This post might come across as a little self indulgent, but I've got to celebrate. Getting this pallet delivered was honestly such a huge milestone for me.
I'm someone who is more of an "ideas guy" and generally gives up on these sorts of projects when it starts to get complicated - so I wanted to really see it through this time.
After 3 years my self-published game, Stash, is finally finished. The sense of relief and satisfaction is unreal.
If you want to check it out, head over to my website here where you can also play a free demo and see more of the artwork.
Happy to answer any questions about design, manufacturing, fulfilment etc.
I attended my town’s first protospiel. It was put together by one of our more established designer meeting members. Hopefully the first of many.
I took my two games in the making, Qualm and Toy Craft. I managed to get around 3-4 games of Qualm and 2 of ToyCraft done. Granted Qualm is a major table hog, most probably didn’t even see the card game.
I’ve taken some more constructive criticisms and implementing some suggestions.
I had been working on the card game for a while as that game wasn’t functional the way it was. It was nice to break out the big board game and find some things that need fixing to reignite the spark of interest and ingenuity.
Hi everyone! FRONTS is the first board game I’m designing, and I’d love some feedback on the mechanics, readability, and overall experience.
It’s a two-player WWII-themed card game that plays in around 15 minutes. You compete across seven fronts, each accepting different unit types. You win by controlling four fronts or earning 12 victory points.
Each player has four orders per round: Deploy, Assault, Maneuver, and Reinforce and can use each only once. Some forces are played face-down, and certain orders give your opponent a choice about how things resolve. The idea is to create interesting decisions with a small set of actions.
I’ve ordered my first physical prototype through The Game Crafter. While waiting for it, I’ve built a browser version against a bot to make testing easier.
I’d particularly appreciate feedback on:
Mechanics and learning: Are the rules straightforward, or are there interactions that feel confusing or unnecessarily complicated?
Art and readability: Can you easily distinguish the units, understand the icons, and read the board? Does the artwork support the gameplay?
Enjoyment: Are the decisions engaging? Does the game feel tense, satisfying, or repetitive? Would you want to play again?
I’ve included a screenshot of a game in progress. If you’d like to try it, the browser version and rules (including walktrhough) are at tryfronts.com. The bot and interface are still being refined, so it would help to distinguish feedback on the underlying game from feedback on the digital implementation.
Any first impressions or playtest feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!
I 'm working on my first design which utilizes a hex board that players will place different polyhexes on, and I'm running into the question of how big should a board be? Is there a math I should be using to determine the ideal size, or is it just a vibes thing?
Related, can anyone point to a good online tool for designing a prototype hex board? I don't need any graphics other than hexes. I've played around with the board tool in Dextrous, but I don't think it's quite what I want. I'd like the board to be a hex in general shape, made up of smaller hexes, but I don't know how to make that happen short of just printing out a bunch of pages and cutting them into my desired layout. Any pointers would be appreciated.
These are just the basic rules, I'm currently working the main rules in Google Docs. Obviously you can criticize/question as many things you want, it is still very new to me.
So I am currently considering whether or not to get some cover art made for a couple board games I'm self publishing. Obviously as I'm self publishing my budget is small hence why I might not get any and do something more minimalist myself.
I've been looking online and I'm a bit skeptical of a lot of the cheaper options on fiverr and similar places because I find out of 8 examples maybe 2 look AI.
When I used to work on short films I'd often work for free and for a first paid gig took very little because just having a paid credit opened a lot of opportunities. Is there any version of this for board game cover art? If this just isn't a thing in board game design I'll just leave it I think.
If it's unrealistic I'll likely work something else out but because I'm doing a small batch of the games and it's relatively cheap game spending 250+ isn't an option. Would having a paid opportunity be helpful to some students or similar, even though it would likely not be much? It would just be one piece of art for each game as I can do the box design and title.
I'm asking this here in case I'm best just not asking people. I want to make sure I'm not offending or taking advantage of someone but I also think a first paid opportunity might be useful for someone starting out?
I would be happy to include a bonus if I sell say 5000+ so they do get paid more fairly if it does well and also give them first choice for future covers as it's an escape game series so I do plan to make more and hopefully would be able to pay a higher amount by then. But also there's no guarantee with that so I'd want the person to understand it's more for their portfolio and being able to tell bigger projects you have been commissioned before.
Found this very useful template, I just added my design to the faces and printed them.
They are super useful for testing dice balancing, you just print multiple of each face and you can hot swap them even mid-playtest session.
