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ADLi and FanExpo 2014

What has ADLi been up to this month of June? Well, let's see. Fan Expo Canada is coming up in August and there is still a lot to be done with regards to play testing and planning. Planning, penciling, prototyping. Memorizing, multiplying, modifying. Sketching, scrutinizing, scrapping. Talking, testing, tracking... and more tracking, and more tracking. It takes more time than one thinks and game design isn't the only thing I do creatively. It's a hobby, yes, but it's a labour of love that I would like to see reach market potential. I'm not ready to go full steam on game design ... yet. Without further ado here is the outline on what's happening.

StormGate: Messenger's Quest is now fully formatted and I've dropped the development of the King's Duel play rules for now. Because the board and the base rules will support the King's Duel game mode it's not a huge loss to release that next year. That way players only need to buy the additional pieces for the board. I'm working on custom boards and custom pieces as the moment. Casting resin pieces, laser cutting wood and acrylic pieces, possibly lathing pieces is on the horizon. The travel size game boards are ready to go to the printers and I've only got 10 in stock to test to market. The mouse pad edition is also ready for pressing and packaging. This game will have the most to offer at my table this year. Again, all samples and pretty much made to order.

It looks like FlipSwitchBump (FSB) is getting some updates and play testing has proven that the game may require more chaos. Yes! More chaos. The flip rule and switch rule stay the same, but the bump rule has been modified a bit to push along the game some more. Also, the trigger spots on the board will be redesigned and a few more will be added -- a zone concept will also play into effect. On the production side a new board is being created and the pieces are being cut 1/4 inch hardboard, stained and laid by hand. Only one set will be created.

Word-a-bout has been ready since last year but quantity and packaging are still on my mind. I'm thinking of creating simple tuck boxes for the show. At the moment, the game prints still require a 90 card deck + 20 money cards. Right now I have 3 decks of 56 + 30 money cards per deck. I need to lock down the box/packaging design before going full production.

It doesn't look like Junk Mail will make it to demo stage this year. Time is going by so quickly and I'm spending a preposterous 8-10hrs at work every day at work on average. Evenings are pretty much a bust and weekends are, well as most parents know, spent catching up with everything else missed during the week. It would be nice to be on a fixed schedule that allowed me to have 3-4 hrs a day instead of 8-10 hrs in the week total.

NUPUGA is finally ready to hit the table running. With updated scoring and some varying feedback from game designers and players, the 3-6 player game mode has been proven to not work out (at least for the moment due to flaws in the player order). I can just push the game at it's core and focus on the 2 player scoring match and the solitaire building match. I can't escape the fact that it's a puzzle that is number based, but from some of the feedback it's abstract enough to be interesting, simple enough to involve anyone, yet deep enough to keep the numbers-nerd focused on maximizing risk and reward.

Some other small updates regarding other games in:

  • Imperial Court is ready for the big stage. It will demo this year as part of my table and the gameplay is solid enough to be tested with multiple players. Just need to draft up the artwork concept and the card back. No final art will be done until later this year. I will, however, bring 3 sample decks to the show with original draft art (DFT-1)
  • Broken Lance needs to be tightened with regards to the tilt, tokens, and the custom dice. Also, the targeting system and the economy will need some work. Core mechanisms are fine.

I'm still ambitious with my goals for Fan Expo this year and plan to have at least 3 demos and some merchandise to push -- hopefully not just the same 3 demos I had last year -- It's important to try (regardless of how little) to compensate for the cost of such a ridiculously expensive table. 4 days, biggest in Canada, 10s of thousands of visitors, and to see a fraction of that pass my table is great. To get a fraction of that fraction stop and chat for 5 mins is even better, but if no money is coming back in it's very hard rationalize the money and effort. I can say after what I've seen out there gamers are gamers and not all board gamers are nerds/geeks.

My merch roster will hopefully consist of T-shirts (samples for placing orders), keychains, buttons, onesies (samples for placing orders), and coasters. This will probably be my last FanExpo depending on funds next year. If any of you plan on attending Fan Expo Canada in Toronto on August 28th, I hope to see you there.

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blog | by Dr. Radut