"Klondike" is a new board game by Coldstream Games, a small company in Coldstream, that aims to immerse players into the historical gold rush days.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Coldstream Games

Board games are not dusty old things of the past and new ones are hitting the market regularly, with colourful artwork and designs, and historical and mystery-type themes.

These in-your-hand, table top games are incredibly popular in some circles.

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Katherine Fehr and her husband have been creating board games for three years from their home in Coldstream near Vernon.

Fehr said she's been having so much fun with their company Coldstream Games.

Their most recently finished game, Klondike, is the one the couple has been working on since the beginning, and boasts 17 real historical characters from the gold rush.

“This game took over two years to complete because of all the research we had to do,” Fehr said. “In the game you are given a starting hand and you need to add cards to develop it to get a chance of having a successful mining opportunity and earn bragging rights. When all the gold from the mountain passes is gone, the game is over.”

Fehr said in her research she learned the backstories of many prospectors and the women who found success during that time running hotels and restaurants, plots that are interwoven into the experience of the game.

“It is an entertaining and educational game,” Fehr said. “My hope is that people get a glimpse and are drawn in.”

Their second completed board game is called The Heist which has a mystery theme set in a museum. One person is the thief stealing art and the other characters work to stop the thief, using security cameras and maps.

Fehr said she was inspired to create board games by friends in Kelowna who have their own board game company.

“We love board games and table top games,” Fehr said. “Creating them is our passion and creative outlet. The development stage is truly so much fun, coming up with new ideas, testing them and improving them. Our artist is in Kelowna and so creative and talented.”

Once the prototype is finalized the game gets sent to Vancouver to be printed. The games are found in several board game cafes in the Kelowna area, and can also be purchased online.

“The board gaming community is huge and the variety and the creativity and artwork are amazing,” Fehr said. “There are thousands of independent game producers. We are using Panda Games to print ours and paying for it with Kickstarter, a crowd funding platform on our site.”

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Using Kickstarter, an interested gamer can purchase the game at an early bird price which in turn funds the printing of it. Fehr said she and her husband are not at the point where they can work full time on their creative projects.

“Our hope is once we get more of a following and more exposure we will be able to turn this into a full time job,” Fehr said.

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