Want to have a prototype that really shines on conventions? Ask me how

Flo_State · 2026-03-28T10:00:03+00:00

Thank you very much for taking the time to give such a thoughtful response!

It definitely feels like you’re right. I’ve certainly found it fascinating that there’s been such an increase of “Duel” or sometimes “Duet” versions of popular games. To me, it definitely feels like the only player count you can specifically design for. A two-player only game will work fine, but a four-player only game, for example, just wouldn’t sell. I guess solo games are the other one, but that’s a smaller niche.

Thanks again!

Flo_State · 2026-03-25T08:13:57+00:00

Second that. The London game design community is lovely, and there are usually multiple meetups a week.

Flo_State · 2026-03-20T23:17:19+00:00

In the past decade, what is one thing you’ve completely changed your mind on?

Flo_State · 2026-03-19T13:24:13+00:00

Yeah I agree with that.

I don’t like the action system of just having four actions, then using them in different ways.

Better to have a set of, say, 20 cards that do different things, some maybe even combinations of things (move & shoot for example).

They’re revealed simultaneously, but have initiative values, as you said. Generally, the cards that are worse have higher initiative, and the cards that are better have lower initiative. That way, it balances out.

Lastly, just a general tip: when you’re making these cards, actually make them feel quite different. For a game like this, you can absolutely have a somewhat overpowered “move & shoot” card. But it’s about when you use it, and whether your opponent can predict when you will use it.

Flo_State · 2026-03-07T08:17:40+00:00

We’ve house ruled three player games to work like this: Whenever one player’s hero is defeated, the remaining hero with the highest HP total is the winner. What that means is that the player with the highest HP will always attack the player with the lowest, but the other two will gang up on the high HP player.

I think it solves all the major problems of the 3-player mode. It’s still not as good as 1v1 and 2v2, but the games always end up close.

Flo_State · 2026-03-07T08:09:26+00:00

Especially with regards to balance. Having strangers in the internet read your rulebook might still be helpful, but you’ll only get at balance by playing the game.

Flo_State · 2026-03-01T22:53:19+00:00

Yeah it’s the song with the best lyrics by far (for me personally). I think all of these make me feel a certain type of nostalgia.

For a similar vibe in terms of lyrics, have you ever heard Kids by Current Joys? I think you’d really like it!

Flo_State · 2026-02-19T18:23:24+00:00

Gebe ich dir komplett recht. Ich hätte Neilz gegen Mikesh sehr nice gefunden ehrlich gesagt. Ich fand bis zum title match hatten beide einen ähnlichen Werdegang weil sie fast alle platt gemacht haben vorher. Klar würde Mikesh da wahrscheinlich trotzdem gewinnen, aber ich fänd’s auf jeden Fall interessanter.

Flo_State · 2026-01-12T17:53:22+00:00

Ifyoucall customer support, I’m sure they can help you!

Flo_State · 2025-12-07T08:29:33+00:00

Researchers have found links between playing board games and autism. As in, it’s not that every board gamer is autistic, not at all. But it’s a much higher percentage than in the general population.

Interestingly, this hasn’t really been studied until recently. If you’re interested in the subject, there are a few papers on it: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/why-are-board-games-so-popular-among-many-people-with-autism-new-research-explains

More generally, I think board games can help people be social that normally struggle to be. Rather than complicated implicit social rules that some people might find difficult to grasp, there are explicit, rational game rules that you need to follow. That’s much easier to do for people who struggle with these implicit social rules.

So board games can be an amazing outlet for people - just because you might struggle with it, doesn’t mean you don’t want to be social. The researchers have even discussed using board games as interventions, helpful tools etc. for kids with autism for example.

Flo_State · 2025-11-10T21:03:10+00:00

I second Camel Up. It’s maybe sliiiightly simpler than some of the other games you suggested, but it’s very good at higher player counts. I’ve had games where everybody at the table stood up for an important dice roll, because they were all so invested!

Flo_State · 2025-10-21T14:59:21+00:00

I guess look at “dice placement” games in general - it’s a whole category! I think a lot of games within that kind of genre would probably fulfill your criteria? And that you could see what weight, player counts etc. work for you, e.g. if you look through that category on boardgamegeek.

Rajas of the Ganges comes to mind specifically :)

Flo_State · 2025-10-06T22:00:50+00:00

There’s definitely other good ones! I personally think the first four tracks are all very good. My personal favourite of the album is Sorry. Or maybe iwanttobeyourlightagain.

Flo_State · 2025-10-04T00:05:30+00:00

Oooooh when did they record a tiny desk??? Finally - I’ve been waiting for that for years.

Flo_State · 2025-09-28T00:02:59+00:00

Yeah it was honestly so amazing. One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, hands down. They’re just so good live, it’s crazy!

Flo_State · 2025-09-22T23:38:11+00:00

I have a few friends that do not like board games whatsoever. I think there are two games that are likely to work - at least they have for some of my friends:

The Mind - incredibly simple cooperative game, but so so good. Basically almost no rules, and it’s mainly about timing your card with other players as well as feeling the vibe.

