Ghosts and Goblins

Tabletop games are getting smaller. Even Games Workshop has recognised this, shifting their emphasis to skirmish games like Kill Team and away from mass battles like 40k.

There are those who would point to their recent “reboot” of Epic scale 40k with the recent release of Legions Imperialis, arguing that large tabletop wargaming was making a bit of a comeback. Which it may be – but at 6mm or 8mm, not 28/32mm. And, of course, playing large games at a smaller scale takes up less room.

So I’m sticking by my original premise: tabletop games are getting smaller. Physically smaller – they are taking up less table-space.
And I – for one – like it.

In a recent discussion in the OTT forum, we discussed the idea of turning a room-by-room dungeon explorer like Head over Heels into a tabletop game.
It’s an idea that got me very excited. Especially since we’d just seen the excellent modular papercraft terrain from Crooked Staff

It felt like a perfect match: modular, room-based terrain, in a variety of themes. Each room would only take up a minimum footprint on the tabletop, and maps could even be randomised between games.

So when someone suggested a similar approach to porting classic 80s video games onto the tabletop in the form of an “endless runner” or side-scroller type game – played on a number of tiles, with the “back” tile being removed and placed “in front” of the player –  there was one game that felt like a perfect match: Ghosts and Goblins!