Restoration Games, a new game studio co-founded by Pandemic Legacy and SeaFall designer Rob Daviau, has lifted the lid off the first three games the company plans to resurrect in 2017.
The ethos of Restoration Games is one of looking backwards, taking games of yesteryear and injecting new life into designs to create a kind of a marriage between both old and new. The formation of the company was first announced earlier this year in August during Gen Con by attorney and Restoration Games president Justin Jacobson. Both Jacobson and Daviau have also enlisted graphic designer Jason Taylor, who has had a hand in numerous classics from Hasbro, including Heroscape, to help give these games a more modern look.
In digging up classic games to retool, Restoration Games is not above tinkering with rules or themes to help give these experiences new life. Such is the case with Indulgence, one of the company’s first three releases, a trick-taking game based on Milton Bradley’s 1981 game Dragonmaster. In this new version, Restoration Games has traded high fantasy for the Italian Renaissance with new art from Chelsea Harper.
Another of Restoration Games’ initial offerings is Downforce, a card-driven racing game based on designer Wolfgang Kramer’s Top Race. Described as a “pet project” for designer Rob Daviau, this new version promises to streamline the many rules and variations that have been introduced since the 1980s to create “the most fun version possible.”
Lastly, Restoration Games has announced Stop Thief, a recreation of Dr. Robert Doyle’s 1979 audio-deduction game of the same name in which players try to track down a criminal by listening to sounds on an “electronic crime scanner.” In this new version, the device has been replaced with a free companion app for mobile devices that offers “better sound quality and a more dynamic platform for different modes of play.”
That’s certainly a solid initial lineup for any company, particularly one with the mantra of “every game deserves another turn.” All three games are expected to have their coming out party this August during Gen Con 2017.