Hey all,

I'm in the process of making a card game, and I was wondering if anyone has any pointers or directions to go about taking it from my pc and making it a reality? I have a feeling its not as simple as printing them out and asking a company to sell them.

I want to make a wargame like warhammer 40k but with simplified and streamlined rules. Any good rules/mechanic templates that would be good for someone trying to make his own game?

I'm working on a tutorial for my pocket-sized, solo, dungeon crawling game and would love to have a few people look it over or even legitimately play through it.

The game is fairly light and the tutorial itself is only 4 pages. I'd guess it would take maybe 10-20 minutes total.

Here's the link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hHrY3_7QAsF4yHeKPj79Fcf3Z-sJ4DAP

I'm also happy to return the favor if you have a rulebook you'd like me to look over!

I'm making a full Monopoly board game from scratch, using my own city (Rome) as the main theme and the main difference from the classic Monopoly would be the addition of three metro lines. I'd just like to know what you think about this new mechanic.

The metro lines (A, B and C) connect multiple spaces on the board, but each line has its own stops that are not shared with other lines (except for a few stops that have two lines converging). Out of 40 total spaces, 11 of these are also metro stops. They are not added spaces, they're just ordinary properties that you can buy and also travel from.

So to use this system, you have to buy a metro ticket for 150$ (I'll use US dollars to simplify here) that you can get while being on the only one space on the board that sells them (Stazione Termini, the one on the middle-left), then you can keep the ticket and use it anytime, or even trade it. Now when it's your turn to roll the dice and you encounter a metro stop within your path, you can choose to spend your ticket (one use only) to travel to whichever stop of the same line you want, and once out, you continue with the remaining steps that you have to take (for example let's say you rolled 7: you would take 3 steps, use the stop you're on, and by counting the space you arrive to as a step, you take another 3). Also when using it you have to pay, either the bank or the owner of the property of the stop that you traveled from, the amount according to each property card (15-50$). You also don't get to collect the 200$ if you skip the "Go" space through the metro.

The main idea of this would be to escape from a property with a rent higher than about 200$ that you would otherwise end up onto (there are only two stops near the more expensive properties, so it's still kinda difficult to avoid them) or to go straight to a property that you want so bad that you're willing to spend 200$ more for it.

So what do you think? Tell me all the changes and improvements you would make. Just keep in mind that I know this would make things way more chaotic, and that's exactly what I want.

I am currently researching the best advertising channels for my board game, which is still in development. While I am considering using Meta ads, I am also aware that BoardGameGeek (BGG) has substantial traffic. I am curious if people actually click on BGG ad banners. What are the click-through rates like? Does anyone have any experience with BGG ads?

I tried to find some research about it, but I got none of it, so I will rely on people who have experienced it before. I am really into trial and error here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tabletopgamedesign/s/uUkXoxkIXi

This is my work as you can see here: https://www.behance.net/gallery/87555115/RPG-illustrations

This is my work and i didn't made any post about it!! Dont fall for the scam! If you want to work with me contact me through PM.

Hey!! I am looking for people outside my friends and family to playtest my board game.

Dicey Decisions is a two player dueling and dice drafting board game. At its core the aim is to be a nice bite sized RPG adventure reminiscent of the younger days when as kids we could be anything our mind could comprehend. The game is set in a fantasy world with D&D type races/classes where legendary RPG heroes exist and not only that but is every child's dream job growing up. The board takes place in a children's playground (more specifically the sandbox) where two players are battling it out in an epic all out fight to compete for who can achieve the most glory and end up on top. To our cast the battle is very much real but in reality they are simply kids being kids and is represented by the main resources being rock, paper, and scissors. The characters traverse the map using dice which are representative of actions allowing them to make decisions to best utilize their energy. Cards are used as a way to do some actions more efficiently, cash out on some big points, alter the fundamental rules of the game, and even simply just slightly inconveniencing your foe. By collecting resources a player is able to build up their arsenal learning legendary spells, gaining epic loot, tarnishing their foes reputation, and much more. The players must balance picking action dice but not biting off more than they can chew and ending up exhausted from working too hard. The goal of the game is to gain as much reputation by the end of the six rounds (or simply more than your foe) so you can be the most reputable adventurer in all the land. Complete quests, activate ancient runes, gain glory, collect loot, tamper with your foe, and make dicey decisions in this whimsical fantasy board game.

This is my first ever board game I have created so appreciate any feedback or advice!! (A LOT OF THINGS ARE PLACEHOLDER ARTWORK, ICONOGRAPHY, GRAPHIC DESIGN ETC...) You can reach me at adpele100@gmail.com

here is the link to the workshop mod - https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=32509...

