What did you feel was missing from existing gladiator games that you wanted to capture in blood on the sands?

Having played most of the other gladiator systems out there, I often found them lacking in one key respect: the combat felt static. What should be tense, mobile, and dramatic duels too often became two fighters standing in place, trading dice until one went down. With Blood on the Sands, the goal was to break that pattern and make movement and decision-making central to the fight. I wanted combats that flowed around the arena—where positioning, timing, and momentum mattered, and where players were constantly making meaningful choices rather than resolving a fixed exchange. At its core, the game is about creating dynamic, back-and-forth duels that feel alive, rather than static dice-rolling contests.

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Would you describe this as a historical grounded game, or one inspired by movies and media? What's one historical reality you wanted to represent that players might not expect?​

Blood on the Sands is very much a historically inspired game. While films lean into spectacle, they often flatten how gladiators actually fought. I wanted to reflect the practical realities behind the equipment and fighting styles, rather than the cinematic version.

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One historical reality players might not expect is how deliberate and asymmetrical gladiatorial matchups were. Fights weren’t typically between identical opponents (though they could be) —they were carefully paired to be evenly matched, but in very different ways. That asymmetry was central to the spectacle, and it’s something I’ve built directly into the game. The contrast between something like a retiarius and a secutor isn’t just thematic—it directly affects movement, positioning, and decision-making at the table. That said, while the game is historically inspired, some liberties have been taken to ensure it remains engaging and fun to play. The aim wasn’t strict simulation, but to capture the spirit of these contests—where each fighter feels distinct, and every bout plays out as a dynamic, purposeful duel.

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What key decisions d0 you want a player thinking about during a match?

From the outset, I wanted players to be making constant, meaningful decisions rather than simply resolving attacks. The core of that is how they manage their gladiator moment to moment—how aggressively to act, how much endurance to commit, and when to press an advantage or hold back.

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That decision-making is driven directly by the Action Dice system. Each turn, players roll a pool that determines what they can do—but not how they must use it. The real choice lies in how those dice are spent. Do you commit heavily to attack, or invest in defence and positioning? Do you use multiple dice to improve a single action, or spread them across several smaller ones? Do you push forward now, or hold dice back to react? Because the pool can shrink as a gladiator becomes wounded or fatigued, those choices become tighter and more consequential over time. The result is a system where players are constantly weighing risk, opportunity, and control—using the same set of dice in very different ways depending on how they want the fight to unfold.

 

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Lots of ideas come and go during playtesting. Tell us about one idea you tried but had to jettison. 

Blood on the Sands has been around publicly since 2013, so a lot has changed over time. One mechanic from the earliest versions that didn’t survive was the idea of rolling a “Skull” on the Action Dice—essentially rolling a 1.

The intention was to represent small but meaningful errors in the arena: a misstep, a tell, or even something as simple as the sun momentarily blinding you. It created some great “oh no” moments, because your opponent could spend Skulls you had rolled against you—reducing your available dice and reducing your ability to attack or defend. In practice though, it proved too punishing. A bad roll—especially multiple Skulls—could cripple a player’s options for the turn and swing things too heavily in the opponent’s favour. It was a fun idea in theory, but it undercut the sense of control the system is built around, so it was ultimately dropped.

 

 

 

 

You launched a wildly successful kickstarter for a boxed set. Will this product be available for players who missed the crowdfunding?

We were very grateful for the success of the Kickstarter, though we always felt confident in the product itself. From the beginning, the goal was to create a complete boxed game that players could pick up and play straight out of the box, and that approach—along with a small but dedicated following built up over years of public playtesting—really helped drive that success. For those who missed the Kickstarter, Blood on the Sands is still available for pre-order. Players can still get their hands on one of the first copies of the game, even if they didn’t back the campaign, via: www.bloodonthesands.com

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For players who enjoy the free demo, what does the full game offer that expands on the quick start experience, aside from a wider selection of gladiators?

The Blood on the Sands Training Ground Quick-start is really just a snapshot of the basic system—a way to get a feel for the tactical decision-making in the arena. The full game expands that into a much broader experience.

Beyond a wider range of gladiator classes, the biggest addition is simply depth. You get to roll up your gladiator from lots of differing backgrounds and traits, then get to assign them a complimenting class. Combat itself becomes richer, with more advanced rules—many more special attacks, the introduction of weapon reach, knockdowns, disarming, entanglement, and interacting with the arena environment, including obstacles. It adds layers to how fights unfold and the kinds of situations players have to respond to.

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On top of that, the full game introduces campaign play. You’re not just fighting isolated bouts—you’re running a ludus, managing a stable of six gladiators as they gain experience, suffer injuries, build rivalries, and rise (or fall) in fame. So while the Quick-start focuses on the immediate duel, the full game builds that into an ongoing narrative, where each fight has lasting consequences. We have the ‘Blood on the Sands – Players’ Group’ that people are welcome to join. It's the heart of the BotS community — the perfect place to connect with fellow players, ask questions, and get fully immersed in everything BotS has to offer.