When Mooroolbark’s Richard Lloyd was six-years-old, his father, Robert (Bob) Lloyd, invented the game Squatter, a classic Australian board game designed for sheep farming simulation.
Since then, he has become familiar with the game, with what his father wanted to achieve and the feedback received.
“I came to appreciate the fact that Squatter really is a unique game, and it survived because it’s entertaining,” Richard said.
Despite decades passing since Squatter was first designed in the 1950s and released in the ’60s, Richard said the relevance it holds today is still significant because the wool industry contributes such a large part to the Australian economy.
But not only that, “people choose to play for fun but become familiar with farming and terminology,” and the game is a way of “connecting the city to the country”.
So when his dad passed away and he took over the rights, Richard was invited to produce a game to commemorate Holden’s 70th anniversary and in accepting that, led to Supercars approaching him asking if he could do the same thing for Bathurst’s 60th.
“I could figure out a way of putting a ute on a sheep farm, but I couldn’t figure out a way of putting a race track on a sheep farm. I couldn’t see the connection. So I decided to make an entirely new game.”
Richard built Brrroom Bathurst 1000 with the same principles from Squatter in mind.
“One thing that I felt was a feature in Squatter is that there was always a chance for the underdog. There was something that could flip the tables, and I thought that sort of makes a very entertaining game,” he said.
“I wanted to build a game that honoured the people behind the scenes at Bathurst. So for anyone to compete and then win at Bathurst, it’s not a one-person job. There’s a whole team of people who have to work together seamlessly to be able to pull off a win on the day.”
Although Richard had no background in car racing, he worked for six months, usually from six in the morning until 10 at night, researching and trying to create his vision.
“I started out basically with a Squatter concept, so a track around the outside, then I overlaid the Bathurst track into the middle, and then I tried to coordinate what was happening in the squares around the outside to reflect what might be happening on the track.”
Richard tested the game by playing it with his sister, brother-in-law and wife, occasionally at events where he got feedback, and changed some things from it. But it was a very convoluted process to get the final version approved.
There were also a lot of concepts Richard had to consider, for example, cars crashing and engine failures.
“You might be doing everything right. Your car might be perfect, and someone else creates a catastrophe for you. Two cars right in front of you crash and you just run into the back of them, you’ve got nowhere to go. So it’s not only your skill , there’s a measure of luck in there.”
But the chapter wasn’t closed for Richard after Bathurst, he began creating different versions of the games.
“We did Squatter. So, first, I turned Squatter into the Holden commemorative game. That’s the same game with different pictures.
“And then we did a compact version of Squatter, so a big board game is a bit hard for people to take the game with them on holidays.”
Despite the fact that Richard has made games, he also appreciates the time board games bring to his family and friends.
“Squatter and board games in general provide an extremely good opportunity for a family to have time together…it can be a catalyst for opening up conversation,” he said.
“My wife (Chris) said it was the only time she could see her dad as someone other than her father, a time when they could get to know him as a person who could laugh and joke along with them.”
These games are available online on their website, The Iconic Games Company or via Amazon.