I've heard to have low expectations for the first one or two games you put out. Makes sense, you're not as experienced and skilled. My question is if you have an idea for a game that you want to be successful, be more seen, sell better, etc. should you maybe wait to use that idea for a game until maybe your at least second or third game?

Over the last few years, I have done extensive in-person playtesting during the design and development of Pluck, with various friend groups, friends of friends, BreakMyGame meetups, and UnPub. I would like to begin testing with a larger audience to gain some broader insight into the parts of Pluck that people may find confusing or unbalanced so that I can release the best game possible when it is eventually published.

Independent Playtest means you read the rules and play on your own (then ideally send me your thoughts). Guided Playtest means I am on a discord with you, explain the rules to you, and potentially participate in the playtest if desired. All of these would be on Table Top Simulator.

Additional info on Pluck here: https://www.pluckthegame.com/

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I’m currently ideating my first board game which is finding a way to turn floor is lava into a quick 10-15 min warm up game for friends and family. I’ve figured out most of the basic mechanics. The one thing I am unsure about is whether it’s better to do dice checks or card plays when there are movements.

Players’ turns occur simultaneously where they all decide to move at the same time and in certain scenarios if they do move into the same spot, I wanted to include a mechanism where they’ll be able to do a check(with dice) or use a card and determine who gets to stay safe while the other is pushed into the lava essentially. Im yet to playtest but I wasn’t sure which one to go forward with considering I do want this to be quick play but I didn’t know which added more replayability to the game.

Any advice appreciated :’)

I've been working on these icons in the lower left and don't know which way to progress. Any thoughts?

https://preview.redd.it/6mgebt73fjed1.png?width=2738&format=png&auto=webp&s=3b129453006efab1d9e8d19cd932947d3c63e73a

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I've been working on this game for the better part of of three years, constantly refining and polishing certain things. I wanted to make a 1v1 token based(idk little blank scrabble pieces... what ever those are called) strategy game A la Chess or Checkers, the kinds of games where you can see your opponents moves and they can see yours. With the added variety of effects for advantage in the game there are only two types of Tokens. Regular Tokens and Tool Tokens

Regular Tokens either have a small Acorn on them (Seeds) or a small Skull on them (Skulls ofc) all of them have a large X on the back to signify "Face down"

Each player gets 17 regular tokens and can choose 3 Tool Tokens out of a total of 21 unique Tools. (7 sets of 3) The choosing ideally would work like a draft where each player takes turns picking their Tools (This has to do with marketing and not super important for this post.)

Seeds always go first.

To set up, place 5 regular tokens face down in the Life Bar. (Crude picture above) Each of these act as .5 so in a sense you have 2.5 life. Remove all of the tokens from the opposing players life bar to win the game

At the start of the game or while there are 0 tokens in a players action bars, they may place 2 regular tokens in any of their three action bars. If there is already a token in any of the action bars, the player may only place 1 token per turn.(This was to fix a pacing issue that was present in earlier versions of the game)

Each turn is divided into four phases,

Start Phase, signifies the start of the turn certain tools effects/second effects are resolved during the start phase, The Book, The Spider, The Moon, all use the start phase.

Perk Phase, during this phase a player may flip two adjacent face up tokens face down to activate the perk of that action bar.

Perks

Atk: pick one of your opponents face up tokens (tool or regular) and flip it face down.

Def: Place one of your face up tokens in your opponents action bars, if your opponent clears that piece then it is returned to the owning players side face up in any action bar; or you may place one face down token in your life bar if you have less than 5 tokens in your life bar.

Spd: you may flip two face down regular tokens face up.

The Place Phase: during this phase you may place 1 regular token face up in your action bars, unless you have 0 tokens in your action bars then you may place 2 regular tokens face up in your action bars.

The Use Phase: During the use phase you may flip one face up regular token face down when you do you may take the tool token and place it in any of your action bars, however the tool you place must be from the adjacent tool bar slot to that action bar. (Clarified a little bit in the crude drawing of the board. Will answer questions as needed)

The action bars, so you might be curious as to what these do. Each one has a different effect. The only way to use the effect of the action bar is to resolve a "Full Clear" (four face up tokens in the same action bar)

The Full Clear effects of the action bars

Atk: remove two tokens from your opponents life bar the opponent then places those tokens in any of their three action bars

Def: you may add two face down tokens to your life bar, or flip one face down token in your life bar face up. Making it go from .5 to 1

Speed: Recover(flip the tool token face up) all of your tool tokens then place one face up token in your sub speed bar you may have up to three tokens in your sub speed bar, these tokens can be placed any time during the place phase.

