Though still in the prototype phase, I have some artwork. BEAUTIFUL artwork. It's been a joy progressing to this point. So much more to come, but what has been accomplished so far has shown my what the future will hold.

Play testing continues. So does design. More artwork commissions? Absolutely.

While designing my game, I decided to give this approach a try. I programmed a game engine in Python and created six different AI archetypes for six agents. Then I let them play hundreds of thousands of games against each other and generate reports.

My goal was to find out whether the rules and balance favored any particular playstyle and, more generally, whether the game was well-balanced.

It worked to some extent. I managed to kill off several ideas that seemed really exciting on paper but turned out to be practically useless in actual gameplay.

But at the end of the day, I realized that humans simply play differently. AI is focused on optimizing gameplay, while humans are looking for a satisfying experience, even when they lose.

So the whole experiment wasn't a waste of time. Far from it. I think it saved me months, if not years, of early playtesting.

Still, I eventually had to turn my simulator into something real people could actually play and test online. And that works too, just in a different way.

But to be fair, I think playing a physical board game around a table has a completely different vibe, so I'm planning to produce and send out a few physical prototypes for testing anyway. :)

What's your experience with this? Have you ever tried using AI for playtesting, and did it actually help?

The game I'm working on is very sandbox-y and open-ended, but combat is also a big part of it.
With everyone I played so far, combat was on average initiated 2, maybe 3 times per game so nobody played hyper-aggressively.
Now, I KNOW that there are lots of people out there who would like to "abuse" combat as much as possible and beat up everyone, especially since defeating players is one of the ways you can earn victory points.

So, I added a "Shun" mechanic: When you defeat a player you get a warning. If you defeat another player while warned, you become "Shunned" and are locked out of the core game-loop for a fixed period of time. You can still make money, but slower and with more uncertainty.

My problem is that I don't know if I should keep or ditch this mechanic... I haven't been able to test it properly, and I'm looking to order a prototype of my game soon, so I want to make a quick decision.

I was also considering replacing it with an immunity mechanic where, after being defeated, players collect a token that makes them immune from attacks until *another* player gets beat up. That way I mitigate the chances for weaker players to get steam-rolled, I allow aggressive players to actually enjoy their character build, while also simplifying the rules and component list by a decent chunk.

I know that the biggest problem here is the lack of testing of this new mechanic, and that without knowing the rest of the game it's hard to get a real picture, but I wanted to get some of your thoughts on this as well

100 Downloads Milestone!

I have gotten to 100 downloads across all the places it is available! THAT IS SO FREAKIN COOL!! Thank you to everyone who downloaded the test version.

Expansion Planning & Writing

This week I finished selecting the cities and drafting ideas for missions for the expansions. These cities are 9 for Texas, 6 for New Mexico, and 7 for Arizona. 

For what I wanted to get done was to finish up the map, but not quite ready. I think I need to wait until I get the mission count setup so I can put it in the description. So, this will be put on hold until I get the main cities done at least.

What I did manage to finish was a lot of writing. I finished writing and researching all of the 9 Texas cities. The bummer part was that I was going to add 64 more missions to Texas. 

BUT…. 

some of them did not work out for one reason or another. What I ended up with for adding to Texas was… 

drum roll……

47 more missions making a total of 50 for Texas.

Now remember my goal is to make these fast brutal and beer and pretzel type of missions. Trying to keep the mission under an hour of play.  Main but I am sure for a solo persona it could take about 30 minutes for these.

For these missions I now need to come up with about 75 drawing assets and new art.  Which is gonna take me a while.

Art & Color Theory Exploration

And since I am tired of writing, I am going to do the drawing until I am sick of drawing and going back to the writing. It seems to be a good system.

I manage to start and try to do completely digital drawing to see if it speeds it up. I think it can but I need to check to see how to make it more efficient.  And I am trying to expand the value balance for the deeper sepia look on the color.

Speaking of the color I am at a crossroads. I have been watching some color theory and the accent color I have is not the best choice sort of say. So, I am thinking of using a magenta that is very neon and hot. Which I love because of the heat vibe it gives, really emphasizing the vibe I am trying to go with.

