The game had been created a few years earlier but was getting a push by Kane.
NXS was particularly interesting because it could be played by either two, or three players.
Two player abstract strategy games are of course the norm, but allowing for three players is a tad rare.
The rarity arises because three-player efforts tend to have two players ganging up to eliminate the third so they can then get down to head-t0-head action.
In NXS Kane had overcome that general flaw by having players needing to interact with both players to succeed. The goal here is to capture enemy territory and in a three payer contest you must grab half your goal in territory from each opponent, which is a nice element.
Kane has stuck with his game and now has a new version out, this one with greater theme; NXS: Ragnarok.
“In terms of NXS: Ragnarok, I wanted to accomplish a couple things,” said Kane, who hails from Oregon, where he is a manager in a small IT shop in local government. “I recognized that while I don't enjoy it, most other people really enjoy random elements, and in particular, asymmetric elements. I wanted to add these elements to NXS in an optional way.
“I thought adding cards that add abilities to the pieces would be a good way to accomplish this. When implementing NXS on Board Game Arena, I also discovered that adding the ability to randomize piece setup was an excellent was to keep things fresh (Chess 960 style).
“Adding this ability to the board game version was also important to me. I also wanted to create an edition of NXS that I could make using standard print-on-demand components so that I wasn't limited to 3D printing.”
For Kane creating a basically abstract strategy game was sort of a natural.
“I wouldn't say I have always been a fan, but I have been for a long time,” he said. “I played Chess, checkers, and Othello when I was a kid, but never really got deeply into them. Then I discovered Terrace in the 90's. I really loved that game. Around the same time, I started getting back into strategy games in general (not abstracts). Star Fleet Battles was the main one.”
From Terrace the designer bug bit.
“As to how I started designing my own games, that also comes from Terrace,” said Kane. “I actually met the designers, who lived close to me. I was really inspired to design one of my own.
“I also started to realize that I really preferred abstracts, because losing due to luck always rubbed me the wrong way. That was about the time I started to work on what became NXS.”
So why add a theme to what had been a pure abstract strategy game?
“People are often attracted to theme,” noted Kane. “Because NXS is truly an abstract, it's relatively simple to graft a theme onto.
“The bold lines and spears (on the pieces), seemed like a good fit -- the spears make it very clear that this is an attack direction.
“I had a lot of fun creating the graphics for the game. It allowed me to express my artistic side.”
But adding an element of luck via cards that influence the game was also the hard part of the redo.
“The greatest challenge was probably just coming up with the different types of cards,” said Kane. “Luckily I had some smart friends that made excellent suggestions.”
In the end the cards are what the designer likes best about Ragnarok.
“Best aspect? For me, it's that the cards add a new layer of strategy, depending on which variant you play,” said Kane.
“You can add the cards and keep everything equal (combinatorial), but still have different cards each game.
“Or you can play with unequal cards, and you have to decide when to ‘spend’ that card.
“Or finally, if you are playing Onitama-style, you have to decide if you want to risk potentially giving a good card up to your opponent.
“And of course, you have to be aware of what cards your opponent can use at all times.”
In 2019, it was noted NXS reminded a bit of Ploy the 1970 release from 3M, largely because of the directional movement of pieces and ability to re-orient as the game progresses. However, NXS was a far more robust game than Ploy.
If you liked checkers and chess it was one that was easy to recommend. There is a vitality here based on pre-game choices than make it a game a cut above most.
The ‘Viking’ theme of the new edition will get new players who like that era looking, and the cards will add enough ‘luck’ to entice those who want some randomness to help them win. But at its heart this is still an abstract strategy game. You will need to like the genre to really like this one.
Overall, some nice changes, that add some elements that should broaden the audience for the core game.
