Highwaymen is a hot new chase and shoot boardgame that wowed gamers at the recent UK Games Expo and is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. We caught up with its inventor, Garry Thompson of Fat Chance Games, to find out more about this unique tabletop board game of robbery and treachery on the Open Road.

STARBURST: What is Highwaymen?
Garry Thompson:Highwaymen is Fat Chance Games’ first offering, it’s a 2 – 4 player tabletop game where the players take on the roles of a group of daring Highwaymen. The aim of the game is to rob a coach travelling the dangerous woods of the Hounslow Heath and become the richest robber in England. The players must work together to be successful, but be wary of treachery from within their ranks.

Why 18th century coach robbery as a theme?
I wanted to create something that wasn’t ‘just another game’. There are loads of great zombie and western and pirate games, so making something that really stands out is tough. With Highwaymen, I feel we have made a game that plays well but also has a very stand-out theme. We have ‘Stood and Delivered’.

What should we expect from the finished product?
A slick, well-manufactured, action-packed and fun game which can be enjoyed equally by groups of all ages. Stunning artwork and miniatures with colourful and interesting tiles. Add to that a multitude of colourful dice and engaging gameplay and you have a very great game at a very reasonable price.

What inspired you to get into games design?
I’ve always loved games; as a kid I dreamt of being a video games developer. After I finished my degree in Games Software Development, I realised that what I really loved was designing games rather than programming them. I’ve always been into tabletop games and so I decided to start working on some ideas. After lots of head-scratching and bouncing ideas around I got to Highwaymen and I just decided it was time to run with one of my ideas.

Why are board games enjoying such popularity?
I think it’s the rise of geek culture and video games that has really helped. With more games becoming mainstream it’s only natural that people want to explore more of the options. It’s great to see more people getting into both video and tabletop games and them becoming more accessible to the public in general.

What’s next?
We already have two more games in the pipeline. One of these is pretty early stages but the other is quite far along. I don’t want to say too much yet, but we’re working on a post-apocalyptic racing game with customisable cars and boards. It’s going to be awesome!

How can we help?
As a newly set up small independent company we need as much help as possible with publicising our game. It is hard to compete with the big guys as they have advertising budgets, etc – something that is just not an option for us at present. Good reviews and spreading the word is fundamental to getting our KS fully funded, therefore a bold statement from you would be fantastic. Pledging for a few copies would also be great…

The Highwaymen is currently available via Kickstarter. You can find out more by clicking here.