UKGE is the largest gathering of indie (independent) board game designers in the country – I know this because it was my job to fold the hundreds of raffle tickets left by their playtesters. Rob’s container was too small to hold them all, so we had to borrow Andy Hopwood’s hat. I’m pleased to… Continue reading Diary #30 – Indieboy
Diary #29 – A Shoe Upon the Other Foot
After a daring act of subterfuge, the trident made it past security and into the NEC. It was not for me to wield, however: I entrusted it to Nicki Lloyd to aid in his promotion of Immortality. There was a great buzz on ITB Avenue today, with three Birmingham Game Designer stands clustered together. I… Continue reading Diary #29 – A Shoe Upon the Other Foot
Diary #28 – Action Loop
Master of Olympus and Dawn of Gnome each contain strong and weak action cards. In both games I expected optimising those action cards to be crucial, but this is not how it worked out. I’m going to attempt to explain why, with some help from Captain America. Jumping off was the easy part… Individual actions, it turns out,… Continue reading Diary #28 – Action Loop
Diary #27 – What’s in a Gnome?
I’m once again taking baby steps through a new project – exciting but full of challenges (for example, I keep forgetting how to explain the rules). It’s a similar experience to designing Master of Olympus, as I describe here. Overall, Dawn of Gnome is coming on nicely in a thousand tiny ways: Solo: a game of tower doughnut defense… Continue reading Diary #27 – What’s in a Gnome?
Diary #26 – Curveball
Back in August, I wrote about a new board game idea based on the whole of human history. Since then, Dawn of Gnome has refused to leave me alone, and there’s a problem: I think it’s better than Master of Olympus (at least, its rules and manufacturing requirements are much simpler). I’m not alone in having reservations about Olympus: “There were… Continue reading Diary #26 – Curveball
Diary #25 – Led by the Blind
Master of Olympus entered a new era last night when it was tested “blind” without my input for the first time. Overall it worked well, and it’s good to know the game is now self-sufficient. Central to all this was, of course, the manual, which I wrote over the summer during visits to the Library… Continue reading Diary #25 – Led by the Blind
Diary #24 – This is SPARTA!
If I can get my players shouting that famous line from the film 300, I’ll know I’m doing something right. I’ve also been keen to simulate the second Peloponnesian War of 431 to 404 BC, and to make a small 2-player board suitable for conventions. These were all great reasons to design a new “Athens vs… Continue reading Diary #24 – This is SPARTA!
