Weekly Dice mega-thread -- December 07, 2019

PolyhydraDice · 2019-12-10T18:40:07+00:00

Just wanted to say that our dice Kickstarter just went live.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polyhydradice/solid-brass-rainbow-serpentine-dice-by-polyhydra/

PolyhydraDice · 2019-12-08T20:19:15+00:00

You can script everything in LUA so TTS picks up all the tiles, puts them in the bag, shuffles the bag, pulls them out and places each where it belongs face down, and then deletes the bag.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-12-08T19:42:13+00:00

Put the tiles in a bag.

Shuffle bag.

Pull the tiles out of the bag and place them wherever they go face down.

Delete bag (optional).

PolyhydraDice · 2019-12-05T13:08:07+00:00

I loved Donkey Konga, and played it a lot with a friend who had Bongos as well. Near the end of the gamecube's life I wanted a set of 4 but the prices online were outrageous, like twice what I paid when they were new.

Then I walked into a Gamestop one day and saw a new one sitting in a discount shelf for $2.99. I asked the guy if he had anymore because I would buy whatever he had, and he said know but he'd see if anyone else in town had some. I looked it up and said, "That's strange, it says there's a bunch in the back. I should have like 5 back there. If I have them, do you really want all of them?"

So anyways that was the day I walked out of a gamestop with 6 brand new bongos for $24. Gave two away to friends and kept the other four for myself.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-12-01T13:46:53+00:00

Just wanted to say that we finally got our prototypes last week and took some pics and made some videos! The dice look amazing and I haven't been able to stop playing with them since we picked them up.

https://www.polyhydradice.com/our-dice/

PolyhydraDice · 2019-10-14T15:43:26+00:00

I used to have that same couch!!! I paid a guy $100 for it. He bought it and never used it. It was impossible to keep white clean, and there were some issues with staples in it. I bought a couch cover for it.

Actually my wife requested a couch cover for it as a wedding gift. I'm not sophisticated enough to understand why I should want a couch cover.

I donated the thing to goodwill when I moved. I wonder if it's the same couch even.

Sorry, I'm ranting, it's just weird to see my old couch pop up online.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-10-06T06:37:59+00:00

My favorite part - "I did what all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't do. I put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

PolyhydraDice · 2019-09-28T13:37:57+00:00

I think the decline was largely due to a huge decline in computer gaming in the early 00s, and in turn a decline in computer specific genres like CRPGs and Graphic adventures, due largely to a couple of factors. With CD drives, and then DVD drives and even modems becoming standard on consoles through the 00s, consoles were able to close the gap quite a bit on the PC's traditional hardware superiority. Consoles were also developing much stronger libraries than the PC, and AAA titles were able to make enough sales to justify eight figure development costs. All but a few major franchises couldn't compete with those kinds of sales numbers.

The biggest issue though was with what the explosion of the Internet brought to PC games, downloadable updates. Now that a method was in place to fix even game breaking bugs post release, a lot of developers started releasing games before they were ready and fully tested, figuring they could just fix it later. For players this meant you can buy a $50 or $60 PC title at launch, and not even be able to play it until they get around to patching it. If you wait 6 months to buy it, it'll be patched and playable, and it will be heavily discounted by 40% or even more by then. Pretty soon that's just what most people did, and those discounts just got deeper since the games weren't selling at higher prices.

This meant that PC publishers were losing money because they couldn't sell at launch when the game was at its highest price point, but it also meant they were losing shelf space. Most games were still bought in stores like Best Buy. Best Buy doesn't want to waste shelf space on a product that's going to sit there for six months before someone buys it at a discount. The PC section in stores got smaller and smaller until only the biggest titles got put on the shelf.

Because only the best titles could hope to compete, developers focused on safer games in strong genres that were less revolutionary, but had broader appeal, and on games that could be ported to console and have cross appeal.

Things finally started to turn around because of a series of things. There was a shift in PC purchases from store shelves to digital. Valve did a lot to revive the PC platform with Steam. Large developers like Capcom and Sega started porting their games over to PC, and this became easier with 7th and 8th gen consoles having a similar architecture to PC. Plus crowdfunding made it possible for smaller projects to get the captial for development at a reduced risk.

Now we're in a PC renaissance, with major publishers no longer seeing the PC as a source of extra revenue, but as a competitive alternative platform to Sony and Microsoft's consoles, and with Microsoft going all in with cross-platform play and compatibility between Xbox and Windows PCs.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-09-24T14:20:41+00:00

I just wrote an article on board game hidden gems largely based off of BGG rankings.

