Mad Love is a cooperative pocket card game of memory and deduction for 2 people played with a deck of just 18 cards in approximately 10 minutes.
Believing you've made the archaeological discovery of a lifetime, you and your intrepid partner enter the lost pyramid of Naal'ru, only to be immediately separated and trapped in an endless Lovecraftian Dreamscape full of maddening visions of terror.
You and your partner are separated and lost in a nightmare world; you cannot hear or see each other. This means no verbally sharing information or giving visual hints to your partner. The only way to convey information to one another is by adding and dismissing cards, which represent dreams, in and out of the central area of play, a 2x2 grid called the Dreamscape. Your goal is to find each other and escape the nightmare using the dreams and visions represented by the cards.
Starting with a draw pile of 9 cards each, you and your partner will attempt to send dreams of love to each other through the Dreamscape, while also trying to dismiss dreams of madness.
There can only be a total of 4 cards in the Dreamscape at any time. When a new card is introduced face down onto one edge of the Dreamscape, it moves all cards in that row (or column) one space over (or up). This either pushes the card at the top of the column out of the Dreamscape, toward your partner, or dismisses the card on the opposite end of the row, out of the Dreamscape and into your partner's discard pile. Send enough love and you will escape. Be careful though; madness lurks around every corner!
Pushing a Dream
If you choose to push a dream out of one of the columns of the Dreamscape towards your partner, the card that has been pushed out is flipped over (revealed) and the action noted on the dream must be performed immediately. This is the card being played. Then your partner takes that card into their hand, then adds the dream that's been in their hand the longest to the Dreamscape.
Dismissing a Dream
If you choose to dismiss a dream from the Dreamscape, the card that is ejected from the other end of the row is flipped over (revealed) and placed onto your partner's discard pile, without taking effect. Your partner must then reveal the top card from their draw pile and perform the action indicated on that dream. This is the card being played. Then your partner takes that card into their hand, then adds the dream that's been in their hand the longest to the Dreamscape.
Love and Madness
When dreams of Love or Madness come into play, the Love or Madness meters go up. If the Love Meter fills up to the heart before the Madness Meter fills up to the brain, you have found your partner and successfully escaped the nightmare together.
But beware! If the opposite occurs, your minds have succumbed to the madness and are lost in the nightmare forever.
The key is to remember the locations of dreams placed into the Dreamscape, then maneuver them into to the discard pile or to your partner for the desired result: less Madness... more Love.
PLUS ALL UNLOCKED STRETCH GOALS!
PLEASE NOTE: There will not be a post-campaign pledge manager for this game. The price of $8 only applies to pledges made during the Kickstarter campaign. If the funds are raised and the game is made, we will post a pre-order link on our website, and the cost will be $10.
Try out Mad Love and see for yourself!
You can also try out Mad Love digitally on Tabletopia for free!
And, special thanks to Tantrum House for including Mad Love in their Kickstarter roundup videos and podcasts for the second half of May. To hear what they have to say about the game, listen to their May 14th podcast by clicking on the image below! There's a lot of great information in the 'cast; Mad Love makes its appearance around 27:44.
The details of the Author Card can be found in UPDATE #3!
**Every copy of Mad Love will include all unlocked Stretch Goals!**
- Imp House is a very small, indie game publisher, and we need your help getting the game made! Plus...the more people who back it, the more stretch goals we can include, making the game better for everyone! Still not sure? Consider this...
Mad Love is small enough to fit comfortably in a jacket pocket, purse, backpack, saddlebag, tote, carry on, or fanny pack. It can also be comfortably played on a cozy table for 2.
Mad Love can be taught in a snap! It usually takes about 3 minutes to explain the basics to someone. Once familiar, games typically last between 5 and 10 minutes. So, it's easy to play as many or as few games as desired in a single sitting while you are on break or waiting for another game to start on game nights. It's also great to play at coffee shops, pubs, or restaurants while waiting for your order.
Mad Love is a cooperative game, so it's perfect for those who prefer games that don't require direct competition.
Once player's have learned how to play Mad Love, communication is mostly off limits; it's all up to the individual's memory to deduct where dreams are and where they have moved to. This makes it a great game for noisy places like pubs, restaurants, and parties where it may be hard to hear each other.
We're offering a money-back guarantee. Changed your mind before receiving the game? We'll refund your pledge. Changed your mind after receiving it? We'll refund your pledge, minus the shipping charge, as long as you contact us within 30 days after the game has shipped to you.
*The only remaining copies of Chaos of Cthulhu are housed in a warehouse in the United States, so this reward is limited to backers in the U.S. only.
If you are interested in pledging for more than 2 copies of Mad Love, please make a pledge at the $2 level, and we will contact you directly to discuss options for your needs, including retail and group bundles.
Chaos of Cthulhu is our Lovecraftian themed dice game that was previously funded on Kickstarter!
Take hold of the damaged tome and summon forth a unique Lovecraftian nightmare, mix-and-matched from 6 different Old Ones and Dark Minions. Then clash in strategic dice battle to be the first to assemble a fully matched monster. Part strategy, part luck…all madness!
*Limited quantities available within the United States.
If you are interested in pledging for more than 2 copies of Mad Love, please make a pledge at the $2 LEVEL, and we will contact you directly to discuss options for your needs, including retail and group bundles.
Shipping fees are automatically added to your pledge amount depending on the country in which you reside. This Kickstarter campaign is open to all countries, however, we will be fulfilling Mad Love directly from locations within the US, Canada, the EU, and Australia/New Zealand. This means that, if you reside in any of these regions, import customs/duties/taxes will be paid by us on shipments of Mad Love.
IMPORTANT: If Mad Love is shipped anywhere outside the United States, Canada, the European Union, the UK, or Australia/New Zealand, please be aware that you may owe import customs/duties/taxes to your government upon receipt of the shipment. Check with your local postal office to determine the amount that may be owed, if any, based on your pledge amount.
Estimated Shipping Month for Mad Love: November 2018. We cannot guarantee delivery by the holidays, but we will try our best.
The only remaining copies of Chaos of Cthulhu are housed in a warehouse in the United States, so this reward is limited to backers in the U.S. only. Chaos of Cthulhu will be shipped separately, after the campaign is over, in June 2018. Mad Love is estimated to be shipped November 2018.
Risks and challenges
Mad Love has been extensively play tested, and we will continue running sessions until it is sent to print. The artwork is ready, however the rulebook may be updated slightly as we receive helpful feedback. If the campaign is successful, we will consult with our proofreaders about any changes that may have occurred during the campaign, and then we'll send Mad Love to the printer.
Our previous game (Savage Planet: Fate of Fantos) is currently in production after experiencing some unforeseen delays due to a slower-than-planned final development and editing process (we are perfectionists and demand high quality!), plus some circumstances beyond our control at the factory level. However, Mad Love is a vastly simpler game, with fewer components and moving parts (and much less text!), so we are confident we will be able to deliver Mad Love in a fraction of the time it has taken for Fate of Fantos.
That said, while we don't expect to experience any significant delays with a game of this size, we know from experience that unplanned hiccups sometimes occur. We can promise we will keep you all updated throughout the process, and we stand by our money-back guarantee.
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Funding period
- (21 days)