A MICROBIOLOGIST by day, Bevan Clatworthy knows a thing or two about experiments and his latest project could take the world of gaming by storm if a Kickstarter campaign succeeds.

Bevan, of Pavenhill, Purton, has designed the new boardgame for all the family Ghostel.

Taking inspiration from classics such as Monopoly and Cluedo, Ghostel is set in Creepstone Manor, where players become ghostly minions, faced with new challenges to rid the manor of usurpers.

Bevan, 32, said: “It was during a trip from Cardiff that the idea for Ghostel popped into my head. It was Halloween and I’d just come from a weekend of game playing, including a dice game call Pirates of Nassau, where players roll dice and pick carefully to figure out the best way to move around the board.

“The concept of a dice game where no matter what you roll you’ll be able to do something constructive struck me as being incredibly clever.

“I then thought what if could this be taken further and the board changed every round, giving players a new puzzle?

"This just seemed to fit the idea of new guests coming into a spooky hotel and being scared back out, and the game was born.”

Armed with the support of fellow gaming friends Gino Brancazio and Tony Beard, the trio, named Tinkerbot Games, set up a campaign page on Kickstarter – a popular crowdfunding website to help contribute costs to projects.

After adding the idea to the website less than two weeks ago, they have raised more than 60 per cent of their £17,850 total, which will allow the game to be produced and shipped out to retailers.

People who have contributed to the campaign will also reap rewards based on how much they’ve pledged, including a personalised spooky caricature by one of the board game’s designers.

Bevan added: “Kickstarter is incredibly well-known in the gaming industry and we have seen several start-up games go through Kickstarter to get awareness out about it.

“We have made something like £4,090 within five days and then we had a Kickstarter slump where you have to fight tooth and nail for a pound because we have found we are up against 150 or so other projects.

"It is hard work but we’re making steady progress.”

The group now have two weeks to raise the rest of the money. To help them reach their goal, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/catlab/ghostel-the-board-game.