Burgle Bros was Kickstarted back in 2015, seeing players robbing a bank. In 2019 a sequel was released, deflecting the crime away from the banks and onto the local casinos. Tim Fowers, the designer and the single man publisher behind both games, is now offering gamers the chance to upgrade their experience. The Burgle Van, which was originally part of the Kickstarter, features a set of 12 miniatures, upgrading the character meeples and the 3 guards from both Burgle Bros and Burgle Bros 2.
Artistically the miniatures fit the slightly comic book cartoony themed world that the Burgle Bros titles are based in. They are unpainted, though the images on the Fowers website show how they can look once painted up. Regardless of whether you choose to dabble with a paintbrush, each character miniature is unique – and brings the artwork from the games to 3D life. The characters are instantly recognisable, with different visual looks in heights, stances and items.
Not only is the Burgle Van a brilliantly on theme item for Burgle Bros, it also stores the miniatures. Pulling the back quarter off, the trays of minis are revealed. Across three GameTrayz, each fitting four of minis, the miniatures slot in into universal sided spaces, so there’s no awkwardness trying to fit them back into the box. The GameTrayz design allows the trays to be completely turned upside down and the minis will stay securely in them. It certainly doesn’t hinder the set, that the box looks as good as it does.
For fans of the series the fact that the Burgle Van has the characters of the two games not just one is excellent. This isn’t a trade off either for those only with one of the two games, as all 9 characters feature in both. Even unpainted the miniatures do an incredible job of representing the likes of the Acrobat, Rook and Rigger, with the option to paint them there for those that want to get artistic. The Burgle Van of minis is very much an accessory, it’s not needed to play and doesn’t add anything gameplay wise. Still, it does elevate the two Burgle Bros experiences visually.
(Editor’s Note: The Burgle Van was provided to us for this unboxing. Check it out on the Fowers Games website.)
