TerrorBull Games
TerrorBull Games is an independent games studio, based in Cambridge, UK. TerrorBull Games was founded in October 2005 by Andrew Sheerin and Andy Tompkins in order to self-publish their first board game, War on Terror. According to their own blog, TerrorBull approached several existing publishers with the game and found themselves "laughed out of the room". Starting their own game design and publishing company appeared to be the only path Sheerin and Tompkins could take.
TerrorBull Games' mission statement says it intends to 'grapple with the nasty things in life through the medium of the board game'. Indeed, their first release, War on Terror, generated a huge amount of controversy and opposition, with several UK Members of Parliament offering their (negative) opinion at the time. Opponents claimed that a board game is not a suitable platform for dealing with such issues - see press coverage on the main War on Terror (game) page.
Cultural Impact
In the second part of 'Games Britannia', a three-part BBC documentary series on the history of games in Britain, aired in December 2009, TerrorBull Games were praised for their use of merging satire with gameplay. Presenter and historian, Benjamin Woolley, stated this was 'unlike anything that had gone before' and suggested that TerrorBull Games could well be the future of the British board game industry, which has otherwise all but deteriorated.
Crunch: The Game for Utter Bankers
Released in 2009, Crunch is a card game based on the credit crunch in which you play as the CEO of a bank. The aim is not to have the richest bank, but to have the biggest retirement fund. This is achieved by embezzling (hiding assets), or by playing bonus or event cards.