Hello residents of Scoville! If you haven’t figured it out from the intro above, today I’d like to talk a little bit about the theme, or “story” of Doomsday Peppers.
First, let me say that my brothers and I are pretty big on theme. In fact, I’m not gonna lie, you probably won’t ever see any abstract games from Sibling Revelry. Nothing against a good abstract game, mind you. I had an ongoing Tangrams rivalry with one of my best friends in college. But when it comes to us, Dante, Joaquin, and I just gravitate to a good story. I know that in board games, “theme” is not always the same thing as a “story,” but it’s pretty hard to extricate the two when a theme is presented really well in a game. When you play Dungeons and Dragons, it’s not just a game that’s set in a fantasy world. Done properly, you are telling the STORY of your characters in that world. When game night sees Arkham Horror come to the table, a story unfolds with each round. We simply love a game that has a good story to tell, and that’s what we always intend to do; make games that let you tell stories.
The story of Doomsday Peppers is one of the suburbs. The suburban town of Scoville, to be exact. The people of Scoville aren’t your stereotypical “preppers” by any means. They’re just everyday people in an everyday setting, going about their lives until the end of the world comes along and ruins everything.
Residents of Scoville aren’t into guns and ammo. They don’t own anything in a camouflage pattern. The big thing in this town is gardening. Tomatoes, Potatoes… Everyone has their prize organic crops of artisanal something-or-other in their backyard, and there’s always a little bit of jealousy, rivalry, or bitter competition simmering just under every neighbor’s smiling exterior. When rumors start to spread about evil cults, dark magic, and the end of the world, people everywhere else start buying up all the weapons, preparing for the worst, but Scoville pays them no mind. They are far too occupied with preparing for the next garden show to prepare for something as silly as the “apocalypse.” Then those strange peppers start showing up in their gardens…
Strange, glowing peppers pop up everywhere. Soon, people are calling them “Doomsday Peppers”. They change friendly neighbors into mad, obsessed cultists, devoted to the peppers and fixed on bringing about the end of the world! Now, Scoville residents have only the seeds they gather to trade for makeshift equipment (made from your precious crops), and a few discarded scraps of spells. The peppers are here. The residents of Scoville must defend themselves, defeat the cultist among them, and save the world!
