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A few firsts

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Wed, 05/22/2019 - 21:06
djoWooly
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Hi Everyone, My name is Dave and I’m from Ottawa Ontario, Canada.

I’ve got a few first to talk about with this post. Right off the bat this my first post on BGDF (obviously since I’m using the Introduction thread), so I’m excited to start getting to know you guys.

Secondly, I entered my first design contest. I entered my game Wizard’s in this years Board Game Design Lab contest.

Lastly, I presented Wizard’s at a local Ottawa game convention (http://cangames.ca/), the first time it was out in public. I ran it as one the regular game play sessions. It didn’t go so well as no one signed up to play it. I believe it was a marketing error on my part. They ask you for a thirty word blurb for for the website and program and I simply described the the game instead of describing it as a chance to try out an unpublished game by a local designer, which I think might have worked better. I had friends there from my game group as well as my son, so we just played it and had a great time. As we played there were a number of people who stopped by the table and asked about the game and seemed interested, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

For anyone interested here are links to my sell sheet and pitch video. The video is kind of crappy but I think it does the job. Man is it ever hard trying to figure out what things to focus on in a <3 minute video!

Sell sheet:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tfgv3HPFc5dy4Nx0M_6j3qnvG2P7mdTi/view

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwesIyum9ZI

Thanks for reading,
Dave

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Thu, 05/23/2019 - 07:07
#1
evansmind244
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Your Benefit statement (HOOK)

Your Benefit statement (HOOK) need some work. I thought:
WIZARDS
DARE TO FACE THE LABYRINTH!!!

I may be wrong but I would take off Dice rolling, and Rock Paper Scissors off the features unless they are a huge part of the game. I just think maybe people who would play this game, could be turned off by stating those luck features.

Show 1 or 2 of the special Action cards above the title so you can read them and understand something about the game. The cards you have above the title are cryptic to a person like me (because I don't play these types of games) but they say nothing about the game, or show none of the games character.

Your components list is difficult to understand. Maybe put the number of items in bold, or add bullet points and more spacing. Not sure. It looks like this game could be CRAZY expensive to manufacture. Think about ways to eliminate some of those moving parts.

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Thu, 05/23/2019 - 09:46
#2
Jay103
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I agree with evansmind on

I agree with evansmind on just about everything.. Strengthen the hook and the description. And proofread a bit :) Also avoid calling it "Wizard's" if it's called "Wizards", for several reasons, one of which is legal and one of which is that it's wrong...

A huge number of different components. I think it may be tough to price out (have you done that yet?), but also it's hard to understand on a sell sheet. What about that list is going to sell the game? I can see from the photo that there's a lot of "stuff". That there are 25 player tokens and a bunch of types of experience and a caretaker and whatever..? Not a big selling point.

I struggled a bit with that myself.. I had an explicit list for a while, and then I realized that nobody cares about that detail, and it detracted from the message. Here's what I ended up with..

https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4708562/heroes-treasure

For your sell sheet, I'd consider having NOTHING and let the photo speak for itself. I assume that's a high-res photo. Use the room you free up to put another component there like some cards.

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Thu, 05/23/2019 - 22:16
#3
questccg
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Circa 1982

There is ALREADY a game called "Wizards":

https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/828/wizards

You'll have to find a more acceptable game name like "Wizards of Dumbarton" ... That's just an example that plays on my personal, moronic past history.

Tragically that has all played out and life (still) goes on...

"Wizards of Highgrove" which could be all about "Druids" (for example).

I really thought the "board" was CLEVER how you have divided into various section... That's was neat to see!

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Sun, 05/26/2019 - 10:45
#4
djoWooly
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Thanks for the comments guys.

Thanks for the comments guys. I guess the first thing to do is come up with a new name! I really struggled with the components list. Trying to figure out how to group it all so I'm not identifying each item, keep it high level and generic. I just bought The Gaia Project (https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/220308/gaia-project) and they did a great job of putting a very high level components list on the box.

10 Space sector tiles
7 double sided faction boards
1 research board
1 scoring board, and more than 120 Cardboard tokens and tiles
147 plastic structures and over 300 plastic pieces

I think I'll use this as good standard.

The number of components is pretty consistent with a lot of the games my group plays, like Terraforming Mars or Agricola. It's $100.00 on The Game Crafter with a $75.00 bulk price, somebody like Panda would probably be able to produce it quite a bit cheaper.

I'm going to start a separate thread for this game (which is no longer called Wizards).

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Sun, 05/26/2019 - 10:48
#5
djoWooly
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oh boy

I guess research that name well enough. Thanks for pointing it out, and for the suggestions.

