Stuffed Fables is a co-op story board game you play inside a real-life book

The next project from the creator of Mice & Mystics will be a tabletop adventure game that uses the pages of a real-life book as its board.

The unique title is Stuffed Fables, designed by Jerry Hawthorne as the first in Plaid Hat’s new ‘StoryBoard’ series.

Driving the concept is a flip-open tome that doubles as both board and rulebook, with thick card pages on which the game’s plastic miniatures are placed.

Each spread reveals a new chapter of the narrative, alongside maps, story choices, special rules and NPC characters to interact with that apply to each different scenario.

As well as being an interesting twist on the use of boards and rulebooks, the format ties into Stuffed Fables’ story, as players take on the roles of stuffed toys trying to save their child owner from a realm of nightmares.

Speaking of which, the characters seem to have a touch of The Nightmare Before Christmas about them – a stitched-together elephant armed with a meat tenderiser, cleaver-wielding masked brute, rabbit wielding a bow and plunger arrows, and mad scientist are among the models teased.

Gameplay is driven by dice, which are pulled at random from a bag and dictate the actions each player can use that turn based on the dice’s colours. When black dice are drawn, minions spawn and attack, with heroes’ melee attacks, ranged attacks, healing, searching and special actions also in the mix. Players can share dice – or their own stuffing – as they work together to defeat the evil villain.

There’s no release date for Stuffed Fables yet, but the game is confirmed to be on track to come out later this year. It’ll cost $60 (£47).