Trogdor!! The Board Game

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Revision as of 23:00, 30 September 2019

The logo

The box and its contents

This article is about the board game. For other uses, see Trogdor (disambiguation).

Trogdor!! The Board Game (shortened to Trogdor!!) is a board game adaptation of TROGDOR!, made by The Brothers Chaps (Boardelectrix) and James Ernest. The box art, game tiles, character cards, and item cards are drawn by Chris Schweizer. The rulebook was written with Loneshark Games. The plastic miniatures were sculpted by Rick Van Velsor, the person who sculpted the collectible figurines.

Trogdor!! is a cooperative puzzle area control game in which the players work together to burninate all of the game tiles, thatched-roof cottages, and peasants. Every player controls Trogdor, assuming the role of one of the nine (twelve, counting Strong Bad's) Keepers of Trogdor. Each Keeper has unique powers and items, both decided by cards. The game is for one to six players, and play time is 30 minutes with variable levels of difficulty the players can set. The recommended age is 14+.

The campaign was put on Kickstarter on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 with a goal of $75,000, which was surpassed in the first few hours. The campaign ended on Wednesday, August 15, 2018, with a total of $1,421,903 (nearly 20 times the goal) and 23,338 backers. Preorders were available on Backerkit from September 17 to October 31 (originally October 15). Extra items, such as character meeples, enamel pins, and shirts, were also available with preorders. Shipping to backers began in early July 2019. The Brothers Chaps ordered enough copies so they can sell extra copies in the Store once the backers receive theirs, but it is unknown how many will be available. Any extra copies will not include the extra features earned by the Kickstarter backers. A print-and-play version can be made here.

The game was available on Kickstarter in two main levels: Wingaling Level ($40) with wooden meeples, and Burninator Level ($60) with plastic miniatures. Through a partnership with Wyrmwood Gaming, there were also Wyrmwood Beefy, Majesty, and Consummate Levels ($200, $500, and $1800, respectively), featuring high-quality handcrafted boards with extra features and accessories. Due to all six Kickstarter stretch goals having been met, the game includes a "Stack 'Em To The Heavens" mini-game featuring the meeples, a soundboard website, and alternate Trogdor meeples of The S is for Sucks Dragon, Strong Bad's original Trogdor drawing, Strong Mad's "DAGRON" attempt, Wormdingler, and Strong Sad's chiaroscuro dragon. A "backer burnination Bingo" was also completed, in which people could submit their Trogdor fanstuff to complete a Bingo board and unlock a live stream of Matt Chapman playing and voicing Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People episode Homestar Ruiner.

History

The first hint at the board game

The idea first came up after The Brothers Chaps started playing more board games with their kids and friends. They made a prototype with 3D-printed and painted pieces, and contacted Patrick Rothfuss, who introduced them to James Ernest of Cheapass Games. James helped make and playtest the game.

On September 29, 2017, a video of a cottage being 3D-printed was posted on Strong Bad's Instagram account, the first indication of the board game. He later posted a CG model of Trogdor being rendered. After that, he posted pictures of the prototype game board, but none of them were clear enough to see well. A "Slantwise" card was revealed on January 24, 2018, in The Deleteheads Download Vol. 1.

The game was confirmed on March 19, 2018, by both the Index Page and the @StrongBadActual Twitter account, with a photo of the board. More cards were revealed on @StrongBadActual the same day in a reply. It was playable every day from 12 PM to 2 PM in Kickstarter Couchland (room 103) of PAX East. During The Brothers Chaps' panel at PAX East, they revealed much more information about it. An advertisement video was posted on @StrongBadActual on June 12, 2018, announcing the release date of July. A dedicated webpage was made for it on June 29, 2018, with a Twitter account (@trogdorgame) and a Facebook account (trogdortheboardgame) created the same day. The @trogdorgame Twitter account is now deleted for unknown reasons. The Kickstarter campaign was live from July 17 to August 15, 2018. There was a playtest at Gen Con on August 2 and 3, 2018, another at PAX West at Uncle's Games in room 214 on April 5 to 8, 2018, and lastly JoCo Cruise in March 2019. Later, a rulebook EP was released.

