Monster Keep — Sneak Preview of art-style

The Leftmost "map-like" figure is the "Attack Pattern". The Warlord may attack either 3 squares in front OR back of himself.

To the right of that are the stats: +1 Experience, 5 Attack, 3 Defense, 3 Loot and +1 Defense.

This game is a "fancy" Tic-Tac-Toe game with a strong "Area Control" mechanic. It is played with SQUARE "cards" (2.5" x 2.5") ergo the art being "square" too... It's strategy is with cards instead of Chess pieces and it is more about placement since the cards DON'T move once they are played into the "arena" (or Monster Keep).

I'm still "working" (WIP) on the LOOTING aspect of the game. While this won't change any of the ART... It may change a bit how the game plays. So artwork is continuing forwards (no delays).

But in a nutshell that explains the "cards". Cheers!

Note #1: The "Diamond" stat is a BOOST/BONUS +1 "Experience". When this card is put into play, it can AWARD +1 stat to any of your cards. The +1 stat can also be this card itself and it would then benefit from a +1 Defense (5, 4, 3).

A card's Attack must greater or equal to the opponent's Defense (to defeat the opponent's unit/card).

Thanks seems like everyone is "moot" on some aspect of the card.

That's why the DEFAULT is a "number" (2, 3, 4, etc.) and the BONUS is an addition (+1, +2, +3, etc.)

Actually the number on the LEFT is the "Block and Card number" BOTH are very important when CUSTOMIZING your deck. The number on the RIGHT is a form of copyright protection. It's a unique number that identifies each card... So people can't knock-off with phony cards (if the game becomes very successful). But I figure put it in NOW... Because later may be too late (so to speak)...

They both need to be "readable"... Not squinting trying to see if it's a 6 or an 8... Believe me I know, I'm working on TW and the font is too small to read. But numbering is not that important ... except for the story-telling. So that's really the only purpose... And there are work-arounds too (like using the card's POWER: 4 comes before 5, 2 before 3, etc.)

But I dislike things to be TOO SMALL... If it's there that's because it is needed for some purpose or another!

I think you misunderstood my explanation. The BLUE square is the card that you WANT to play (into the "arena") and the RED squares is ALL the cards it may attack. So they are all the SAME color (RED). Which means that the "Warlord" (The Duke) Sir Calahan can attack any card directly adjacent and in front of him (according to the position between BLUE and RED) and behind (same). The RED squares are indicators to tell players WHERE/WHAT cards they may attack once they are played into the "arena".

The Warlord is a pretty STRONG card. As the Warlord, he is the TOP of the units/cards list. During the Kickstarter, I will reveal the cards and you will be able to see by the other Attack Patterns, how strong the Warlord really is. I mean you can practically target anything directly in front and in back... That amounts to a LOT of "Territory" and "Area Control" by one single card...

There are 10 Classes of Card and therefore 10 distinct Attack Patterns. In the future I could ADD additional "Special or Promotional" cards which may have their own distinct Attack Patterns, different from the 10 Classes...

I'm looking into Bar Code Scanning and Generating. I've found that doing a little research, it would be possible to use a "Code 128" bard code which allows alphanumeric strings and is smaller in dimensions.

Of course this is ONLY good if I have a SCANNER and GENERATOR.

So far all I've tested was an ONLINE generator which produces 200 dpi resolution of the barcodes. Which is good, but not reliable. I would need an installable program on my PC to generate the codes because who know how long the WEBSITE will be around!...

Now I have to find a barcode SCANNER ... to ensure the generator's codes can actually be SCANNED and understood. The idea is simple: just scan the barcode and you get a 12 digit alphanumeric code.

I know all of this seems like OVERKILL... But it gives me something to look-up and research to see if this is doable or not.

Cheers!

For those who didn't like the "Security Code" ... I would REMOVE it from the "face-side" of the card and only leave the Block and Card Number on the LHS.

The "Security Code" string would be replaced with a QR Code with the appropriate alphanumeric string. It would also be on the "back-side" of the cards seeing as this would reduce the clutter on the "face-side".

There would be no "alphanumeric" code... You would need to use a QR Code scanner app via a SmartPhone to learn the code. That's fine with me... I will keep a spreadsheet with the appropriate codes (real versions).

