The Story of Hoard
From diamond in the rough to bestseller
Hoard was originally designed by Weta Digital artists Tim Kings-Lynne and his partner, Beck Veitch. They self-published a small print run that sold out fast–the gorgeous box cover art no doubt had much to do with that–but not before the last copy magically found its way into Julia Schiller’s hands. She immediately began tweaking the gameplay, while preserving Hoard’s unique qualities, such as the dynamic board made from face-down cards and the possibility of the dragon fully waking to abruptly end the game.
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You can read Julia's Designer Diary to learn more about Hoard's transformation.
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Julia, Tim, and Beck began collaborating in September 2015 to prepare Hoard for a larger print run and wider distribution under the Cheeky Parrot label. A successful Kickstarter campaign ran for 31 days over May and June 2016. Julia's reflections and lessons learned are shared here.
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Hoard has gone on to be Cheeky Parrot's top-selling game and has been reprinted several times.
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The Cast of Characters
"It's amazing what happens when you put a girl on the box."
Esmeralda is the “main” character in Hoard, in that she appears on the box, but the second character was developed to fit a backstory imagined by Julia and given his name by Tim:
Captain Percival Hogarth is a grizzled veteran of many a campaign. He never imagined he’d live to the ripe old age of 52, so has failed to plan for his retirement. With the welfare state hundreds of years in the future, he’s hatched one last desperate plan to raise the funds for a dotage spent on fluffy cushions, tended by comely maidens. He’s located the lair of the realm’s most horrific, scaly, fire-breathing dragon! Atop a vast hoard of gems, golden goblets, and other glittering treasure looted from the terrified kingdom lies the giant slumbering beast. A most daunting task lies ahead, particularly for this arthritic adventurer prone to intermittent attacks of gout and mange: to tiptoe carefully through the dragon’s stash, filling a sack with the most precious items without waking the creature.
But hark! Other, younger, more nimble adventurers have also arrived on the scene (above). They too are determined to walk away with the pick of the hoard, and it may take some fast-talking and shield brandishing to keep them from getting the pick of Hogarth’s sack as well. And of course anyone’s careless misstep could mean disaster for all…
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The 2022 reprint will see the retirement of Captain Hogarth, as we had a new older white male we wanted to add to the cast of characters: the good Wizard Widdershins, who will co-star with Esmeralda in a cooperative game also set in the Hoard universe.
