Having previously worked on the original Fatal Knockout as a co-designer, I was later tasked with making my own expansion for the game. I wanted to take all the lessons I learnt from developing it and apply a fresh spin on the formula as well as deepening the scope of the game through new character abilities/interactions. 

My initial plan was to abide by the core design principles of Fatal Knockout, namely the simple and effective design philosophies of the characters – easy to pickup but hard to master. This means each character I design must feel like an original cast member but unique and fresh in their identifiable way that should feel different when playing.

I’m a big fan of dark fantasy and horror, so I thought I’d use this opportunity to design a “dark” expansion to the game, considering the base game is very bright and family friendly on the whole. This would thematically be a very fun contrast to explore and so I began thinking first of quickly identifiable stereotypes in horror media that would be easily understood by a player but also reasonably fit into the already-established cyberpunk world and setting.

My first thought was something “scary” and perhaps supernatural – something mythic that feels terrifying to fight against. My first thoughts were “Well, what would I be scared of being too close to?” and thus the Maniac was made. A chainsaw-wielding masked killer who advances slowly on you, gaining Meter Track progress in a wholly unique way – through proximity to the enemy. Stay on top of the enemy and your ghastly presence alone grants you power, not the icons on your cards. A special mechanic, “Kidnap”, lets you do exactly what it says on the tin. It is a special non-lethal grab that carries the opponent with you until either of you take damage, meaning that without the right cards, the opponent is carried to the corner and eviscerated for a potential instant kill. Now that’s a scary character indeed. He is also a huge amount of fun and my personal favourite of the new expansion. Truly volatile.

Keep an eye out for the expansion’s release, where I’ll do a full design breakdown of the new cast members and my process behind their creation!