FABULUM — Astor’s Rebellion

Fabulum is a tabletop platform. This campaign ships it with Astor's Rebellion.

The tabletop board senses the miniatures. The miniatures speak to the board, to each other, and to the player. Each miniature runs its own program and only reacts to what is happening in the game at each moment. There is no game controller directing the pieces. 

Fabulum is not only the game in this box. It is a way for a tabletop figure to behave, and to remember, like a computer avatar does. The reason is in Why Fabulum, further down.

The players still decide the moves and the objective, as in any tabletop game. Astor does not run the session. A new program in one astronaut can make it behave differently, while the other astronaut keeps playing as before. Lights mark doors, robots, fire, shot trails and damage. No phone and no computer are used during play. 

You can use an USB cable to update the program or audio track on the miniatures, or to install another game.

The spoken lines are stored in the miniature's base. A different recording can be loaded, including another language. This campaign ships in English. Other languages will be offered if enough backers ask.

The platform is larger than this box. Many tiles connect into one map, up to 1,024, with a power feed added as the map grows. Up to 200 miniatures can be in play at once. Each one still runs its own program. A piece can send a message to any other piece on the map. What it says aloud is a recording, played for the people at the table. There is no central controller for a larger map either. The limits are what the same system can become. This campaign’s kit is five tiles and three miniatures. 

Astor's Rebellion

Astor's Rebellion is the first game on that platform. One or two players. About five minutes for one player, longer for two, or when the difficulty is higher.

Game plot: One or two astronauts board a station run by Astor. Keys are hidden in a new place each game. Robots patrol fixed routes. 

Two players make the strategy challenging. Narrow corridors, and the question of who holds which key, call for a plan.

The shortest path wins and is remembered, even after the power is off. The next run is harder. A longer run makes it easier. You can clear that memory from the board.

The Ultimate Open-Source Tabletop Gaming Platform 🎮

📦 Ready to Play Out of the Box

🚀 A Platform of Infinite Scale

• 🗺️ Up to 1,024 independent board tiles
• 🤖 Up to 200 autonomous, intelligent miniatures simultaneously

🛠️ The Architecture: A Hybrid Open-Source Model

• 🔓 The Open Layer: The entire development ecosystem, miniature scripting tools, serial communication protocol, and soundtrack building tools are 100% open-source.
  • Anyone can design, program, and share new games.
  • Anyone can create new add-on hardware and software with compatible communication protocols and power handling.
• 🔒 The Secure Core: To protect the project from cheap, unauthorized hardware clones and ensure long-term stability, the core operating system and device firmware remain proprietary and encrypted.
  • Note: Although encrypted, the secure core can be updated seamlessly by the user using web tools available directly at Werktalos.

💻 Introducing a Custom Game Language

• 🎛️ The Simplicity of BASIC: Clean, readable, and highly accessible syntax for quick rule-building, featuring native FOR, WHILE, and IF-THEN-ELSE structures.
• ⚡ The Performance of Assembly: Low-overhead, ultra-fast instructions that make wireless communication between miniatures and the board seem completely instantaneous.

🛠️ Programming & Developer Tools

• 🌍 Language Localization: This campaign ships natively in English. While other languages are fully supported by the system architecture, they are not directly available out of the box.
• 🎙️ Custom Audio Tracks: You have complete freedom to build, record, and upload your own audio tracks in any language using our tools.
• 📩 Community Requests: You can request new official language packs directly from Werktalos.
• Local Language Rewards: If a sufficient number of backers from a specific country or language group request it, we can provide your rewards directly in your native language (e.g., German, Japanese, Italian, etc.). Tell your local gaming groups!
• 💾 Free Software Suite: The compiler, the soundtrack builder, and the engineering tools will be 100% free to download after the rewards ship.
• ⚡ Early Access: Electronic-kit backers will receive these software tools first, giving you everything you need to start engineering your own custom games right away.

In the box

Which parts make Fabulum:

Five tiles (called Platte), overlays printed in four colours, Ordinax - the power interface - and its cable. Three Fabulors (the bases of the miniatures): Alex, Jordan, and Astor. The station scenery, and the rule book. The figures arrive unpainted. Every plastic part is 3D-printed. That is how this volume is made.

The analog reward is the same game, with no lights and no electronics. Two or three players. One player is Astor. It is a support pledge, not the product of this campaign. Werktalos is a small company. Every pledge counts.

Technical Specifications

• Dimensions: 136 x 136 mm × 9 mm height (without overlay on top)
• Grid Layout: 16 nodes (landing points for miniatures)
• Connectivity: 4 lateral connectors for modular power distribution and high-speed, wired tabletop communication.
• Circuit Protection: Integrated ESD, inrush current, and over-current protection for the overall tile and individually on each node.
• Power Consumption: 5 V @ 25 mA (Average: 0.125 W)

• Dimensions: 30 mm diameter × 18 mm height
• Mounting: Features an integrated snap-on design to easily attach and swap your physical miniatures.
• Audio & Visual: Two integrated RGB LEDs and a 1 W miniature speaker. 
• Audio Output: Capable of reaching 60 dB (normal conversation level)
• Memory: 16 Mb onboard FLASH memory (scalable up to 64 Mb in future versions).
• Circuit Protection: Integrated ESD protection.
• Power Consumption: 5 V @ 35 mA (with LEDs at high brightness); 150 mA average during audio playback.

