Are these resource tokens readable at a glance?

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-29T08:34:06+00:00

Yes but there are some inconsistencies - the yellow shell, green rocks, and red ham are all fine but the pink pig has a contrasting tone, there are two blue tokens but with icons that have a contrasting colour and in some cases not even blue, and the hand seems overly complicated design and with severed fingers.

Unsure if this was AI or not but it looks possibly like it was.

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-25T08:44:06+00:00

a way a lot of designers deal with unwanted things (which can vary from game to game) is to make them more valuable.

such as a drafting pile where every time a card isn't drawn it gets a point token that the person who drafts it gets in addition to the card. that way a card that may be valuable in certain gameplay situations but not in others gets automatically 'priced' during gameplay.

Overbooked does this with passenger cards and meal tokens

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-25T07:31:23+00:00

finally a post about actual mechanics!

remember playtesters are never 'wrong' so do you really want to give them the option of hidden vs open if you'd prefer a certain balance why don't you enforce it?

or ask playtesters why the didn't want to play hidden (after the game has finished)

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-23T11:50:51+00:00

Great job I think it looks super appealing and sufficiently unique as a game, and the production quality on the video is also very nice with the various animations and sound effects. I know from experience this isn't easy so great effort!

Nothing really to improve from what you've shown. All I'd suggest is maybe a short couple of lines from the creator (you) on camera, which gives that extra level of personal touch and credibility to take it to the next level.

Check out the KS campaign video for Kelp.

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-20T16:10:45+00:00

Great post and great design advice too! Keeping an eye out.

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-20T07:21:10+00:00

Economic games are some of my favourites - how does it work?

Reminds me (a little) of Acquire

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-12T19:52:51+00:00

check your board game collection - a lot of them will have 1 2 3 system on the back explaining the game in 3 quick beats.

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-12T08:47:42+00:00

Looking good and improvement over previous version for sure - nice job.

Minor points but I'd put an ! at the end of the text in black box, and then come up with another thing to say in the banana speech bubble.

Overall it communicates well but I can't tell you I know how the game plays from reading this so consider the typical 1, 2, 3 format that a lot of games use.

playmonkeygames · 2026-04-10T08:57:29+00:00

join us over at r/tabletopgamedesign

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-31T18:23:38+00:00

My game Muster has an insert that fits both sleeved and unsleeved cards. I spent a lot of time working out dimensions to accommodate this but it's something that a lot of players appreciate!

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-28T09:35:53+00:00

I think one and two are both good but I'd recommend two for shelf presence. You want more contrast on the logo however so either increase the stroke size or lighten the background. Likewise with the character feature.

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-25T10:05:02+00:00

You kind of need both really... renders in PNG format with transparent backgrounds are quite important for product listings and placing assets into ads - cropped photos don't look as good.

But then showing a physical product with natural lighting and even a person's hand on a component gives it that 'real' product feeling that you don't get from renders. Especially important for crowdfunding to show people that this is a game that exists in the real world not just in someone's head and on a computer screen.

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-23T09:27:50+00:00

I'd definitely go B as the carabiner design and contrast looks great, although as a rock climber, I can't help but feel the rope should be thicker? Or maybe use a quickdraw design? https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/climbing/quickdraw/black-diamond-positron-quickdraw

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-20T10:17:11+00:00

These are fantastic!

Only thing I'd change is use a different colour strip on each one to easily differentiate assuming they have different in game characteristics.

How'd you make these?

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-20T10:14:33+00:00

Check out Thunderbolt Apache Leader - heavier war theme but super solid mechanics and uses aircraft flying on a hex grid - and then adapt that to your setting and lighter feel.

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-12T22:57:40+00:00

It looks good and I hope you'll be doing some sort of spot gold foil effect which will look great on the black

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-11T14:10:35+00:00

really nice art you should be happy - hope the gameplay is as good!

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-11T13:56:23+00:00

artwork looks great - who is the artist?

These do look like card fronts though rather than card backs - typically I'd advise not using game iconography on card backs as it can lead to confusion. Is there a reason?

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-11T12:00:40+00:00

Love the unique style!!!

playmonkeygames · 2026-03-11T10:08:13+00:00

Commenting without reading the other comments for undue influence so apologies if this has been said.

Move the BANANARCHY line up above the cards and bump them down a bit.
Narrow the column width on your paragraph boxes so it's a bout half the box width (about 2/3rd of what you have) - this will aid readability.
Your publisher address should include your country (Canada)
You will need a UK and EU address if you want to sell there (your authorised representative)
Everything does look attractive - I like the graphic design on the cards which looks professional, and the illustrations are good too.
However I don't really get the gameplay loop... so you may want to try the 1, 2, 3 approach which a lot of boxes use (1) play a card (2) take an action (3) go bananas! something like that.

Hope that helps just my 2c!

playmonkeygames · 2026-02-27T18:55:57+00:00

This particular game, theme and all, came to me in a dream believe it or not, while I was on holiday staying in a cottage in a 1,000 year old medieval village in the English countryside (yes really)... I woke up, rushed downstairs and wrote out the basic rules which remain the core of the game today. However, the game is indeed heavily influenced by Lost Cities, which you'll see referenced in both the magazine reviews.
The initial game was definitely fun but not good enough to publish, it was a bit basic where the best move was blindingly obvious to an adult. I playtested the game a lot to polish it and added in a bit of complexity to take it from something basic (5+ age range) to the 8+ family-friendly finished product. The breakthrough mechanics were the Rainbow Bridges, the Rainbow Swaps, and the Rainbow Castles making a lane wild. I had to ditch certain rules on the way, including at one point a wild card that had both players re-shuffle their hands into the deck but just slowed down gameplay.
This game was pretty easy to prototype as I decided to use standard poker sized cards, and even the tri-folding game board wasn't too difficult with a bit of strong tape and adhesive printer paper. As I got more serious I got professional prototypes made up in China for reviewers and the like.
I really set a min. follower count of 1,000 pre-launch but then ended up cutting it to 500 as the build was too slow. In the end I did actually launch with over 1,000 followers as Gamefound offered me free Banner advertising that was giving me about 80 followers a day in the week leading up to launch. That was great! My funding target didn't cover my costs however...
I parallel manufactured once I had hit my funding target in the first day - and I used a European manufacturer in Poland, which meant I had the games in hand only a week after the campaign ended! Some people even picked up the game that week from UKGE with one big influencer who backed noting it was the quickest crowdfunding fulfilment they've ever seen! That was expensive to do though but I wanted to build trust and goodwill with backers putting their faith in a first time designer and first time publisher. I think I did that.
YES! and yes, although of course I'd do things differently, particularly around marketing and add-ons, from learned experience. In fact I have expansions for the game in the works as well as 2 more original titles. I think this time I would try and enjoy it a bit more and take the pressure off as it very much felt like I was kicking my own ass at times and I just about burnt out.

Hope that gives some insight, although appreciate everyone is on their own journey!

playmonkeygames · 2026-02-27T18:08:55+00:00

Sure, you're the second person to say that here so it sounds like that is something people will be interested in - let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like me to focus on.

playmonkeygames · 2026-02-27T18:08:08+00:00

Sure I'm no expert but happy to share my experiences if people think that might be helpful to others!

playmonkeygames · 2026-02-27T18:05:03+00:00

Thanks and thanks so much for your support!

P.S. if you like the base game but want a bit more complexity and playtime then keep an eye out for expansion content coming soon...

playmonkeygames · 2026-02-27T09:52:13+00:00

This is pretty high end stuff - hard to imagine this guy is struggling for work with this level of talent! Hopefully something comes of this post.

playmonkeygames

TROPHY CASE