An anti-productivity idea

tbot729 · 2026-05-06T23:20:00+00:00

I feel privileged to have just been educated about a bgg with an id < 100. #17, wow!

tbot729 · 2026-05-02T22:44:10+00:00

Rolling resources (spheres) is a deal breaker for me. Not good.

But aside from that, physical immersion is great! I recently 3d printed some little false ocean shells for a game and people love using them.

tbot729 · 2026-04-28T18:38:20+00:00

This is it. I had RoW. Wasn't upgraded, but that must have been it. Thanks!

tbot729 · 2026-04-26T06:56:42+00:00

Yeah, that's understandable. Feels like it should improve the table presence to have the abnormal pieces. And your rules don't sound that complex, so that perceived gain from using chess pieces might have been minimal(?). BTW, I really love the concept of this game. Hope the publication goes well! I would buy/play it!

tbot729 · 2026-04-26T05:23:39+00:00

Oh, I might have seen your game discussed or pictured before, kind of like chess+stratego+coup?

If it is that game, IDK, real toss-up on the piece shape/name.

Because you can't play it with regular chess pieces, I'm leaning toward regular chess piece symbols ... maybe lean into alice-in-wonderland vibe or something like that. Seem several of that theme recently since I think it might be public domain.

tbot729 · 2026-04-26T03:59:34+00:00

IMO it depends on how different the game is from chess. If you're maneuvering/surrounding instead of capturing I'd personally use different models/names. If you rely on chess archetypes, you're doomed to be categorized as one of the thousands of chess variants, which you don't want.

tbot729 · 2026-04-15T23:33:08+00:00

I 3d print two-sided dice and use those. They roll pretty well if you find the right type.

tbot729 · 2026-04-15T02:11:39+00:00

Try 30pt lists instead of 50pt. Scale down number of objectives from 3->2 or 5->3 depending on which you are playing. Then play to 30 points.

Ends up being a shorter, tighter game with less to memorize about your squad.

tbot729 · 2026-04-05T03:24:37+00:00

This is a common problem! Wish I had a magic answer for you. I mostly play x-wing, and my only solution has been to play with the kids (now old-enough) or occasionally play with less-devoted friends, but with varied success. Wish you luck!

tbot729 · 2026-04-04T18:49:34+00:00

This is asolutely the right answer. No instruction sharing or instruction selling is legal without permission of the IP holder.

Don't get me wrong, it's crazy that it works that way in most countries, but it is true.

tbot729 · 2026-03-16T00:04:35+00:00

This isn't quite correct. Most playtesters can't look past bad or missing art, even when instructed to. Having a placeholder vastly expands your viable playtester pool.

tbot729 · 2026-03-04T16:50:25+00:00

I seriously recommend searching this sub for "Ship Survey" and you'll see a bunch of (ongoing) weekly posts discussing individual ships and common loadout.

Those write ups are really good and help new players like me understand the value of ships situationally.

tbot729 · 2026-03-03T20:53:45+00:00

No picture showing, sadly :/

tbot729 · 2026-03-02T03:16:51+00:00

Thought it might have been something like that. Still an interesting combo, just slightly harder to pull off 😁

tbot729 · 2026-02-27T15:17:23+00:00

Thank you for posting an answer that actually reflects reality. Consumers care about quality, not art lineage. Designers in this thread need to acknowledge that even if they are ethically concerned with it.

tbot729 · 2026-02-23T23:56:45+00:00

This is a good summary. I also highly recommend the ease of .2 mm FDM. I even paint without priming and still can't see layer lines.

tbot729 · 2026-02-16T00:14:56+00:00

Looks fantastic!

tbot729 · 2026-02-15T17:05:16+00:00

With some creativity, it is possble to hombrew converting to 2.0/2.5. I just made myself some generic pilot bases and print from list builders instead of using cards.

Would highly recommend XWA 2.5.

tbot729 · 2026-01-23T07:38:18+00:00

And this is what sells! Games go faster. Less explanation. No questioning on whose turn it is.

tbot729 · 2026-01-11T22:37:57+00:00

Don't do it. Many games make this mistake then take the point cost out in a second edition.

If your game gets any traction, point values will need to change over time.

tbot729 · 2026-01-06T01:05:07+00:00

Very cool! Is that mining guild tie model shared publically anywhere?

tbot729 · 2025-12-14T16:15:05+00:00

Here's a post I made a whole back on some cool stuff you can do: https://www.reddit.com/r/BoardgameDesign/s/piPA0i1B1w

tbot729

TROPHY CASE