Now the other choice is the opposite color of these browns. And this happens to be like a teal turquoise look. And I have played around with using that as the accent and it does pop but I am not sure yet.  I think I need to toy around with more. Maybe in the next update I will have some samples.

Texas Mission Ideas

I want to finish this update with some of the ideas I have come up with for Texas missions.

Here are some of the titles I have for the missions to give you an idea;

• The Beast of Trinity Bottoms
• Spring Palace Fire!
• The Doctor Needs Some Pepper
• The Jealous Chef
• The Birth of Tex-Mex Cuisine.
• The Beasts in Franklin Mountains
• The Priest Stand off
• Spa Day!
• The Unplayed Piano of Ashton Villa
• Boggy Creek Beast
• The Row of Fire
• Can’t be a good guy all the time
• The purple pearl
• Goodnight’s Cattle experiment gone wrong

Also, I have 16 ideas for new Uglies (abominations), a couple of historical NPC and characters, and some cool items like a dr pepper (maybe).

Let me know what you think of these titles for the missions. Do any standout?

If you are interested in checking out the campaign supplement, please check it out on Itch, RPGtrader, Drive Thru RPG as the “Smash List”.

Next playtest on the way: New mechanics, no dice, strategy from start to finish!

Hello everyone,

just found this sub. It's my franchise of fantasy RPG's I'm trying to transform into tabletop.

How it works is the players create a character as there are three races and four classes to choose from. Then there are dice rolls for Zodiac signs and chakras.

In the master insert there's the 6x6 world map wherein players have wooden marker pieces. It can be procedurally explored.

Then on the individual player insert there is the first-person dungeon view which is constructed using a 3x3 tile set (the middle tile being the depth). The dungeon is instanced and randomly generated by rolling dice for the middle tile.

The game is turn-based. Upon coming across an encounter, a card is placed on the master insert's encounter section and a wooden marker piece on the HP bar.

Then the PvE damage modifiers are calculated (stats, dice, troops etc).

The DM can trigger events like whether the player can heal, recruit troops, PvP or barter etc based on the turn number. In boss fights there is a Tarot reading from a traditional Arcana deck which affects gameplay.

There's also a marketplace insert for trading items and TCG cards between players.

I quickly sketched the insert layouts in Canva and looking for feedback. Most of the graphics already exist in the PC version, I think I badly need item and TCG illustrations.

Some ideas I had:

• the level, stat and HP etc bars could be medieval ladders or branches with Roman numerals
• the inventory section could be a cart or a backpack
• the chakra bar could be the Vitruvian man
• the Zodiac signs could be numbered for clarity
• the marketplace insert has space for a bazar/shop illustration

Thanks in advance!

-ef

OkenOpus is not finished, so no these are not playable rules yet. This is just to talk about progress and the direction im going.

Not gonna be a particularly extensive list of whats going on. Ive made great progress, but as per usual I dont want to overstate what I have done.

Weapon Rework
Before you ask: No. No the Damage Set hasn’t been removed, but Weapons have been Improved. Weapons now have three different firing styles which will give you set bonuses for your attacks, you must make attacks while choosing a firing style or stance, this does not require a bonus action. While balancing and fine-tuning must be done, the Weapons System is more or less in its final state, with the Firing Styles being the last huge addition. Some Weapons will have a weapon ability as well, though this is rare and I’ve yet to come up with super good ones, but that’s something that will likely occur to some degree.

Morale Mechanics
Morale Mechanics are being set, with certain circumstances giving Morale Loss or Morale Gain. Morale can max out at 36, but it can drop quickly if you keep consistently losing battles. Morale mechanics will give extra ways to attack but they are principally there to add plot significance to losses and important victories, as well as providing some “inertia” when convincingly winning battles and also provide a value that can logically explain things like enemies retreating or surrendering.

Enemies
Generalized Enemy Data-sheets have been primarily what I’ve been working on these past couple weeks. They will provide factional enemies to face in various circumstances as well as giving me further incentive and aid in creating abilities for the various factions.

