Hack/Slash is now coming to Zoop! With its brand-new take on a deck-building tabletop engine, Hack/Slash: The Card Game is looking to be a wonderful addition to the Zoop Lineup!
Jordan Plosky, co-founder and CEO of Zoop, joined us over Zoom to talk about this upcoming release and where Zoop plans to go next.
DIEGO HIGUERA: What got Zoop into working with licensing comic properties, turning them into games?
JORDAN PLOSKY: Yeah, you know, there’s a couple of different things. I mean, I think we see a huge opportunity in that space. First and foremost.
It’s the largest crowdfunding Category, games and tabletop. A lot of the guys on our team are into tabletop gaming, we’re nerds also, like not just comics, like we’re all into gaming as well. So it was kind of like a natural kind of thing. We realized that, because Zoop is a full service platform, and we handle production, printing and fulfillment and some of our team members also can design games.
We just realized, like, oh, wait, we have all the pieces. It’s not like we had to go out and find it. It just organically kind of happened that way. So we should probably do something with this. That’s kind of how we got into this you know, Tim and Hack/Slash are just the first of many, we have a lot more conversations and agreements that we’re working on right now. In this sort of comics to games type of category.
HIGUERA: Why Hack/Slash?
PLOSKY: We’ve worked with Tim before, actually, we did a campaign for him almost two years ago now for one of his lesser known properties called Love bunny and Mr. Hal. And when we were thinking about, who can we approach, you know, for this, for this idea of turning a common property into games, because we already had an existing relationship.
Quite frankly, Hack/Slash does very well in the world of crowdfunding so it makes a lot of sense to kind of, you know, target that already built in audience, Tim is super easy to work with. And it all just came together, you know, really, really, really quickly. It’s the 20th anniversary of hack slash, and I think Tim was excited to sort of, you know, do something more than just comics publishing to celebrate the 20 year anniversary, and I think that the timing just worked out really well.
DIEGO HIGUERA: Why a deck building game format?
PLOSKY: So it, it’s a format that we all enjoy as a team and it’s also something that some of our team members have actually worked on in the past. So it was something that we’re familiar with something that we know how to design and develop. But to your point, yeah, we’re using a lot of artwork, a lot of storylines from Hack/Slash. So people who are hack slash fans that are seeing this, you’re going to recognize a lot of the villains and the slashers, Just like other scenes and locations that are a part of this game.
But that was kind of an important piece for us because we wanted it to be authentic to the comic, so that when people are, you know, involved in this game, they feel like they’re in the world of Hack/Slash. It’s just something that we enjoy. I know, it’s fun and that this is going to be a cooperative game, as well. But it’s also something that you could play on your own. I’ve already given a run through a few times on my own. I’m like, Man, this, this definitely beats scrolling on my phone. You know, it was like a fun. It’s really fun to play by yourself. And it’s fun to play with friends. And I think that there’s just something cool about the cooperative element of a deck building game that you don’t sometimes get in just like a, you know, a standard board game or tabletop game.
HIGUERA: building on that too, what were some unique features for the game. I was assuming considering Hack and Slash, like, Are there different weapon types you could get? Or could you upgrade it?
PLOSKY: One of the things with this is, there’s sort of like different attacks that you can do. So essentially, you’re playing as Cassie and Vlad, the two heroes of hack slash, you’re trying to save victims by defeating minions and villains and slashers. But the unique thing to hack slash aside from it being really I mean, authentic and set in the hack slash universe, is some of the some of the attacks that you get to do. Some of the combos that you get to do when you have certain cards that come together for you. But then, also, you kind of just have to wait and see.
HIGUERA: How accessible was this for both like seasoned gamers, but also newcomers to the board game?
PLOSKY: so this has been has been a bit of a crash course for me. So this is the first time I’ve been involved in the development of a game. So like, really, really picking it apart, really making sure that like everything to your you use a great word accessible, right? Like, how is this going to be accessible to people who are fans of hack slash that maybe never played a game before?
You know, we really went through a lot because I’m more of a newbie compared to most of the other people on my team. So I had a ton of questions and a ton of edits, just to make sure that things were super clear. I was coming at it from like you said, like a non seasoned gamer. If this is potentially going to be someone’s first game, it needs-it’s like Stanley always says Hey, you never know which comic is gonna be someone’s first comic, right? So you always have to fill it, fill in the blanks, or people explain it as well as you can,
But also, sort of not explain it in such a way that’s going to turn off people who understand all of these mechanics without the explanation. So I think we did, I think we did a really good job of really making sure that anyone can like pick this up. Understand it and play it, we are going to have not just written instructions, for example, but we are going to have videos explaining it as well. Me personally, I’m more of like an audio learner as opposed to a reading learner. So, those videos are going to be super helpful to a lot of people. And yeah, I think we’re covering all the bases for every, every level of game player.
