News – Page 12

Naming the Game

April 4, 2017July 11, 2018 by Ben

I wish had some advice here about how to name products in general, but I don’t. So I’ll explain how I came up with the name Faza, because I didn’t. So this is going to be a short post…

After coming up with the sci-fi metaphor of space aliens and human survivors, early on my wife suggested I look for the word ‘alien’ in Farsi. I didn’t even get a chance to have a list of interesting and unique words or phrases shot down by my significant other.

She provided the initial direction to explore words in Farsi (since I also speak Farsi, the native language of Iran) and began listing out phonetic translations (so I got to create a list after all, but it wasn’t in English). After listing these words, I found the majority of the words too difficult for an English audience to pronounce, except for one: Faza.

Faza is a phonetic translation of the word “space.” The first “a” sounds the same as the “a” in “cat,” and the second “a” sounds like the “a” in “wash.” Faza has come to be the name of the alien species human players encounter in the game.

In retrospect, I guess I do have some advice for naming products – ask my wife.

A Preview of What’s to Come

December 30, 2016December 31, 2016 by Ben

We’ve been hard at work playtesting Faza with these wonderful people and put together a brief compilation video highlighting the amazing artwork and a few of the playtesting sessions.

I should mention, the designs for the cards and board are still in flux as we continue iterating.

Faza from Benjamin Farahmand on Vimeo.

We’re Not Alone

August 10, 2016June 9, 2019 by Ben

It was November 16, 1974 and the world’s largest radio telescope located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico was aimed at the center of the Hercules Globular Cluster, readied with its contribution to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: a message encoded with our location in the solar system, the structure of our DNA, the average size and the total number of humans on Earth, as well as an image of the telescope itself that sent out the Arecibo message.

This cosmic handshake from Earth to anyone out there was intercepted 200 light years away from our solar system, and its contents bearing information on a goldilocks planet sparked the attention of a spacefaring fleet belonging to the alien Faza, a telepathic species of insectoids, though still tribal in their nature, a civilization not entirely unlike our own. The warring factions within the Faza had consumed all their resources and ravaged their homeworld, forcing them farther into space to search for new systems and new worlds suitable for colonization.

Two years have passed since the Faza arrived with their motherships — the Carrier colonizing the world with drones, the Destroyer decimating the militaries, the Former fazaforming the land and atmosphere — making the most of the intel we had already given up, their message was clear as the Faza enslaved most of the human population to survive the worst of the invasion and make it alive through the alteration of the planet. The Faza were here for their newest colony, Earth.

But all is not lost, because once again, we’re not alone. A rebel Faza faction intent on fighting the Faza war machine has approached your band of survivors and, in exchange for peaceful coexistence if you defeat your shared enemy, armed you with the information on how to board and disarm the Faza motherships. It is time to make your last stand and take down those motherships!