The Naming of Fablefall

Hi Friends,

We realize there are a few games and media out there with “Fall” in the title. Spyfall, Dreamfall, Daggerfall, Titanfall, Voidfall, Windfall, Moonfall, etc. And I certainly considered changing the name of Fablefall simply because of this. But ultimately its a cool name, really fits the vibes of what we’re trying to achieve, and wasn’t already taken. Hopefully by the time it comes out there will be a bit of a break in “-fall” media titles.

My first pass at designing this system was themed Sci Fi. And because of that, my first ideas for titles were things like “Empires of the Void” (which was taken), “Space Faction Menace,” “Celestial Realms,” or “Stellar Battle.” Not great.

After we settled on a theme, stories and conflicts, we went back to naming. And with some help of the amazing Adam Lauver, we landed on Fablefall. We quickly google searched for the title in use already, and we came up with nothing other than I think the title of a D&D session. And I think Fable Falls is the name of where Tales of Tanorio is set, a game which I’ve not yet played but it says it on their wiki, so I’ll trust them.

Naming things is hard. And it’s a bit of an art. As you’re attempting to find something that sounds fun and marketable you need to balance accuracy to theme and a connection to your game. It needs to capture vibes and relay some expectations to those hearing about it. Fablefall is cool, but if it were a child’s party game where you’re trying to match pairs of caterpillars to flowers, it really wouldn’t work. Nor would our game work with a name like “Ready or not, let’s FABLE!” or “Oops, All Fables" or “Undaunted: Fablefall” … wait that sounds friggin’ awesome. Get at me Osprey games =)

Anyway, I just wanted to drop this in here because I wanted people to be aware that we’re aware. And after weighing the pros and cons, we’re pretty okay with it. I hope you don;t mind another “-fall” game. =)