Blockade would have been a cool name.

Working on an unnamed game using little blocks of wood on an 8×8 grid. Each player has a people pawn that they are trying to get to their opponents base. Each player also has 5 moveable blocks of wood that are used as both defense (to protect your base) and offense (to block and provide a path for your pawn). Another feature of the blocks is that they can push other blocks into an open space. You can push your own (to move 2 pieces in one turn) or you can push your opponents blocks. You can even push another block right off of the board.

The game is really simple and there isn’t much more to it than what’s above. I’ve been scrambling for a really solid fitting name, and haven’t found one yet. I would also like to give it some kind of theme (for promotional artwork, and just to add a little to the game as well. So far I thought “Blockade” was awesome, but taken about 50 other times. Then I thought of the blocks as moveable mountains and thought “Mountainwalk”, but wasn’t too sure about it. They could also be boulders, and a friend suggested “The Sisyphean Challenge” for it’s ancient greek roots, but it’s hard to pronounce and write. Other weird ideas were “Mind The Gap” and “You Shall Not Pass!”.

The title could have any number of ideas in it. The theme (which hasn’t been decided). The blocks as walls, mountains, or boulders. The blocks being used as both offense and defense. The path (or pass) created for your pawn to travel through. The idea of outsmarting/defeating your opponent.

Putting way too much thought into the name. But the rest has been really easy. The entire concept came together in about 5 seconds while playtesting my brother George’s new game “Illuminarium”. Cool name; Latin for lighthouse, which is the main theme of his game.

Here’s a picture of the game so far. It’s really raw, and kind of embarrassing, but I wanted to add something visual to balance out my rambling description.