I’m a bit new to the idea of Steampunk, but I came across a game in development that seemed to have an interesting layout. Turn|Key is a board/card game that uses videos to help bring the story to life a little bit more than any other game. The story is filled of treasure, travel, discovery, and battles against other guilds. You and your crew will need to gather resources to be the first to capture the Treasure of the Century!

The board is made up of the 20 Discovery and Adventure cards that each affects the game differently. The discovery cards give you Log/Resource Cards. These are can be saved for the end goal of collecting the treasure, or can be played on a player. They have an “Oregon Trail feeling to them” I’m told by the creator, Brandon de Vito, ranging from sickness of the crew to discovering new technologies. Those events will be portrayed by changing turn order, number of resources, position on the gameboard and other mechanics to the map. Because these cards are used for getting the treasure at the end though, you have to be weary of spending too many as log cards and saving your resources. The Adventure cards are where it varies from most games though. The captain or player who plays the movie based on the Guild/Faction they chose at the beginning of the game will have to complete a mission to either cause something wonderful or terrible for their side. These missions are not supposed to be simple and might need the aid of a dictionary or Wikipedia since you will need to answer questions based on location, date, time and other details.

The game can be played by up to four players, but can also be played with as little as one.  The inspiration for this game came from old adventure games, like Jumanji and Nighmare, and the creator wanted to bring forth another game to fit that play style. Another reason for the game though, is to give “costumed Steam Punkers something to DO together.” The game encourages dressing up for the story and also awards extra points for adding to the story. This doesn’t just have to be a board game in the living room, while it does work as that also, but it can be something exciting where the story feels like it comes to life as you fight your way to being the crew to discovery the Treasure of the Century.

The KickStarter is being done to show the publisher there is interest in the game and to see how the first batch goes before printing more for sales. So if you are a fan of Steampunk, and even more if you and your friends enjoy dressing up and would like something to do as a group, head over to Turn|Key’s KickStarter page and read more. If the game takes off like Brandon hopes it does, there are plans for at least four other expansions in the future that will include Steam City, Cult of the Vampires, Mysteries of the Avant City and Walking Mecha of Gears.