I plan to post the rules of my game on here eventually but first i need to orginize my thoughts and so i have questions. while developing my game I incorporated a pair of custom d-12s in to it. Now that i am getting the dice prototypes made up i began to realize that you could use the same basic mechanics the dice provide with different types of games. So my first question is: Should I go ahead and develop other game types using the dice and center the whole game idea around them? Would various game types in the same box be attractive to production companies? To give you some perspective on the game types, The original one is a betting game with dice and cards, now im working on a type with out betting. Should i pick one and stick with it or develop both and some possible others and make more use of the dice?
Thanks! I look forward to your comments.
Game Variations
There are a couple of game companies that I know of which have developed specific game related technology that they hope to deploy across a number of different game designs.
Blue Panther has its patented 'dice tower' and has sponsored game contests to find designs which would take advantage of their tower. It's a fairly idiosyncratic device which doesn't always output what you input. http://www.bluepantherllc.com/
Meanwhile, Nestor Games has a flexible playmat manufacturing technology that allows them to make small runs of custom designed game boards that fold or roll into a convenient packing shape, so they too have been on the look out of designs to roll into their components. http://www.nestorgames.com/
But, in general, game designers are piece agnostic. It is the requirements of the play experience and theme which typically drive the final component list. However, it is always helpful to have an idea in the back of your mind while you're designing about what kind of pieces are available since the more exotic the physical components are, the less likely a publisher will want it (even if they like the design) because of the expense of sourcing.
That being said, I think you should remain flexible in your designing and try out as many directions as you can. Ultimately, the best design is probably also going to feel the most natural and you're unlikely to have more than one viable game in your custom d12s. But, you won't know what that is until you try out many different ideas. And, maybe, there are two? That would certainly be cool.
Lukeocracy--
I think there's something to be said for multigaming from a box. Look at Piece/Hexpack and Icehouse as your examples; heck even Icehouse doesn't include rules for its own game since there are so many variations of play with just their pods of pyramids. If I recall there's also a massive thing called "rainbow deck" or similar that shoots to expand on the universality of a heart/diamond/spade/club deck with loads more ranks and color-suits. I know Blue Panther's a piecepack maker, so having something that is similar might be of interest to them as a dovetail product.
Your betting vs. no-betting is a good place to go from; the gambling aspect might turn some folks off, so having a just-as-fun "clean" version is certainly a good marketing point. Having the custom d12 be mutlifunctional in games can be a real asset as long as there's good replay in all the games that use it as a component. Put it this way: despite having spent some considerable time/cash with Dreamblade and Warhammer 40,000, I can't really do a ton with their blade/scatter dice in other games (or, for that matter, a backgammon doubling cube), and they get relegated to my oddities box.
Ultimately, I think knowing what role the custom d12s play might help inform any advice I give. Your description of it as a card/dice game immediately made me think of something akin to poker with a "special card" bonus (ie a wild card or setting high cards that vary turn to turn). Just shooting from the hip, see, not bending/sniping your idea, here. Actually, I'm excited to see what you're working with here as 2d12 is always a neat place to start!
