Just got my rear end handed to me on a platter!

Playing Stone Age (one of my top 5 games of all time, if not the top) on yucata.de and I got pounded – hit with wood and tools – massacred – send in FEMA it’s a disaster here.  My opponent got well over 200 points to my 120ish!!  OUCH

Exciting News (for me…)

Redemption City will be play-tested for the first time this weekend!  It is my birthday and I get to do what I want!   Redemption City is a ‘party game’ in the same way that Saboteur is a party game…not your usual Cranium etc.

Players take on the role of a famous gunfighter in the Western town of Redemption.  As cards are revealed by the Sheriff, players react to outlaws, other player’s gunfighters, dynamite and other events.  The first to react by drawing the correct card (pistol, rifle) wins fame the loser gets shot and receives a wound card.

The card revealing mechanic is AWESOME – great job D!  Fingers crossed – that this game plays as well as we imagine it!

A quick game of around 15 minutes that plays 3 to 10 players.

Board Games Online!!!! Will I Get Anything Done Now???

I have played Ticket to Ride through Boardgamegeek and have played the odd time-waster game on Facebook but now I have been introduced to yucata.de.  At this site you have a choice of many board games to play.  I am just getting severly trounced, by a friend in Arizona, at Stone Age and St. Petersburg.  Other games include Arkadia, Hacienda, Thurn and Taxis and many more…check the site out!  You won’t be disappointed!

Getting Organized

I have so many game pieces scavenged from old games, scavenged from thrift stores and created by myself using such wonderful tools as cardboard and scissors.  Until now they have been sitting in two boxes.  Now, after a trip to a craft store I have sorted them into plastic trays.  Hopefully this sorting of resources will also help me sort the ideas in my mind into some sort of cohesive plan for my game designs.

 

Update on all my game ideas…

Sorry, I have not posted in a while.  Not that many people are reading this!  Despite the lack of entries I have been a very busy designer.  Broadway Producer is a few cards away from having a play-testable prototype.  I am also working on two new ideas for games – these are both being co-designed.  The first is Redemption City – a fast paced card game that requires a keen eye and a quick hand – which is being co-designed with David Short (a geek from Az who is soon to have his first game published!) and the second is a Tower Defence type game that is still in the discussion mode which is being co-designed with SQ (another Az geek).

Hopefully this weekend I will start to put together some video segments together for the blog but in the meantime here is an update on all my game design ideas and at what stage of development they are at.

Ant’s Picnic – a two player abstract game that scales between a kids game to a more complex strategy game.  In Ant’s Picnic players have two ants that race to get as much food off the table.  The ants that have collected the most food and potentially the most valuable food will win the game (video demo to come shortly!)  This game is prototyped and needs more playtesting.

Broadway Producer – a card game for 3 to 5 players.  In this game players take a show all the way from regional theatre to Broadway.  The most successful show – that show that earns the most revenue – wins the game.  The card game follows a rummy process of set collection and involves some bidding and a chance to foil your opponents’ plans.  This game is five cards away from a full prototype.  Then play testing.

‘Space Race’ Game – this game is for 2 to 5 players and involves building and racing your ship across the galaxy.  On the race players have the option of picking up cargo and passengers for extra reward.  The game involves some bidding for ship parts, a tiny amount of tile placement when you construct your ship and then a race across space which involves the dodging of asteroids, exploding planets and Federation space craft.   The player mats and race tiles have been designed.  However, the thankless task of making many tiles is still to be done.

‘Deep Sea Diver’ Game – this game plays 2 to 4 and is a push your luck game that uses a similar mechanic to Can’t Stop.  Players take on the role of a team of deep sea divers racing to get treasure at the bottom of the ocean.  The first to obtain a predetermined amount of treasure wins.   This game is prototyped and ready for play testing.

Small Talk – a party game that plays 3 to a lot!  Small Talk is a game where two players take on the role of two individuals that have met in a set scenario (randomly chosen by scenario cards).  The players are each dealt five topic/quote cards each and must have a ‘small’ talk (timed using and egg timer)  which includes all the topics on the cards.  The players are awarded points on the number of topics included in the conversation and are judged by their peers for extra points.  This game is getting feedback from other game designers and a rough draft of the rules has been written.

Redemption City – is a fast paced card game that plays 3 to 10.  Players take on the role of a gunfighter in the fictional Arizona city of Redemption where they must out duel outlaws and other players.  The player who gains the most fame wins.  This game is in the rule writing stage.  The first draft should be finished this weekend.  This game and Small Talk are the two games – as of this moment – that if they meet my expectations could be published.  That would be amazing but I am not holding my breath!  This is being co-designed with David Short.