Instructions

Components and Setup

The map, cards, pieces, and Trog-Meter

The goal is to burninate the countryside. The player must burninate all 25 tiles, get rid of all the peasants, and burninate all three thatched-roof cottages. Place the 25 cottage tiles, unburninated, in a 5-by-5 grid. The tiles are green with rounded edges, resembling locations in Peasantry, each with a burninated and unburninated side. Place the cottages and peasants, unburninated, on the three cottage tiles. Cottages can be burninated by flipping the roof piece, and peasants can be burninated by putting the flame helmet on them. Place the "Trog-meter" board above the game board. The Trog-meter represents Trogdor's health, and starts with four peasants, but can hold up to seven. The Troghammer and flame helmet are also on the Trog-meter.

The Trog Deck provides the players with their actions and special abilities each turn, containing 28 action cards and 7 Troghammer cards. Remove all the Troghammer cards, shuffle the deck, and deal one card to each player, face up. Place the deck beside the board, with space for a discard pile beside it. The movement deck, containing 50 cards, directs the actions of the board elements, including the Peasants, Knights, and the Archer. Again, shuffle this deck and place it beside the board, with space for a discard pile beside it. The character cards and item cards are given to each player at the start of the game, and there are twelve of each. These may be distributed randomly, or players may choose their favorites. Each character and item card has a special power. Character​ powers are always active, and they are effective on the players' turn only unless otherwise stated. Items​ can be used no more than once per turn, and must be recharged before they can be used again. Items start charged. To recharge the Item, the player must satisfy whatever condition is indicated on the card during their own turn.

Place the two regular Knights and the Archer on the board, as indicated by the map being used. Place Trogdor or the alternate dragon meeple of your choice in the center space. Any method can be used to determine who goes first.

Turns

A turn being played with meeples

Each turn consists of two phases. In the first phase, the player controls Trogdor. In the second phase, the Knights, Archers, and Peasants move.

Phase One

In the first phase, the player should begin each turn with one Action Card, either from the starting deal, or left over from the previous turn. The player starts by drawing an Action Card from the Trog Deck, and placing it beside the player's current one. Choose one of the two Action Cards and play it. The card will grant a number of Action Points (APs) as well as a special ability that can be used for this turn. Discard the Action card that is used, and keep the other. If the player doesn't like either Action Card, they may discard one of them, and gain 5 AP with no special ability. Not all Action Points must be used. Action Points can be spent for many different things:

• Move — Trogdor takes one step to an adjacent tile. Normally, Trogdor can only move orthogonally (not diagonally) and can't wrap around the edges of the board. Many Action cards will grant Trogdor additional types of movement, like diagonal and wraparound movement. If Trogdor moves into a Knight, Trogdor takes one point of damage.
• Eat — Trogdor can devour a Peasant who is on the same tile. The Peasant goes into the Trog-Meter.
• Burninate — ​Trogdor can burninate a tile, Peasant, or Cottage, if he's on the same tile.
  • The Lake can't be burninated unless all four (or fewer if the Lake is at an edge or a corner) orthogonally adjacent tiles are burninated
  • Cottage tiles can be burninated like any other tile; the Cottage itself, however, can't be burninated unless its own tile and all eight surrounding tiles are burninated. This requirement does not "wrap around", so a Cottage in a corner or at the edge of the board is easier. If one of the surrounding tiles becomes unburninated, this doesn't automatically repair the Cottage, but it does make it harder to re-ignite.
  • Action Cards that allow long-range burnination ignore the usual restrictions; for example, the Lake can be burninated. However, these cards apply only to tiles unless stated otherwise.
• Jump —​ Trogdor can jump from one Tunnel tile to the other Tunnel tile.
• Hide — Trogdor can hide on a Mountain tile. This makes him invincible during the second phase of the turn. Lay Trogdor down to show that he is hiding.

