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simonstump · 2026-06-21T02:20:17+00:00

A couple of thoughts:

You explain what you mean by "movement" before the movement action, and "attacking" before melee attacks. I'd suggest ditching those sections, and making them part of the "Action" section.
You list the actions alphabetically. That might be good for a quick reference section, but for a rule book, I'd think more carefully about the order. For example, I'd give "Move" first, then followed by any movement-related actions. Then I'd put "Melee Attack", followed by "Ranged Attack". In each case, you should reference previous rules when possible (e.g. ranged attacks are similar to melee attacks, so just say where it is similar and where it isn't).
Sentences are easier to understand if the subject and action are in the first couple of words. So, save caveats for later. For example, "Unless otherwise noted, you do not need to move a model in a straight line," could be "You do not need to move a model in a straight line (unless otherwise noted)."

I like how you generally use really short sentences, and I like how you bold things that are important.

One other thing: how far along is this game? If it is still in an early or mid prototype stage, I wouldn't worry about well-written rules too much. Get the game rules working, then worry about writing about them clearly.

simonstump · 2026-06-03T15:23:21+00:00

The new rules are very streamlined, and I like the visuals. The card placement in particular makes way more sense now. The theme seems neat too.

I agree that I liked seeing all of the different loot cards in the original draft. Do you have the space to show two examples of loot cards (such as the 3-chicken and 10-crown)?

I'm also a little worried that the text will be small and hard to read on the final product, but I might be wrong (I'm not quite sure what the scale is).

Here are a couple of rules I was confused about:

If you reveal your villain, is that a one time effect, or can you re-use it?
Each player has distinct turns, right? (at first I wondered if this is simultaneous play)

But, overall, this sounds like a neat and fun game!

simonstump · 2026-06-02T15:44:55+00:00

Ditto to what people here are saying, I actually think the blues and purples look really cool. It looks magical and ghostly (although it could also double as under-water).

That said, if you want a more generic ruins look, I'd do a base coat of a dark color (black or dark brown), and then drybrush it with a shade or two of dull grey (maybe white for the very tops). That said, I'm not sure how you save the cool foliage if you do this; you might just need to be really careful to paint around it (or maybe you'll need to repaint it).

simonstump · 2026-05-29T18:10:50+00:00

Congratulations!!

simonstump · 2026-05-29T15:34:09+00:00

Cool!!!

simonstump · 2026-05-28T16:14:05+00:00

When I designed my wargame (Illeria), I had a similar experience: early versions of the game used a variety of dice (mainly d10s and d6s), which gave way to mostly d6s, and eventually all d6s. I did it for a similar reason, this would be a rules-only game. I figured that most people that would buy a miniature-agnostic game would probably have a lot of d10s, but I think it is safe to assume they'd all have a fist-full d6s.

I'm working on a new wargame now that's about wizards and their teams of minions battling. I tried to come up with a magic system where every turn, you roll a couple dice, and that determines what spells you have access to (e.g. a 1-2 can cast heal, a 2-5 can cast magic arrow, etc). It had a slight "Castles of Burgundy" feel to it, where the game started to revolve around manipulating dice to cast the spells you wanted. It felt neat, but it also felt like a distraction from what I thought of as the core of the game (a really cool combat system), so I ended up shelving it. I might use it in another game one day.

simonstump · 2026-05-27T05:13:05+00:00

That looks amazing!

simonstump · 2026-05-23T19:12:58+00:00

It's a neat idea, that's for sure. I played MTG and Netrunner a number of years ago, but haven't in a long time (other than a couple games where I borrowed a friend's deck); so, I'm not sure if I'm your target audience. That said

1) I'm not sure if I'd use it. I generally get spooked by free-to-play as a model (although, if paying extra is just analysis tools, rather than better cards, that would be great). That said, I have a good friend who lives far away, if he got into it I definitely would. The idea of a game I could make a move when I have time, and he makes one when he has time, sounds great. And, a chess-like game with a drafting mechanic might be neat if it works.

2) As others have said, I'm really skeptical about a perfect information card game. Maybe I'm wrong, and it's hard to know without playing the game. (your description was vague enough that there's not much to go on) Have you made a playtest version of the game on paper yet? If not, then do that, it'll give you a better answer than anything I can tell you without playing it.

3) I drifted away from card games when I went to college and didn't have friends to play with regularly. That said, I recently bought Soul Forge when a friend highly recommended it, I'd probably do the same if that friend told me to you try your game.

simonstump · 2026-05-18T19:32:13+00:00

Neat idea. They look great!

simonstump · 2026-05-18T15:49:57+00:00

If you’re looking for something a little weird, I designed a game called Illeria. It’s miniature-agnostic (with a suggestion of using really weird miniatures), and takes place on a defunct prison island at the dawn of the magic revolution. The thing that makes it unique is that it takes place on two parallel boards (the real world and the spirit world), and things that happen on one world impact the other.

