KING SCORPION

often is though, as beginning run of our It was humble the first print remember made up the case. “I was

The game

2000 units. didn’t first game: but the printer 50 cards… 50 of a deck of cards, he delivered decks of 50 every deliver 2000 assemble had to cards! We each of decks of 2000 card from by taking one table. To single deck my kitchen all done on ourselves. the 50 decks, the boxes we also folded save costs, were and 2000 bottoms

The 2000 tops cut that with a die cardboard thin printed on properly.” folded together if that would hold mistakes, a lot of Bluff Far from making as (also known

J’te gage que offering first game copies, sold 450,000 Lemay to

Party) instead for years later a mere two full time. the chance publish games in 2008 to he had a quit his job realised though, Lemay far used From there which for party games, had first good ‘nose’ he than the game components less designed. in manufactured was everything

“Since specialized game there is no we had Québec where or Europe, like in China simply manufacturers possible

– material as a to use as little to offer it for

– to be able a deck of cards published we had

And once decent price. in quick party games became successful a few rapidly Scorpion Masqué games”, succession, for good party game stores like Stay known in include games gone on to Though which has others.

Decrypto amongst

Cool, and

Lemay comments on being ‘pigeonholed,’ into this market, it certainly wasn’t a negative, as he comments further that party games often stay on the market for longer, but also reach a bigger audience.

Indeed, doing so seems to have triggered an ethos that has transferred across seemingly all of the games published by Scorpion Masqué. “I like games that create bridges,” Lemay explains, “bridges between all kinds of gamers. Occasional and passionate gamers. Young and old. From everywhere on the globe. Decrypto is a game that ‘real’ gamers really enjoy, yet which is also playable with your reluctant-to-game uncle. Zombie Kidz Evolution is a game designed for kids, but it doesn’t bore their parents. I know many families where the parents actually bought a second copy of the game to play while the kids were sleeping.”

Much like discovering a sense for party games, it was a discovery that led Lemay to the children’s genre, and eventually the games that now includes a series of Zombie Kidz group of games. This was the first legacy game for children specifically, but features bright cartoon zombies from which the players will seek to evade. However, it started much earlier, “in 2007, I was working on a game designed by Bruno Faidutti, Pony Express. At some point, Bruno added a co-designer. A new guy, totally unknown, but ‘very promising,’ according to Bruno. This young man was none other than Antoine Bauza.”

Bauza is known of course, for games such as 7 Wonders, Ghost Stories, Conan and more. “Antoine had a small blog in those days, where he would put games of his out there, hoping to catch the attention of a publisher. Imagine... Takenoko, Hanabi, and an array of others sitting there, waiting to be picked up. I was interested in a small cooperative memory game based on monsters coming out from under your bed that you had to frighten with your toys. We published it under “La chasse aux monstres” (Monster Chase) and it became an instant hit on the French speaking markets of Québec and France. For the past 10 years, sales have continuously grown. I think we reached 300,000 copies sold, which makes that game one of Antoine’s best sellers, despite being almost completely unknown in the ‘gamer’ community.” As family games go though, it sits at a comfortable 82 on the BGG children’s games charts – which would be cause enough for celebration for many, except it’s the 2018 Zombie Kidz Evolution from Scorpion Masqué which occupies the top spot with the highest rating.

TAKING THE STING FROM THE TAIL

There’s something we’ve found in chatting to Christian Lemay that gives us the impression of a social group of people. Rather than being referred to as the founder of Scorpion Masqué,

Lemay labels himself the ‘Grand Poobah’ a humorous way to refer to someone in charge. The same vibe runs through their fun games, pulling gamers in from all corners of the hobby and as Lemay described, bridging that gap. There’s a wider social impact in that, not least in creating and prompting environments for people to game together that may not have done so, but Lemay is further conscious of an environmental impact.

“We plant trees,” he tells us, “well, we pay Canada Trees to plant enough trees to replace those which were cut down to produce our games. This isn’t a perfect solution, of course. There is still transport, plastic, to take into account, but we are coming up to 15,000 trees planted since the beginning of our program, in 2010.”

TYPICAL SCORPIO

As for right now, it’s their latest release that represents where Scorpion Masqué feels it is now, with Master Word. The fun word guessing game plays reminiscent of the old Mastermind game, where players may make three guesses towards a hidden word, finding out how many of those clues are accurate, but not which of them it is. There’s a delightful back and forth of discussion and debate as to how the language is used and what to do next, and will undoubtedly sit comfortably amid other party games, and embodying Lemay’s earlier description of being in the business of communication games. “This game takes something everyone knows and turns it upside down, to create something new,” Lemay confirms, “it’s a clever cooperative game. We really enjoy team games. And finally, it has a distinctive retro visual design that I love.”