Trogdor burninating a cottage

When a Peasant is burninated (either by Trogdor, by walking into a burninated cottage, or by another burninated peasant), start by crowning him with the Flame Helmet. Draw a card from the Movement Deck and use the movement path on the right (not the Peasant arrow). The burning Peasant moves along that path, burninating every tile and eligible Cottage along the way (including its starting tile). If the Peasant runs into the Lake (regardless of the Lake's burnination), the Peasant stops burninating and survives. The peasant doesn't burninate the Lake tile. If a burning Peasant walks into a space with another Peasant, the second Peasant is also burninated, even if they both started on the same space. Draw a different movement path for each Peasant, and deal with them one at a time. After burning, unless he is saved by the Lake, the burninated Peasant leaves the game and goes into "the Void". With the exception of one special Item, the Disk of Healing, there is no way to bring Peasants back from the Void.

Phase Two

After all of Trogdor's actions, the second phase begins. To begin, draw a card from the Movement Deck. The first step is peasant spawning. Count the Peasant icons in the upper left corner of the Movement Card. If the board has less Peasants than the amount of icons, more must be added by taking Peasants from the Trog-meter and spawning new Peasants at non-burninated Cottages. Each Cottage can spawn only one Peasant, and only if it is non-burninated. If not all Cottages are producing a Peasant, the player may decide where the new Peasants come out.

The second step is peasant movement. The arrow in the lower left of the Movement Card shows a direction. Move all Peasants one step in that direction. Everyone except Trogdor has wrap-around movement, which means if they move off the board, they return on the opposite side. If the Peasant arrow says "Repair", then the Peasants also unburninate any burninated tiles where they stop.

The third step is Knight movement. The Knights (including the Troghammer, if he is in play) use the movement path on the right side of the card. If a Knight touches a space with a burninated Cottage, the Cottage is repaired. ​If a Knight moves through Trogdor's Space, or stops in it, Trogdor takes one point of damage. Move one Peasant from the Trog-Meter into the Void (out of play). If Trogdor has no Peasants left, then the point of damage kills him. If a Knight starts on the same space as Trogdor, the damage was already done when Trogdor moved into the space, so it doesn’t happen again. Trogdor takes damage only when he is hit by a Knight or Archer. Losing a Peasant when it spawns into the board is not damage, so the effects that are triggered by damage (such as shuffling the Troghammer cards into the deck) are not triggered when a Peasant spawns. If Trogdor is hiding, he takes no damage.

The fourth step is moving the Archer. The Archer uses the same movement path as the Knights. It doesn't harm Trogdor by moving into the same space, but when he stops, the Archer fires an arrow, forward and backward along the direction of his last step. Trogdor takes one point of damage from an arrow that hits him. The Arrow path does not include the space where the Archer is standing.

The Troghammer is a third, more powerful Knight, absent from the game at the beginning. The Troghammer cards are part of the Trog Deck, removed at the start of the game, and shuffled back in the first time Trogdor takes damage. The first time a Troghammer card is drawn, place him in the center space, then draw another card from the Trog Deck. He moves each additional time a Troghammer card is drawn. To move the Troghammer, draw a card from the Movement Deck and use its movement path. Ignore the rest of this card, since it was only drawn for moving the Troghammer. If the Troghammer stops on another knight or archer, move him again. If more than one Troghammer card is drawn on the same turn, continue doing the same thing.

Trogdor only dies if he takes damage when he is already at zero health. After this point, there is a special phase called "Trogdor's Fiery Rage".​ Deal five movement cards for Trogdor, and move him along those five movement paths in order, burninating Cottages, Peasants, and tiles, just by walking into them. Cottages and Lakes do not have to qualify, and Peasants and Knights (not the Archer) are erased upon impact.

Stack 'Em to the Heavens

"Now you can play a game called Stack 'Em to the Heavens!"

Stack 'Em to the Heavens is a competitive meeple-stacking minigame. A small white drawstring canvas bag comes free inside every board game box. The bag has an image of Marshie on fire, with the text "STACK EM TO THE HEAVENS!" and the rules on it. According to the Kickstarter page, the bag is intended to be used for keeping meeples in, so the game can be played anywhere. The title (and Marshie's presence on the bag and in the commercial) is a reference to Marshie's song in Malloween Commercial, when advertising that Fluffy Puff Malloweens fit on top of each other.

To play, put the knight and peasant meeples (including the Troghammer) in a bag, shake the bag, and roll the meeples onto a surface. Take turns stacking meeples on top of each other. Face-up meeples are stacked vertically, and face-down are stacked horizontally. Meeples can be stacked upside down, sideways, and so forth. The objective is to make the tower as precarious as possible, making the other player topple the stack down.

