mean fortunes are won or lost on the kick of a ball.

The game has been built from the ground up using modern design principles and philosophy resulting in a game that is supremely intuitive to learn and yet possess vast depths of complexity and tactical choices. Success comes with carefully constructed ‘plays’ and counter ‘plays’ with emphasis on anticipation, positioning and resource management.