The story behind the design and development of NEITHER KING NOR GOD and why we decided to publish a pilot edition.
Dear gamers
I hope you all do well.
First and foremost, I am a gamer (ever since I was a little boy). Greatest moments when gamers get in touch or when we meet at conventions and talk about games, history and these cardboard boxes that combine both.
I had been lurking around the EU for ages, and with the early beginnings of SoD, I also contacted AEGIR about a German version, but AEGIR is a small group like us, and they were extremely busy getting the project off the ground, so we only had loose contact. Then I spent years (!!!) thinking “should I, shouldn’t I (back)” and always thought, “no, Here I Stand is on the shelf, you’ll probably never play it (EU) anyway.” That went on for quite a while. I’m a war gamer by nature (focusing on the Napoleonic era), but the Renaissance has always intrigued me.
So, while I was dithering about EU and Here I Stand, my desire to play an epic game set in that period grew. Then I read a historical novel and came up with the idea of designing it myself, based on the design philosophy of Sound of Drums.
The important thing is that it has to be accessible. And yet epic. Or epic, as the theme deserves, and yet accessible. In other words, the opposite of EU and Here I Stand in this regard. The novel also gave me the idea of what the core mechanism could be, which must guarantee a high degree of interaction (indispensable for me as a design element).
How can I bring the game to a wider audience? And how can I tap into the potential of the possible player base?
We are gradually making a name for ourselves, but the market and the competition are brutal.
I know how much my beloved series “History of the Ancient Seas” is not on everyone’s radar. I am happy that it is slowly becoming known to a wider audience.
With our rhythm at SOD and the way we work, I can’t shoot 8-9 copies of advanced prototypes into the scene at the moment and hope that YT will review them and run a huge marketing campaign.
We have a base of players who I believe are largely satisfied with the quality, graphics, and game design. But the market is fast-paced.
People are rushing from novelty to novelty, and I always say with every project we have on the table: “We only have one chance to do this theme. Only one bullet in the chamber. It has to be right, because we won’t be doing the Renaissance or Mediterranean civ-building theme a second time. It has to be the ‘ultimate’ game.”
Then I had the idea of developing a “light” version, which focuses on the core mechanism of the “courtiers.” I asked my gamer friend Chris Synatzschke to take over the development and Andrew James to do the editor’s job. Both in a short amount of time. This was quite a challenge.
The task was to scale down the original design: With only 4 factions, a smaller game board, “only” 300 wooden game pieces, etc..
We’re only making a small number of this edition. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
We’re offering these for a strictly limited period: October 11-31, 2025. I was just waiting for the OK that the games will make it to Essen, production is finished 14th of October.
We probably won’t sell all copies at once. Some retailers want to buy the remaining copies. We’ll be very generous with YT channels and influencer to create buzz. We’ll offer the game for EUR 29.- instead of EUR 69.-.
All this with the aim of promoting the hopefully unique, super-intelligent mechanism of the “courtiers” and the epic version.
I hope that many players will say, “For EUR 29, I’ll take a look at it (LTD edition).” And I hope that many will say, “The mechanism of the courtiers is semi-ingenious.”
The epic version has a lot more to offer than the LTD pilot version.
We have a really nice diplomatic subsystem, a non-player faction with the Ottoman Empire, well-designed asymmetrical factions, more types of courtiers, etc…. All in all, however, it is still accessible and playable compared to the aforementioned EU and Here I Stand. Both have a large fan base, but neither are played that often.
My plan is to reach these players through the LTD Pilot Edition campaign. And because we have a gifted graphic designer on board, Marc von Martial, and we make everything out of wood, I hope that we will reach a certain level that justifies the enormous effort. In order to gain some credibility on the subject, we are about to sign another game in addition to EU, with the theme of the Thirty Years’ War: The Collapse designed by the lovely Daniel Iniesta Hernandez.
The Epic Version will also be released in German as KEIN GOTT KEIN KÖNIG and also in French as NI DIEU NI ROI!
As you know, I am German (Swabian, to be more precise), and the German title is a blast!!! I can’t really say how it sounds in English. The translators and editors didn’t mention anything special, but weren’t enthusiastic either like I was with the German title. But this could be due to their personality. 600+ game pieces, most of them customized, double layered faction sheet, we will have a huge and double layered game board 86 x 112cm. All will be in the great quality you can expect from us and we will offer the game at a reasonable price, too.
Find more information here:
NEITHER KING NOR GOD LTD PILOT EDITION
Please take care of yourself, hug your beloved and stay safe
Your Sound of Drums Team
Uwe
🥁🎲⚔️
PS: speaking of gamers that are (hopefully) in the majority satisfied with our communication and service, here is a super short update for the current games (more detailed updates will follow in the specific campaigns):
- Battle Commander Vol. 1: printed as we speak, ready to hit the boat.
- Primosole Bridge: printed as we speak, ready to hit the boat.
- Battles of Napoleon Vol. 2, “hardware” ready as we speak, working on finalizing the rules. I promise, you will be surprised by the Wartenburg scenario!
- Books for Assault Sicily 43 and books and LTD wooden boxes and 1793, arrived in the US in the meantime and finally ready to be sent to gamers. Sorry for this huge delay, but it was quite complicated to send these items over to the US (and therefore Canada). Sound of Drums has now an own business registration in the US which will help a lot in the future.
