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Greetings from Northern Ireland

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browwnrob
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Joined: 11/23/2018

Hey guys,

My name is Rob and thought I would have a go at designing some games just to keep my mind occupied :)

I am currently trying to teach my 2.5 year old daughter how to play Connect 4 but its quickly descended into a game of fill the entire grid up and then empty it out!

I have been working on 3 games, 2 are probably going to be put on ice indefinitely:

Currently working on:
- Arena elimination game set in the future where you have to force the other players out of the arena, which is constantly shrinking in size. Last one standing wins. This has had some playtesting with my wife and i have a prototype and rulebook made but getting to the stage where I'm going to need more players to have a go at it.

On hold:
- Pharmaceutical game where you compete against other companies (and the clock) to discover and develop your own drugs while keeping tabs on your spend and facilities. I work in this industry so its a case of slimming this one down otherwise its going to take 8 hours to play...
- Cricket sim. Don't think this will ever see the light of day!

Thanks :)

FrankM
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Joined: 01/27/2017
Welcome

Welcome to BGDF!

A warning about introducing kids to games beyond their age group... kids are great at coming up with some way to play with the pieces, but they can easily get bored with the game before they're ready to actually play it.

I'm curious about how the area shrinks... just colored regions on the board or some physical barrier that moves?

And I would think it's the cricket sim that would take 8 hours to play :)

browwnrob
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Joined: 11/23/2018
Hey thanks for the reply! We

Hey thanks for the reply!

We don't bring it out often but you are right, its more of a way for her to feel involved if I'm playing Pandemic etc with my wife.

For the arena game, yes its regions of the board that become out of bounds as the game progresses so it forces the players to engage. Ill try to get something up on the forum there are a few things I need to iron out first on it.

Yes, I think the thing that has stumped me (forgive me!) with the cricket sim is finding a probability mechanic that will scale well for skilled / unskilled batters / bowlers and still be elegant.

For the Pharma game, its a matter of me getting things whittled down so that its playable but still being true to how things work in real life. The players have to work together a little as going it alone wont get you there so its something I really like, helping the opposition so they don't totally blank you out.

Fertessa
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Joined: 07/18/2018
Welcome Rob! Sounds like you

Welcome Rob! Sounds like you have some solid ideas to work with. For the Pharma idea, I would say to concentrate on 3 things that you find the most interesting as a mechanic, which are also true to life. Unless the game is supposed to be a simulation, I think you can get the point across without providing the full scope of the Pharma industry.

Think of detective/cop shows or hospital shows. You get the very basics, but it's the diversion from fact that makes them unique, and hopefully, interesting. The bit about having to help out your competition just enough so that you benefit sounds like the makings of a very interesting mechanic. I think if one or two mechanics reflect the Pharma industry and the rest of the facts bleed into the theme, you'll have a strong game.

wob
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Joined: 06/09/2017
hi. your semi-co-op pharma

hi.
your semi-co-op pharma game sounds like a good concept. as an outsider to the industry i, like most people, know very little about the process. this could work to your advantage as nobody will know how accurate your game is (except you and your colleagues) so you will have scope to play with the ideas.
cricket is a marmite game, but the people who like it love it! and as far as i know there hasn't been a hugly successful cricket game. if i could stand the sport i would think it would work well as a dice/card game. it is broken up into stages enough to work well with turn based stratergy. ie A bowls, B bats, A fields, B runs rince and repeat.

Jay103
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Joined: 01/23/2018
browwnrob wrote:Hey guys, My

browwnrob wrote:
Hey guys,

My name is Rob and thought I would have a go at designing some games just to keep my mind occupied :)

I am currently trying to teach my 2.5 year old daughter how to play Connect 4 but its quickly descended into a game of fill the entire grid up and then empty it out!


I have a very bright 6-year-old, and she hasn't quite figured out how to win/tie Tic-Tac-Toe. So you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself :)

I do have a game to sell you for a year or two down the road, though ;)

Quote:
Currently working on:
- Arena elimination game set in the future where you have to force the other players out of the arena, which is constantly shrinking in size. Last one standing wins. This has had some playtesting with my wife and i have a prototype and rulebook made but getting to the stage where I'm going to need more players to have a go at it.

