Attack and Defense Preview: Eric Schneiter Interview

Do you attack the king or defend the throne?

Now that is a good question, and, coincidentally, it’s the tagline for an upcoming 2-player game called Attack & Defense: The Game of Kings.

We recently spoke with the game’s creator, Eric Schneiter, about what this game is all about, how one manages to make board games while also raising a family, and how a mobile game sparked an idea.

Thank you for taking the time for an interview with Boar Gamer. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you got into board game design?

Thanks very much for the invite! Feel very honored.

My name is Eric, and I’ll be 31 years old in the summer.

I live in the canton of Zug (Switzerland) with my wife, my four children (5 years, 3 years, and two 7 months old), and a cat. I work as a surveyor for an energy group in Zurich. In my free time, I have a lot to do with my family, and I divide the rest of my free time between card games, Hap Ki Do (martial arts), and Super Mario Maker 2. 

I started the game five years ago as a small, fun project. I grew up in the prime time of TCGs. Pokemon, Magic, and Yu Gi Oh! duel masters. I played it all! I have really nice memories of it and building decks and strategies. I always had the dream of creating a game myself.

I wasn’t constantly busy with it. Moving flats, weddings, children, and COVID have created breaks. I played older versions of the game at various events with good feedback. From there, I got more and more into it.

What’s the Attack and Defense The Game of Kings about?

A strategy game for one or two people where each player chooses from a pool of 12 buildings or decks, to fight against the other. Each of the buildings has its own kind of units and tricks.

The goal is to destroy the three enemy buildings. Destroyed buildings then have negative effects on their owners. Then there is the calendar. A separate stack of random event cards is revealed at the end of the day (round) and has an effect on the next day.

What was your main inspiration for creating this game?

Plants vs. Zombies Heroes (a mobile card game). I really enjoyed playing this game. One of the only mobile games I paid money to get new cards. Sadly, they stopped producing new stuff for it.

I loved the asymmetrical gameplay and the different turn orders a player had. I expanded on it, took away the annoying stuff, added other cool features I know from other games, and came up with some totally new ideas.

From what I gathered, AnD TGoK is mostly a solo project. What difficulties have you encountered working on this game?

The cash flow and some sudden stops in the development progress. If I couldn’t join an event to show my game, no one else could. Also, I had to learn by myself all the skills needed to create such a project (video/photo editing, marketing, organizing work, and communication with freelancers).

When does the Kickstarter campaign start?

I try to have everything ready by the summer of 2023.

What can the backers expect from the Kickstarter campaign? Do you have some stretch goals and exclusives planned?

I try to give the backers as much power as possible to decide what will be added to the game next. The lowest pledge tier will be a collection of four buildings they can vote for. Depending on the stretch goal level, these will be added to all the games. Some of the exclusives will be handmade promo boosters with alternative card artwork on foil paper.

The biggest stretch goal would be an app to track wins and losses against other registered players. Depending on your score, you can buy real cards with it. Also, I would like to add a locator to find other players.

Are there any plans for organized play? Where can our readers try out your game?

We have to see how far this game will go. To make organized play possible, there have to be enough players in your region. To test the game, I want to set up a print-and-play version.

After the campaign, what are the plans for the future of AnD TGok? Are you looking for distributors?

It all depends on the success of the campaign. I would have many more ideas to expand the game. I have a folder with many building/deck ideas. If there is a distributor interested in my game, I would be happy to talk with them.

Any more games in the planning stage right now?

I have two more ideas, The Golden Needle – is an adventure and exploration board game where you travel with a sort of companion, and an unnamed card game.

Where can our readers learn more about the game?

For now, my main communication channel is Instagram. I have a Discord channel to discuss more details and a YouTube channel for the instruction videos.