So I think we did a really good job of really making sure that anyone can pick this up, understand it and play it. We are going to have not just written instructions, for example, but we are going to have videos explaining it as well.
HIGUERA: Especially because it is on Zoop we noticed that there would be a lot of community involvement, what are your thoughts on that?
PLOSKY: This is the first of many projects that we’re looking to do. I think that it’s important for us to do this, right, so that people feel confident and trust in what we’re doing. like hey, these guys are putting out something really good. Even if the next one maybe isn’t their favorite property, but they understand that the game mechanics are going to be there and it’s going to be a fun game.
Because we’re that company that’s going to be building trust in the space. That’s kind of the larger goal, as opposed to just putting something out and being like, Oh, forget it, people will figure it out on their own. It’s like, no, we want to have as little friction as possible and let people know this is something that’s, going to be around for a long time. Not just Hack/Slash, but some of these other campaigns that we’re going to be running in the near future as well.
HIGUERA: I was going to say too, because I think that a lof of people will not have heard of Hack/Slash but will have been involved in horror media or the like. Knowing this how much do you think people will get into this kind of game?
PLOSKY: I think this is a game that hard enthusiasts will really like, I think that this is a game that tabletop and deckbuilding fans will like, even if they don’t know, you know, about hack slash, if they don’t know about Cassie and Vlad. One of the things that we kind of refer to this too, is a narrative deck building game, meaning you’re not just coming in without any sort of knowledge.
I mean, even if you aren’t sorry, even if you are coming in without any knowledge of Hack/Slash, I think we’re gonna give you enough of the backstory in the universe to feel like you’re going to be a part of this thing. So to your point, I don’t think you have to know you know, about 20 years of Hack/Slash continuity, to understand Hey, here’s your heroes. Here’s the bad guys. Here’s what your your mission essentially is. And let’s go to it.
HIGUERA: honestly, this is fantastic. Following up on what we just talked about, So with this new IP, it’s apparent that Zoop has been making a name for itself, especially in terms of supporting creators. I mean, crowdfunding. Right. But any thoughts on this following this upcoming project?
PLOSKY: It is a thing on the table, what I think is interesting about this is that with the success of this campaign, as opposed to if it will be successful, I think that we get to sort of prove out this model and show that there’s not only a market for comic book IP in the tabletop world, but this is something that can generate more revenue for creators, you know, this is this is like, sort of an untapped field for the majority of creators. ok, you know, you have your Marvel’s in DCs, sure, they’re in the tabletop world, you know, and they have their deck builders, but like, realistically, not every campaign has to be like a multimillion dollar campaign for it to be successful. You know, like, there’s certain levels here and, you know, someone like Tim Seeley with hack slash, like, he’s never put out a game before, right.
And there are countless other creators who have properties that are 20 years old, 30 years old, that have never made that leap into the gaming world. And I think that there’s, I mean, like, really, the, the hypothesis here is that there is a whole market that there is a, you know, a Venn diagram that overlaps between comics and gaming. And because of the relationships that we have, and sort of, like the trust that we have, in the comics industry, I think it’s a natural fit for us to be, you know, that route for a lot of these creators to, you know, to look at and see, like, hey, I want to do that to zoop the people I’m going to do it with because we’re essentially a turnkey operation.
Here, we design we get it funded, we produce it, you know, we distribute it, it’s, it’s all taken care of, like, all under one roof. We make it as easy as possible, we include the creators in the process, you know, for approvals and, making sure that we’re as authentic as possible to their IP. So long answer for I think that there’s just something untapped here, that we are uniquely positioned to help multiple creators, you know, bring in more revenue for their properties in a new creative way.
HIGUERA: I always necessary in the very interview, um, are there any questions you wish I would have asked you? And would you expand on that?
PLOSKY: I’m just I hope that the community turns out for this one and supports it and realizes that like, hey, you know, yes, you’d be supporting Tim. Yes, you’d be supporting Hack/Slash, but the success of this is going to, you know, allow us to do more of this for other creators and turn some other like, favorite comic properties into games as well. So you know, we appreciate the support, please turn off.
To find out more about Hack/Slash: The Card Game, check out the project here!