• Dimensions: 50 x 50 mm
• Features: Contains a USB-C power and communications connector, platform power and communications connector, 1 node and an integrated optical barcode reader.
• Circuit Protection: Integrated ESD, inrush current, and over-current protection on the tabletop power distribution connector.
• Power Consumption: 5 V @ 20 mA
   

Compliance & Certifications

• CE Compliant (Self-Assessment): The hardware operates under low voltage (5V DC) without internal power sources or radio frequencies (RF). It is fully designed and tested in-house to meet all applicable European Union health, safety, and electromagnetic compatibility requirements for a CE Self-Declaration.
• RoHS Compliant: Manufactured strictly under the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive, ensuring the electronics are completely free of lead, mercury, cadmium, and other hazardous materials.
• REACH Compliant: Fully complies with the EU REACH regulation to ensure all chemicals and materials used in production are safe for human health and the environment.

What else?

The castle map in the image below is an example of the versatility of this tabletop platform. It is not in this box. It is one of the games in development. 

The tiles and the miniature bases in the Astor's Rebellion box can be used for the castle map. When the game is ready, backers will be able to download the program files for the miniatures, and the STL files to print the figures and overlays.

This may be the most relevant feature of Fabulum: you can make it play different games, and even grow in size and wonder. You can tell amazing stories, and take part in them.

The programming tools and the overlay files will be free to download after this campaign is funded and the rewards are shipped.

The plaform was designed to offer an interactive experience, bringing a sense of life and individuality to the miniatures. This video shows an example of what can be made. This film is another game, not the kit in this campaign.

What is Fabulum Analog

Fabulum Analog is a support pledge. It is a lower-cost way to back this endeavour without taking the electronic kit.

A pledge here helps the campaign reach its goal and helps a small company keep going.

This reward is a complete tabletop game. It asks for the same kind of route planning as the electronic version. The difference is that one player takes the part of Astor. It is a game for two or three people: one or two astronauts, and one player as Astor.

The story and the goal are the same. Collect the items, find the shortest route before your life points run out, and deactivate Astor.

Pledges

Founders Edition

Eight only: the electronic game in a silk-gold PLA case. Already built. Ships first, after the funds clear. €299 during the campaign. 

Fabulum with Astor's Rebellion

The standard electronic game in the white case: €259. 

Fabulum Analog: €49. A lower price tier to support the company operations and start-up.

Backers of the two electronic kits receive the STL files and the software tools before they are posted on the website next year. With these tools you can design your own games.

Shipping & Taxes - Go Fabulum

• Taxes Included (EU, UK, US): EU VAT, UK VAT, and US import charges are already included in your pledge price. No additional taxes will be added at checkout for these regions.
• Rest of the World: If you are backing from outside the EU, UK, or USA, please note that any local import charges, customs duties, or regional taxes are not included in the pledge. If applicable, you will pay these fees directly to your local customs office or postal carrier upon delivery.
• Shipping Fees: Shipping costs for all countries are calculated and collected directly at checkout.

• Eligible Destinations: This reward ships ONLY to the EU, UK, USA, Switzerland, and Japan. (We have restricted destinations for the Analog kit due to disproportionately high shipping and duty costs for low-cost items elsewhere).
• Taxes: EU VAT is included. For backers in the UK, USA, Switzerland, and Japan, local import charges and regional taxes are not included and must be paid to your local delivery authorities if applicable.

Fulfillment & Production Timeline - When Fabulum

• The first 100 pledges will ship in December 2026.
• Pledges beyond the first 100 will ship in batches of 100 units per month.

• The initial batch ships in March 2027 (approximately 4 months after the campaign ends, allowing time for Kickstarter to clear funds and production setup).
• Pledges beyond the first 150 units will ship in monthly batches of 150 units. (For example, if you are a later backer in the next tier, your kit will ship an extra month out).

Why Fabulum

The Story of Fabulum: Closing the Gap Between Screen and Tabletop

A Computer-Like Experience on Your Kitchen Table

Let’s Bring It to Life

Who Fabulum

Werktalos UG, Weichs, Germany. Augusto Einsfeldt. 

I have over 45 years of experience designing equipment for industrial and aerospace use. That practice is what this project was built with. 

I have been building Fabulum for seven years. A playable version was ready two years ago. I decided to hold the campaign, built two further versions, and ran the boards through the manufacturing chain, so the kit on this page is a finished product. 

Plastic parts are printed here, on our own machines. The boards are ordered, tested and installed on the kit here.