[Michael McWhertor, Polygon](https://www.polygon.com/impressions/464217/sunderfolk-preview-dreamhaven-secret-door):
>_Sunderfolk_ is inspired by tabletop games like _Gloomhaven_ and _Dungeons & Dragons_, said head of Secret Door (and hardcore tabletop game enthusiast) Chris Sigaty at a recent hands-on event in New York. The developers behind _Sunderfolk_ were inspired by the depth and inclusiveness of those games, while also recognizing their shortcomings.
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>“We’ve worked on games like _StarCraft_, _Heroes of the Storm_, and _Hearthstone_,” Sigaty said, “and one of the things we realized upfront was that we didn’t want to start with a competitive game. Even though we love and have a lot of knowledge in that space, we wanted to focus on something that was connective or collaborative. We found that we were having the most connective moments actually around a board game table, playing things like _Dungeons & Dragons_ and board games of all sorts, and that our passion was in this space of tabletop gaming.”
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>But, Sigaty acknowledged, many tabletop games require reading through thick manuals paired with lengthy setup and breakdown times. In a strategic card-based tabletop game like _Gloomhaven_ or _Frosthaven_, new players may spend hours unpacking the box, learning the rules, and cleaning up, instead of spending that time actually playing.
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>With _Sunderfolk_, Secret Door hopes to address those obstacles to fun.
What a promising sounding game and experience. The pedigree alone sells it, but the idea of a full RPG experience with limited setup time and an ease of gameplay for newbies sounds like a massive win, speaking as someone who got into tabletop during COVID.
An aside though, what timing of this being revealed the same week as the release of Jason Schreier’s [_Play Nice: The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538725428/), which I’ve been reading this week and is fantastic.