A local youth worker has designed a Fortnite inspired board game

Sometimes thought of as a rainy-day time killer, tabletop games have made a sort of a comeback in recent years.

However, it’s not classic games like Monopoly that folks are gathering around the table to play these days.

A new crop of fantasy, adventure inspired board games have quickly gained popularity with youth players as well as young professionals.

Kelowna resident Brendan McCaskell is working to catch the wave of popularity with a battle royale genre game he has been working on for over a year.

“I spent years as a program director at summer camps where I planned games for hundreds of kids and I currently work as a youth leader at a local church,” said McCaskell. “You gain a pretty good sense of how to make a game fun and how to balance the game properly.”

In McCaskell’s game, Last One Standing, up to eight players find themselves on an ever-shrinking board where they must survive until they're the last player standing.

If that sounds familiar, it's likely because the game takes inspiration from the runaway success of co-op survival games like Fortnite and its predecessor PubG.

“The genre of the game is inspired by the popular concept of a group of people landing on a map and fighting it out to the end,” explained McCaskell.

“Fortnite is the most popular example right now, but there is a similar battle royale concept in the Hunger Games and books before it.”

The game has undergone play testing with dozens of friends and strangers covering different demographics and McCaskell says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

"I've heard it's an accessible game with a fun concept and people are drawn to the cartoonish style of the characters," said McCaskell.

"I've started a Kickstarter campaign where the money will go to doing a full print run in China and getting the game into people's hands!"

Those interested in making a pledge and receiving a copy of the game post-production can click this link.