The Grimm Wars is a faerie tale card game for 2-4 players.  The Grimm Wars is a draw one / play one style game where players take turns playing cards representing the creatures of Faerie in an attempt to gain renown by winning rounds of political intrigue, either by playing faerie creatures who win the round under specific conditions, being the last one remaining, or by being the one with the crown at the end of the round.

Lead Designer / Rules: Richard Starkweather

Primary artist: Jokko

Logo: Lily Best

Design time: May 2023 - January 2024

Design Process

The initial concept for Grimm Wars was to design a game with as low a print cost as possible while still having a fun, light experience with a solid replay value.  I have often been told to design a game that I would play and this was that game.  I like having those quick dopamine hits and fast gameplay.  In addition, I wanted to make a game that is easy to learn, has a small form factor, and has a light-hearted appearance. 

I started by developing the base goal.  Initially, it was to be the person who had the crown at the end of the round, similar to how "Love Letters" checks to see who's the closest to the princess.  In the first version, there was only one card that got the crown into play.  After a few playtest games, I realized there needed to be more than one way to add the crown.  This allowed for more interactions earlier in each round, which made the game more enjoyable.

I then began to work on more card ideas.  This was when I decided to make the whole thing based on fairy tales.  I wanted to make more cards that were based on those story tales.  The original game only had sixteen cards, but this got me to expand to twenty-five unique cards.

One of the other changes that came about was making cards able to affect each player or their graveyards.  In addition, the Angel of Grace was reworked with two-player games in mind.  The Three Bears and The Dwarven Lord were two of the last additions, as they were additional win conditions.  Both have come to be favorite cards.

Playtesting was completed in late December and the rules were finalized then.  The rules are quite short with the FAQ being almost as long as the rest of the rules, including a bit of tongue-in-cheek bit about "The Evil Stepmother". 

Near the time that I finished what I felt was the final version of the rules and card versions, I convinced an artist I had been patroning via Patreon to do the art for the game.   Jokko was given the card names, provided me with sketches, and then provided color versions.  I only needed to ask for one small change: to add a bodice to one of the pieces.

 I also had a fellow Illinois State University student design the logo for the game.  As an additional note, Lily also designed this website for this site.   That, too, went through two iterations and may need one more change as some people don't immediately realize the W in "Wars" is a W. 

Last, I found someone via Reddit to design a border for the game.  Once that was done, I pulled everything together in Photoshop and sent it off for a first print.

I've also been working with Jamie, the owner of Red Raccoon Games, on how to improve the box presentation for sale and how to get it published at a reasonable cost.  I am considering changing the cover image to the one for Angel of Grace (see above) and adding additional art on the back.  I'm waiting to hear back from a potential investor who has Kickstarter experience about funding for the game and help with setting up a Kickstarter.