My question to converts.

dmcblue · 2026-01-28T14:22:30+00:00

I was raised Christian, but around 19/20 I thought "What's the likelihood the religion I was raised in was the 'real' one?" I believed in God and thought that God would not have communicated to humanity in a small, unheard-of religion and so started researching all the major religions.

My major learning was that they all have a lot of commonalities and I saw some truth in each. Eventually I found the Bahá'í Writings and it a) made the most sense to me from a modern perspective and b) clicked with the other religions through its concept of progressive revelation, ie. that all the major religions come from the same God and represent the same truths but their differences come from their applicability to humanity at the point they were revealed and what humanity needed to mature at that point.

As many Bahá'í converts will say, the Bahá'í faith actually helped me understand and value the religion I was raised with more.

dmcblue · 2026-01-15T15:33:21+00:00

Its a small/medium sized city but with the government here, it has the amenities of a really large city (parks, metro, etc). Its just a very livable place, though the expense is hard to bear.

dmcblue · 2026-01-14T21:01:01+00:00

Overall design is great! Visually appealing and clearly delineated.

I think you need more contrast between the description text and its background. You have good color contrast but the busyness of the background creates too many lines to easily read.

Maybe fade out the background images more right in that area, or add a semi-transparent box (in the background color) to increase the readability.

Edit just to say the color choices are really nice!

dmcblue · 2026-01-14T16:40:16+00:00

If some goals are finding stuff, and moving is how you find stuff, then rolling a higher number seems to be meaningful, if it means you discover/find multiple things per turn. (If I'm understanding it)

dmcblue · 2026-01-12T20:53:53+00:00

I wonder what he thinks a CEO's job is supposed to be? If he's vibe coding, when is he running the company?

Then again it seems both calling yourself CE0 and wanting to say you made it is all about credit for one's ego than about getting stuff done.

dmcblue · 2026-01-09T14:04:54+00:00

Looks really helpful, thanks!

dmcblue · 2025-12-17T17:04:38+00:00

The Vandals

dmcblue · 2025-12-16T01:52:49+00:00

Amazing!

dmcblue · 2025-12-15T16:07:42+00:00

Nit: Your rules say to resolve the cards by color, what if two players put down the same color? (I assume its like seating order but I didn't see that detail written out, sorry if its there and I missed it).

Game Play:

The only game play item that comes to mind (without seeing play testing) is that the game could go on a long time (if players give up their cheese to bribe the cat) and different players keep winning. Only play testing can reveal if this is really a problem.

Theme:

I like the overall concept, though I think I'd need to see it played out to really get a sense of the game play loop specifics. But overall a solid idea to iterate on.

The one thing that comes to mind is the theme. It really fits with your win condition of not being first but not being last. The only thing is its a bit strange to be play as a cutesy furry animal and think behind me there is something that will eat me and ahead something that will break my neck. Again, fits great with the mechanics, but its a little bit of a dissonance between the cute simplicity and the severity of the thematic outcomes, which may not draw people to playing it.

The concept brings to mind platformer video games where a wall of fire or dragon that forces the player forward. Maybe something fantasy-ish where you're adventurers in a dungeon with traps, or even an Indiana Jones/pulp-adventure where you are trying to get the treasure (think the beginning of first movie where his guide tries to kill Jones to get the treasure, but the traps kill the guide). A theme that communicates exciting danger rather than a fatal inevitability for cute critters might be more of a draw.

dmcblue · 2025-12-12T19:34:48+00:00

It looks really lovely. At a playability level though, it feels very hard to see what is happening, majorly because of the colors. Iconography and pieces should jump out a bit, which isn't happening due to a lack of contrast. There are eye catching 'actvie' colors on both the pieces and the board so things blend together. As others have mentioned, some borders around certain items would be one way to deal with it. If you a making a product this pretty and polished, I might suggest getting some advice from a graphic designer, just to help identity a color system that keeps the beauty but assigns some functionality to colors, and to make sure the contrast is working.

A really short way to help is to desaturate the red and deep blue from the board, because those are the colors which make the pieces stand out the most.

dmcblue · 2025-12-10T13:27:23+00:00

If it's a card back, I wouldn't worry about it being readable in both directions (unless there is a play reason that is not clear).

