You might be thinking, wait, who’s Max Kolo? And why did I sign up for this newsletter again? Great questions. To reintroduce myself, I’m a visual artist and video creator, currently making a fantasy board game designed to gamify your household chores. That’s right, it’ll be a first-of-its-kind fridgetop gaming experience where competition and strategy come first, and a squeaky-clean apartment is a lovely side effect.

Creating a board game from scratch is an epic quest in itself and it’s been harder than I thought it would be. So to answer the number one question I’m asked: When will the game come out? Don’t know—I’m taking my time with this one. But for those curious about the journey, here’s what’s happened so far:

First, I found a companion for the quest

This game was never something I could make on my own. Luckily, I knew exactly who to call. My friend Simon, who I met in college, once made puzzles for an award-winning escape room and now runs a game-show podcast called The Toss Up. But most importantly, he’s the creator of a drinking game called Trink that was so fun, we used to build entire parties around it back in college. My memory of it is pretty foggy, to be honest, but one thing’s clear: this guy knows how to make a fun experience.

In making this chore-game, Simon’s been the one thinking through all the mechanics, making sure it’s not just functional, but actually fun, strategic, and re-playable. After a couple months of FaceTime calls and brainstorm sessions, we finally have a clear picture of how the game’s going to work.

How the game will work

Basically, it’s a deck-building game where players must complete real-life chores to journey through a mystical land, build their deck of magical fighters, and battle each other in epic tabletop duels. Whoever wins, becomes The Choracle.

Imagine this: The shower hasn’t been cleaned in a while and its covered in that gross pinkish-orange gunk. You don’t want to clean it—but you do anyway. Why? Because in our game, an annoying chore like that is worth 3 whole points, which can go a long way. Those points let you draw new cards into your deck—each card a unique character with special abilities. Your deck is your army, and the stronger your army, the better your chances of defeating your roommates.

Your deck may consist of characters like…

Cleaning the gunk from your shower also moves your character forward three tiles on the map. Land on a special tile, and you might trigger a duel, cast a spell, get knocked backward on the board, or even uncover a hidden artifact in your apartment.

The game plays out over a week or so. You and your roommates complete chores to build your armies and race toward the Choracle’s Fortress. The first player to arrive challenges the reigning Choracle in a high-stakes duel, where your deck and collected artifacts make all the difference. The winner claims the title of “The Choracle”—and with it, special powers that determine the fate of the next round.

There’s a lot more to it, but for now, I’ll leave it at that.

How it’s looking

My artist ego demands that I clarify: These are extremely rough drafts, meant purely for play testing. That said, here’s a peek at some of the hand-drawn cards we’ve been using in our “Duels".”

And here’s a mockup of the game-map that Simon put together.

Sorry, no pretty illustrations yet, we’re still in the bare-bones stage. But for those of you with good imaginations, go ahead and mentally superimpose the style of my concept art below onto Simon’s map above—that’s what the map will look like!

So what’s next?

Play tests—lots of them. We really want this game to work, so we’re playing it ourselves and watching closely for any issues.

A bunch of you might respond to this email wanting to join the play tests. Currently, we’ve only got one working copy of the game. But once things are more solid, it’s possible we’ll need your help. For now, hang tight.

Oh—and I still have to illustrate the final map, game box, instruction booklet, player pieces, and around 150 cards. Then get it all manufactured. So there’s that.

Final notes

I just want to say thank you to anyone reading this newsletter. This game is being made largely because of the excitement and support I’ve felt from all of you cheering me on.

Your thoughts mean a lot—so if you have any feedback, ideas, or comments for me or Simon, just reply to this email. We’d love to hear from you.

Until next time, you passive-aggressive roommates!

Max Kolo