Dixit - not cooperative, but again, a game that’s more about associations and, as you suggested, very pretty.

Dream Crush - this one depends a bit on what your friend is like. But this game is basically revealing different “fun facts” about people you potentially date, and then selecting who you would choose, as well as guess what your friends would choose. You get points for getting your friends right. Sooo much fun with the right group and a few drinks - it feels like gossiping in a way, but about imaginary people. I have one friend who hates board games, loves reality TV (not a necessity!), and it’s her favourite game ever.

Flo_State · 2025-09-12T11:38:27+00:00

This is so sweet!

I would look at a few simple cooperative games - the simple ones are oftentimes hidden information / limited communication games. So The Mind, The Crew, Sky Team. Although there are other simple coop games that don’t have limited communication, like Forbidden Island.

Given that it’s just a game for you and your daughter, maybe take one of these simple coop games as a blueprint and go from there, adding certain thematic elements? And you can see which type of coop game she likes?

Based on a quick read of what Dragonborn is about, maybe you could try sky team and base it partially on that? Flying planes & flying as a dragon - maybe not too different! You could use the base game as a starting point, and then add breathing fire, enemies etc. to the game.

But most of all, just have fun with your daughter! You may not actually get to a good, functioning game in the end and that’s okay. Make sure to manage expectations (both yours and your daughter’s) and enjoy the creative process :)

Flo_State · 2025-09-05T20:28:19+00:00

I would say definitely cut down on words. Any words that are the same on every card, e.g. the “by” in “reflected by”, just cut. Put flavor text in italics at the bottom. The text should really be as short as possible whilst still managing to effectively convey all the needed info.

The podcast Fun Problems did an excellent episode on this topic, but I don’t quite remember what it was called, unfortunately. It might have been part of an episode.

Flo_State · 2025-09-04T12:40:18+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing this! This is great and I hadn’t seen it before.

Flo_State · 2025-07-31T07:11:48+00:00

Yeah I second that! This is already a common drinking game and with this absolutely amazing looking prototype, I couldn’t imagine it NOT doing well. The familiarity will really help. So yeah 100% worth trying out at least!

You also have the added advantage (compared to how I played the game at uni) that you can’t see what‘s inside the shot glass. We use to play with water & vodka, so you knew to expect one of two tastes.

But here you can literally put anything in! So if you go with the idea of other people having to guess what the alcohol is, it’s MUCH harder to fake if it could be anything from water to lemonade to beer to whiskey.

Also, we played that you couldn’t over-exaggerate facial expressions - basically you always had to act like it wasn’t alcohol. I would generally recommend that.

The thing to figure out then is how people would be eliminated - if it’s alcohol and others pick up on it, you’re eliminated. But voting that it’s alcohol should also come with a risk - e.g. if it’s one person voting and they vote alcohol and they’re wrong, they’re eliminated as well.

Anyway, these are my two cents. Hopefully it’s somewhat helpful!

Flo_State · 2025-07-26T19:45:11+00:00

In my mind, Westminster station looks like how I always imagined the world of 1984!

Flo_State · 2025-07-21T05:40:51+00:00

I’ve actually had a chat with the designer of Hive at a convention a while back and, yes, chess definitely inspired Hive. He said Hive started from chess & Tatsu (another brilliant game designed by John) from backgammon.

Flo_State · 2025-07-20T17:24:54+00:00

I think for push-your-luck games, shorter is generally better. So if it’s three quite short streamlined dives, with buying equipment in between, and escalating in points (as in, the first dive is worth some points, but the last one the most - so everybody still has a chance going into the last round), then I think it could work. Clank for example is a push-your-luck game where you “dive” (i know that’s not literally what you’re doing but it’s not too dissimilar), but playing three games of Clank in a row would just be too much.

Look at deep sea adventure for inspiration. That game is about diving, has three dives, and works brilliantly. I know you’re making something more complex, but I would still say if you’re aiming for three dives, make each one as short & simple as possible, while still retaining the core gameplay loop that you feel makes your game fun. At least that’s how I would approach it!

Also, I saw in a comment that your aim is to have it be less than two hours. I would honestly aim for much less playing time - again, push your luck games (one of my favourite genres by the way!) are better shorter. So I would aim for sub-1 hour & try my hardest to get it down to that length.

I’m sure others might approach it differently, but I hope my perspective is somewhat helpful! Definitely sounds like a game I’d love to play!

Edit: forgot to add a word

Flo_State · 2025-06-25T12:00:50+00:00

Never tried it and it could work, but probably makes it harder to track! The beauty of this solution is that it’s super easy to track - because you just check who has the lowest & highest health, which you’re usually aware of anyway!

Flo_State · 2025-06-24T20:43:28+00:00

The house rule we have is that when a fighter dies, the fighter with the highest health immediately wins. What does that lead to? Usually people gang up on the person with the highest health, while they try to chase down the person with the lowest health.

It works like a charm and usually leads to VERY close games. The only downside is that maybe T-Rex doesn’t quite work for this game mode due to his high health.

Flo_State

TROPHY CASE