Also, any advice on 2 symbols I could use for a chance die? It's for a die split with 2 symbols, one appearing 4 times the other one 2, the game use them interchangeably depending on the odds to succeed a specific event requires.
I'm having trouble finding 2 that have no hierarchy between each other and can fit a "street brawl" theme.
For the life of me I cannot remember where I downloaded the template from, if someone has it please comment with a link.
We may be indie board game makers, but we love exploring all kinds of tabletop experiences—and we’re big fans of roleplaying games, too!
We recently picked up Everyday Heroes, a 5e-compatible RPG built for cinematic, blockbuster-style adventures. We’re excited to dive in and give it a try!
My competitive foraging deck-builder, Season of Seeds is launching on Kickstarter soon. I'm about to run my first test ads, directing viewers to my landing page, seasonofseeds.com. I would love some Landing Page advice & feedback from the community before I do.
\Note!* The page is designed for mobile specifically. Desktop view simulates mobile.
Game Info. Is there not enough? Too much? Is something missing or hard to find?
Does the game seem fun, inviting, worth signing up for the email list?
Is it easy to navigate and process? Anything clunky? Flow okay?
Thanks so much in advance. This forum has been so helpful the last few months and this is my first time posting. So, much appreciated!
Hello everyone, I wanted to ask about what you consider the most relevant and interesting game design theory that currently exists?
I also want to know what you would expect a game design master and doctorate level education to focus on and care about in terms of topics, areas of study etc. In other words what would you consider the next frontier in game design as a field of study?
(I currently work as an educator at a game design department, and the conversation came up and sparked intense debate between various different interests. My grounding is that this is best answered by practitioners and people who care deeply about the field outside of academia)
Hey everyone, Ertunga here, co-designer of Crisis within Time.
Right now, as I am writing this, our fast-paced card and dice game is fully funded on Kickstarter, all 10 unique character rosters are officially illustrated with 10 amazing freelance artists from around the world, and we are gearing up for our first big physical showcase at Spellenspektakel in Utrecht. Looking at the big picture, it feels completely surreal. But if you asked me how we actually got here from a bunch of chaotic table sessions and bad snacks... well, that’s a funny story.
First tests are always with your close circle
I’m 50 years old now. I’ve spent practically my entire life sitting around gaming tables for playing TTRPGs, building Lego sets, grinding PC games, and testing every board game I could get my hands on. For decades, I had this quiet, stubborn dream that maybe, just maybe, one day I’d build a game of my own. When we finally started designing Crisis within Time, we didn’t set out to build a massive commercial universe. It was just a love letter to those late-night table battles where no one wants to go home and everyone shouts "just one last game!" (And at dawn, the real debate was always about who was going to go buy breakfast or do the dishes!)
Loosing the game has consequences like doing the dishes. Unfortunately it is frustrating.. :)
The funny thing is, when you sit down to build a simple card game, all those old memories come flooding back. Honestly, the very root of this game was born right there, during or after those TTRPG sessions, created as a fun way to settle the heated argument over who was going to walk down 5 flights of stairs in a building with no elevator to pick up food! (Back then, you couldn't just tap an app on your phone and have food delivered to your door!). That simple game somehow ended up creating a whole universe of its own today.
Above mentioned 5 flight of stairs ..
You can see some of my old gaming buddies in the photo below. Yep, this is us... You could call us the five lions of Voltron, Shadowrunners or MechWarriors but in reality, we were just 5 fantasy world adventurers.. Well... if you ignore the rocket launcher, haha!
Yes this is us. 2nd and 3rd from left are me and my co-creator friend
We jumped into this as a late-blooming team who has spent a lifetime living inside games. First, we created the world lore: Why were they in this world? Why were societies from completely different eras (both familiar and entirely unknown) brought together in the same place? Once we solved that narrative puzzle, we started making the actual cards. We wanted the game to be simple, easy to grasp, fun, but intensely competitive. In the beginning, we literally printed cards on a home printer and glued them onto standard playing cards. We playtested non-stop, trying to flesh out the characters and make them unique. We played with our close friends and they loved it... (Well, they’d better!) But what truly shocked us was when we tested it with complete strangers: people had amazing reactions, wanted to play again right away, and gave us incredible feedback.