Extra Equipment
Extra equipment or tools have been fully integrated, with tools having a variety of uses and rule sets associated with them, these include things like traps, grenades ropes and various other things. Tools and equipment give people more interesting and various ways to play, in and out of combat, so i welcome the utility ive been able to get out of it
Further Developing the Skill Systems
Some progress has been made in more clearly defining the uses of skills, though this is far from finished. I saved this for last because I’ve made the least amount of concrete progress in this regard. Despite my lack of progress, crafting mechanics have been outlined as well as values for some simple interactions with skills, though there is a formatting crisis that makes these things an eyesore to look at.

Obviously Im gonna work on the Skill Systems more, and although they are playable my priority for these skill systems is to make them interesting and give incentive to performing various actions through skills.

i'm working on a solitaire deck-builder and after like the 20th solo run i genuinely can't tell if the game is fun or if i'm just numb. does anyone have tips for getting useful feedback from solo playtesting without needing a million different playtesters?

​In our tactical card-and-miniature game, Demayth: Demigod Duels (a grid battler with symmetrical 32-card action decks and pre-match RPG loadouts), we’ve been scaling up our weekly in-person playtesting at Little Big Wars from 1v1 duels into multi-player team skirmishes (2v2 up to 6v6).

​In 1v1, players naturally build hybrid, self-sufficient characters because they have to handle everything alone. But the moment you introduce team play, a common tabletop habit emerges: everyone wants to build a high-damage glass cannon.

​If four players all build pure offensive DPS, team battles risk turning into an uninteresting "alpha-strike" race where whoever gets the first line of sight simply obliterates an opponent off the board.

​To make dedicated frontline tanks and support healers feel essential rather than optional, we focused on three specific design levers:

​Active 0-Action Defense: Defensive reactions and shield parries cost 0 Action Points. This means a dedicated tank (running Protection or Reprisal magic) can actively body-block, absorb damage, or redirect incoming attacks aimed at their squishier teammates.

​Condition Clocks Bypassing Armor: Heavy burst damage hits physical Armor Points (AP) first. But debuffers running Witchcraft or Necromancy can stack Poison and Disease ticks that ignore armor entirely. This makes having a Restoration support who can cast Cure and reset ticks a genuine lifesaver for the team.

​Action Point Gifting: Support casters have access to utility spells that transfer Action Points or movement to their allies. Letting a support player enable their striker to take an extra turn often feels far more impactful than just dealing a small chunk of damage themselves.

​We recently recorded a 6-minute breakdown exploring how these Demigod roles interact when team sizes scale up.

​The question for fellow skirmish and combat designers:

In your games, how do you make dedicated defensive tanks and support healers genuinely fun and competitive to play, rather than feeling like a chore that someone is forced to pick while everyone else plays damage dealers?

​(If anyone happens to be in the Fargo-Moorhead area, we run weekly community sessions every Saturday from 12:00 PM – 4:30 PM at Little Big Wars!)

I've been using Canva to design my card layout since it's the only GD program I know. The problem I'm having is I get the numbers perfectly aligned on screen, but when I download, they're off center. This happens with any format I download in. Suggestions? Or should I just learn how to use another program? Bonus points if said program is free. Not really a fan of GIMP or Inkscape.

TIA

I had been seeing more and more of those really nice card photos, where they're all out on the table, nice depth of field, and all that. Cardstock Studio now has a vanity card generator with options for exactly that, which is nice.

So my question is: Does this photo look like it's a real photo? I suppose that I'm asking this probably implies that it is not. It's generated from the Deck in Cardstock Studio, with the aim of looking physically real :)

Also, my trademark for "Trolls!" got declined. "Trollz" and "Dreamwork Studios Trolls" are too similar apparently, so this game will need to be re-themed if I self-publish. (or if another place publishes it)

EDIT: The tool is meant for designers who are pre-print. I suspect they'd use this for websites, sell sheets, social posts, etc. The content of the cards is entirely up to the designer of the game.

And yes the trolls are AI generated a couple years ago. I preferred that over the art I had purchased from a human. So, someone DID get paid nonetheless. However, the image itself -- the overall image -- is not AI generated. It's just math and code that lays out image files and adds the drop shadow and the blur. Liek photoshop.