Tower Defence Game – this is a game based around the defence of a number of outposts from alien invaders.  This game is in the discussion phase and is being co-designed with SQ.

Dam It! – A themed abstract game where players take on the role of a pair of beavers trying to create their home before the ‘pond’ freezes over.  This is in the let me think about it stage.

Renaissance Man – A Euro game where players try to become the most educated and the most rounded individual.  By learning about science, philosophy, math, literature and philosophy the players gain esteem.  However, the player with the most complete knowledge of all subjects is the winner.  Again, in the let me think about it some more stage.

FEEDBACK FOR ALL GAMES IS MOST WELCOME

Thrifting…

What is thrifting?  Simply, it is scavenging thrift stores for games.  Games to play and games to salvage for their pieces – prototypes need pieces!

As I live in a small city by North American standards, good games are hard to come by in the thrift stores, though I have found the following:

• Three copies of Settlers of Catan
• Four copies of Scotland Yard – 3 different versions
• One copy of Vegas Showdown
• One copy of Sorry Sliders!

Other games I like to thrift for their parts are:

• Straight Shooter – tons of dice (great to make your own copy of Liar’s Dice)
• Advance to Boardwalk – have great stackable counter

If you like games and pass a thrift store, pop-in, you might find a treasure!

Inspiration and borrowing…

In a recent post on the geek, I asked how many cards is too many cards.  This referred to my game idea for Broadway Producer. A response stated that my game is similar to Colosseum, to which I responded, “yes, it is.”

For those of you who don’t know Colosseum is a board game in which you are presenting a show to Caesar.  The best final show wins the game.

There are definitely similarities in the games – there is a bidding phase, and investment phase and you finally score the show – that and the theme of putting on a show is similar.  But what are the differences:

1. It is a card game (possibly a tile game a la Rummikub)
2. The bidding mechanic is different
3. You keep the same show while in Colosseum you invest in new and bigger shows
4. It hopefully is much quicker
5. It involves card mechanics (like Rummy) – pick up, put down, throw away
6. The cards/tiles also act as money

I am sure there are many other differences but also I am sure it will remind many people of Colosseum (which is a great game so I don’t mind!).  I don’t think I am stealing anything – just getting inspiration and certainly borrowing ideas.  Be interested in your opinions.

Broadway Producer…revisited

Game: card, set collection, rummy, Broadway theme

One of the first games I thought about designing was called Broadway Producer.   Broadway Producer is a card game whereby each player has to take a show from regional theatre to Broadway.  The most successful show wins.

How do you judge success?  There are three rounds with seven phases in each round.  In each round the players recruit, invest, rehearse and put on their show.  They are rewarded for the ‘completeness’ of their performance.  A performance is conducted by collecting sets of cards that represent different people/items, such as Lead Actor, Director, Set Design, Orchestra etc.  The player that best meets the requirments of their show wins that round and potential awards.  In the first two rounds the rewards/awards allow for greater potential in recruiting in the next round.  In the final round the rewards/awards have point values.  The show with the most points wins!

I re-read the rules and they make sense to me 🙂  Now I am re-making the prototype so that it can be play-tested more affectively.

The trouble with prototypes (or how they lead me astray)

Having an idea for a game is great.  Coming up with mechanics that fit your game is great.  Creating a prototype for your game so that it can be played is both a great step forward and full of pitfalls for me!

I often use the design of a prototype as a break in the thought process – if my brain starts to hurt with mechanics and game play etc then I move to the artsy side and put more time than I should into my prototype.  See the pictures for Ant’s Picnic and my Deep Sea Diver game below – I think they look cool but could have been made a lot simpler for play testing!

The problem is that I get distracted by the artsy creative side – I waste time looking for images and artwork to represent items in a game instead of taking a simpler route by just using icons or colours to represent these items.  I am not sure whether it is procrastination of ADHD or something else!  My lesson learned – though not always used – is it to make a game that can be played and then add the fancy stuff at the end  🙂

The first game I tried to design – back on the work bench!

My first attempt at designing a game was Broadway Producer. By collecting sets of cards that represented people and items needed to put on a Broadway show, players bid for, rehearsed and put on shows.  The most successful got the most money.  I made a prototype but in trying to make the prototype too pretty I lost interest in the game.

However, after chatting with two fellow game designers, SQ and Dshort, I am re-energized about this game too!  They are designing, what seems to be a great card game, based upon espionage.  I won’t say more about it – maybe later if and when I have their permission.  What I learned from them is that you don’t need details in the prototype – colours will do.  The basic principles of the game need to work before you start adding artistic flavour!

Makes sense to me  🙂