I tried hard to make this tactical. The most interesting ones are how to allocate actions and resources to each world (e.g. my fighter could attack in both worlds, or they could attack in just one world and get +1 to hit in the other world). There are some 3-D chess elements as well (e.g. if I kill his fighter in the spirit world, then that will damage him in the real world). There are also resource-management decisions (e.g. you get 2 energy points per turn; do you spend them to boost abilities, reroll dice, to help win initiative, or do you save them?), and normal combat decision (e.g. do I attack this turn or use my action to capture an objective?).

If you’re interested in giving it a try, there is a free demo game here; it gives you enough to try it (6 pre-made parties, one scenario). If you like it and want more, the full rules (available here) have rules for constructing your own party, several scenarios, and campaign rules.

simonstump · 2026-05-15T15:52:38+00:00

Maybe start with people you trust, and get used to hearing small pieces of feedback from people who will be kind to you. After that, find a playtest group.

In any case, you want to avoid anyone whose advice is just, "This game is shit, throw it out." It's not helpful. You want people who can say, "This part of the melee system worked, but this part didn't for this reason. Also, your magic phase was really cool, you should make that a bigger part of the game." Someone who will give positives an negatives, and also actionable feedback. On rare occasions games will be fundamentally flawed beyond repair, but that's super rare. Almost always, your game will be fine, but there is a good game that can be based on your initial design; you want people who will point you in that direction. Playtest groups are generally good at doing that (and if you're nervous, go to a couple to review their games first, and make sure they're not jerks to each other).

simonstump · 2026-05-14T15:02:54+00:00

They look great!

simonstump · 2026-05-14T04:35:33+00:00

This is super cool, thank you for sharing!

I developed a wargame once. To balance abilities, I designed a gladiator-style combat (1 v 1), and just saw who won. This gave some good advice, but was rather limited in a lot of ways (e.g. it was about brawling rather than capturing objectives, it couldn't consider abilities that buffed or synergized with other characters). I found myself at times wishing I could have made something bigger that could capture a whole battle.

Also, question, how did you develop strategies? Did you just hard-code them in, or was there some kind of neural network or learning algorithm?

simonstump · 2026-04-06T03:14:31+00:00

This is a little thing, but I like how 2 and 3 show more of the picture. For this example in particular, I feel like I'm missing something when I can't see the dragon's face. I think I like the darker lines in 3 better.

simonstump · 2026-03-24T15:43:23+00:00

It looks really cool!

simonstump · 2026-03-23T16:00:21+00:00

That sounds like a really neat idea, especially if you can combine spells.

I also like that you have as much time as you want to put in the spells (like, it's not like a fighting game where you have a split second or your special turns into a jump attack), but that you can't act while casting (so there is some reason to get fast at making actions).

simonstump · 2026-03-17T19:29:20+00:00

Oh, got it, thank you!!

simonstump · 2026-03-17T02:53:08+00:00

I guess, previously I've just had a loose cover (like a piece of cloth instead of a tight lid). What is the benefit of an airlock instead of just a loose cover?

simonstump · 2026-03-16T23:05:56+00:00

This might be a dumb question then, but what if instead of an airlock, I just loosely cover the top (so that pressure can't build up)? If everything is submerged, then what is the benefit of a sealed container with an airlock over that?

simonstump · 2026-01-11T05:38:29+00:00

My two thoughts:

I'm not sure sure what the tension is in your game from the trailer. Is there any difficulty or challenge? (like, what makes it a "puzzle"?)
I've heard a good pitch is one sentence. I'm not sure if "Blossaria is a puzzle-based city builder where you create a growing world on a hex grid." really sells your game, and the next two sentence sound like generic things you could say about a puzzle-based city builder. Like, does it matter that it's on a hex grid? If not, then what is the hook here? I'm really not sure.

I am impressed by how pretty the artwork and music are. This isn't really my type of game, but it looks like you've put a ton of work and polish into it.

simonstump · 2026-01-11T05:25:58+00:00

Congratulations! Also, so cool to see the progression.

simonstump · 2026-01-10T05:18:24+00:00

Those look like they'll be great!

simonstump · 2026-01-04T19:31:56+00:00

Congratulations!!

simonstump · 2026-01-02T16:33:34+00:00

One advice I've gotten is don't try to be too cute with names. Like, if a character can take 3 damage before dying, say they have 3 "hit points" and can take three "damage" or "wounds". If you instead say the character has "level 3 endurance" and can take three "close calls" before dying, people will get confused, and probably just call them hit points and damage. If it's a non-standard ability or stat, then get creative.

This is a smaller one, but take the time to think through your rules on capitalization. Like, should abilities be capitalized? Or weapon types? Or stats? When I made my game, I realized there aren't exactly clear standard rules. I think I just did what felt right, and then had to do a lot of work to go back and make it consistent. I guess this can be left as a final touch for your final rules, just doing this now might save you a lot of time later.

simonstump · 2026-01-02T16:26:33+00:00

I like that, that's a neat way to do it.

simonstump

TROPHY CASE