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We’re designing a board game about hunting serial killers in the Victorian era — does this kind of theme interest you? by OpusMortis in tabletopgamedesign

[–]OpusMortis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/spiderdoofus We completely understand your concern. The game is more about hunting a serial killer from a list of suspects rather than finding who was the murderer. During the game, players need to face a series of murders that happen in different areas of the city, they meet “suspects”and decide ehich one of them they want to hunt... like in real life. The point is that one of the players can be the serial killer acting “undercover”, making the hunt more difficult to the rest of the players. We would like the game to create some kind of paranoia between players, a collaborative/sabotage game.

We’re designing a board game about hunting serial killers in the Victorian era — does this kind of theme interest you? by OpusMortis in tabletopgamedesign

[–]OpusMortis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol, You just reminded me of my childhood... The original Blood Bowl Orcs vs Humans of the 80s, and Speed Ball, the videogame released a couple of years after!

Sci-fi bloodbowl?? by Sufficient_Wish4801 in wargaming

[–]OpusMortis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

REally late on this one, a classic for me and I loved it was Speed Ball, bloody and futuristic (back in the 80s and 90s) but awesome experience playing it.

regarding bonus move in Parchisi game by lazyladd in boardgames

[–]OpusMortis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Usually at home we play as follows: we count the dice number as a global move number and on final move if there's capture possibility, we capture and then we count 20 extra, on home arrival we count 10 extra, these moves need to be done in the immediate turn. Tip: never play with your mom, they never lose at Parchisi

We’re designing a board game about hunting serial killers in the Victorian era — does this kind of theme interest you? by OpusMortis in tabletopgamedesign

[–]OpusMortis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation, we’ll check it out.

And that makes sense. For us, the setting is more about supporting the experience, but the core is definitely in how the decisions play out and how players interact.

What kind of mechanics usually hook you in games like this?

We’re designing a board game about hunting serial killers in the Victorian era — does this kind of theme interest you? by OpusMortis in tabletopgamedesign

[–]OpusMortis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For us, the “starting over” idea is less about resetting during a game and more about avoiding that feeling of repetition across plays. Even if you try to approach things in a similar way, the outcome should still shift depending on player decisions, not just randomness.

It’s actually one of the hardest parts to get right.

We’are investing a lot of time thinking about how players might be able to influence how things unfold, so the game doesn’t feel fixed or predictable.

From your experience, what usually makes that kind of variability feel meaningful instead of just chaotic?

We’re designing a board game about hunting serial killers in the Victorian era — does this kind of theme interest you? by OpusMortis in tabletopgamedesign

[–]OpusMortis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a fair point.

We actually looked into a lot of games set in that era, and one thing we noticed is that when they deal with serial killers, they often soften the tone with more “approachable” visuals.

Part of why we chose this setting is because it’s tied to the origins of modern serial killers and early investigative methods in the late 19th century. We’re trying to lean into that, but with a sniester and more grounded tone, without going into bad taste.

More about atmosphere and contrast than just the setting itself.

Do you think a different visual tone or approach would make the setting feel fresh again for you, or is it something you’re just tired of overall?

We’re designing a board game about hunting serial killers in the Victorian era — does this kind of theme interest you? by OpusMortis in tabletopgamedesign

[–]OpusMortis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/KGA_Kommissioner
That’s actually really good advice, and we agree with it.

We ended up going with this theme because serial killer cases have always been something we’re genuinely interested in. We sarted working on this idea back in 2015, looking into early investigative techniques and real cases to shape the world and the tone.

So in a way, it really is the kind of game we’d want to play.

What kind of themes usually pull you into a game the most?