war games

Free Revised Edition of Giant Available Now

3 April 2020 Matthew Lowes

GIANT in now available as a free download, ready for hours of print-and-play giant robot battles and skirmishes. This is an updated revised version, with a few errors corrected. Here’s the back-cover copy:

“Future wars are waged with huge humanoid machines known as giants. Human pilots are encased in neuro-conductive capsules behind layers of armor plating, their senses and nerve impulses merged with the artificial systems of the giants they control.

“Giant is a wargame played with paper, pencils, and six-sided dice. Inside is a complete game, including rules, a visual reference, a record sheet, a master battle map, and eight ready to play maps with various terrain. It’s perfect for travel or when you want an action packed game with minimal preparation.

“Each player controls up to three giants, chosen from fifteen different types. Arm them with missiles, guns, and lasers. Then send them into the battle!”

I designed this game back in 2015. I wanted to make a giant robot wargame that was simple enough to be quickly learned and played with nothing more than pencils, paper, and dice. It had to have just the right amount of complexity to provide strategic and tactical challenges, narrative excitement, and the promise of endless possibilities. Finally, it had to generate interesting, vivid, action-packed battles! During a year of development, writing, and play testing, Giant stayed true to that vision. I drew a bunch of illustrations, wrote some flavor text, and did a traditional acrylic painting for the cover. The final 20 page rulebook includes everything you need except dice and a pencil.

You can still support this game and others by purchasing a print copy of Giant from LULU with a glossy saddle-stitched cover for $4.99. Or purchase any of my other games, post reviews, or make a donation here. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Download the free rules, stand-alone record sheets, blank maps, and a print-and-play map pack below or on the games page.

Rulebook
Record Sheet
Blank Map
Map Pack

Here are some examples of finished games (click for larger images):

GIANT Available Now!

9 April 201527 October 2017 Matthew Lowes

GIANT is in print and available now! Order your copy for $7.99 + s/h through LULU.

*Use the code APRIL30 and get 30% off print books until April 12th.

From the back:

Future wars are waged with huge humanoid machines known as giants. Human pilots are encased in neuro-conductive capsules behind layers of armor plating, their senses and nerve impulses merged with the artificial systems of the giants they control.

Giant is a wargame played with paper, pencils, and six-sided dice. Inside is a complete game, including rules, a visual reference, a record sheet, a master battle map, and eight ready to play maps with various terrain. It’s perfect for travel or when you want an action packed game with minimal preparation.

Each player controls up to three giants, chosen from fifteen different types. Arm them with missiles, guns, and lasers. Then send them into the battle!

Record sheets & maps available for free download on the games page.

Here are some records from past games:

GIANT coming soon …

23 February 201527 October 2017 Matthew Lowes1 Comment

About a year ago I got into my head to design a war game featuring battles between giant robots. I wanted to create a game simple enough to be quickly learned and played with nothing more than pencils, paper, and dice. It had to have focus, with just the right amount of complexity to provide strategic and tactical challenges, and the promise of endless possibilities. Finally, it had to generate interesting, vivid, action packed battles!

During the past year in development, writing, and play testing, Giant has stayed very true to that initial vision. I recently finished work on the cover design, and the final game, with its 20 page illustrated rule book, including eight pages of ready to play battle maps, is almost ready for an independent release. I’m looking forward to getting this out and into the hands of tabletop game players.