The Background Story of Our Game "Rus: Time Of Troubles"

“Russ? What in the heck does Russ mean?”

This is usually the first question I get when I show someone the title of the game. Unless they’re Russian, then they totally get it. First of all, it is pronounced Roos. And Rus’ is what Russia used to be called back in medieval times. That’s why the game includes peasants and a king. In fact, the original name of the game was Peasants of Rus’.

Russian History

The game takes place somewhere between 1598 and 1613. This is during the Time of Troubles. Named for the obvious reason of there being a lot of trouble. Feodor was the King at the time and died around 1598. He was said to be “intellectually disabled.” Therefore, no one gave him an heir to take the throne at his death. This caused a lot of violence to claim the throne. In fact people were lying and impostors tried to claim the throne. One guy, who we call “False Dimitri 1,” claimed to be the dead brother of Feodor. But his brother Dimitri had be killed a while ago. Anyway, people believed him and he did reign for a little bit. Long story short, there was a False Dimitri 2 and 3 who also had a little taste of royalty. You’d think that after the 3rd one everyone would have caught on.

The story is fascinating, tragic, and somewhat comical. It needed to be turned into a game.

The Game Mechanics

Although the story is great, I first came up with the game mechanics. The core mechanic of having a secret identity and being able to claim any ability on your turn came from the great card game "COUP.” Which I love. However, I thought this game was unfinished. I wanted to feel like I was building something or progressing through a story.

So I took that small, but fun mechanic, and started building around it. I came up with 12 different characters with different abilities and started ranking them in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd classes. I made them build, curse, and gain riches all to become the supreme ruler. A property board was made to house the buildings you’re collecting. An end game trigger was made. Instantly I had a base game that needed polishing and play testing. Okay, it wasn’t that simple. It took time to come up with how everything worked together, but it was really fun and felt like it went by fast.

The game makes you feel like you have accomplished something by the end. You were just a lowly peasant with nothing but a house and a farm. You built monuments and festivals to increase your social standings. You may have even stolen or attacked your neighbors for riches. I hope you used that core mechanic to trick your friends into thinking you were someone you’re not. In the end, let’s hope we’re able to deceive the nation that you are the heir to the throne. False Dimtri 4!

Deciding a Theme

So how did I come across this insane story in Russian history? That’s easy, I took a Russian history class… In Russian. Yes, the teacher only spoke Russian to us and we read all the texts in Russian. However, it was my wife that suggested I use a medieval Russian theme since I knew so much about it.

I served a religious mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints in Kyiv, Ukraine where I learned Russian. I served for 2 years and when I came back I really wanted to learn about its history. That’s why I was able to take the class and understand what was going on.

I love the Russian and Ukrainian culture. They have a unique style to them and I think our artist Rachel Everett did an outstanding job of capturing it. I couldn’t be happier with the theme for this game.

If you have a game in your head whether it be a theme or a mechanic, take time to let this idea flourish! How do you start when creating a game?