This week I managed to speak with Matthew Austin, of Mirror Box Games, about the game The King's Guild. We had a chat about Chaosmos, their first game, and the fantastic art. Read below to see the conversation in full.

Hello Matthew, thanks for taking time out to talk to me a week before your Kickstarter launches. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and Mirror Box Games?

My name is Matthew Austin, and I'm the President of Mirror Box Games. We're a small indie board game company that focuses on designing immersive strategy games. I'm a serial entrepreneur, previously working for a solar power startup as well as my own mobile app startup. We published our first game Chaosmos, designed by Joey Vigour, in 2015 and my first design – The King's Guild – is launching on Kickstarter on Tuesday August 22.

You have already had one successful Kickstarter, a game called Chaosmos, what did you learn from that experience?

Chaosmos was a really great experience to throw ourselves into the world of game publishing. My friend Joey Vigour designed Chaosmos, and I loved it so much I wanted to help him publish it. Through the previous Kickstarter, I learned the importance of engaging and involving supporters in the project, and really helping them become a part of the experience.

I also learned that publishing games is really hard! A lot has to come together, from art to graphic design to manufacturing and shipping. I feel so much more prepared with the launch of The King's Guild, and can't wait to put everything I learned from Chaosmos to good use.

Ok your next game is The King's Guild, can you tell me any more about this?

The King's Guild is a strategy board game where 2-5 players compete to establish the most renowned guild. You lead your guild to prosperity by crafting powerful equipment, sending heroes on quests to earn treasure and upgrading your guild with unique characters and rooms.

Our story takes place in the kingdom of Greycastle, where city law requires a single guild to rule the kingdom. With the king on his deathbed, the Council of the Wise is set to convene and choose a ruling guild. As one of the guild leaders of Greycastle, you must prove your guild's prestige so you can take the crown and claim your place as The King's Guild.

Each turn you choose between gathering resources, crafting items and purchasing upgrades for your guild. You have to be clever and pay attention to your opponents, because resources are limited and competition to recruit heroes is fierce. It takes both strategy and quick thinking to earn the most prestige ascend to the throne.