Great Heartland Hauling Kickstarter page
It isn't often that I have the opportunity of sitting down with a publisher and playing one of their new games before it hits the market. That is why I couldn't pass up the chance to play Great Heartland Hauling Co with Cherilyn and Chris Kirkman of Dice Hate Me Games.
These two know how to throw a Kickstarter party. The Great Heartland Hauling company is their third Kickstarter project and it shows every sign of the same success as their first two, Carnival and VivaJava.
The game is by first time game designer Jason Kotarski. I had Jason on my show, Funding the Dream, to talk about the game design and the process of brining his game to a publisher. We had a great discussion and you can listen to the interview on Funding the Dream on Kickstarter Ep 73
The game plays fast and easy, with a nice balance of strategy and manuevering with fellow players. The map is a virtual map laid out with cards that contain a variety of resources that need to be picked up and delivered. Scarcity of resources and saturation of demand for resources bring about a nice dynamic of planning and reacting to other players.
You really have to pay attention to what the other players are doing since they can block your moves, pickup resources you were counting on and saturating a market before you get a chance to deliver your products. And if you aren't careful, when the game ends you are penalized for undelivered product. It is a very nice balancing act with just the right amount of aggressiveness to stick it to your neighbor.
The project has been successfully launched on Kickstarter, attracting more than 1,000 backers. Chris and Cherilyn have really learned how the Kickstarter process works, growing their revenue and fan base with each successful project. They shared some of their secrets on Funding the Dream Kickstarter Ep 77
The secret is hard work, lots of attention to detail, and a great product. After playing Great Heartland Hauling Co., I agree that they have a great product. I'm looking forward to having a copy of this nice card game in my home and congratulate Chris and Cherilyn for their continued success.
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