issue 19 // volume 42

Kickstarter in the Community:

Video Valentines from the heart

» Canadian company offers personalized animated videos

Cheryl Minns
Arts Editor
Marts@theotherpress.ca

n today’s digital age, it takes
more than a Valentine’s Day
card to express your emotions in
a truly personal way. That’s why
AStoryBoardZ (ASBZ) in Toronto

has created Video Valentines,
an animated video postcard that
users can customize with their
own audio and text. The short
video features animation of a
couple having a conversation
while riding in a hot air balloon.
ASBZ is seeking $750 in funding
from their Kickstarter campaign,
which ends on February 8—
just enough time to get the
rewards out to the backers in
time for Valentine’s Day.

“We've talked with our
friends and they said it’s a
great idea to give people a new
way to express their feelings,”
said Alikhan Zhanuzakov,
co-founder of ASBZ. “Most of
the people think that a video
with their audio message is
more than enough, but we
thought maybe backers would
like to add a personal visual
touch to the video and added
rewards with customization.”

The rewards include
animated wallpaper for $5,
wallpaper plus an animated
Video Valentine with custom
voiceover for $15, wallpaper plus
voiceover plus a Video Valentine

: with a custom icon for $25, or all
: of the rewards plus customized

: text added to the end of the

: Video Valentine for $40. Most of
: the rewards will be delivered by

: February 14, but for backers who
: don’t mind waiting, there are

: discounts on certain reward tiers
: that will be delivered in March.

The team at AStoryBoardZ

: have worked together for

: more than four years, mostly

: creating art for mobile apps.

: However, ASBZ founder Akmal
: Salkhov always wanted to

: make movies, which led the

: team to pursue storyboard
and concept art projects.

Now they are making their

: first video game, RendeWoo, a
: dialogue-based game that follows :
: a couple having a conversation
: ona hot air balloon ride with

: the player controlling either

: Her or Him. There will be 10

: storylines, 5 for Her and 5 for

: Him, which will each take at

: least 25 minutes to complete.

“Depending on what

: you choose to say or ask, you

: seamlessly switch between

: storylines,” Salkhov said. “The
: game tries to identify what you
: are pursuing, along with what

: your goals and values are. For

: example, you can help this couple :
: build a new family or destroy

: their relationships, you can try

: to bea good friend or use Her/

: Him for your personal interests.”

The game is expected

1

Pats

: to be finished in April-May

: and released in online game

: stores such as Steam and GOG,
: with future releases planned

: for mobile app stores.

Since some of the

: RendeWoo game art was already
: completed, Salkhov decided it

: would bea good idea to offer

: the hot air balloon scene as a

: customizable Video Valentine.

“Because Rende Woo has

: aromantic environment, I

: thought, ‘Why not make a

: video template out of art that’s
: already done?’ So ina couple of
: days, we prepared footage for

: the animation and launched

: the campaign,” Salkhov said.

“It’s our first campaign and it

: was launched in a rush because
: we wanted to be on time with the :

romantic

: eve of Valentine’s Day. But even
: if our project does not reach its
: funding goal, we are happy that
: we at least tried to share the idea
: of another way to make people we :
: love a little bit happier,” he said.

If the campaign doesn’t

reach $750 by February 8, ASBZ
: still plans to make the Video
: Valentines available to their fans.

“We're thinking about

: creating a dedicated page on our

: game’s website where people

: could order Romantic Video

: Postcards for their beloved,”

? Zhanuzakov said. “We'll also run

: giveaways on our Facebook page.”

For those who want even

more customizable options,
: RendeWoo will offer players
: the option to create their

own video stories in the

arts // no. 9

  

Image via kickstarter

: game’s dialogue editor.

“Imagine a video postcard,

: but this time it’s interactive,”
: Zhanuzakov said. “Every person

will be able to create her/his

: own version of RendeWoo in the

: dialogue editor, which can be

: learned in minutes. The dialogue
: editor will export your data and

: create your version of the story.

: The person you love will be able

: to play your interactive romantic
: postcard on web browsers,

: PC, Mac, iOS, and Android”

To learn more about ASBZ,

: check out their website at

: AStoryBoardZ.com, connect

: with them at Facebook.com/

: AStoryBoardZ, or go to their

: Kickstarter campaign: Video

: Valentines — an animated short
: featuring your message.

 

Chairman of the Board: But is it art?

» ‘Dixit’ board game review

Ed Appleby
Illustrator

 

: based on who guesses right and which
: inactive players’ cards got votes. The
first player to reach 30 points wins.

: The game has a similar vote-

: and-match mechanic as Balderdash.

: Those familiar with Apples to Apples

OOOO

AY is subjective. Two people can look

at the same painting or read the same
: because you are trying to guess the
: right one rather than the best fit.

story and interpret it in different ways.
Dixit is a party board game for
3-6 players (expandable to 12) that
was designed by Jean-Louis Roubira,
illustrated by Marie Cardouat, and
published by Libellud in 2009. In the
game, each player takes turns as the
active player who choses a card from
their hand. The active player then gives
a clue about the illustration on the card
through whatever means they desire, be
it a story, word, pop culture reference, or
even whistling a tune. The other players
add a card facedown that they believe
also matches the clue. Players then vote
on which card they think is the active
player’s card and points are awarded

: or Cards Against Humanity will notice
: some similarities in gameplay, except

though the game can suffer from

: “analysis paralysis” with players

: over analyzing the card they wish

: to submit, adding time to the game
: and frustrating the other players.

: The simple rules and lateral reasoning

: involved make it fun for all ages. The

: game is probably best suited for casual

: games since more experienced board

: game players will find it fun but not at the
: level of challenge that they look for. It’s a

: great game to play at the end of a long day
: of intense and complex strategy games.

there is not as much arguing for cards

The rounds are fairly short,

  

Dixit is a great go-to game for parties.

Illustration by Ed Appleby