There are three types of clears that benefit the player(the first was Full Clear)

"Half Clear" where you have 2 or more face up adjacent tokens in your action bar you may use the perk of that bar or recover the tool corresponding to that action bar. (NOT BOTH)

"All Clear" where you have at least 1 face up regular token in that bar when it's cleared, you may recover the tool corresponding with that action bar.

Then there's Null Clear, with four face down tokens nothing happens with this effect.

Tools and how to use them, it's pretty simple, during the Use Phase you can place a tool token, depending on the effect it either goes in your action bars, your opponents action bars or above your life bar (in the case of one tool, in your life bar counts as 1 life not .5)

The tools are arguably the most difficult thing to remember in the game, as some have effects that are like a paragraph long. As an example of tools they range from simple to complicated.

Example of a simple tool

Bomb This token may be placed in any of the opposing players Action Bars, any bar this Token is placed in is immediately cleared. No effects activate, no tools recovered

Example of a complicated tool

Spider This Token may be placed above the far right slot of the opposing players Action bars, for the next three two of the opposing players Start phases this Token Moves down one Action Bar. If that bar has three tokens in it it is immediately cleared, no effects active, no tools recover upon the clear. The Spider is removed from the Action Bar it cleared. While the spider is in an action bar, during the owning players place phase, they may choose to place a face down token in any of the opposing players Action bar the spider is in, if this is done, the Spider Token is returned to the Tool Bar Face down.

Again I've been working this for a while I have a Google doc.

I do need assistance in figuring out the complications of some tool interactions so I can write them down (don't worry I play to have sort of cards that explain what the tools effects are at player disposal)

Some assistance in FAQ would be nice as well.

There is a secondary way to play the game that doesn't use the tools it's called "Tool-less"

I am lost in figuring out how to properly put the rules together.

Thank you for reading and any feedback would be appreciated 👍 😎

This week on BGBP, we cover where to start your game design. Mechanics? Theme? Maybe a vibe? We all start somewhere. Either way it is important to make sure that your theme and mechanics flow well together as you develop your game. So sometimes it is important to work on both together.

I use Potion Explosion as a great example of how you can take a mechanic (the marbles) and combine that with your theme (placing marbles on actual potions). It helps make a game feel cohesive.

As the title says, where do you usually start, do you have a theme you tend to start with, a mechanic? Maybe both?

For me, it really depends on the game. I have had it both ways. One time I had a mechanic idea purely because I realized a hex is just a 3d cube. Another game started because of a drawing I made was funny and I wanted to make a game that used it as a theme.

You can watch the video over on youtube here: https://youtube.com/shorts/OB4qKBonCBo?feature=share

Society

Society is a sci-fi strategic board game based where you attempt to gain support from your subjects while fighting your enemies.

Each player starts the game with one planet, several resources, and a support meter of 20-30 (not sure yet). At the start of each player‘s turn, they draw seven cards detailing actions they can take, including Build, Tax, Conscript, Attack, Rally, and Travel. One can play as many of these actions as they, discard as many as they wish, and at the end of their turn, they can save up to two actions form future turns. Some of these actions damage your support meter, like Tax, Conscript, and a failed Attack. Others add to it, like Rally, Build (Housing), and a successful attack.

Buildings

A player can build several types of buildings, like Housings, Farms, and Mines. A player can also build Ships, which are necessary to Travel, and build Forts to fortify existing structures or create a new, fortified building, Farms produce Food and Mines produce Ore. You need Coins to Build these, or your Support meter will go down. You need Ore to build Housings, Forts, and Ships, as well as Coins, so your Support meter will not go down. You can get Coins by using the Tax action. You can only place so many Buildings on a planet. Also, you can level up Buildings with the substance they were built with, of the same amount, up to level 3.

Planets

There are several types of Planets, like Frozen, Desert, Fertile, Rocky, and Oceanic. Frozen planets provide a detrimental affect to both Farms and Mines, allowing them to produce less Food and Ore. Desert planets do the same thing, but only for Farms. It costs more to put up Buildings on Oceanic planets, and Farms get bonuses on Fertile planets. Likewise, Mines get a bonus on Rocky planets.

Attacking

Attacking happens in two different ways: on a planet, and in space. In space, the person with a higher amount of Ships win. On a planet, the person with the higher amount of Troops wins. You can get Troops by using the Conscript action. Winning means that the lesser amount of Ships or Troops is destroyed, and if Troops are contained in the ships, they die as well. If both sides are equal, then each side rolls a die. The person with the lesser amount on the die loses one Troop or Ship. This goes on until on side is destroyed. Also, on the ground, a Fort protects Troops from being attacked. The Fort must first be destroyed to attack the Troops.

