Foxpaw: Godot Games does things differently with new board game

The small publisher Godot Games has so far attracted attention mainly with board games from the social deduction genre. With the new Foxpaw everything is different - but a small element of social deduction is still retained. The board game is financed through crowdfunding, which starts on January 14th.

Human Punishment, Human Punishment: The Beginning, Among Cultists and Galactic Heroes - all social deduction ideas and therefore all board games from a genre that is now enormously popular but manageable. The titles mentioned come from Godot Games, a German publisher that has so far relied on its specialization. That will change at the beginning of the year, when the board game Foxpaw will be crowdfunded, with which the publisher hopes to finance a worker placement board game and ultimately reach a completely new target group. And it is significantly larger than before.

A Board Game About Magical Schools

At the SPIEL'24 in Essen, Godot Games had the planned new game in its luggage and presented the board game to a large audience: full tables, lots of explanations, the creators were often deep in conversation. The visitors to the fair obviously liked what they saw. Probably not without reason: Foxpaw is based on a fairly well-known original - which the publisher makes no secret of. On the contrary:

The basic idea: As a player, you have received an invitation to be trained at a magical school. You can follow the path set out by your parents - or you can venture out on your own adventure. The choice is certainly relevant, because depending on your decision, Foxpaw has different starting conditions, more skills or more resources. "Every house plays differently," explains author Stefan Godot. The first decision right at the start of the game is therefore important. Otherwise, the board game is basically based on a worker placement concept: you place your workers, receive resources or trigger other effects.

A trick with Foxpaw: Because the players' workers also have to go to sleep at night, the active player is faced with decisions at this point. You decide when to take a break and the possible good or bad consequences yourself. To deal with the negative effects, the author Stefan Godot has created an element that at least partially corresponds to the core competence of the publisher: direct social interaction. Players compete in an arena to get rid of the bad cards - they fight with magic. The game also comes with "real" magic wands, which you can use to perform gestures that ultimately determine the outcome.

"We simply hold the magic wands in front of our faces," explains Stefan Godot. "Then we close our eyes and make a decision. Then we share it." Of course, you can also lie, you can gain an advantage - or even lose everything. Because: the spectators in the battle arena can be rewarded. "Someone always gets something. The only question is: are you in or not?" says the game author about the concept. The idea is based on previous games by Godot Games. "There's a bit of deduction in it," says Stefan Godot happily. "A bit of our spirit." Foxpaw also has some elements of anger: "We can manipulate a lot. In the teachers' room you can do all the bad things." For example, reporting someone sick, influencing the heads of house or recruiting animals. This is where colorful animal figures come into play, which have already enchanted many fans on social media. "The animal creatures are powerful, they are new workers for us," says Godot. "New workers mean we get more skills and more things we can do." The trick: the animals don't stay on the board forever, "they just have a certain amount of stamina," explains the author. There is also a prestige system with which you can collect additional points, and the same applies to magic spells.

Also interesting: Magical events. There are three of them. "They are secret, though. So you don't know what to expect," explains Stefan Godot. Typical school: "But we can also cheat. That way we can find out what is needed. So we can prepare ourselves." Ultimately, you can then do better in the event.

Ultimately, it's all about winning points, which you have to collect in the five rounds of the game. Godot Games has been drumming up support for the game, which will be released on January 14th, starting crowdfunding campaign on GamefoundOver 8.500 fans are already following the project there, which makes reaching the funding goal quite likely.

Foxpaw: Completely different than before

Stefan Godot actually got the idea for the board game from the bespectacled sorcerer's apprentice - and from his daughter's passion for the series. "My daughter is eight now and the age where she can watch the first Harry Potter films. After part three, it gets scary." Stefan Godot watched the first film in the Harry Potter series fifteen times last year - "At least! No lie!". A lot of ideas came up. "But we didn't want to set the topic," says the author. The fact that Foxpaw remained Foxpaw and not a licensed Harry Potter board game was a conscious decision: "We had the chance to use the license. But we didn't want to." It all costs a lot of money and there are also divided opinions about the author. "We would rather tell our own stories." So they created their own universe: "We have already planned a lot for the next two years," reveals Stefan Godot. There are big plans for Foxpaw – “with the game and with the world”.

Foxpaw itself is finished. "We are 98 percent finished. Until January it's just a matter of waiting." There is no more work on the board game itself, or only details. Instead, the focus is already on new content. "We have to explode from January onwards so that we can continue," says the author, referring to the upcoming funding campaign.

Godot Games' new direction with the Foxpaw project was well received at the trade fair. "Social deduction is already a niche," says the author. "Around ten percent of the scene only plays the genre," says Godot about the results of the publisher's own surveys. "That's really not much, but we've done a lot." What he means: The publisher has been quite successful in its chosen niche so far. At the same time, the makers are aware of the problems of the genre: "We don't want to or can't lie," says Godot. "Or you need large groups of players for it. There are simply many factors why you don't see it." It's different with worker placement board games. "It's all much simpler!" The step towards being more mainstream was not necessarily planned: "Everything just falls into place somehow." He has had the "prisoner's dilemma" that is central to Foxpaw in his head for around seven years. "I've never had a game that fit in. This is the first one. With duels where both players have something or just the spectators, where you have conflicts, it's very interactive."

Stefan Godot says he likes worker placement board games, but many are simply too solitary. "There are a lot of points here where you can get into trouble." The rounds at Foxpaw are always very different. "There's a lot of variation in them."

And the publisher's image? Godot Games has always stood for social deduction. Could the new direction disappoint existing fans? "We always have new ideas. You have to be prepared to be surprised." Foxpaw can now be played by "anyone". "It's the same level as Everdell, maybe a little higher," says Godot. Many of the existing social deduction fans are also following the campaign. "And we have a small deduction element, so maybe we'll hit a nerve." If you have a good game, it doesn't matter anyway. Another advantage of Foxpaw is that you can appeal to more women. The previous games have all been rather dark. Anyone who still expects social deduction from Godot Games will have to turn to other publishers for new releases in the genre for the time being. "We're quite relaxed about it. We're doing this for now," says Stefan Godot. He expects at least 2.500 supporters for the campaign. And the funding goal? "We can't say exactly yet." In the end, however, the financial goal is "just marketing." It's about reach and the algorithm.

The publisher is not asking for a large price for Foxpaw. Stefan Godot reveals that the basic game will cost 45 euros. The publisher is starting the crowdfunding campaign with this price. There is, however, an optional expansion - with an additional house and a solo mode.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	Godot Games Human Punishment: The Beginning - DE*	Currently no reviews	49,95 EUR

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