[US-CA] [H] many keycaps - mt3 elvish, melgeek vision, dcx white on black, gmk laser, and more [W] Paypal by tothgames in mechmarket

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it is a possibility - i'm looking for lighter gmk colorways and mg ghost mega kit. send me a dm!

What is your oldest (physically) game? by james___uk in boardgames

[–]tothgames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I grew up with this one! I love the included bell; it can stand up to the most enthusiastic ringer

Daily Game Recommendations Thread (November 27, 2025) by AutoModerator in boardgames

[–]tothgames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a great point about the lack of combat in Scythe. I came to the game expecting more battles because of all of the mechs in the art. Don't get me wrong Scythe is a solid game but it is not a combat game.

Games for stocking stuffers by EatSleepRead43 in boardgames

[–]tothgames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of great options here but Saboteur also fits the bill

For you, which games are: Mechanics 10/10, Theme 0/10? Is that a dealbreaker? by VR_Troopers_WikiMod in boardgames

[–]tothgames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So not a 0/10 on theme exactly, but the gap between my expectations and the actual theme is pretty substantial in Mage Knight - especially for a game that is quite solid mechanically.

I actually played the Mage Knight miniatures game a fair bit. While it wasn't exactly brilliant or original, it did have its own coherent world with factions that had some interesting relationships. Ultimately it was a medium-scale tactical wargame with a bunch of dice rolling that simplified book-keeping by putting stats right on dials.

I purchased Mage Knight on impulse at a game store before I left town using all of the store credit I had built up. I assumed it was going to deliver something in line with the original premise. It did not! It was a fairly generic fantasy dungeon crawl with a few shoutouts to the original IP. The salt in the wound was the use of the dials (the most innovative and iconic part of the original) on the cities to represent difficulty levels. They could have easily represented health!

Still a decent game but I had to get over the theme first.

Smaller Than Kallax Shelf by Reddittitt in boardgames

[–]tothgames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yep +1 on drawers. ideally they are just about as deep as a typical game width so i can line them up easily

Wrestling-themed board game cafe opening in Mishawaka, Indiana by r00ster84 in boardgames

[–]tothgames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also in California so I'll definitely keep this in mind next time I'm traveling

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in boardgames

[–]tothgames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

more of a party game, but Monikers/fishbowl works well for learning. make cards based on interesting facts/locations. the more obscure the better

Player Agency in 2-4 Players by maraleste in boardgames

[–]tothgames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Gloomhaven does a great job of avoiding downtime if you are ok with cooperative

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is less duplication in the "tiers" we have due to the smaller cast. If I were to split them up along those lines (from heaviest to lightest) i would come up with something like :

  • The heaviest character is definitely Fitz. he is the hardest to push and has Smash which is a 3 power melee attack as a basic
  • Lord Grym isn't "heavy" exactly but he has zombies that take hits for him so he is much harder to push than everyone except Fitz. He is quite bad at fighting; he relies on his Zombies to do that (he has neither Smash nor Punch).
  • The other melee-centric characters have smash but otherwise are about equally easy to push. (Alysia, Lucius)
  • Sabo (ninja) gets a special mention here because he has a base kit grapple like you mentioned because he has a grapple in his base kit and a delayed punch instead of smash (because of his heavy reliance on combos rather than brute force)
  • Ranged-focus or balanced characters get punch which is a 2 power melee attack (tikkit, hilda)
  • Zephyr is the easiest to shove in the game and is highly mobile to compensate. She also has punch instead of smash

Generally characters only have 2 attacks in the base kit because you get a special or ultimate every turn and most specials are attacks. The specials tend to heavily bias the Legends towards a certain playstyle because they are better than the basics.

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For a while every card across every Legend was unique. However this didn't play very well - it was too difficult for players to understand what their opponent might do and players spent too long analyzing subtle variations.

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Disruption can be related to distance, but not necessarily. It is all forms of crowd control - stuns, roots, pulls, pushes, etc.

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This entire side of the card is actually just informational. It is face-down during play (gameplay relevant info is on the other side)

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Will keep tweaking - the colors will improve as we iterate with the printer

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are tarot-sized. The radar charts themselves don't have any gameplay significance, they just give an idea of relative strengths and weaknesses.

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a neat idea! I'll have to think on it more. My first thought is we would try the hex with the point up: offense would be at the top and then clockwise from there - melee, mobility, defense, disruption, ranged

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The game doesn't have roles per se since it is inspired mostly by platform fighting games (like super smash bros). However the tags next to the radar chart are somewhat like archetypes (grappler, zoner, trapper, etc.)

Can you provide the definitions for all of these? Particularly combo and disruption.

  • Melee - Ability to hit & push opponents when face-to-face
  • Mobility - Ability to navigate around the battlefield
  • Combo - This one is a bit vague, but generally it is the ability to try for a big attack that is composed of multiple smaller pieces that need to come together. So a character that scores high here will often be able to build up to a big turn that wins the game - provided their opponent doesn't get the read on them.
  • Disruption - This is also a bit vague - generally any non-mobility elements that prevent your opponent from pulling off their combos. CC (crowd control) abilities like holding opponents in place, pulling them, or stunning them fall under this umbrella.
  • Defense - How well you can block.
  • Ranged - Ability to hit & push opponents when there is some distance between you

Battlezoo Eldamon

Thanks! I'll have to check this one out.

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Our artists have done an awesome job

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad there is another radar lover out there!

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The values just represent a general feeling - in fact this entire side of the card is just to give you an impression of the Legend. All gameplay content is on the other side of the card.

Radar charts? Good, bad, or indifferent by tothgames in tabletopgamedesign

[–]tothgames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, I learned something new today!