The publisher of mega-hit strategy board game Root has announced its next title, and it's a real change of pace from what we've seen before – it's a more lighthearted mechs vs. monsters experience called 'Stomp.'
Described as a "cooperative dexterity game," Stomp lets a host of comedic kaiju loose on the city and asks you to stop them with your robot suits. Because every mech and monster has its own playstyle, you'll have to adapt on the fly. Designed by Taylor Shuss with art from Evan Palmer, this new board game is due to launch on Kickstarter in 2027.
Publisher Leder Games is probably best known for its woodland strategy game Root (which is currently $48 via Amazon rather than $60, if you wanted to try it). It's got a very good reputation in the community for its clever asymmetrical gameplay, where each faction plays differently, and it often gets put alongside the best board games. Be aware that it's more complex than the cute artwork may suggest, though.
In terms of how it works, Stomp sees you flick shots across the board at kaiju who are trying to destroy civilization, but they all have different powers that need to be navigated. As the Kickstarter page promises, you need to "assess the threat, coordinate with your teammates, and then improvise when your next shot inevitably goes awry."
Announced during a Leder Games Twitch stream, Shuss notes that Stomp wasn't necessarily inspired by genre classics like Godzilla or Pacific Rim; it was actually born out of Dark Souls, and how you need to learn your foe's tactics to win.
"During those fights it was all about execution," Shuss says. "I thought, how could I distill that moment of perfect knowledge with imperfect execution into a game? And that's when I landed on flicking with your perfect information. That way you know exactly what you have to do, you know how to do it, but then there's the moment of chance […] will it go your way, or will it all fall apart?"
Because of its Dark Souls inspiration, Stomp was originally a fantasy game – but then it morphed into a mechs vs. kaiju aesthetic because Shuss didn't find the Souls-esque theme very exciting. After a playtester mentioned classic monster movies, that struck a chord with Godzilla fan Shuss, and everything fell into place.
While this initially brought King of Tokyo to mind, Stomp quickly sidesteps any comparison because you're not playing the monsters – you're fighting them. Plus, that dexterity element really does differentiate it from the competition.
It differentiates Stomp from previous Leder Games projects too… which makes sense, because one of its most prominent designers (who actually created Root) left to make his own studio at the beginning of this year. This partially came about because Root's designer and the Leder Games CEO had different thoughts about the kind of projects the latter should be making, so Stomp could be the beginning of a new direction for Leder.
It's unclear exactly when Stomp will launch on Kickstarter, but it definitely won't appear before 2027. Before then, Leder is still working on racing board game Kart, which just finished crowdfunding.
While we're on the subject of board games, a fan spent 40 hours turning the Catan board game into an incredible Halloween costume. I'm also kicking myself that I didn't try this board game sooner, because it's a fast-paced, easy-to-learn masterpiece.
- Find the best prices on Leder Games projects at Amazon