Attacking a Building

A building is equal to a certain amount of Troops dependent on its type and level, though buildings cannot attack. For example, any building other than a Ship (ships only count as buildings in this way on land) or a Fort, is but one Troop. A Fort is worth 5 Troops, and A Ship is worth 3 Troops. You can also Level up a Fort to be more resilient, adding 2 Troops for each Level up. Ships don’t add HP when they level up*.

Food

Food is necessary every round to not decrease the Support meter.

*Ships instead level up the amount of Food, Ore, and Troops you can put on a Ship. Overall, you can put 5 of those together, and it adds two more as you level up.

I’m making the first set for my game, I’m going with 120 cards split by 3 colors, I got 1 done but I’m pigeon holed on the other 2, I know how I want them to play but I’m stuck on card names and unique effects. Tips?

Raising Rabbits just started its Ad campaign tests, and so far its been looking great! I have been extremely nervous on how it will do, and even more vervious of getting the projected number.

I look forward for the overall results of the Ad testing and seeing the projected numbers 👌

So I’m making an area control game of sorts (think Game of Thrones Boardgame) and as of right now the player count will be 3 to 5 players (maybe 2 to 5 if we can figure out some balance issues).

The issue I’m facing when designing the map is deciding on the number of territories to put. Let’s say for a 5 player game, 40 territories feels good. When playing a 3 player game, 40 territories feels much too high. There’s too much empty space and the players spend a lot of time just grabbing the empty territories rather than interacting with each other.

In the Game of Thrones boardgame for example they get around this by blocking off certain territories depending on the player count. I’m curious if anyone here has any other ideas?

I was thinking maybe adding “rebel” armies. So the empty territories are guarded by a small military force. But I don’t want players to just fight the “Ai” and not each other ..

Would love to hear some ideas:)

I’ve been designing a tabletop roleplaying game and have started to realize that my design goals aren’t terribly compatible with the TTRPG medium. For example, I would like to use custom components, like weapon cards, spell cards, ability cards, custom dice, and a world map, but such components are often looked down upon in the TTRPG community. Alongside that, I really don’t want the game to feature a GM, as well as make a game that de-emphasizes randomness.

That got me thinking about how I would make the game a board game/ttrpg hybrid… and once I started thinking about that, I just couldn’t stop. The idea seems so intriguing to me, and gives me so much design space as a designer to tailor the game to be EXACTLY what I want it to be.

So… on a conceptual level, what would you think of a TTRPG/board game hybrid?

I'm working on a game, strictly for play in a club i run for my students, called Factions: A Strategy Game. Its effectively 50% Warhammer, with lego figures/builds as units, and MTG, using cards to augment the units on the board or even the board itself.

This question is regarding the MTG part of the above equation.

Being an EA, which in my case effectively means study hall teacher with less money than a teacher, i don't have hundreds of dollars to drop every time i want to do a print run of cards, so instead of using an online print site, i wish to purchase a printer to do the printing on my own. My main concerns are as follows.

-Must be able to print on heavy cardstock, similar thickness to a traditional TCG card.

-Must be able to print double sided, and in color

-Needs a decent print speed and print quality

-Ideally, should be able to have an adjustably print size, so i can go from 8 1/2x11 to as small as 2.5x3.5

Most importantly, it needs to not break the bank, $300-$400 for the printer and $20ish for ink is the ideal price point

Thanks in advance for your advice

If y'all wanna know more about the game, HMU but its not really that in depth, mostly a bunch of star wars references.

-Primal Z

I am debating if I want to have ~90 unique cards, or stick with my 18 I have right now and repeat them a couple times in the deck.

When I'm in the bathroom, I often wish I could quickly prototype a game idea. There anything like tabletop simulator for phones or even something more rudimentary than that? I'd just need to be able to upload a map, move tokens around, and roll dice.

I am tinkering around with a homebrew narrative skirmish wargame for a big get together I am having with my gaming group. I am using this as an excuse to build a game using all the themes and mechanics I have been mulling over for years. One that I tripped over reading through my old notes is irregular zone based movement and I am hoping to get some feedback on my general idea for the system.

Background

First a quick primer about the game. This is supposed to be a cooperative narrative based skirmish wargame that is equal parts wargame and hero centric RPG. I want this to be a fairly dynamic game with monsters trampling through groups of heroes, characters throwing terrain pieces like boxes and barrels at each other, and melee combats that move across the table as they take place. Movement and dynamic situations are a core part of the system.