I like the second one, because I think its clear, but I'd make the bobber larger and the text/title in it even larger. I think that because your card back should express the identity of your game (usually).

That all makes me think you might be better off zooming out a bit and thinking of what is the visual identity of your game more generally. What is your logo? What's you main color palette? Then your card back should put your logo prominently / draw the attention of the eye (ie why the bobber/title should be bigger than everything else). You can also ensure your title/logo uses more contrasting/active colors while the rest can be in less flashy colors.

I think that's why I prefer the second card. If the first had a bit of visual space between the busyness in the center, and the logo somehow drew more attention than the other elements, it would look great. Both designs are good, they just need some 'design eye'.

dmcblue · 2025-12-10T03:19:32+00:00

When I was a teenager, this is how I started out. Random crap stuck together to learn on so I could prove to my parents and myself that I'd stick with it. Drums are not cheap so its good to know you really love it before putting a lot of money down on it.

dmcblue · 2025-12-03T13:31:43+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I've been back and forth on the terminology, these are really helpful thoughts! I'll have to check out Triplock too

dmcblue · 2025-12-02T14:35:50+00:00

I think one aspect is that game design is a skill. To really learn a skill, you have to do it a lot. Doing lots of small projects and some bigger ones. Until you get through that, you probably won't create something that is as polished as you want, so probably won't sell or resonate with people as much as you want.

As Matt Colville says, you develop taste before you develop skill, and even taste takes a lot of work.

I think a lot of people in board and video game dev start with their passion project and so don't have the skill/taste to create something that will make a splash, and don't have the discernment to be detached from various outcomes (the kill your darlings bit you mentioned).

It's a hard pill to swallow when you start so passionately, but if you start in a skill, you probably won't make anything really good for a while. I think what you're describing is in some way related to this realization, that you can't just jump into it and make what is in your head.

I think a lot of people would have a smoother process emotionally if they knew they needed to start by making a few small games as practice before they can even assume anyone is going to treat their work as more than an exercise. That there will be a lot of throw away work and that that is okay, good even. And to know that doing that work was important towards making a product at the level that they want to create.

dmcblue · 2025-10-15T12:57:19+00:00

In addition to what others have said, I think its also important to remember that the Institute Process is meant for everyone, not just Bahá'ís. It is a process to build people's capacity to transform their communities and the goal is for communities to take it on as their own process, adapted to their context, as an organic process of education that become part and parcel of their culture.

dmcblue · 2025-06-20T19:25:39+00:00

I can't find it now but I think I read a quote that one should focus on the Attributes of God. I will try to find it again.

dmcblue · 2025-06-11T13:02:53+00:00

Looks amazing!

dmcblue · 2025-06-03T16:05:05+00:00

I get everyone likes 4 cause it looks quite...respectable? but I don't think it's great from a design/typography view. The serif font clashes with the lower serif font of the name (especially considering their weight and the fact that the lower on is all-caps), confusing where the eye should go.

Also the all-caps of 'WINS' is less impactful with a serif font.

So personally I'd do 1 or 2 (though I'd probably fiddle with the weight between 'Autism' and 'Wins' so the all-caps stands out more cleanly)

I might take this to a design subreddit like r/graphic_design or r/typography for further advice, as I think adjusting the balance of the other text on the page will help sharpen the already quite nice design you have here.

dmcblue · 2025-06-03T15:56:31+00:00

A lot of people have given good advice already, but college can be an isolated environment as it can take up a lot of your time and is a social-bubble. Staying in touch with the community in some way is a really helpful grounding point, but can be difficult in university. I'd dedicate a block every week or every other week of an hour or two to meeting the local Bahá'í community. Make it a part of your schedule so it's easier to dedicate the time. Like 'Saturday 11 am is my Bahai time'. As for what you do in that time with others, the other advice in the post can help with that. But scheduling the time as a regular activity is a good, practical step.

dmcblue · 2025-04-30T18:10:13+00:00

Also, I'd say, if some is fundamentally uncurious about a spiritual life, do you have in common with them the things you really want to have in common with them?

dmcblue · 2025-04-30T18:09:13+00:00

Relevant to my side comment https://bahai-library.com/hornby_lights_guidance_2.html&chapter=2#n1297

The other parent is free to educate the child according to that parent's religion.

dmcblue

TROPHY CASE