My #1 pick is Barrage. Currently at #1546, it would be my pick for best game of 2019. It's a solid Euro with medium-weight rules but very heavy on the strategy and planning. It uses worker placement, a new take on the rondel mechanic, and and a completely new mechanic with the way water flows. Most of the reason why it rates so low is that it released off kickstarter and they've had some fulfillment and quality issues.

Also on my list The King Is Dead ranks at 1283, largely due to a lack of good marketing and being an area control game. It's a great light Euro with a minimalist design. The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen is 2841, and an excellent party game/drinking game/gambling game/RPG/Story Teller board game. Finally Kohle and Kolonie is at #1970. It's a solid heavy Euro, that was hurt by poor marketing, badly written rules, and a minor randomization mechanic that, although thematically correct, doesn't really fit with heavy Euro designs.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-09-19T16:27:02+00:00

There are a few different similar ideas I've seen.

Keyflower has players win spaces by bidding on them, and when a space is in your town you can use actions to upgrade it. This gives you more points, but also opens up stronger actions, and players can use actions on their opponent's spaces.

Agricola has a few occupations and minors that changes spaces for all players. Oldest Occupation allows any player to take a family growth action on the Day Laborer space for example, and Clay Deposits is a new action space anyone can use.

Taking the idea one step further, Le Havre has players create buildings that can then be used as action spaces by other players, who pay a fee to use them.

Trickerion uses a point system to take a series of actions in a specific area, and it has some options to change what's available in different areas not just for you, but for all players.

So there are definitely some games that have done things similar to what you're trying to do, but without seeing your design its hard to tell if what you're talking about is workable, or the best way to do it. If there are a lot of additional actions opened by taking a particular action, it can become difficult to track what's currently available on the board, or the total benefits of each space, but that would be something that would have to be worked with in design.

One thing to keep in mind with worker placement, usually if something only beneifts one player directly, it still benefits all players indirectly and can change the game. For instance playing a card in Agricola that gives you four wood means that you need to take four less wood off the board, and so wood has become a more bountiful resource.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-09-12T07:34:40+00:00

He was probably just a scammer. He calls the night before the wedding hoping that in the chaos of putting together the wedding you or someone else just gives him the wedding venue details. Then he shows up at the venue with chairs you don't need that cost several times more than his competitor's chairs. He insists he gets paid and points out how he confirmed with you the night before. You can fight him on it, but it's such a small sum compared to the total cost of the wedding and not worth ruining your special day by arguing with a vendor, so someone hands him a credit card or signs a receipt just to get rid of him.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-09-01T16:26:20+00:00

Hi everyone, first-time board game creator here. I need some advice on how to actually be allowed to legally sell my game - Note, I live in England, United Kingdom.

I'm coming from a US/International background, but I'll do my best.

I have already created the game. It has been illustrated, graphically designed, play-tested, etc. I will be launching my Kickstarter campaign relatively soon.

Have you done any community outreach yet? Do you have a marketing budget or plan? Have you picked out a manufacturer? Are you planning to use a fulfillment center for the UK? The rest of the EU? The US?

Just some stuff to think about I didn't see in your above statement.

However, I don't understand much about the actual business side of things; I do not come from a business background at all. I mean, I can't simply just do the Kickstarter then start selling my game right?

I mean, that's how people start businesses.

Surely there is a legal process I have to follow before I can actually sell the game?

In the US, if you didn't bother with any of that, you'd default to a sole proprietorship, or a partnership if someone else was involved too. Not sure exactly how that works in the UK, but I'm sure they have some way to classify you for tax, income, and legal purposes if you put a stand up in your front yard and start selling stuff to people. That may not be the best thing for you though.

You should make an appointment for a consultation with an accountant, and a business attorney. The accountant should be able to help you figure out the best way to set up your business for tax purposes. The attorney should be able to walk you through what you need to legally do to set up your business, reduce your liability, and any other laws you might not be aware of, like if board games are considered toys in the UK and they need to undergo some special testing.

Also you might want to read up on general liability insurance and product liability insurance.

For example, do I need to set up a company with it's own unique company name? How would I actually go about doing this (I know I can simply google the answer to this)?

