Famous: Stage I
You are a dreamer: with a fire in your heart, a tune on your mind, and big ideas going off like fireworks. You’ve just booked your first gig, but you’ll need to find the right musicians to back you up onstage. And there is a lot to do before you step into the studio in three months from now. It’s time to get out of the basement, and into the spotlight!
Famous: Stage I is a theme-first, strategic tabletop game for 1-4 players, ages 12 and up. Gameplay is approximately 40 minutes per player.
Every element of the game makes intuitive, thematic sense - as you spend your precious hours managing your growing Band’s members, bookings, services, songwriting, rehearsal, equipment, supporters, promotion, opportunities, and events.
Despite the game's thoughtful strategy and interlocking mechanics, its realistic subject-matter is also light-hearted and humorous - a satirical peek into small-town music business!
Famous is the beloved brainchild of me, Jared Lutes. I am a teacher, pub-trivia host, singer-songwriter, and amateur dad from New Brunswick, Canada. My songs and albums have won some cool awards, and my music can be heard in TV series such as Tosh.0, Virgin River, Reign, Rizzoli & Isles, Locke & Key, and others.
But after permanently injuring my voice a few years ago, I was compelled to pivot into other pursuits, and board games were a great way to reconnect with friends and family after so much time on the road. And just like my songs, after learning and playing hundreds of games, I got the urge to create one of my own.
The process is a lot like songwriting: learn from the best, borrow some tricks, make something both personal and universal, and test, refine, and repeat. The result is something I think is a novel experience, but familiar to fans of Roll Player, Ark Nova, Dune Imperium, Radlands, Wingspan, Raiders of Scythia, Distilled, and other thematic, hybrid gems.
Now, after more than a year of playtesting, troubleshooting, and cutting out a thousand cards, every play of Famous feels balanced, rewarding, and a close finish. And as you can tell, this project is as indie as they get: a singular passion on a shoestring budget; a kid tinkering in the garage late into the night.
And I’ve put the same compulsion for detail and real-world testing into this game as I have into the writing, recording, and production of my musical projects of the past.
However, Famous was all stick-figures and white boxes until Devin Taylor transformed it into a cohesive compendium of musical artwork. Devin has previously done work for Disney and Marvel, and is a freelance comic artist, professional illustrator, and as luck would have it, my neighbour! His career has led him to create all kinds of illustrations, designs, animation, storyboards and production artwork for books, television, and video games. Together with his wife Cindy, the pair have poured all of their energy and time into the 120+ pieces of art that bring this game to life.
The gameplay’s particulars are unpacked in more detail below, in these overview videos I created for the Kickstarter campaign: