Pretentious Board Games

On Friday I played another game of Skye Frontier with my dad (also Mike), brother in law (Dave), and nephew (Logan). My dad and nephew play games sometimes, but are not super big into the hobby, and my brother in law is moderately a gamer (he buys games and brings them to my game nights, but he doesn't play all of the newest games). Logan started the game (and picked the blue castle), Dave was white, my dad was yellow, and I was red. My dad and I ended up contending over the lakes, while Dave focused on building mountain regions, and Logan built some of everything. I couldn't get a shipping empire set up because boats were hard to come by, and Logan (and Dave) started grabbing cash at an alarming rate, so I instead focused on building up points using scrolls and by closing regions. With a 1 point per sheep scoring tile out there, we all tried to get sheep, and the build for free action was used a lot. I capped off my regions just in the nick of time, and Dave ended the game (wh...

I just played a work in progress by Seth Jaffee, so I thought that I would post about it here. The game called Skye Frontier right now. It is an Isle of Skye and The King of Frontier mashup. Since The King of Frontier seems like a Carcassonne/Puerto Rico mashup, this is a second order mashup. Anyway - the game was totally playable, and allowed for strategic decisions to be made. Alison went all out in combining multiple synergistic goals with building a good kingdom. I just went for a degenerate strategy of building the biggest lake possible and then producing and consuming in a cycle. After the game end we summed up our scores using the remaining money tokens, so you can see that I won by 6 points (78-84), so my strategy didn't seem too overpowered, however perhaps it should be nerfed a bit, since it was pretty powerful, and degenerate strategies (in my opinion) should be less powerful than well-thought-out ones. Here is the end state: the reasoning behind my strategy - spelled ou...

 I have a brief respite from my masters program, and decided to make a game for the 18 card RPG contest that Button Shy is putting on. The game needs a better name, but it is currently entitled "G-rated movie role-playing game". It is a rules light game where the players basically generate a classic musical animated kids movie, and then play the characters from it. The rules are here . We have played one session so far, and the game is quite playable. I made Jason - a reluctant barbarian hero that would prefer to geek out over magical people and creatures, and Alison played Conina - a braggart warrior girl that was turned into a bunny. She ended up as my sidekick, because I have to go on a man-quest and kill something (though I am not sure what), and she said that if I could turn her into a human again she would help me to kill something impressive. The villains that we are facing are Mrs. Earwig - an evil witch that who is always annoyed because people mispronounce her name ...

 Last night I just played a first 2 player game of an idea that I have been thinking of for a long time. The idea is sound, but it is going to be a huge amount of work getting it cleaned up, and building all of the factions. The idea is to make a multiplayer cooperative asymmetric game. More specifically, there will be a bunch of opponents that are coming in toward a shared "end zone", and all of the players have to defend the end zone in their own way. Each person uses their own mechanics to do so, so one player might be playing a deck building game while another is playing a dice chucker, but at the end of the day they can work together to try and repel the invaders.  The benefit of such a game is that it allows people that like disparate styles of play to be able to play together at the same game with a common goal. My son can throw down his dice while I can try and engineer a solution to a difficult knapsack problem and my wife can play her engine builder, and we are all ...

I have been working on an 18 card legacy game in response to Button Shy's currently running 18 card legacy game contest. I have played through the campaign a few times, and it seems pretty difficult, but still certainly doable. The theme is a time traveler that is fed up with trying to make the past better, and decides instead to set everything back to how it was before time travel caused so many problems. I have finally completed a first version of my rule document for this game here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12kcYgJuT4rJ_alwTjt7XEYqBvB5JInf2FcKjvSLMYLA/edit?usp=sharing PnP is included in that document as well. It is 3 pages (18 cards, and 3 stickers). I will update here as I try and finish the game up before the contest ends.

Alison and I played Automatown with many of the discussed changes last night. We liked some of them, and others we did not. The game ended up ending in 6 rounds, and it took about 80 minutes. The later rounds were longer than the first few rounds. We also were being distracted by kids, so perhaps we could have gone faster. Alison ended up with 7 workers and 9 points while I had 9 workers and 28 points (more about that later). Having fewer types of resources was very good. It made the economy less confusing, and setup and cleanup much faster. The mats worked well, and during the game, we thought of more things to put on them - (the three starting workers can be added here, as well as a reminder of what level is what in terms of dots.) Here is the mat that we played with: We started with 3 scrap, which was not enough given that we were also playing with the rule that made upgrades cost a scrap. In fact, that rule made us strapped for scrap the whole game. We decided that m...

Robin and Lyle form the guild played Automatown with me last night. We used the new goal cards that I just made. Here is how I modified the game: I removed all points from automa, and gave them up to 3 symbols - bullets, hands, and top hats. they can be tapped either for their ability, or to generate a symbol, but you have to place a worker on them to generate a symbol. This automa generates either a hand or a tophat: As an action you can place as many workers as you want on an equal number of automa, and then spend the generated symbols to complete a goal. Goals have from 1 to 4 symbols, and are just worth points. (considering adding abilities to some goals). This goal requires two bullets and a hand. Here is a copy of the notes I made during the game, and a brain dump of thoughts afterward. Most of the notes are comments from the other designers, so they don't necessarily match my thoughts: Recycling station: change to generic level 2 cube symbol. (this would be sim...

Playtested infamous at the board game design guild again last night. here are my notes (and my thoughts about them now): Draw from the bottom of the deck? (no!) Can you add more than 1 material for a build? 2? (2 would be worth trying) Can you spend minions to build or tinker? (no) Gadgets cannot trigger minions - make sure to specify this strong in the rules (ok) add icons to ability names to remind you what type of card the ability is on (I'll give it a try) start with 2 minions? (that would have to be an alternate rule - the basic game needs to be simpler, not more complex!) revivification matrix - always ability is too powerful (move it to a more expensive chassis?) rename hypnotist to mortician? revivificationist? (undertaker, grave digger, enbalmer, but what action would they perform? resuscitate? reanimate? revivify?) (put names on each card of what its action is called?) Baghdad capacitor's "At the start of your turn" ability hits too often - make...

I have been working on Infamous!, and have made some serious progress. The game seems to work better right now, it has actual art, and it allows for some crazy crap to happen. I am still not really sure about the balance of the game, but with more playtesting, I hope that that will come. Here are some sample cards: Here are some sample card backs: I am currently using a combination of art that I purchased from that recent humble bundle and my own work. I figure any publisher will replace all of the art, so I don't have to spend much effort on it - just enough to attract playtesters. Here are notes from my last playtest: Helper-bot is too powerful for a 2 cost card. Remove bonus for most minions of each type: +3 for most minions overall is fine. 2+infamy minions as a minion cap is a good balance point. Consider a max on carapace fertilizer? Is Transmutation too powerful? remove auto-crammer's discard ability. Possible replacements? a card that allows you to...

After a post on BGG, I decided that the Carl Chudyk style copy game should be named "Infamous!". We played it again at the BGDG meeting tonight. Here is the notedump: Make reference sheets Change graveyard to morgue  Make more cards go to the graveyard - perhaps up to 2x the number of cards as there are players. Consider a new max minion count and write it down  record the "draw a card" basic action follow Minion actions should be able to be swapped for a "draw a card" Kenetic accumulator - doesn't immediately build 2 cost cards that were already started - you need to specify them as the target of a build for them to finish Figure out a way to make tinker care about what you are tinkering. Right now tinkering to any given card is not a choice. It doesn't matter at all. fix power levels volcanic probe - too powerful kenetic accumulator - bring all 3 cost cards up to this level autocrammer - draw 4 cards is stoopid antimemetic weapo...

We played Chudyk game at BGDG again last night. Here are the notes: Kenetic accumulator is powerful - (is it too powerful?) The game still seems too short. Discard a minion to follow an action? Have 4 unique tokens (one for each minion type) Have shared minion cards and use tokens to determine how many minions you have. Here is my current plan for the near future: Decide if the game can still fit into 18 cards - I think I will have to double the deck size and see how that works out. Add in all 6 card types from the get go, and make 6 cards of each type? Come up with a name for this game. Try out tokens instead of minions (either through shared cards, or just tokens) Look over the abilities and make sure that they still all seem balanced Consider the visual aspect of the game - does it want to be spruced up for SaltCon? I am starting to think that I want to submit this game to the Ion Awards next year, so I have to

Apparently I am not very good at this blog posting right now... Most of the copies of my game have been mailed to the kickstarter backers, and they are being fairly well received. I have also finally gotten my hands on a copy of Glory To Rome, and I have been loving it. We went to SaltCon, and played a bunch of great games (Root was my favorite, but Alison like Azul a lot). Since I have played GtR, I have dusted off the ambition of making a 18 card game that feels like a Carl Chudyk game, and I have put together a game based on his GtR/Uchronia/Mottainai cycle of games. It currently is entitled "Chudyk game", but I will certainly make a better name for it some time. It took me about a month to get it to the point where it was playable (previous games of it always ended before the game got interesting because the deck ran out). With modifications of last night, I actually have something that I am excited about. I also freehanded some artwork (which took about an hour...

I didn't post about it at the time, but I participated in the January 24 hour game design contest, and made a game about being a mad scientist, and getting attacked by mobs of angrypeasants with pitchforks The game ended up pretty good for a 24 hour effort, however it is still very rough. I used a modified version of my effect building mechanic as part of the game, but there were a lot more mechanics in the game than that. I think that I might continue to work on it - it was pretty fun, and I can see a lot of possibilities with it.

So, I brought the new island game to the BGDG last night. I need to get a name for it - it is that game that I mind dumped in December about. Here are my notes from the playtest: Place one worker per building Must not place more than one village per region After divvying up resources bid workers for crown Mercenaries don't count as people of your color Scarcity should be higher in 4 player game Make canoes cost people to launch Remove 3 tiles from game per person missing: 5 → 18, 4 → 15, 3→12, 2→9 Take out weird tile with middle line Make it a tile without any lines at all Money costs people? stone? something To use mercenaries: drop multiple mercenaries as free actions at the start of your turn, and then play one worker, then remove all of the used mercenaries Now, I am going to start writing up the rules as they currently stand. I will work on that here . Additionally, I am getting ready to submit Citadel of Madness to the Cardboard Edison. Perhaps tom...

An idea mind dump: Game design goal: undercutting market affecting secret goals ?hidden teams? equipment: Board, canoes, pigs, trees, workers, fish, stones, statues, huts, bags, value track two bags - one to pull from when starting each round, and one to place into when spending After round, market is modified based on what was spent and what was not drawn: Draw from draw bag and lower value of that item on the market Draw from the discard bag and raise value of that item on the market Reveal a number of things from the bag. players bid a value, and the player that bid the lowest takes from the pile of draft things first, working up to the player with the most things. The player can take any value of things that matches what they bid. After every player has taken from the draft, then players spend workers to do things with their resources. You may double spend workers which makes you discard them. Resources: wood, stone, food Things to make: wood: canoes, hut...

I have been meaning to post for a while, but apparently I never did. I have one big announcement, and a bunch of small ones: The Perfect Moment is being published! You can find it here . Also, I had a great time at Essen. I talked with a bunch of publishers, and placed some games for evaluation with them. 5 games that is. I don't think it is kosher to say who, but some are with really cool publishers.

Here are some notes from my last BGDG meeting about Space Game: Make the grid smaller 4x4? 3x3? Make it autofill after every draft Make it go to more points 100? make planets have points, and planets have requirements to ship to cash value of each animal and plant should be on the card bonus money for second, third, fourth start players bring back the multiships make science make more effect on the game. Autoscience? Draft pool for science?

I finished up a version of Grab the Loot, and played it at BGDG and at work. It went fairly well, but I am still not really happy with it. I will probably do more work on it before I try playing it with people again. At the same time I have been playing Terraforming Mars, and Near and Far at work. Both have been really fun. I have also been working on a new version of Jurassic Universe because my kids keep wanting to play it with me. They love making the ecosystems, and figuring out what will eat what. Rea is very good at building "working" ecosystems (working according to game rules, not necessarily according to real world ecosystem rules.) I have printed a new version with a few changes, and am ready to test it again. Here are the changes that I made: Making more omnivores combining an animal and a producer on each card (top and bottom) adding back in the science deck (and space scientists to allow you to use it) adding back in planets with rules I have also ...

I have been receiving artwork for The Perfect Moment recently, and I have to say - it is looking pretty good. I have also dusted off Grab the Loot, and am considering what to do with it. I want to majorly rewrite it, so I might end up doing just that. The current idea is to bring the gameplay more in line with the silly theme, and to make it lighter and easier (without taking the optimization completely out of it.) I have made a brief first attempt at that, but more has to be done before it is complete. I also just made another version of Witch Hunt - this time I dropped it down to 9 cards, and 21 pennies. The BGDG liked it, so you might hear more about it some time. Here are my notes about the play through: Adding in different types of could allow for different testimony "strength", which would add another layer to the strategy. penny = +1/-1, nickel = +2/-2, dime = +3/-3   Cheating is possible - tucking a penny under a card is prone to players looking. Use...

Here are my notes for the last BGDG meeting (which I never typed up till tonight): Add an icon to indicate when balancing is necessary? Perhaps scientists are needed to repair a room, but they refresh automatically when the action completes Scarcity is fun to play with Time rooms are powerful abilities, and fairly cheap to obtain - perhaps make them more expensive Make a bonus for ending the game - 3-5 points? machines are worth too much - perhaps 1 point each? make throne of arronax add a part or a core remove some time cards from the game sabotage rooms with minions? I have been really busy, so this is all that I am writing up right now.