Power Vacuum: The Treasonous Trick-Taking Game

Includes a robust solo mode!

Power Vacuum's cards feature the suits on the back side. This makes Power Vacuum unique among trick-takers in that the solo mode can actually emulate trick-taking! 

Go up against the dastardly Party Apparatus, your automated opponent in the puzzly and challenging solo game that includes multiple difficulty settings. Read more in the rulebook, and try it now on TTS!

Please note: the rulebook and TTS mod are drafts using prototype material. Artwork, components and rules are subject to change in the final version!

🔌 = Paid Content - the creators received payment from me for these videos.
⚡️ = Unpaid Content - the creators did not receive payment from me for these videos. I will send them a review copy of the finished game when it is released.

2-Player Playthrough by Our Family Plays Games 🔌

The inimitable Mik and Starla teach and play a full 2p game of Power Vacuum, with a nail-biting finish! These two are such fun.

Overview and Review by TerreDice Games ⚡️

Fellow indie publishers Mackenzie and Jonathan give a great overview and their (unsponsored!) thoughts. Plus this video features kitchen appliances with googly eyes, need I say more?

Solo Teach, Playthrough and Review by Purple Moose Plays ⚡️

An excellent, thorough teach and playthrough of Power Vacuum's solo mode, plus an in-depth breakdown of the whole game (multiplayer AND solo) and his (unsponsored!) review starting at the halfway point.

Preview by Foster the Meeple 🔌

A colorful and charming overview by Jamie and Jeff from Foster the Meeple, who will also be doing a livestream playthrough on April 22! Bonus blooper reel at the end 😂

4-player playthough by Foster the Meeple 🔌

A great full 4p game, livestreamed during the campaign. 

Rules Overview and Review by The Hungry Gamer ⚡️

A nice concise overview of how to play Power Vacuum by William, the eponymous Hungry Gamer, plus his (unsponsored!) opinion in the second half.

Preview by Tabletop Vibes 🔌

Is Power Vacuum for you? Quick Overview by ShelfClutter ⚡️

Written review by GamesFanatic ⚡️

A top-tier written review of Power Vacuum with wonderful wordplay and photography by Piotr Wojtasiak of GamesFanatic.pl.

Everything in the Upgrade Pack will fit in the base game box, so it comes in a plain-text recyclable box for guilt-free tossing after you open it.

Wait, wooden statue pieces aren't standard??

The standard game comes with thick, high quality 2mm punchboard statue pieces. If you want the wooden ones that actually stack up, grab the Premium Upgrade Pack with your pledge.

Why? The only gameplay purpose for the statue pieces is keeping score. This can be done flat on the table with cardboard tokens just as well as vertically with expensive wooden ones. I think the wooden ones are way more fun, but I want you to be able to opt-out of them if you prefer. And it helps keep the standard game price-accessible.

Think of the wooden statue pieces like metal coins: unnecessary but awesome!

Except for the rulebook and player aids, Power Vacuum is a game of images and icons - no busy text to parse for kids or non-native speakers!

Power Vacuum's art and graphic design is drawn by me, Malachi Ray Rempen, using my meaty human hands rather than generating it with artificial intelligence. I do use an iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil and Procreate; so no, I am not pawing at the walls of a cave with blood like a REAL artist surely would, but I'm not employing any AI image generators, either. 

If you'd like to see more of my art and illustration, I do a weekly web comic called Itchy Feet: the Travel and Language Comic! I also did all the art and graphics for the Itchy Feet card game and my previous game, Roll Camera!

Reviewers of Roll Camera! and the B-Movie Expansion said:

Direct quotes from backers of my previous campaigns:

"This Kickstarter has been one of the best that I have been a part of because of your positivity, your energy, and your honesty."

"Got my game today, what a blast it was to play! Components are fantastic, the tray to house everything is 10/10. This is definitely going to be a game night staple 🤩"

"Excellent components - high quality. Fun and thematic co-op gameplay. Clearly a labor of love by this designer. Big thumbs up from a satisfied Kickstarter backer!"