Fşrst Samples of Cards made with tears of joy and sweat
Then came the time to replace those handmade cards (featuring random artwork scraped from the internet) with real, original art. And that became one of our biggest challenges: Should we hire a single artist to keep a uniform art style across all cards or should we work with different artists to give each character a soul of their own? We looked at the games we personally loved playing and we believed that each artist’s distinct style would breathe a completely different life into that specific character. So we decided to collaborate with different artists from all over the world for all characters... Starting with 4, then expanding to 10. Was it crazy? Yes. Was it smart? Probably not. Which means we made the right choice!
Full roster of Characters at Crisis within Time for now...
In the upcoming diaries, We'll talk about how we mitigated the luck factor and added different tactical mechanics to the game... In the meantime, feel free to check out our page! Your thoughts mean a lot to us, if you see anything interesting or have any questions on your mind, ask away and We’ll gladly reply.
I’m a designer myself and know that I’m capable of building all of the game elements/designs I need for my board game; but I also know there are those more talented than I at such things too.
My questions are these:
1) Is there some sort of consensus breakdown on what an artist should charge for various types of design styles/complexity, specifically for Prototype games?
2) Are you a Game Design Artist? Are you good at creating Watercolor/Pen&Ink style graphics? Comment below with an example of your art and I’ll DM you if I like what i see!
Mainly I’m looking for Game Artists capable of developing a specific style of art for a Napoleonic era style of wargame; particularly the map tiles and Gameboard/Player mat layouts.
Here would like to share the story of my first board game. Looking for critiques to improve my process.
“What is voting and how does it work?” - my then 8 years-old asked me this during election days in India.
I tried to explain him about voting, seats, winners, and election of head of state. I started drawing figures on paper support my explanation.
The drawing expanded to reveal as a structure of squares drawn on the floor using whiteboard marker and chickpeas became our game pieces.
And three of us played that as game to know how we put “votes” to win the seats.
That became a demand every night. I would draw a new game board and we will play the game.
The audience increased and idea evolved.
From floor it moved to white board and then to a large sheet made by sticking many A4 sheets using tape.
By the time I first sat down to design the board digitally, at least 20 players had played these versions of the game.
The idea was then transferred to one of the toy designer in my team who took it to next level. But the approach remained same. Before we invest any time into the design, we would let people play with it.
We used rough pages, A4 Papers printed using office printer and waste cardboard. Every version brought an improvement for sure.
And that’s how we reached to "Havi Rajneeti" - the politics themed strategy board game we have today. And I know we have a lot of scope to improve.
To say the least, here are three things I believe are the key requirements of toy design process.
Frugality
Speed of execution
User interaction
Don’t wait to make your game perfect, perfection would come as the outcome of the process.
Board game designers, enthusiasts and the community, I would love to hear your feedback to improve my process too!
I've been working on a card game for about 6 months now. We have just finished the illustrations (Still working on the wording). I have added a couple of my favourites for you to see, let me know what you think!
I am working on *Drownbound*, a cooperative tabletop game set in a dark fantasy world, drawing inspiration from titles like *The Binding of Isaac* and *Don't Starve*.
I’d like to share a preview of some item cards, design templates, and "panic" cards, which feature full-art illustrations.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the following:
• Visual style: Does the design look appealing and cohesive for a tabletop game?
• Readability in print: Given the rather dark theme, should I add more contrast or light to ensure that details don’t get lost in the printed versions?
I would greatly appreciate any feedback or advice from fellow developers and players. Thanks for your time!
I've been working on a board game called Aetas Maris, a strategy game inspired by exploration, resource management, trading, and territorial expansion.
The game is still in Early Access, and I'm currently looking for people willing to give it a try and share their feedback. I'm developing it as a physical board game, but I've created a digital version to make playtesting easier.
The game currently features multiplayer, so you can test it with your friends, or play solo if you'd prefer!
I'm looking for both experienced board gamers and people who are relatively new to the hobby. Any feedback is welcome and will help me improve the game.
If you're interested in giving it a try, here's the link:
~4 of us so far, looking for 1-3 more devs to join our "deep-dive pod" at BreakMyGame for a months long commitment, ideally..
Participants get put into a rotation for a 2-3 hour spotlight for their 3-4+ player ~mediumweight games as long as they show up regularly.. like, once a week at least.. the more often you show up = the higher you'll get moved up in said rotation.
Screentop.gg prototypes preferred but tabletop playground/tabletopia is cool too.
