Tom Francis

MAY 27, 2023

And their mounted Bishop grabs the Flame: like Frost, but ignites tiles: units on burning tiles must move or die at the end of their turn. Enemies can move onto (but not through) empty fortified tiles to clear them, but they can’t enter occupied fortified tiles. Friends can move freely through them.

Playtesting 52

Playtesting Tile Balance Code 52

Brand Game Development

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

In Tasty Humans , points are earned by monsters for eating people and arranging their body part tiles in certain ways in the monster’s stomach. There are limits to exactly how you can place tiles, and you don’t always get what you want. If you hate the game you’re playtesting, do something different.

Game Design 130

Game Design Game Designer Tile Games 130

Brand Game Development

JANUARY 2, 2018

Drapple is an abstract, tile-laying gardening game. Every iteration of each game has to be created somehow and there are A LOT of iterations – usually a new one after each playtest, especially in the beginning. I also try to go to as many conventions as I can and playtest as much as possible.

Playtesting 130

Playtesting Games Advertising Prototyping 130

Interesting Choices

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

Not long after that I started working on a game (then called City Draft) that would be strongly inspired by a few key influences: 7 Wonders for the mechanics and structure, Carcassonne for the idea of placing tiles in a grid, and SimCity for the theme. Science is purely all or nothing. Few viable paths to victory.

Build 40

Build Tile Point and Click Games 40

Brand Game Development

MAY 18, 2020

Shuffling decks, dealing tiles, and assigning first player at a push of a button is very useful. Tabletop Simulator doesn’t just let people play before pledging, it’s also a great place to design and playtest games. Tabletop Simulator allows you to script functions within the game.

Simulation 130

Simulation Games Demo Playtesting 130

Interesting Choices

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Also wanted to give a quick update on my various boardgame designs: City Draft - This 7 Wonders inspired drafting game is consistently liked in playtests and has been improving slowly and steadily. I thought I was onto something here after I hit a design breakthrough a few weeks ago but I'm getting discouraged again based on recent playtests.

Game Design 40

Game Design Game Designer Playtesting Tile 40

Keith Burgun

JANUARY 4, 2023

At different parts of the bridge there were investment tiles, so on a basic level the premise was kind of, “do I move to a relatively unsafe investment tile, or do I BUMP?” You win by bumping the opponent into damage areas, dealing damage to them until their health reached zero, before they could do it to you.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Game Designer Game Design Playtesting 52