"I am absolutely delighted. Mal, you put your heart and soul into this game and it shows! Thank you"

"Love this game! Love the humor! Great game play! Fun, challenging cooperative. This was a huge kickstarter win! I’d pick this up to play any day, and am excited to share it with more friends."

"Got my game today and WOW!!!!! I am so impressed!!! Thank you for working so hard to deliver such a fantastic product. The organizer is amazing, and the clapper box is 👨‍🍳💋 I can't wait to see what else you have in store for the gaming community!"

"What a fantastic game!!! Well done, not only pleased with the component quality and art, but very impressed with the engaging and challenging game play. ... If there were ever to be an expansion, it would be an auto-buy/auto-back for me. Again, very well done! Thank you for designing such a great game!"

"Finally received it yesterday and stood up all night playing. Amazed of the quality. Even the rule book was the best i ever felt. You can tell no expense was spared to create this work of art. Bought all addons and will buy anything Malachi will make in the future 👌🏼"

"I want to thank you for your amazing game, first, but also for your excellent customer service. I am so thankful for your effort! ❤️"

Power Vacuum will likely not have a traditional retail release. Support this campaign to secure your copy!

I'm not a big company. I'm just me, and I use Kickstarter quite literally: to start my crazy ideas up with your kicks. I love this about crowdfunding! But it means I don't currently have any deals or plans to put Power Vacuum into traditional retail distribution (though I'm happy to chat if you're a brick-and-mortar shop, see the Retailers section below). It's possible that will change if this campaign goes really well. I don't blame you if you want to wait and see what happens. I just can't promise that this game will be available later.

Plus, by backing this project, you're using crowdfunding the way it's meant to be used. Help indie creators like us make cool stuff!

Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher (designer / developer)

I grew up in Ames, IA and currently reside in Berlin, Germany. I’m a sound designer, musician, filmmaker and board game designer. I have a passion for sound and storytelling and love being immersed in fictional worlds. I find joy in discovery and looking for different perspectives in every project I take on. Power Vacuum is not my first game but will be my first published game. You can find more of my work at www.crystalrodeo.com.

Malachi Ray Rempen (developer / illustrator / publisher)

I've got a background in filmmaking, but my "just for fun" web comic Itchy Feet kinda took off, as did my "side project" board game Roll Camera!, and now I'm a full-time cartoonist and board game maker. I came up with the name Power Vacuum and the theme of anthropomorphic appliances vying for control - a mix of The Great Dictator, The Death of Stalin, and The Brave Little Toaster - but I just couldn't get the game to work. Then my good friend Kaleb, a fellow filmmaker and game designer, came to me one day and said "Mal - I've got Power Vacuum." He was right!

Additional credits and special thanks

Thank you Cole and Drew Wehrle for your (literally) game-changing feedback and encouragement. Thank you Kevin Privalle for always having a million great ideas, and for the perfect balance of enthusiasm and honest criticism. Thank you Kilian Rempen for all the support assembling and shipping prototypes, and thank you Erik Rempen for the countless hours of testing, ideas, feedback and advice on absolutely everything. Thank you BoardgameShot for the awesome Kickstarter video intro, and Jayden Bailey for all the playtesting, convention help, and lighting the video. The fab photos on this page and in ads are from BoardgameShot and Piotr Wojtasiak of Games Fanatic.

Thank you so so so so so so much to everyone who playtested and critiqued this game, especially Kevin and Erik, Kilian and Aidan, Adam, Andy, Benny, Tom, Jan and Julian; Maxime Rioux, Jayden Bailey, John Velgus, the Spielwiese designers group in Berlin including Juri, Will, and Kenny; Mal's Oberzell board game pals (Thorsten, Suzanne, Jochen, Christina and Fermin) the wonderful folks on our Keen Bean Studio Discord (especially Iggy, Elif and Marcus). Kaleb wants to thank his mom and dad, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews as well as his partner Elif for the countless tests and enthusiasm, and Mal wants to thank Iris & Noah for all the support and encouragement. You are the best.