Frank West is back, and this time he is rescuing penguins instead of cats. The Bristol designer behind The Isle of Cats has launched The Isle of Penguins on Kickstarter, a competitive game of open drafting and penguin placement for 1 to 4 players, or up to 6 with the Late Arrivals expansion. If you have ever spent a happy evening jamming polyomino moggies onto a boat, this is aimed squarely at you.
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Start organising for freeThe premise will feel familiar to Isle of Cats players. Where the original had you rescuing cats before the villainous Lord Vesh arrived, here your expedition to the frozen north becomes a race against a melting ice floe. You travel to the ice, gather fish, clear rocks from your oddly shaped raft, and study ancient lessons, all while fitting rescued penguins on board, protecting their eggs and keeping families together.
West is keen to stress this is not a reskin. He calls it "a new, faster and more accessible experience, with its own systems and challenges." The Isle of Cats ran a meaty 60 to 90 minutes at full complexity; Penguins keeps a similar length but leans lighter and quicker, with gentler family play and tougher advanced and expert modes so you can dial the puzzle up or down for your table.
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Find events near youThe City of Games is a proper cottage-industry success story, with West self-publishing his designs from Bristol ever since his debut, The City of Kings. The Isle of Cats grew into a small family of spin-offs and expansions off the back of its card-drafting, cat-stuffing hook, so a standalone successor has been high on a lot of wishlists.
The campaign is live now and runs until 30 July. If penguins on rafts sounds like your next game night centrepiece, round up your group and get drafting.
Sources: The City of Games | The Isle of Penguins | Kickstarter
