Clout: Fantasy is described by its creator (game designer Jesper Myrfors) as the first "collectible throwing game". Clout Fantasy, released by Hidden City Games, is composed of poker-style chips featuring fantasy art by various artists. In a game of both strategy and dexterity players compose stacks consisting of 15 chips and up to 25 clout points. These stacks or armies (representing fantasy armies of Goblins, Dragons, Elves, etc.) are then played by being tossed in turns onto the playing field. Each chip has special abilities that allow it to affect other chips within its range. At the end of the game the player with the most clout points on the playing field wins the game. The production of Clout has been canceled as of April, 2007 and there are no plans to produce any further expansion sets.
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For tournaments, Clout Fantasy is normally played on a hard surface one meter square in size. However, the game is extremely adaptable and the company is supportive of players experimenting with all types of surfaces including differing terrains on maps, floors, sidewalks, bouncing off walls, etc. A normal stack is made of 15 chips all from one army (with up to 2 neutral chips) and totaling 25 clout points. The stack must have at least 2 bases in it. Players choose their throwing position and then stay in that position for the game. When using a table as the playing surface, the player’s hand must maintain an arch of approximately 18 inches from the playing surface, the chip must move upwards from the players hand when it is released and the player’s hand may not cross the surface of the playing area. Players usually stand at least 35 centimeters from the playing surface when throwing their chips.
To determine order of play, the players throw chips at the middle of the play field. The person whose chip lands closest may determine the player who goes first. The last chip of the army of the last player does not count for points when it is placed on the board. This is to prevent a player from putting a high point chip down on the board last when no one can attack it.
In a one vs one game, each player takes turns until the last chip has been thrown. They then add up the total points and the person with the highest point total wins that match. A round is made of up to 3 matches. The winner of a round is the person who wins 2 of 3 matches in 45 mins. In multiplayer games only one match is played and the winner of the round is the person with the most points at the end of the match.
Each chip is a premium-quality plastic poker chip whose basic color designates the army (or faction) it belongs to. A sticker is secured to both sides of the chip displaying unique art for that specific chip, the chip's name, its range, defense, Clout Points and its ability(s).
There are four types of chips used in the game: bases, troops, actions and relics. Players must have exactly two bases in a standard stack. Each player may have up to two neutral chips in their stack (army). There are no other limits on the type of chips that a player can use to make the army they play with.
With the release of Redbeard's Revenge there are seven different factions in Clout Fantasy. Each has its own artwork subjects, its own color, and its own abilities that they focus on. They are:
Abilities represent the actions and effects caused by playing a chip. All abilities have a range that limits the reach of their effect. Ranges are measured from the edge of the chip after it has been thrown.
There are 35 different Abilities. Please see the rule book for a complete list of all abilities and their functions.
Some of the most widely-known fantasy artists in the gaming business have contributed artwork to this game, many of them with ties to Magic: The Gathering. Although the chips are too small to see many of the details, examples of various artist’s prints for chips can be seen at the artist section of Hidden City Games. A small listing of some of the artists includes: Quinton Hoover, Susan Van Camp, April Lee, Phil Foglio, Ron Spencer, Craig Maher, Gerald Brom, Mark Tedin, Jennifer Meyer, Kaja Foglio, Larry Elmore and over 40 other artists.
CLINCH is the official organized tournament system for Hidden City Clout games. Players can win CLINCH medallions in tournaments and then collect those medallions to gain access to bigger tournaments including Nationals and Worlds. Each player’s medallion collection doubles as his or her CLINCH ranking.
Because the physical medallions are used as the CLINCH rankings there is no centralized database. Each player tracks their own ranking by collecting the CLINCH medallions which work like trophies or medals. This also means that CLINCH requires no reporting by the individual Tournament Organizer (or TO). Instead of reports being filed and processed, “medallions” are awarded. These medallions are non-playable metal chips which act as the representative of the points in the system. The more medallions a player has, the more prestige they have acquired and the higher they are “ranked”.