I really appreciate the comments about the board!
Cheers

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Sun, 05/26/2019 - 11:10
#6
tikey
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The game looks good. For the

The game looks good. For the premise I recommend you to read this amazing article by Tom Francis about how to describe a game as is the best and more direct thing written about the subject:
https://www.pentadact.com/2012-03-17-gdc-talk-how-to-explain-your-game-t...

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Wed, 05/29/2019 - 22:16
#7
djoWooly
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Thanks tikey

That is awesome, very clear. Best thing on the subject I've read so far. Here's what I came up with after reading that.

The Wizard’s Castle is a euro style worker placement game. As a wizard you increase your magic and actions by casting spells and collecting relics. You live in a castle, outside the castle walls is a village and down the road is the Labyrinth, a place of mystery and danger. As the number of available actions increases each round, use them to gain more resources to pay rent, cast stronger spells, hire mercenaries and adventure in the Labyrinth where relics and monsters await.

Notice I changed the name...even did a bgg search and everything :)

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Wed, 05/29/2019 - 22:27
#8
questccg
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Take this with a grain of salt

djoWooly wrote:
...The Wizard’s Castle is a euro style worker placement game...

No offense but that name is LAME! (LMAO) I would have something like:

Tales of Wizardry

I checked BGG too and NO MATCHES. Moreover the GoDaddy Domain IS AVAILABLE.

http://www.talesofwizardry.com

Did I mention this is an AWESOME name and both BGG and HTTP are available...

If you don't like it... Shame on you. TBH I think it's COOLER than "Wizard's Castle". But you are the designer and it's YOUR game. If you don't like this suggestion, ASK for others! I'm sure you'll find someone with a COOL name that you might also like...

Cheers.

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Wed, 05/29/2019 - 23:05
#9
questccg
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Make it about "experience" ...

djoWooly wrote:
...The Wizard’s Castle is a euro style worker placement game...

This feels like Deja Vue... Wizard's Castle is a "euro style" "worker placement" game... Dave do you want to kill me NOW or AFTER???

Firstly EUROs can be SO BORING. Yeah some "Adults" like them... But I would TRY not to categorize the game so that it speaks to a smaller market share of gamers than a game say called "Tales of Wizardry" ... Where it's all about Magic and Spells and Adventuring, etc.

See the difference???

One is about "The Stories YOU and YOUR friends embark upon..." And the other is "a euro style worker placement" game.

You know I really LIKED the Video and your "style" of game gave me a BUNCH of ideas... No copies, just thinking about board division, having a "un-obvious" track for rounds (nine in your case), etc.

You'll want to focus on EXPERIENCE rather than "mechanics". Sure on the BACK of the box you can put "a euro style worker placement" game. But for your SELL SHEET, it should all be about "experience", "adventures" and "Magic/Spells".

If it's over 2 hours long... It better be about "experience" ... Because otherwise people will get bored half-way through the "euro style worker placement" game! (Just ribbing you a little... Breathe some life into the game!)

Cheers...

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Sun, 06/02/2019 - 11:54
#10
djoWooly
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LOL

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions questccg. I LOVE the name and may very well use it, although my one concern is that it may lead people to expect more story to the game than is actually there.

I'm glad that the video worked for you. I guess I'm down about it because I planned a much more professional one but couldn't get it right and ran out of time for the contest entry, so I quickly recorded it with my phone as a "I have to submit something" kind of thing. I have a background in video production so obviously I feel I could have done better.

It's awesome that this game has given you some ideas. That's what we're here for, right? To inspire and be inspired.

I got your message, focus on experience and make it interesting. Although to be honest I love worker placement games and would actually be attracted to a game that described itself as such! :)

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Sun, 06/02/2019 - 16:07
#11
questccg
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Broader appeal...

djoWooly wrote:
...I got your message, focus on experience and make it interesting. Although to be honest I love worker placement games and would actually be attracted to a game that described itself as such! :)

Well it's the same if I focused my NEW game "Monster Keep" (MK) on the mechanics and said there was a strong element of "Area Control" something similar to Chess. Most people would be like: "What???"

But the TRUTH of the matter is that much like vying to protect a piece, in MK, you compete over spaces much like in your typical "Area Control" Games. And since the mechanics are inspired by Chess... You can make that association.

My point with all of this... Is MOST gamers are attracted to the polish of the game. And this also includes HOW you "pitch" the game too. Making it sound "more" adventurous is NOT a "Bad Thing", it plays into the whole labyrinth portion of the game (maybe I could stand to be corrected???)

So worker placement or not, the initial PITCH has to be good.

In my previous game TradeWorlds, we used:

"Lead one of the last Terran factions in the galaxy & defend your Homeworld! A role-driven deck-building board game for 1-4 adventurers."

A mix of mechanics, theme and facts to convey the nature of the game... So maybe you can do something SIMILAR with your game.

Cheers!

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