Prêt-à-Porter - A Review

And so there I was, front row center in New York's fashion district, watching as the next season of clothing strutted across the catwalk. I wiped the cheese dust from my fingers, and casually stroked my fashionable neckbeard. (From what I could tell, neckbeards appeared to be trending last season in Milan.) The auditorium dimmed and I waited, nervously.  Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" began thumping from the sound system as the lights rotated into place, illuminating the thin walkway that my models were about to grace.

My first model set foot on the stage... and there was a collective gasp of horror from the audience. My worst fears were realized! I had spent all of my money following trends, and paid no attention to the quality focused market here. I made a gamble by trying to save money on inferior materials, but the audience definitely wasn't buying the "Burlap Chic" angle. This would be the end. I had borrowed money on empty promises and the hope that "Meeple Tees" would take the world by storm. Instead, my kneecaps had an inevitable meeting with Guido in the alleyway. It was this painful regret that would spell the end of my career as a fashionista... until the next game of Prêt-à-Porter, at least.

Ignacy Trzewiczek has always impressed me with his game design. I gave solid marks to his fantasy siege title "Stronghold" and I was very excited to see what he had been cooking up at Portal Publishing in the past year. Luckily, his recent release, Prêt-à-Porter is now being distributed through Eagle Games in North America.

Surprisingly, this new game doesn't feature the castles, mutants, or postnuclear settings that Portal has become known for, instead opting for the ruthless world of off-the-shelf fashion. While I might have originally been a bit nonplussed by the fashion theme, once the confusion passed, I was happy to recognize Prêt-à-Porter for the deep, meaty, worker placement oriented business simulation that it is. 

In Prêt-à-Porter, players are growing a fashion business from the ground up, and trying to find success in an ultra-competitive market. Gameplay revolves around managing money; purchasing designs and materials; as well as managing a staff of workers, real-estate, and contracts with the ultimate goal of selling Prêt-à-Porter (ready to wear clothing) through a series of fashion shows. The player who can best juggle all of these aspects of business will make the most money and emerge as the next Vera Wang of board game simulated fashion.

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Dreams of a Fashion Reject

Last night I had a dream.

I was racing down a mountain road in a sleek blue sedan, weaving between cars as the engine purred with power. In the distance I could see the foot of the mountain, and a sandy desert valley opening up before me. But, as I approached the foot of the mountain, the car began to lose power, and its silk-like handling turned to that of a brick in molasses.

Looking through my rear-view mirror I could see black smoke billowing from the trunk. I pulled the limping vehicle to the side of the road, despite it's chugging objections, and quickly stepped out. I circled around to the rear of the car, and held my breath as I opened the trunk. The oily smoke poured out, but quickly dispersed, following the meandering path of a summer breeze. In its absence, I saw the source of the problem.

Sitting in the center of the trunk was a shiny black Barbecue Grill. Golden flames darted from cracks in the side of the grill, licking the surface, and leaving a powdery grey ash. I gingerly opened the grill, and stepped away as a ball of fire rolled out of the strange cooking apparatus. Even while stepping away, I could feel the inferno inside singe my eyebrows. I leaned forward to see what was inside - burning, crackling, and coughing out such a noxious and oily smoke.

Although the contents of the grill were charred and curling to ash, to my horror, I instantly recognized them. My entire wardrobe of clothes. Burned and blackened, my ragged collection of game related T-shirts were smoldering inside of a barbecue grill that was resting inside the trunk of a broken down sports sedan, on the side of a rocky mountain road.

What does it mean?

It means that I need to tell you about the new games being introduced by Ignacy Trzewiczek and Portal Publishing at this year's Essen game convention. Ignacy is the designer who brought us Stronghold, a board game which I reviewed earlier in the year, and gave very high marks.

The broken down car in a rocky desert wasteland is obviously alluding to the post-apocalyptic, "Road Warrior" inspired board game 51st State. Portal is revealing a new standalone expansion to the game at this years Essen, called The New Era, which allows for increased player interaction through the mechanic of invasion and treaties. I have been a fan of post apocalyptic settings ever since I first booted up the computer game Wasteland on my Commodore 64 as a kid, so I am really looking forward to The New Era.

Although people have been telling me I need to burn my clothes since high school, I'm sure that the destruction of my entire wardrobe is a hint from my psyche that it's time to enter the world of high fashion. Ignacy is also releasing the English version of Pret-a-Porter, a cutthroat economic game about the high stakes world of high fashion. Don't let he theme fool you - fashion is a serious business, and this is described as Portal's most ruthless game to date.

After Essen, more information about a potential North American release will likely be made available, and I hope to give both of these titles a closer look in the future to see if they really are the stuff dreams are made of.

Stronghold - A Review

Some of the most epic and memorable scenes in novels and movies have involved the siege of a fortress. The story of defending one’s home against overwhelming odds is one that resonates deeply in the human spirit. These stories span time and setting, and have been told throughout history. The timeless fantasy world of Middle Earth saw a climactic siege in The Lord of The Rings, when the capital of Gondor was rushed by a sea of enemies. Ancient Greek mythology is full of these stories, shown to enthrall audiences even in modern times, by the success of the blockbuster movie 300, and its bloody, violent retelling of the siege of Sparta. Akira Kurasawa brought siege to feudal Japan in his final epic theatrical masterpiece Ran. Siege makes for exciting and tense storytelling, and it’s no surprise that it invokes those same feelings when presented in a game.

In 2009, game designer Ignacy Trzewiczek brought siege to the table with the board game Stronghold, a non-symmetrical game of siege and defense, where one player uses his limited resources to defend his stronghold against the seemingly unending horde of Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins controlled by his opponent. The invading player uses his massive army to build siege equipment, cast destructive spells, man the ramparts, and ultimately scale the towering walls to breach the stronghold. The defending player must valiantly defend his keep by utilizing his limited time and manpower to train men, repair damage, build traps, and position his dwindling forces to effectively turn the tide of the incoming army. Whoever ends the siege with the most glory is the ultimate victor.

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