The games are very quick and the rules can be learned in 2 minutes (there is a full BGA-style tutorial)
So far I’ve tested it mostly with math and machines: tens of thousands of simulated games, an AI opponent with four levels, and about 440 logged games on the browser version. BUT only 69 of those are between two people, and I’m one of the players in half of them.
That matters because the game is about reading another person, and that’s the part I can’t measure yet. Friends who know each other’s habits might play a different game, and that’s what I want to see.
The friction is that both players have to be online at the same time.
If you’ve run online playtests, what actually got people to bring a friend?
Because both players move at once, Constello could be played slowly: each player commits whenever they like, and the turn reveals when both have. Would you play a game like that over a day, through a shared link?
If you want to play the designer: I often have a public game open. Look for “DESIGNER” under Play Someone New on the front page.
Hi everyone, there’s a new version of nanDECK with bug fixes and the following new features:
- New FRAMETRAIL function
- Added E, T, W, M to COLORCHANGE for edge detection, posterize, twist, and emboss effects
- New RANGEAUTO directive
- New ICONCASE directive
- Added to TRANSFORM directive direction and intensity parameter for brightness
- Added Q flag to HTMLFONT to use multiple outline colors
- Added D flag to ICONS and PATTERN directives to use DPI from image
- Added to GAMEICONS function the parameters for the outline color and steps
- Added flags to MANDALA to use more graphics and different alignments
- New MAPICONS function
Hello! Finally, I decided to post here with my casual, very private, and homemade board game, and there is a mechanic I’m having trouble adapting.
The general idea of the game is traveling across the world, and the colored lines are exclusive routes. Blue lines are planes, yellow lines are boats, etc. The point is that you have a budget, and you need to optimize your route; maybe you take a slower route to save money or burn through 3 planes to go faster.
The problem I’m having is the “slower and faster routes”.
See, for example: The Alberta > Quebec route is wayyyyy longer than Chicago > Washington and basically non-existent between San Jose > Panama. Not only that, but there are also layover routes; as you can see, you can go from Quebec > Reykjavik or have a stop in Greenland, which is slower but a cheaper route if you need it. And yeah, I have no idea how to simulate this.
My first solution was to make a grid at one of the corners where you have a token for your piece that you move along and pretty much works like a loading screen that you move with the dice (longer route, longer squares), but my sister mentioned that this restricts all of the action of the board to a square in a corner and not with the world.
Another solution is to make dots on the map, but that’s impossible to manage in regions like Europe.
Hello everyone!! I am developing a medieval strategy board game focused on territorial conquest, tactical battles, and empire expansion. The concept is simple: accessible rules, yet with a wealth of strategic possibilities. Every decision you make can influence control of the map, the development of your army, the fate of your empire, and much more! I am looking for people interested in learning about the project and participating in playtesting sessions. You don’t need to be a board game expert—I’m looking to bring together players who enjoy strategy and are open to trying something new! If you have *Tabletop Simulator* (available on Steam), you’ll be able to play—just get in touch with me. If you’re interested in learning more about the game or getting involved in future activities, feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message!
When I look at that I see many stuff to change but so far that's what I have. EX OVO is a game where you need to hatch a dragon egg with a help of your magic familiars- cat is one of them. 2nd picture is roughly how back will look like
I recently finished the cover art to my game and I’m curious from those with more experience; do potential players seem to be more enticed by the cover art or by pics of the game set up/being played?
I'm interested in bringing together a small group of people to collaboratively design and develop a board game from scratch, and I'd like to see if anyone here would be interested in participating. I'm based in Austin, Texas, but I'm open to collaborating with people from anywhere.
I'm looking for people interested in various aspects of game development, including game design, mechanics, writing, artwork, prototyping, and playtesting. Previous experience in board game development isn't necessary. What's more important is having an interest in board games, a willingness to contribute ideas, and an enthusiasm for working collaboratively. The goal is to bring together individuals who share an interest in board games and want to explore the creative process of developing one.
Ideally, I'd like to establish a consistent group that meets regularly to exchange ideas, discuss design decisions, develop and test prototypes, and work toward creating something we're collectively proud of.
Would anyone be interested in being part of something like this? We could establish a Discord server to coordinate the project, share resources, organize discussions, and schedule regular meetings.
Introducing Cattle Royale, a quick-fire two-player game that blends strategy and probability with a touch of luck.
We're looking to publish in the New Year and have a pre-launch page on Kickstarter. But I wanted to share here as I'm really proud of our box art and how the components sit within it. So thought others might be interested in this too.