To that end I want to create a movement system that flows well with the rest of the dynamic interactions that are taking place. The usually solution for movement is a measure and move system, while this is a viable system (and one I may well end up using) I find it imprecise, rigid and slow.

Irregular Zone Base Movement

My idea for a measure and move replacement would be an irregular zone based movement system. The general idea would be to break the table up into irregular zones based on the terrain and sense of space on the table. An open courtyard might be one zone, the inside of small house might be another, and a long narrow street could be a third.

When setting up the table the players would discuss the zones and set out markers that roughly set the boundaries of each zone. Any disagreement would be settled by the Game Master. These zones would be all different shapes and sizes, some would be small and others relatively large. What would define them is the terrain on the board. A dense city board would have lots of small zones representing the cramped quarters and tight alleyways where a country side board would have fewer large zones representing the wide open spaces and ease of movement through them.

When a character moves instead of counting inches then would count zones with each zone counting as 1 movement. Ending up anywhere in the zone they moved too as long as they can draw a path to that point without going through enemies or impassible obstacles.

When shooting the character does much the same, instead of counting inches they count zones. They would still draw a line of sight from base to base to see if the shot is obstructed and how many zones it goes through. This still means that positioning within a zone is important as characters would still want to use cover.

Why I like this system

I really like the idea of this system for two reasons. First it is quick to do and easy to follow and second it doesn't break up the immersion of the game.

Players are no longer worrying about inches and centimeters and are just moving their characters around the board getting into fights and stalking through dark forests. This drastically speeds up play, seriously try timing the different phases of the game and just see how much time is eaten up measuring and moving just a handful of models. It also leaves space for new mechanics such as mobility rolls to extend the distance a character moves or bound through terrain pieces.

It also helps connect the players to the board space and thus the narrative of the fight. The first thing the players have to do after setting up the terrain is talk about the zones. They have to look through the map and figure out the spaces within it. This helps them build a narrative for the space they are playing in and makes them consider the board as not just a battle field but a place with its own story.

Why I don't like this system

I am not jumping on using this system because it frankly has a lot of drawback and issue that I would have to work out.

First is that it is a little novel which makes it foreign and possibly hard for players to immediately grasp. A traditional measure and move system is a lot easier for most players to use because it is the standard.

It could be hard to set up for the players. When defining the zones the players would have to balance the number of zones they set up each time they play. Too few and the game is boring with few options for movement, too many and you are essentially playing a worse version of a hex based game. I would have to develop some guidelines for the number and size of zones but it would still be up to the players which is just more things they would have to learn and practice.

It is an imprecise and possibly cheesy system. With the zones only being roughly defined it could be easy for players to lose track of which zone they are in or even what is and isn't a zone. This could be overcome with zone markers or string but that is just more clutter on the board.

It also could be cheesed pretty easily by doing things such as hiding characters in a well hidden back corner of a zone before moving into combat with a ranged character, essentially denying them the opportunity to shoot. A reaction system might mitigate this cheese but it wont eliminate it.

This system also requires a lot of terrain, probably more than players are used to having on the board. This is because you want terrain features to break up the board into natural zones which isn't as easy on a big open board.

What do you think?

I know this is a lot of thought and effort put into a non competitive homebrew system but I am really curious to see how people feel about it in general. I know there are some zone based games such a Deadzone Commander that use square regular zones but I haven't seen one that uses this system of irregular zones.

Have you seen a game that uses them? How do you feel overall about the system? Do you see any advantages for it or would you just rather use measure and move?

I would love to hear any thought or questions on this.

The game does not need to simulate 2D fighting games or even necessarily be 2 player games, the major requirements are that it uses a standard deck of cards, its gamey" (think MTG, a minis game or a board game), has lots of back and forth between players, and each game would be up to 30 mins long.

Other games I've found similar to what I'm talking about: Dueling Nobles Regicide Yomi Blade Bind (my favorite of these options)

Games that are don't completely meet my ask but are close: BattleCon Exceed fighting System Magic the Gathering Radlands?

Basically, I'm looking for games that's capture the gameplay feel of a TCG or LCG, does combat or even a dungeon crawl but uses the standard poker deck.

My friends really enjoyed what I did with this Mafia cards set and they advised me to try to sell this kind of personalized cards but I want an objective opinion. So what do you think about my work?

https://preview.redd.it/8up65j63dbed1.jpg?width=4961&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63967822dee7f5cf6f1c865c493a1010e9f9f4c0

https://preview.redd.it/4vlg2m04dbed1.jpg?width=2100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce13757deca3a5f6dddc281e14a849178fc9bae4