YouTube animator CircleToonsHD brings RPG-flavored humor to new tabletop game

Christian Brantley is bringing his love of video game humor to a new tabletop game. Brantley, the animator who runs the CircleToonsHD YouTube channel, is the creative force behind Fool’s Blade, which is currently seeking $10,000 on Kickstarter.

Fool’s Blade combines elements of several popular tabletop games. It has the wit and whimsy of Munchkin, the dungeon-crawling milieu of traditional pen-and-paper RPGs, and a competitive setup reminiscent of Boss Monster. Players can combine sword parts to craft 30,000 unique weapons, help and betray one another at the tavern, and take on monsters to earn loot and progress on the path to victory.

The flavor of Fool’s Blade will draw from CircleToonsHD, where Brantley’s animations regularly satirize gaming logic. One of his most popular videos to date, with more than 13 million views to date, cracks jokes about overpowered RPG characters. But even though Brantley’s cartoons have earned him 2.5 million subscribers and more than 660 million lifetime YouTube views, he called Fool’s Blade “my favorite thing I’ve ever created.”

This is not Brantley’s first foray into the world of gaming. His previous brand partners have included Assassin’s Creed studio Ubisoft, Elden Ring developer FromSoftware, and Wizards of the Coast, which is known for properties like Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.

“I’ve always been obsessed with RPGs, D&D, card games, that sorta stuff… and I’ve always dreamt of making a game like this,” Brantley said in a statement. “Years ago, the first time I overlapped the sword pieces as a test, something inside my brain exploded and I knew I had to make this into an actual game. Seeing it come together with the help of my friends has genuinely been a dream come true, plus it’s just really damn fun to play.”

Brantley’s big off-YouTube venture comes less than a year after he signed with talent management company Odd Projects. Later this year, the Maryland native will be one of the featured creators at the first East Coast edition of VidCon, which will be held in Baltimore.