I wrote out a review of Guild Ball last summer, comparing it to Blood Bowl, but never got round to editing it and uploading it. Recent news has, however, given me a reason to put some thoughts down on it.

First, what is Guild Ball?

If you don’t know, Guild Ball is a sports based wargame from Steamforged Games, which basically plays like football (of the soccer variety).

It differs from Blood Bowl in a number of respects.

Firstly, it plays like what Brits know as football rather than what Americans know it as. The ball is on the ground and you pass and kick it into the enemy goal.

The game also difers in that there are no squares. It functions more like a skirmish wargame, as in you moove in any direction freely and have abilities that affect an area around you, like 3″.

The game also functions on individual characters who have their own skills, rather than picking from generic player types in Blood Bowl. Each player is assigned a finite number of points, which you can spend to make them do things like pass or use an ability.

Positively, the rules are free, and you can even download paper players to try it out. The cards that come in the boxes are in every language they sell to, the rules are very tactical, and it is a lot faster than Blood Bowl too. Your average game is about 90 minutes.

The models for Guild Ball are also really nice, with them presently transitioning to plastic. I’ve been generally impressed with them, although I’ve been waiting for more simple teams to play with in plastic.

Problems in Guild Ball

I’ve found a number of problems in Guild Ball since trying it.

Firstly, I think it is the more complicated game when compared to Blood Bowl. It isn’t neccesarily a hard game, but there is a lot more to remember in Guild Ball, particularly relating to abilities. In your first games, there is a LOT of flipping cards and pages to get to grips with things. I am of the opinion that it could be simplified without losing what makes the game individual.

Second, I am not a fan of all the tokens. In Guild Ball, you assign each player tokens, which you spend to make them do actions. In the starter set these number over 100, covering things like effects and abilities. Some people seem to love it, but I find it makes setting up, tidying up, and managing players a bit more time consuming. Small dice are the way forward for Guild Ball.

Third, and they’re onto this, the metal teams are expensive. You’re basically looking at £50 for a box (and a whole team is 2 boxes). The plastics are £35 with scenery, which is really nice, although I think they’ll be going up in price to about £45. Still not exorbatent, but not cheap either.

I’ve really been hoping for a changeover. I’m just simply not a fan of metal. It’s harder to paint, it chips easier, and it’s more expensive. That all makes new players less likely to play. I even prefer resin to metal.

New Plastic Teams

This brings me to what I wanted to write about.

Over the last month Steamforged Games put up two classic teams to transition into plastic; the Butchers and Fishermen. These were put on Indiegogo to test the water. 800 were put up to gauge the apetite of players.

Now I wanted to but in, but the $100 was a bit above my impulse buy range. I also rarely back these project as you have little information about the end product. I also think Indiegogo was a poor platform, but I’m doubtful as to whether it affected the results.

The result was that interest was lower than hoped, and the two classic teams not going to be changed into plastic. They just got to over a quarter of their goals.

This really says something about how Guild Ball feels at this present time.

Guild Ball is a great game with a loyal base, but one that is small and relatively niche. Getting new players in is hard because players don’t know the company and also don’t see anyone else playing it.

Despite the fact that the rules are free for Guild Ball, Blood Bowl is an easier sell. More people play it, the people know the teams and models, and it’s not hard to find someone else who plays it.

How to fix it?

I think Guild Ball is at a point of transition. People don’t normally change until there’s a failure or crisis, and I think this failure will make them revisit a few things.

Kick Off, the starter set released in 2016, was good enough and cheap enough for me to give it a shot. I think the problem was that it wasn’t obvious where I go after, and it turned out that expanding the teams would be very expensive.

The old three-man starter sets were relatively cheap, and in plastic might make for a good impulse buy. Even a £35 plastic team isn’t bad. But the plastic teams aren’t designed for beginners, and there are no longer cheap teams to get started with.

I’m of the opinion that games thrive when new players can easily access them and pick them up. Without enough players, selling a game becomes hard. Without cheap points of entry, getting new players is also hard.

I think the problem with the Indiegogo campaign was that the teams were too big and were too much of an investment for new players. It was, in essense, marketed at people already invested in the game.

Here’s an idea for a second shove: Put up an offer for plastic 3-man teams with a piece of scenery for £20. Write a simplified version of the rules for new people. Then start your Kickstarter/Indiegogo. That way, you’ve got that cheap point of entry and some initial funding to build those teams.