Starting in 5th grade at Mount Calvary Lutheran School, Peter Ferry and Jayson Crayton (Class of 2000) had a desire to create a different world with fantastical, mythological, and real-world influences. We collaborated with friends in every minute that they could squeeze in during study hall, lunch, or recess. Using every encyclopedia in the back of the classroom, they drew 300 detailed warriors, wizards, and monsters on notebook paper, complete with advanced stats, nonsensical rules, and chicken scratch handwriting.
In 2017, they found their old drawings in a ‘Goosebumps’ binder and decided to pay tribute to their grade school game by making a grown-up version. “When we looked at the landscape of board games, we realized that we could offer something more important than strategy and choices. We could offer something that could help people feel valued and seen. We decided to build our game’s visuals around cultural representation and the folklore, mythologies, and overall aesthetics that come from them. It was also important for us that we also included the same level of representation in our creative team.”
Work on “Factions: Battlegrounds” began. Peter focused on the mechanics, rules, and cultures around which the game is built. Jason focused on the game’s visual design, marketing, and building the art team. They realized they had to learn a lot, not only about making a game, but the cultures they wanted to incorporate into the world they were building. Starting in the summer of 2017, they worked with Jason Jurss, Billy Bynum, and the students of Milwaukee Lutheran’s ‘Lutheran Printing Service’ to print different game versions to play-test and work out kinks. It was also important for them to have former MLHS students create the look of the game. In the summer of 2019, the first artists were signed to the project: Jason’s former students, Melvin Hood (2019), Rocky Ho (2019), Matt Sowinski (2019), and Brianna Cole (2018). More Milwaukee Lutheran alumni were brought onto the project; Lucy Raasch (2016), Katie Bremer (2015), Joshua Baldwin (2014, MC 2010), Immanuel Baldwin (2010, MC 2006), and Domenic Serena (2006). Nine other artists contributed to the project from around the world representing Africa, South America, Western and Eastern Europe, and Australia. Everything was coming together for a 2020 launch.
Because of shutdowns in 2020, no one could play the prototype. Their focus shifted to online marketing to raise funds to produce the board game. They crowdfunded the project through Kickstarter in November 2020 and raised nearly four times what was needed to print the game for production in 2021. The game shipped this past spring and is available to purchase online, along with a concept art book of the fantasy world.
Jason and Peter are thrilled to be where they are now with their game. “It’s amazing that now there are people from Milwaukee to Sydney, Australia that are playing this game we made in the back of our classroom at Mount Calvary. In the future, we’d love to release an expansion and make a mobile app version that would give us the opportunity to hire more artists to build upon what we’ve established and incorporate more cultures and folklore.
For us, this game is an opportunity to celebrate what we learned at Mount Calvary, there is one body with many parts, and we all bring something to the table to glorify God and that we are all part of God’s wonderful and unique design. There is a beauty in learning about different experiences and regions; it helps us see each other as people and not just “others.” We’re thankful for this experience that started 26 years ago. To God be the glory.” 
Factions: Battlegrounds, a 2-4 player fantasy combat board game, taking approximately 30 minutes to play. Choose your Faction, your battleground, and your strategy. How will you claim your victory?
Purchase the game, watch video tutorials, and read strategy blogs online here.