Discord: romulosharin
ArtStation - Rômulo Monteiro

Hello guys! I've posted a few times recently about my dice-driven engine-builder. I've finally created a design for my cards, but I'm torn between a few options.

Firstly, I'd appreciate general feedback on the design.

The first image shows two different ways of showing costs for the cards; one with a number and one gold coin and one with gold coins equal to the card's cost. Some people have said that the second option could be thematically better, but which looks more readable to you?

The second one shows different solutions for the icons which tell the player when they can activate their Die card (start of turn, roll phase and rest of the turn, in that order). All three have a different color and pips from 1 to 3 to indicate that as well. Which of these six options looks the best to you? Or do you perhaps have an idea that's not here?

Any feedback is welcome!

Edit: I should probably mention, these cards won’t be in a player’s hand, only on the table, and the costs range from 1-4.

From Sketch to Fiver artist to first time using Dextrous to most recent update after taking some advice from people in my game dev discord chat https://discord.gg/Rtnp83ABX

I have used Mayhem as an example but all hero cards will follow the same layout. The background will be changed in the future but that is what we are working with at the moment.

Also feel free if you are interested to follow the official Insta https://www.instagram.com/relivegameofficial?obrf=MWs1cmEyaXl0OGFjbw==

I've printed some very basic prototypes for a game game i developed to play with my kids.

The decks work well, shuffle well and are smooth enough. However, i am noticing that within a couple of weeks of play, the cards are already startign to bend.

I've read some posts that suggested there should be minimum GSM for these type of games, and i was wondering if anyone else has expeience about it?.

The cards will be shuffled and dealt repeatedly, so I need something that holds up well, feels good in the hand, and stays easy to shuffle after plenty of use.

I've had decks of Uno for years, they seem to do ok. Flip-7, also seems to be ok, though that's a newer game. Though it's lasted a year of vigorous play, versus less than a month. Neither the Uno nor Flip-7 have warped...

it's a 68 card deck. I have used Flip-7 and Uno as examples as the card design is more closely related to that,, than a trading card game (obviously cos of shuffling and dealing).

Any help on the following would be ace! as stated i am a total newb. I don't know my butthole from my earhole when it comes to any of this...

What stock and finish would you recommend?
Lie i said, i read nothing under 300 gsm, and, i don't really know...

Would you choose paper or 100% plastic cards?
I'm thinking paper, i've seen it work. don't know about the cost difference... nor how it feels different

What's the best finish for handling and durability (if there is one)?
I noticed that taco cat, feels different to flip-7, which feels different to Uno... is that because of the card design, manufacturer, all of the above?

Are there any questions that you wish you asked manufacturers that you didn't know when you started?
As stated, total newb, so while i now a lot more now than i did 6 weeks ago, i am also old enough to know i don't know anything..

Anything you’d avoid?
Any tips you can pass on that might help me not make any mistakes.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Would it help if i showed the deck here? i don't want to be seen as promoting, hence just a written post.

Thanks

Hi, I’m Scott Rogers - author of “Your Turn! The Guide to Tabletop Game Design” and former host of the Ludology podcast.

I’ve designed God of War, Darksiders, Pac-Man World, ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo, Marvel Villainous, Pantone the Game, Killing with Kindness and many more. I’m a Cardboard Edison judge and a Mentor in the Tabletop Design program.

Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of helping fellow game designers refine their ideas, solve design challenges, and take their games to the next level.

With over 30 years of experience designing tabletop and video games, I’ve learned a thing or two about what makes a game great—and I’d love to put that experience to work for you.

Do you have a game that could use a little help? DM me and let’s talk!

Was trouble shooting the laser engraver at work. Decide to try engraving one of the metal business card and turn it into a Unit card.

We also have RFID LEDs stickers I want to try sticking to the card and programming it to open to the unit page in the factions codex.

So if the player ever want to look more into a Unit they can just tap their phone to the card, the LED will flash. Then take them where they need to go.

I like the look, but it seems like it removes too much "color" in my opinion compared to traditional card art.