A talk with Bujar Haskaj (Game Designer) about Roots of Mali, now on Kickstarter!

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We had the honor of interviewing Bujar Haskaj, one of the two designers of Roots of Mali, a short tactical abstract 2-player dueling game from Sun Core Games:
What is Roots of Mali about?
“Roots of Mali is a short tactical abstract 2-player dueling game. Players play with a lot of dice but there is no luck involved as you don’t roll them. On your turn you have a simple set of actions to choose from but a lots of possibilities how to use them effectively. 1 die, 6 creatures, 13 abilities, millions of game scenarios! That is Roots of Mali.”
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Why an abstract dice game?
“We didn’t focus on making an abstract game. What we wanted was to create a game with an new mechanism, with lots of unique creatures, and even more special abilities for these. Roots of Mali and Light of Dragons are the result of these wishes.”

What’s the story behind this series of games (Light of Dragons being the first in the series)?
“We like never ending stories, we love infinite opportunities, we need individualism. The core of this game is perfect for a series of tribes. Tribes that battle against each other in a never ending war. And each player should have the chance to choose on which side s/he wants to fight!”
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Why did you want them to be compatible?
“By that we can give players of the series more than just a game. We can build a whole world, where each player finds a place. In other words, we thought a variety of expansions is important to the value and replayability of a game. But we felt that it is easier to enter a new game universe if all editions are playable as standalone game.”

What challenges did you come across in the making of Roots of Mali?
“Balancing! We did test and calculate and test and calculate a lot of times over and over again. And when we were done we tested the game again, again and again until it finally was perfect.”
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The art is gorgeous. What was the inspiration for it?
“I think we are most inspired by our love for games like Dungeons & Dragons or Magic the Gathering. And we really like how our artist Malte Zirbel, who is an amazingly creative person, brought out the details that we had in mind for the whole lore surrounding the game series.”

If this game funds, will you make more for the series?
“I can’t promise anything, but yes, it is our goal to do that. We have more awesome ideas for new and currently unseen tribes. Let us see what the future will bring.” 😉
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We’d like to thank Bujar and Sun Core Games for talking to us about Roots of Mali, a unique and wonderful looking game now on Kickstarter!
You can also try both Light of Dragons and Roots of Mali on Tabletopia via Steam!
Thanks for reading!
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