Originally, there was an animated GIF on the board game's Kickstarter page, depicting meeples being stacked. The GIF's caption jokingly mentioned that the reader could make up a minigame called "Stack Em To The Heavens". On July 17th, the day the Kickstarter campaign began, the second stretch goal was announced. It was stated that upon reaching $250,000, that joke would be turned into a real game, and a companion soundboard website would be created for the board game. The goal was achieved the next day. On August 15, 2018, Puppet Strong Bad, Mike Chapman, and Lucky Yates played the game live during the Final Hours Playthrough. According to Strong Bad, the rules were made up the day before in five minutes. At this point, the archer was also included. On October 25, 2018, a commercial was released on YouTube.

Fun Facts

Trivia

• There have been some changes throughout the making of the game.
  • The "That Dog Tennis Ball Thing, 'cept with Fireballs" item was originally called "Ball of Fire".
  • There was originally an item called "Pauldrons of Greg", with the ability to prevent Trogdor from taking one damage, recharging when Trogdor devours a peasant.
  • There was originally an item called "Bones of Luckman" that gave the player an extra Action point. This was replaced with Two Gross Beans, which gives the player +2 AP instead.
  • The "High Energy" card was originally called "Trog-Burst", and before that, "Extra Actions".
  • The "Jhonka Help" card originally provided 6 action points, and one of those could be used to eat a peasant on any tile on Trogdor's turn.
  • Peasants could originally only be eaten on burninated tiles.
  • The circumstances for summoning the Troghammer were different. The Troghammer was originally summoned to the board after three Troghammer cards were drawn rather than one, but the Troghammer cards started in the deck.

Remarks

• The rulebook and the bonus Keeper and Item cards use a different font for Strong Bad's handwriting than the usual AhnbergHand.

Inside References

• The whole board game is intended as a loose adaption of the original video game TROGDOR!.
• The Keepers of Trogdor were the guardians of the Trog-Cave in Peasant's Quest and dispensed battle armor and weaponry used to slay Trogdor. In this game, they aim to keep Trogdor alive and control Trogdor directly.
• The two archers in the game are Mendelev and Dongolev. Crangolev is described as being their cool older sister.
• The alternate meeple dragon figures that can be used in place of Trogdor are from the Strong Bad Email dragon, including Wormdingler.
• One of the Action cards is called Flip 'em Up Dan. There is also a "Flip 'em Up Fran" card.
• One of the Action cards is called "Jhonka Help".
• Hardybardy is said to be available for heavy metal bands.
• Strong Bad's keeper card "Lord Pastryhorn of Fangleburg" features croissant-like horns, which he professed a desire for in 3 wishes.
• One of the items is Ye Flask of Dennis, both running gags prominently featured in the Thy Dungeonman games.
• The Shield of Cumberdale refers to Ron Cumberdale, a child that one of the Keepers of Trogdor held in great contempt.
• The Super Trinket and Old Man Rub items were also used in Peasant's Quest.
• One of the "#1 way way better" items is a Keyswordtar.

Gallery

Social Media

A prototype cottage being printed	Trogdor's prototype 3D model	A heavily-filtered photo	Trogdor's shadow	The "Slantwise" card
The "Consummate V's" card	Uncolored prototype Trogdor game pieces	A sculpt of the new Trogdor game piece	All game pieces with the Store figurines	The meeples
The "Ye Flask of Dennis" card	A GIF of the game with meeples	A stop motion GIF

PAX East

The Trogdor game piece

The uncolored peasant game piece

The uncolored burninated peasant game piece

The uncolored archers game piece

The uncolored burninated cottage game piece

The uncolored knight game piece

The uncolored Troghammer knight game piece

Other

The Index Page image

Appearances

• Debut: @strongbadactual (Instagram)
• The Deleteheads Download
• @StrongBadActual
• Index Page
• Trogdor!! The Board Game Kickstarter campaign and promotional content

See Also

• Trogdor!! The Board Game Items

External Links

• View website
• View Kickstarter campaign
• forum thread re: "Trogdor!! The Board Game"