Two year old game publisher and miniatures company Soda Pop Miniatures has produced an anime-styled dungeon exploration board game called Super Dungeon Explore.  Company owner and creative director John Cavice talked to ICv2 at the recent Gen Con convention about the game.

 

The game uses the slightly deformed “chibi” style of anime characters, building on the line of chibi miniatures premiered by Soda Pop Miniatures at last year’s Gen Con.  Cavice describes them in this way:

 

“Chibi refers to “cute”, sort of a Japanese term that’s tossed around that represents small, slightly deformed characters—very cartoon and characterized.  So, different from roleplaying miniatures that you might be familiar with that have very realistic proportions, these characters are bubbly and small and cute, and kinda chubby and fat, even if they might be terrible monsters.”

Super Dungeon Explore is a board game for two or more players that pits a lone “dungeon player” against a band of heroes—the other players—who enter the dungeon to defeat the “boss.”  Cavice cites classic Nintendo and Gamestation games as the inspiration for the game, which he intended to be attractive to a very broad audience:

 

“It’s a very light-hearted, fun experience.  It’s very, very broad-reaching.  It’s an opportunity for moms and dads and kids, as well as male and female gamers, to sit down and roll a bunch of dice and scream and holler and have a good time.  It’s very simple to learn.  It’s got its own unique mechanics, and a lot of colorful parts and artworks. And it’s a very authentic anime style experience for people who want to expand into new genres.”

 

Currently, only the base game is available, with a suggested retail price of $89.99.  Soda Pop Miniatures plans to release the first expansion for the game early next year, adding new heroes, new monsters, and new tactical options.