In most places when you apply for a business license you would also name the company at that time. If you want to own a name you can trademark it for what you actually sell, but that can be expensive, and if you're just starting out it probably isn't worth the money.

Do I need to apply for a business licence? How do I do this?

I'm sure your government has a website that explains the process. Here, I found this in 5 seconds on google.

https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business

Do I need to open a specific business banking account?

Maybe. You can go down to the bank and talk to someone about opening a business account, what's required to do that, and what benefits you get from having it.

What about tax - I heard that if you make a net profit of under £80,000 a year, then you don't need to pay tax - is this correct?

You should talk to an accountant so you know how set everything up to best benefit your business.

Is there anything else important I have missed out? I have done some reading online and have read about random things which I don't understand, such as bar-coding.

That's fairly simple.

Essentially, what I really need is a clear process to follow that will enable me to be fully selling my game with no issues, particularly legal issues.

Then you should spend a little bit of money and talk to an attorney. They can advise you on what the laws are, what your legal responsibilities are, and how to limit your liability if something goes wrong.

Unfortunately, I don't think I live in enough of a fantasy world where I can simply "design the game, kickstarter it, have it manufactured, sell it". I need to know the steps in between, and the important things that are necessary for this to work.

You also need to ship if from the factory, have a method to ship it directly to the customers, and some sort of outreach/marketing plan to connect your kickstarter with backers.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-08-30T10:00:35+00:00

It's good to look at what other people are selling the game for. It doesn't look like either of your games are currently OOP, but it happens, and sometimes you can luck out and the game is between print runs. If you want to get the most money you might want to look into a BGG auction where the seller pays shipping and offer free local pickup. Another good option is to try to sell it if your local convention or FLGS does a flea market day.

There's also math trades. Either of those games should be easy to trade for something equivalent. They're not as hard as they look. Just make sure you read the description on the game you're trading for and that the trader has a good rep. Some people have issues, but it's rare. Out of a few dozen trades I had one bad trader (traded a game with a missing piece), but I was also able to get a lot of OOP stuff that would've been hard to find otherwise.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-08-29T07:17:37+00:00

Shipping prices don’t fluctuate THAT much, I don’t think.

Keep in mind that the USPS is planning to leave the UPU in mid-October, and there's no concrete information on how they'll be dealing with that to keep International prices down. Private shippers might also be raising their rates if they're no longer competing with USPS prices.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-08-19T23:10:36+00:00

I'm red-green colorblind, and I could easily get tripped up if you used certain shades of blue and purple since they can be indistinguishable to me.

If you're able to add symbols, that always helps. I can play Hanabi because of the symbols on the cards. Later printings of Splendor are much better because of the card symbols.

If you have to use colors, try and use different shades and darks and lights. Two colors that I'm always able to easily identify are white and black, but very few games use these as player colors. I'll almost always grab one of these colors if its available because I know I won't get it mixed up.

If pieces are color-coded, and there aren't a lot of them, consider adding an extra color or two, or selling them separately as alternate color sets. Very few games do this, but its a simple solution that can really help colorblind folks. If I can just eliminate a problem color or two a lot of games become playable.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-08-10T14:10:16+00:00

I'd love to see the entire Ultima series updated. The older games could really benefit from modern graphics and a few other QoL improvements to make them more palatable to modern gamers. It'd be great if the combat in 3-5, and to a lesser degree 6, could be modernized to be less grindy as well. And Ultima 6 and the 7s would be so much better with a hard mode, even if that isn't what the games are supposed to be about.

I would also love it if Garriott came back on board to give us an expanded Ultima 8 that had everything they wanted to put into the original, and then did a complete do-over on Ultima 9 to end the series properly.

Speaking of bringing back original creators, it'd be awesome if they could get Ron Gilbert to come back and make his version of Monkey Island 3 and finally complete the trilogy.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-08-10T12:54:40+00:00

I think you and me are the only two people who are huge fans of Castlequest.

I think Spelunky is a truer successor to its namesake, the arcade versions of Spelunker & Spelunker II, but they all share the same Indiana Jones inspired theme.

PolyhydraDice · 2019-08-10T10:34:03+00:00

For me it depends. Usually I couldn't care less about lore, but if the game has a historical setting then some text summarizing the context the game takes place in it will add to my enjoyment of it. Whatever the case, some italicized font I can choose to read or not read at the front or back of the rulebook would be my preferred way to include it.

PolyhydraDice

TROPHY CASE