That sounds pretty cool. There's a.. penguin game of some sort that has a similar concept. Can't think of the name. Penguins on ice, and the ice floes keep disintegrating.

Quote:

- Pharmaceutical game where you compete against other companies (and the clock) to discover and develop your own drugs while keeping tabs on your spend and facilities. I work in this industry so its a case of slimming this one down otherwise its going to take 8 hours to play...

Yeah, streamlining would be pretty important. Under 2 hours for sure..

Welcome!

Jay103
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Joined: 01/23/2018
wob wrote:cricket is a

wob wrote:
cricket is a marmite game.

Okay, I'm so dumb I read this as the animal.

browwnrob
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Joined: 11/23/2018
Jay103 wrote:browwnrob

Jay103 wrote:
browwnrob wrote:
Hey guys,

My name is Rob and thought I would have a go at designing some games just to keep my mind occupied :)

I am currently trying to teach my 2.5 year old daughter how to play Connect 4 but its quickly descended into a game of fill the entire grid up and then empty it out!


I have a very bright 6-year-old, and she hasn't quite figured out how to win/tie Tic-Tac-Toe. So you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself :)

I do have a game to sell you for a year or two down the road, though ;)

Quote:
Currently working on:
- Arena elimination game set in the future where you have to force the other players out of the arena, which is constantly shrinking in size. Last one standing wins. This has had some playtesting with my wife and i have a prototype and rulebook made but getting to the stage where I'm going to need more players to have a go at it.

That sounds pretty cool. There's a.. penguin game of some sort that has a similar concept. Can't think of the name. Penguins on ice, and the ice floes keep disintegrating.

Quote:

- Pharmaceutical game where you compete against other companies (and the clock) to discover and develop your own drugs while keeping tabs on your spend and facilities. I work in this industry so its a case of slimming this one down otherwise its going to take 8 hours to play...

Yeah, streamlining would be pretty important. Under 2 hours for sure..

Welcome!

Hey,

I did a bit of digging and is the game you are thinking of "Hey, that's my fish!"?

If so then my game is a little similar to how the spaces disappear but a lot more depth!

Regards marmite? Its a spread for toast here in the UK and the marketing is that you either love it or loathe it so when someone mentions marmite it means it has polarised opinions usually :)

questccg
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Joined: 04/16/2011
Pocket Sports — Cricket.

wob wrote:
cricket is a marmite game, but the people who like it love it! and as far as i know there hasn't been a hugly successful cricket game. if i could stand the sport i would think it would work well as a dice/card game...

Unfortunately, I would say that MOST "Sport" games from Baseball to Football to Car Racing to Golf to ... Cricket have been designed as "Pocket Sports" games.

I know the Designer from BGDF, his name is Hamish Sterling.

You should check out his website: http://www.pocketsports.com.au

He covers so many sports and he used to have yearly editions of some of his games to inject new features every couple of years or so. Forgot Tennis, Basketball, Cycling, Rugby, Surfing just to name a few others!

If it's a SPORT... Hamish has it covered! LOL

browwnrob
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Joined: 11/23/2018
questccg wrote:wob

questccg wrote:
wob wrote:
cricket is a marmite game, but the people who like it love it! and as far as i know there hasn't been a hugly successful cricket game. if i could stand the sport i would think it would work well as a dice/card game...

Unfortunately, I would say that MOST "Sport" games from Baseball to Football to Car Racing to Golf to ... Cricket have been designed as "Pocket Sports" games.

I know the Designer from BGDF, his name is Hamish Sterling.

You should check out his website: http://www.pocketsports.com.au

He covers so many sports and he used to have yearly editions of some of his games to inject new features every couple of years or so. Forgot Tennis, Basketball, Cycling, Rugby, Surfing just to name a few others!

If it's a SPORT... Hamish has it covered! LOL

His stuff looks good so thanks for the heads up!

I have just submitted my arena game to the BGG database. The game is called Jolt! and I'm still tweaking my rulebook in an attempt to make it more concise. Once I have that done, Ill post it up here and hopefully you guys can tear it apart and help me make it better! :)

LoveInPaintCreations
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Joined: 06/04/2018
Have you seen the game

Have you seen the game Smartphone? Sounds similar to your pharmaceutical game.

Welcome to our community!

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