If you've read any of writer/artist David Petersen's Mouse Guard comics from Archaia, you may recall a handful of scenes in which the mice play a game called 'Swords And Strongholds.' It sounds a little bit like chess and looks a little bit like the Chinese game Go, but there are cards involved.

As it turns out, Petersen didn't really have any rules in mind for the game when he dreamed it up for the comics, so he asked the creator of Burning Wheel and the Mouse Guard RPG, game maker Luke Crane, to come up with some. He did, Petersen designed a board, and they've gone to Kickstarter to get some funding for a limited run. Just a few days in, it's already funded at $18,000, so if you contribute $30, you're guaranteed a game.

According to the Kickstarter description, an average game of Swords And Strongholds takes about 10 to 20 minutes to play, which is just long enough to pass the time in a comic convention line. The game is strictly for two players and uses eight mouse "pawns."

The game set sounds really cool (Petersen calls it an art piece on its own). It includes, "a wooden board, eight plastic mouse pawns, 30 cards (on 300 gsm coated stock or better) in a sturdy tuck box or sleeve, and a rules sheet complete with example illustrations."

There are (well, were) some pretty cool rewards, too, including signed copies of the game, original art, and a deluxe edition. It looks like those are all gone, more or less, but there are still copies of the game available to backers -- so get in there now if you're interested.

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