For Tralins, this is his first published board game; it was developed by his company, MegaGigaOmniCorp. Among other online projects, Tralins designed an online game for Alias, which like Lost was produced by JJ Abrams and aired on ABC. He also designed the original online game for Lost, although that one has since been replaced by another. Given his connection to the show and his knowledge of game design, he was tapped to design Lost: The Board Game.
"They wanted something that really captured the spirit of the show," Tralins said. "I happened to be doing some game development on a project I can't talk about yet, and they asked me to take a hack at this board game."
Flashback to Talisman and Magic
Tralins immediately flashed back to his college days, when all-night sessions of Talisman were common, and his post-college life in New York City when Magic: the Gathering was first published and he played competitively. Both of those games inspired parts of Lost: The Game.
"Talisman was my thing. I didn't care if it took three days to play with all the expansions, it was just so awesome to play it and pull an all-nighter," Tralins said. "I wanted to recreate that feeling, which is the same feeling I get when I watch Lost."
He soon decided that the island should be different every game. "They never know what they'll find on the island," Tralins said. "And compasses don't work." So players chose hexagonal tiles at random from a set of 75 total to form the island.
"You control the size and shape of the board," he said. "With the advanced rules, the island can be whatever shape you want. You can create fjords, multiple beaches, peninsulas... You can really get creative with how you build the board."
Next, Tralins worked on the card-playing element. "I tried to apply a card game mechanic that was competitive and strategic and also allowed people to play their characters, so they could get a little bit into the roleplaying element," he said.
Playtesting Lost: The Game
Tralins' initial playtesting was with his wife. As the game developed, both gamers and Lost fans also playtested it. "We wanted to see how different kinds of players moved through the game," Tralins said. "There are layers and layers of strategy."
At one point, Tralins shared the game with ABC executives and producers from the show. "I told them that playing it would be the best way to understand it," he said. "I thought we'd play for about 30 minutes. At the two-hour mark, we had played through all of the cards I had at that time. They were all upset that it ended."
Support from Cardinal Industries
Lost: The Game is unique in the catalog of publisher Cardinal Industries. Their other games include trivia games based on Desperate Housewives and The Simpsons, the dice game Bunco, and a selection of traditional games like Chess and Checkers. On Cardinal's web site, no game is even remotely like Lost: The Game.
"Cardinal and ABC took a big risk," Tralins said. "Cardinal has been really great in saying that they trust the Lost producers and the Lost fans. It's not a simple game. But Lost is not a simple show to watch, and it shouldn't be a simple game to play."
Both ABC and Cardinal Industries have been great to work with, Tralins said, as have the show's producers. He said that "they made it clear to the network that they were not afraid to have this project challenge players. It was not going to be Chutes and Ladders."
Lost: The Game may not be simple, but Tralins said it's not needlessly complex, either. "There are a lot of rules and there are no rules. But that's Lost, right?"
Tralins "couldn't be happier with the quality of the components. The island tiles look fantastic, they're sturdy, and it all works great."
A Link to Designer Games
As a fan of designer games like Settlers of Catan, Tralins hopes that Lost: The Game will introduce more people to that style. "Lost took a niche genre and blew it up to mainstream. That's a goal I have with this game. There's a whole realm of board games -- the German games -- with social interaction and intellectual challenge. This is a chance to expose those mechanics and those pleasures to a whole new audience. I hope that people say, 'This is a lot of fun. Settlers of Catan looks like this, I want to try that.' If this can get people to that point, that's a win."
Lost: The Board Game's web site, LostBoardGame.com, should be up soon. The site will include PDF downloads to help players manage equipment, track injuries, etc.
"The game is completely faithful to the show," Tralins said. "One comment we kept getting is that everyone who played felt like they had just watched an episode -- and they felt like they were on the island. That's the experience we most wanted to capture."