Different medallions have different Clout values, known as Personal Clout. The bigger the event, the more Clout each medallion is worth. Medallions are only officially available through CLINCH events, but once players have possession of a medallion they are free to sell, trade, or keep them as they wish. Each #C.L.I.N.C.H. Event has a set amount of Personal Clout needed to participate in it. Counting the Medallions in a player's possession and comparing the total points on those Medallions to the amount needed for admission allows a player to determine if they have enough Personal Clout to participate in that game.
If a player is short of what they need for an upcoming invitational tournament and there are no events coming up they still have the option to buy or trade with other CLINCH players for more medallions. Each medallion is worth between 1 to 6 points of Personal Clout. There are over 20 medallions with special medallions being made for national and world events. Only one copy of each individual medallion can be used by a player to count as a Clout point. The same medallion cannot be counted twice.
CLINCH events are of two types – “open” events and “invitationals”. Throw Downs and Rallies are open events and do not require any Personal Clout for entry. Roundtables, Summits and the World events will normally be invitational only requiring a certain amount of Personal Clout in the possession of each player that wishes to enter the event. If a player has the minimum Personal Clout required for the event they may enter it. The invitational events will feature custom made medallions that are either unique or made in extremely small numbers.
Any Tournament Organizer can request a Throw Down kit from Hidden City Games. These kits contain the lowest level of prize support and are described in greater detail below. It has been set up so that it is relatively easy for individual players to acquire a full set of Throw Down Medallions within a few months of playing in local tournaments or Throw Downs either through winning highest faction or trading.
Rallies are the next level of CLINCH events above Throw Downs and are reserved for Venture Stores and Distributor/Publisher run events at conventions. These medallions are key to determining who goes to invitational events.
Roundtables include the National events run by Hidden City Games in the US and the large events run by International distributors around the World. To enter the nationals a player must have 10 Personal Clout points. These requirements will be lowered during the year 2006 due to the system’s late start for that year. National winners are awarded Medallions just like in any CLINCH event, but the Medallions are valuable for life (rather than just a year), and are worth even more Personal Clout than those that are awarded at lower events.
National Roundtable winners are granted automatic entry in the Worlds event at GenCon SoCal along with travel arrangements. Any National faction winners that are in GenCon So Call should also have enough Personal Clout to attend Worlds.
Summits represent large international tournaments, generally reserved for regional championships (APAC, North American, or EU CLINCH Championships, etc.) These are optional events for international distributors and sponsors who wish to have a “Worlds” style event with a smaller travel burden on the players.
The World events will of course have a higher Personal Clout requirement for entry than Nationals and represent a higher level of competition. All National winners will automatically gain entry to the world event which will take place at GenCon SoCal in Anaheim, California. There will be unique Medallions awarded to the winners of this event.
Medallions are awarded to:
Additional *Special* Medallion
An additional Unique Medallion is reserved for players who play Dragons and eventually players who play out of print expansions. The special medallion is faction neutral and designed as a ‘catch all’ so that any Clout expansion may be used in a CLINCH event, no matter what medallions we have available. No Clout expansion will ever be banned from tournament play.
Tournament prize kits consist of non unique, collectible, playable promo chips. These promo chips are factions specific and currently are only available in English.
Prize chips are designed to encourage players to collect them in multiples. To win all the playable chips, a player will have to participate in seven tournaments, winning at least one of each of the factions.
CLOUT players still gather at the Origins Gaming Convention in Columbus Ohio for the International Clout Championships; in 2011 it will be the 5th Annual tournament event. www.originsgamefair.com
The Venture Demo Team is made up of the volunteers and players who support Clout Fantasy, run demos and sponsor tournaments.
A Venture Founder is a person who has been on the Venture Demo Team since its inception.
A Venture Store is a local store that carries Clout Fantasy merchandise and may or may not have a Venture Demo Team member attached to it.
Clout Fantasy, Defenders of Undersea Rulebook. copyright 2005 Hidden City Games, L.L.C.