Dr Franken's Dice: Whitehead man develops new board game as part of 'Stokerverse'

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A Whitehead man has developed a new family-friendly board game inspired by classic works of horror.

Andrew Brown created ‘Dr Franken’s Dice’ as part of the as part of the StokerVerse - a range of novels, audio, comics, short stories, RPGs, board and video games emanating from Dracula author, Bram Stoker's work.

The game’s concept first came about through Andrew’s collaboration with Dr Chris McAuley and Dacre Stoker, the great grandnephew of Bram Stoker. “Aside from the audio dramas, books and comics they really wanted a gaming aspect [for the Stokerverse],” said Andrew, founder of Whitehead-based table top gaming club WeeGamers. “Dacre commented how he’d have loved something a little less dark that would allow him to share his Stokerverse with younger family members. The next day I had a concept drawn and it just moved from there.”

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The idea has taken a few years to come to fruition, due partly to health issues with Andrew’s mum and dad who both sadly passed away this year. “I’d broken out Dr Franken’s Dice and a few other concepts to chat with Mum as she was in hospital; [she] loved the ideas,” Andrew said.

Andrew Brown playtesting Dr Franken's Dice at Whitehead Primary School.  Photo: Andrew BrownAndrew Brown playtesting Dr Franken's Dice at Whitehead Primary School.  Photo: Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown playtesting Dr Franken's Dice at Whitehead Primary School. Photo: Andrew Brown

“When Chris and I decided to do Dr Franken’s Dice on our own, I founded ABC Games Design & Development Ltd and created the logo based on art deco themes. Mum was a big Poirot fan and the art style features in it quite a bit. Needless to say she loved the logo too, so in a way ABC is dedicated to her as well. She loved games and puzzles and stories, spending time with people. That’s what we want folks to do – play together and make memories.”

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A fast paced dice game for 2-4 players, Dr Franken’s Dice is designed so that more can play with additional dice sets.

“Players roll their dice each turn hoping to gather a part of their monster: head, legs and body – but they can only claim one dice at a time. Then they need to roll for lighting to bring their creation to life,” the game’s creator explained.

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Andrew Brown, the creator of Dr Franken's Dice.  Photo: suppliedAndrew Brown, the creator of Dr Franken's Dice.  Photo: supplied
Andrew Brown, the creator of Dr Franken's Dice. Photo: supplied

"With dexterity rules players then push their dice-built monster to a village tile in the hopes of catching villagers, which players then store in their castle.

"Players can roll and get arrow symbols which they can chuck at an opponent’s monster to try and knock them down, recruit villagers to operate their castle’s inventions, and thwart opponents.”

Meanwhile, the game has been given the seal of approval by local primary schoolers. “We’ve made nice easy rules that allow for a very quick game, the goal being to get family and friends playing, even with hectic life styles,” Andrew added.

“The game doesn’t take up a lot of space, there’s optional rules if dexterity is an issue and more to add complexity so that the game can grow with your family, or just a little more content when the grown ups decide to play themselves! Play testing at Whitehead Primary School really cemented that approach as the children there loved it.”

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Cover art for the game.  Photo: Andrew BrownCover art for the game.  Photo: Andrew Brown
Cover art for the game. Photo: Andrew Brown

Next on the agenda is to take Dr Franken’s Dice to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter around March 2025, with the goal of raising £10,000. “If everything goes to plan, our backers would have their games in time for Halloween 2025,” added Andrew.

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