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Game has reached prototyping stage!

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Thu, 11/17/2022 - 20:43
bottercot
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Joined: 02/06/2018

Hello everyone!

I haven't posted here in a while but I felt compelled to do so now, because my first proper board game has entered its prototype stage!

I originally began thinking about this game about 6 years ago, and started working on it in earnest about 2 years ago, and it has finally reached the point where I can confidently playtest it with other people.

The game is a civilization-style game taking direct inspiration from games like Sid Meier's Civilization 5 & 6, Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game, Advanced Civilization, Through the Ages, Clash of Cultures, and Civilization: A New Dawn.

My goal in designing it was to combine all of the strengths of these many civilization iterations into one game, while avoiding the many pitfalls faced by these games.

I have not yet tested it with multiple people (aside from playing with my "clones") so things are certainly going to be interesting once I do that in the next couple weeks.

But the sheer R&D that has gone into this game makes me confident that it has potential.

Target playtime is 2 hours and maximum playcount is 6 players, with the option to combine two copies of the game together to go up to 12 (a fairly novel idea that took some work to fit into the design).

The game could technically be printed and played, but I have no current plans to make it available through that delivery until I know for sure that the design is final.

Designing this game has been a journey for me and it has taught me SO much about game design. I am so excited to be nearing (what appears to be) the end of this journey, and I just wanted to express my excitement here.

Thanks! :)

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Thu, 11/17/2022 - 21:44
#1
questccg
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Joined: 04/16/2011
Congratulations ... but...

If you've managed to DESIGN the game and have only had time to playtest it with "yourself" ... I would argue that you are at the 50% completed stage. There are two (2) important stages left: Development and Publication.

Both those stages require different skill sets and focus on the game itself in different ways. Development, usually done by a Developer will get the game playtested by real-world groups and will take the game to a new level of solidity and reveal design-flaws that you may have not even known about.

Publication is a beast of it's own because it's not about the game, it's about how well you can SELL the merits of your game to another party. And then they take whatever you have worked on and refine it to their liking and then you have a Board Game that is ready to play.

I know you'll say two (2) things: 1. You don't need a Developer and 2. The design is advanced enough that a Publisher can publish it AS-IS.

Both those statements are wrong (obviously) because then we would NOT have Developers and secondly we wouldn't really need Publishers.

I'll leave it at that. You should contact @The Professor his rates are reasonable and he can help Develop a game further. In any event, he'll be able to give you an honest GRADE and maybe some ideas of what to work on further.

Joe is a great Developer, he has developed over a dozen or so games and his groups of playtesters are really good. I doubt you've even Blind Playtested your game ... And so there are still many milestones left before you've "reached the end of this journey".

Sincerely.

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