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My board game is played with darts. Players play cards and move armies on a dartboard map while throwing darts. The theme of the game is aliens taking over a wizards' planet. I don't like the current name of the game, Round Ground, and want to change it to something better. I cannot decide which name to pick from the list:
1.Arms and Spells
2.Cybermagic War
3.Spell Darts
4.S.K.U.L.L.
5.Planet Assault
6.Dartcraft
Which one do you like the best?
Love the idea.
I gues from your list "Dartcraft" stood out to me. It tells me about your game right in the title a) Uses Darts b) may be something like Warcraft, Minecraft or some other battle simulation.
If you aren't afraid of getting sued maybe Dartvader Vs. Pokeyman (swing... and a miss).
I have to agree Dartcraft from this list stands out as the best. I always find that the name and the box art have to complement each other. Sometimes one of them can get away with being less informative but "cooler" while the other picks up the slack.
Dartcraft.
Dartcraft is definitely the catchiest.
Maybe "Magic Missiles" or "Unidentified Flying Objects"? "Arms Against Arcana"?
Also have you considered using magnetic darts rather than 'real' ones? It seems like it would address some cost concerns, as well as major safety concerns if you have people moving things on the board and throwing regularly.
I'm new to this board and don't have lots of experience in naming games but I do have lots of experience with baby names. I was kind of a nut in naming my 2 kids. The prinicples are probably about the same.
Dartcraft is the way to go here.
Hate to by the odd one out on this, but of your choices, I prefer S.K.U.L.L..
Dartcraft evokes "Minecraft," "Warcraft," and "Starcraft." That may be intentional on your part, but it works against you in two ways:
1) Your game doesn't seem much like those, so the association is likely to attract the wrong market and drive off those (like myself) who dislike RTS and crafting games.
and
2) You are likening yourself to digital products, which may lead to some confusion about the nature of your game.
I have only passing familiarity with your rules, but if the conceit is the darts are ships landing on the planet, you may want to do some dictionary diving while thinking along the lines of
"Planetfall"
"Starfall"
"Landing Zone"
etc
I can understand the desire to include the word "dart," given your dexterity mechanic, but don't rule out use of the associated verbs like "throw", "pitch," and "sling." Or use the Latin word "jectus."
"Sling World"
"Nova Jectus"
Names are hard. Good luck.
"Arms and Spells", "Cybermagic War", and "Planet Assault" all sound a bit too generic. I think "Spell Darts" gives it a spelling bee vibe, and I'm not so sure about "S.K.U.L.L." either; is it a metal concert or a group of comic villains?
"Dartcraft" is by far the best on the list. It's simple and conveyes the right message: a game about darts and crafts. Extra bonuspoints for the nice inner rhyme.
Kalle and SliV,
Thank you for the thoughtful voting, I appreciate it a lot.
Mark,
Thank you for your "Dissenting vote", I think it's a fair critic of the name "Dartcraft". I'm also impressed with you being able to come up with a dozen of cool titles on the spot.
I posted the same survey on Board Game Geek, Board Game Design Forum, and Facebook. Here is the total number of votes from all of them together:
Dartcraft – 19 votes
Arms and Spells – 8 votes
Spell Darts – 3 votes
S.K.U.L.L. – 3 votes
Planet Assault – 3 votes
Darts of War – 2 votes
Cybermagic War – 1 vote
Therefore, Dartcraft becomes the new name for Round Ground.
Thanks everyone for helping me to pick the best name!
Your welcome.
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I'm glad everyone likes the name Dartcraft so much. Although I like this title myself as well, I'll give it a few more days just to make sure I'm picking the best name possible.
JustActCasual,
Thank you for all the suggestion. I'm considering using magnetic darts but I don't know what kind of research I can make to find out if it would be more popular. It seems to me that steel darts are not that dangerous but magnetic darts could be prefered in families with kids.