KUGO isn’t just a game or a toy – it’s a box of creative thinking. Unlike many games, there aren’t set rules. It’s a box of components – some familiar such as dice and flickable discs, others more avant-garde. You have ramps. You have pillars. You have large blocks or different sizes, some with holes. The first challenge of KUGO isn’t learning to play well, it’s learning to play at all. It asks you to craft the games you want to enjoy from a box of wooden delights. We spoke to Michael, the person behind this brilliant box of goodies.
Interview with Michael from KUGO
Hey Michael, if it were up to us, we think every household should have a copy of KUGO because it’s just so much fun! We’re honoured to have been your fulfilment partner, and thank you for taking the time to talk to us about it.
From Crokinole to Pitch Car, flicking games have been a thing of joy. Where did the inspiration for KUGO come from?
KUGO was a total accident. I never set out to make a board game, it actually began as a way to lift my son out of a bit of a funk during lockdown. I challenged him to flick the top of a milk bottle through a goal made from baked bean tins. Then we started adding rebounds, obstacles, pots to land in… the challenges got bigger, and soon family and friends all wanted to join in.
The inspiration for turning it into a real game came later, and it drew from lots of things that mean a lot to us. I’ve always loved wooden, tactile games, there’s something special about the weight, the feel, and the craftsmanship. From chess pieces to Crokinole boards or those handmade games you find at Christmas markets, they’ve always felt timeless to me.
Another influence came from my childhood visits to my grandparents. They had one of those old multi-game boxes, you know the cheesy ones, packed with chess, backgammon, snakes and ladders, and a few mystery games you’d forgotten existed. I remember the excitement of opening it and deciding what to play first. That feeling of possibility still makes me excited today and it’s a big part of what KUGO became, the notion that it’s a box full of ideas, waiting to be played with.
It’s a brave thing as a designer to provide the creativity of the design to the gamer themselves. Did you ever worry that KUGO would fall flat due to people not being willing to design interesting games with the system?
Absolutely! When we first tested KUGO, we actually pitched it as a kit to make games and most people had no idea where to start! We quickly realised that players just needed a nudge to get them going, so we made a rule book with some of the games we were playing. This meant those who didn’t want to create a game could simply pick an existing game and start playing.
The idea of creating a game might seem like a big leap, but people are far more inventive than they think. Once they start playing, it clicks, they get it and realise how easy it is to build something fun with dice, skittles, and a couple of pucks. And when they see their own ideas come to life and they actually play them, that’s pure magic, it’s no longer our game it’s theirs. Watching people rearrange our demo setups and start inventing new games on the spot that’s honestly the best part for me.
“The idea of creating a game might seem like a big leap, but people are far more inventive than they think.”
We also encourage our community to send in their invented games and we upload them to our website so others to play! We actually demo a game invented by one of our community which is awesome!
The end result has obviously paid off and KUGO has been a huge hit – what are some of the favourite ideas and games you’ve seen created?
There have been some brilliant ones and the range is huge! One of the most popular is Minefield, a more strategic game that’s been a big hit at demos. It’s a kind of tower defence setup where you place “mines” (dice), each with different abilities that change how the game plays. It’s definitely one for the gamers.
Then there’s Obliterate: a head-to-head battle where you’re capturing your opponent’s skittles, but there’s always a chance to win them back. Our party games and quick tricks like Duelling Flickers are always crowd-pleasers too.
But one of my absolute favourites came from a five- or six-year-old who invented a game he called Destroy the Village. He and his sibling built a little village using blocks and skittles, shouted “3, 2, 1!” and then just unleashed total flicking chaos until everything was knocked down. No rules, just pure, joyful mayhem. It was brilliant!
What prompted you to lead with a crowdfunding campaign for getting KUGO off the ground? (excuse the pun)
Love a good pun! After doing some research into how to launch a game, crowdfunding felt like the natural route, it’s well-trodden with loads of great advice and resources, especially for board games.
It was also about validation. Crowdfunding lets you test your idea, gather feedback, fine-tune your message, and build a community around your game, one that, in our case, still supports us today.
We weren’t a blockbuster hit, but seeing nearly 500 people believe in your little flick-based idea… that’s an incredible feeling. It definitely gives you the kind of motivation that keeps you going.
When choosing a fulfilment partner, what made you select Zatu Fulfilment, and what was your experience like?
I joined the BoardGameProtoHype community, which is full of game designers at all different stages of development. It’s a brilliant space for sharing knowledge and experiences and fulfillment is a topic that comes up a lot. Zatu’s name kept being mentioned as a great company to work with. I met one of the team, and from the first conversation, they made everything feel easy.
I’d worked with another fulfilment company before, and while they did a decent job, my experience with Zatu has been completely different. The communication has been flawless, clear, prompt, and patient and they always took the time to explain anything I didn’t understand without ever making me feel out of my depth. That kind of care and attention really stands out.
It’s great to work with a team that genuinely understands the board-gaming world and cares about helping indie creators like us get their games out there smoothly.
“It’s great to work with a team that genuinely understands the board-gaming world and cares about helping indie creators like us get their games out there smoothly.”
What’s next for KUGO? And are there any other games you’re looking to bring to the table soon?
We’ve got some really exciting things in the works! The next big step is a brand-new KUGO product to sit alongside Trix and Play. We’ll be announcing it soon, it’s a more strategic, card-driven expansion that blends flicking with tactical decision-making.
We’re also developing smaller sport-focussed expansions, as well as adding new and community-made games to the website. The dream has always been to grow KUGO into a full platform for creative play.
On top of that, we’ve launched Moosaa, the games studio behind KUGO, and we’ve already got two more games in development that will be heading into play-testing soon!
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For more from Michael, and his upcoming projects under Moosaa (including more KUGO!), check out his website where you can find more of his games, and give KUGO a follow on Instagram.
