The Last Gig, the board game that will make you feel like a punk band on tour
The Last Gig
The world of music and board games meet in The Last Gig. For an hour or more, you can pretend to be on tour between clubs and festivals by managing your punk, hardcore or rock'n'roll band. That was what was missing to put board game fans and diehard punk rockers in agreement. The creator of the boxed game is Dario Maggiore - aka Dr. Pepper - illustrator, graphic designer and art director, as well as former guitarist of the Milanese hc band La Crisi. With him we went into this new board game called The Last Gig, that is The Last Concert, available for pre-order on Kickstarter.(Photo: The Last Gig)
G .Colosio How it was born “It all started in January 2021, during the lockdown: at that moment there were many friends who worked in music and were unmotivated, blocked with their activities related to live shows because they were not protected. So, partly for fun and partly to support them in a moment of stalemate, I thought I'd start designing a board game to support clubs, organizers and bands, involving them inside. This is how I reacted to a difficult situation with my creativity ”, Dario tells us. Then after the first tests still in black and white shared on Facebook, he realized that the interest was really high, but developing it and reaching its final form required several tests, tests and fundamental changes.
( Credit: Dario Maggiore - The first tests)
"The game remained like this for a while, then my friend Enrico Benincasa put me in contact with two guys who already worked in this area, Riccardo Rodolfi and Alessio Calabresi. Now, all together, we are part of this publishing house, Domm Factory, of which I am the artistic director, and we create board games ”. Dario despite not being a game designer had already managed to reach a very good level of playability, except for one thing: too many points were lost. With Riccardo's help they have perfected and filed where it was needed, because when people lose too many points they get angry and tired, and consequently they lose interest. \
How it's done (Photo: The Last Gig)
G.Colosio Looking at the first photos, you certainly take a dip back a few decades and the references, in part, are of the great classics of our childhood: "I have always played Ludus, L'Isola di fire, Crack! , Thrill. This harks back a lot to the 80's with a nice chunky backboard, dice to roll and a built-in spinning wheel, typical of MB games. Thanks to Riccardo we have added some features of the modern board game: therefore, as mentioned, it is a roll-and-move with the wheel but then every player has the possibility to evolve. You start out as a band playing in taverns and by investing your money - which are real picks - you can upgrade your van, buy new gear, print t-shirts and records to sell. So there is also a managerial component that wasn't there in the games 40 years ago ". Each participant also has a van dashboard with all the details of the backline, i.e. the tools they take on tour and crew members such as the promoter or sound engineer who can help you score more points.
(Photo: The Last Gig)
G.Colosio The graphic aspect - being Dario Maggiore an illustrator - is not a secondary detail and is consistent with the alternative and punk world, especially with the recognizable style of Dr. Pepper which is enhanced in the representation of the game cards dedicated to food, merchandising, festivals, venues, lives and tours, with meticulous details: "Another component that comes close to role-playing games is the presence of card bands: each player at the start of the game draw a card and play using an existing band. Each has different characteristics and starting resources. Whoever has the best or the most popular doesn't necessarily win ". For the occasion, existing or historical groups were involved in the deck: there are the Canadians Danko Jones - of which the frontman Danko is present in the promotional video - then the Americans Nashville Pussy, The Spits, the Australians Stiff Richards, the Californians Rocket From The Crypt, the Dutch No Turning Back and many Italians: from the metal band Extrema to the punk rockers Derozer, the stoner psych band Ufomammut, the Talco, the Giuda, the Viboras, the Peawees and many others. There really is everything from punk to rock'n'roll to power pop, hardcore and metal.
How to play (Photo: The Last Gig)
G .Colosio “Minimum two and maximum four players. The purpose of the match is defined at the beginning and you choose how many live shows you end up with, but reaching that goal first does not ensure victory because you look at the final points collected, making the challenges unpredictable based on the success of the concerts of the groups ". Along the way there will be unexpected events and opportunities before reaching the conclusion. And here the flexibility is the master, being able to define the duration of the matches according to the needs, remaining committed about fifty minutes or even two hours or more.
Looking at the photos and the first prototypes, there are many pieces and pieces inside the box: “It is the part that also makes it a board game with German characteristics - that is, those with many mechanics and dynamics of strategy. For example, there is a guitar pedal which is the gain booster: a point multiplier but also a minimal resource to be able to play in some venues ", explains Dario.
Festivals, expansions, vegans and beer cards (Photo: The Last Gig)
G.Colosio