This is a minor form of protection... But it's better than nothing and ATM it is rather simple too. Not very convoluted either. Which is also important... Since the "seed string" is confidential, no one can predict the future codes of the cards. I currently have about 20 or so codes...

So I'm not worried about SHARING information in blogs or threads. It's pretty easy to get the idea about how a game is to be played... But it's a far cry from posting a "rulebook". I, personally, don't do that. I keep my rulebook *confidential* UNLESS I am asked or told to share it by say a Publisher... You'll notice that BOTH the "core" and "expansion" rulebooks are published on Board Game Geek... And that's Publisher transparency for what I consider a MATURE endeavor. Meaning the game was Kickstarted, there's a need to SHARE more about the game to interest people in what it is that they are going to get.

Therefore my rule #1 is: keep your rulebook private.

Rule #2 comes from rule #1: share as much as you can about the game WITHOUT disclosing the rulebook.

There is a difference in general game ideas, to something like copying the "inverted" thumb on a doll just to prevent other people from stealing your mold... And yes this happened to a toy company... They were sued obviously...

Blog and threads are a GOOD way of sharing the PRINCIPLES behind your games. And it gives other people creative freedom to comment and help you with ideas of their own. Moreover they establish YOUR ideas as YOURS. So when you post about Game "X" ... you are securing your ownership by sharing the ideas. Unless you want to live in a Black Box... Having the opinions, thoughts and feedback from others HELPS (usually) to solidify what is GOOD and what needs to be removed.

However where you need to be careful is when you are PUBLISHING, especially SELF-PUBLISHING a design. Especially if the design is modular and designed for customization and/or personnalisation. Why I am using security is for things like future "tournament play" and "success of expansions". Although I have planned to have the game made in the USA, no doubt that some Chinese Factory could knock-off my product and retail it to foreign companies...

Again NOT likely... "Homemade" customization may be more probable. And I am thinking about things like VALIDATING "Decks". Do you need to have a long process of checking all the card numbers one-by-one ... or can a QR code just scan and make it easier to validate a player's cards!

Something along those lines sounds "innovative" IMHO.

And this is not exactly my own invention... There was a Collectible Card Game called "Chaotic" (here's a link to it):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaotic_Trading_Card_Game

Anyways the game had codes you could use to play ONLINE... Before any of the other online games ever existed. This Trading Card Game (TCG) was way ahead of it's time (and competition). Anyways the initial idea was to have codes (12 alpha digits) and I realize that using a QR Code might be easier to VALIDATE (using a SmartPhone) than just some numbers and letters you MAY have a hard time reading. The scanning device makes it easier to know the card's code and then if there was some kind of APP designed for the game (if we ever get into tournaments ... I'd probably want a cell phone APP that is BOTH a scanner and database of cards to ensure the cards are 100% legit).

And so there are GAMING reasons for security too... To quicken the validation of a deck (as explained above), to find out invalid or homebrew cards, to eliminate the problem of overseas copying (if the game is very popular)...

Like I said, I'm doing it NOW... So that I can have something LATER. If you don't prepare, you'll like have no counters and you don't want to publish COLLECTIBLE cards and have to change at some point in time the direction of the product. So best to secure the cards NOW ... otherwise it may be too late later...

But for SHARING rules and describing game play... That's a no brainer. Don't worry about designers stealing ideas... Everyone probably has a dozen or so ideas they would like to be able to work on. One at a time, when it comes to publishing them... I've never been able to divide my time between two (2) or more games when PUBLISHING. Designing that's a different beast, often ideas can occur from different sources and for different games. That's perfectly normal. But when you PUBLISH, usually it means you are INVESTING MONEY into the game (like making artwork or having a writer pen some storytelling, etc.) I'm not rich enough to invest on multiple games at the same time. So for me, it's one idea/game at a time.

Cheers!

Note #1: And when do I think it's time to SHARE a rulebook??? When you make arrangements with a Developer to Blind Playtest your game. The Developer should have a look and then he can send it off to the playtesting team. It's also good to have a pair of eyes on the rulebook by an Editor (or someone else who can proof your writing). This can be anyone really from a wife to a girlfriend to family. Whomever you have accessible for a once over and see if your writing of rules makes sense.