Cole @ GAMA #1049

A bunch of the Buried Giant crew are at this year's GAMA, come find us at Booth 1049 and hear about what we're up to!

We ask top designers how to make board games about the worst parts of human history Board game designers Cole Wehrle and Amabel Holland talk about designing distressing historical games - and whether to make them at all.

A long read from me today, about the delicate task of designing respectful historical board games. Massive thanks to @amabel.bsky.social and @colewehrle.bsky.social for talking to me about their design approaches. www.wargamer.com/board-games/...

Working in entertainment and arts, it’s easy to dismiss what you do, but in dark times, there is still something magical about the ability to change a person’s context just enough to see how the world could be, instead of the way that it is.

So is there any situation where the bottom of this card would trigger?

After this its off to GDC, UNC Greensboro, @asecsoffice.bsky.social, and @fortcircle.bsky.social 's Circle DC. It's a busy spring!

And, if you're not getting there until later in the week, @d20plusmodifier.bsky.social and I will be holding office hours in the Creator event space (ballroom E) from 1-3 Tuesday and Wednesday.

Finally, Monday afternoon, I'll be talking about product design with Matt Paquette and Christopher Chan. That's in M102 at 5pm.

Then on Monday I'll be with an all-star panel chatting about design diaries both as a practice in transparency and as a component of a game's marketing. You can find us at 9am in M111. @gamesbymondo.bsky.social ondo.bsky.social @pinktigergames.com @marcelineleiman.bsky.social

On Sunday, I'll be giving a talk in M109 on Community-Driven Development. Some of this will be an adaptation of my previous talk with Josh on Arcs from last year's GDC, but with a lot more about the history tabletop design.

If you're heading to Gama next week, stop by the Buried Giant booth (#1049). And, if you're there early, you can come find me at a few events I'll be helping with during the education summit (little schedule 🧵) @buriedgiantstudios.bsky.social

It's the last day for late pledges! If you haven't made up your mind yet, now's the time. We're celebrating by posting game two of our internal chronicle. Come see if I can still hold this fledging kingdom together.

GAMA EXPO PANEL SCHEDULE DESIGN DIARIES AND ADVERTORIAL CONTENT CREATION Mon, March 2 | 9:00 - 9:50am | Room M111 In the tabletop industry content creation means more than just social media posts. Design diaries offer genuine engagement as fans feel part of the process and/or struggle that the designer is experiencing. Tutorials and personal stories are becoming more popular and are proving to be effective for engagement and growing your personal brand Speakers: Mondo Davis, Ami Baio, Marceline Leiman, Cole Wehrle

Will you be at GAMA EXPO next week?

I’ll be a panelist talking on design diaries with some amazing, inspiring speakers!
@gamesbymondo.bsky.social @pinktigergames.com @colewehrle.bsky.social

Come say hello to me on Sunday or Monday while I’m around! 🎲✂️

They have been watching a lot of Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd since they were little, so it was primed for a good reception. (I think Safety First might be the most watched movie in our house)

It almost gives one hope, all of these kiddos sharing such a movie in darkened basements long after the parents have gone to bed.

I took my oldest (12) to this movie at a screening for his birthday and it was one of my favorite moments in a theater. There's just something so special about that many folks hollering with laughter. We picked up the disc too and he's been taking it with him to sleepovers to spread the good word.

Come see Oath: New Foundations in action! Game two will be out a little later this week. We might even keep the chronicle rolling until we get our pre-production copy in the mail if there's interest.

Enthusiasm**** Jeeze that's what I get for knocking off a message during another meeting!

Officially releases also create a responsibly for some support from the team (rules questions for editorial, advertising the kit for marketing, etc). These aren't big asks but they add up. Dave's initiative got around all of these problems. Bravo!

Normally we have to stop maintaining public PnPs during these last few months just because there is so much work to do and every chain of exports steals time and attention from the same folks on the team who are badly needed elsewhere.

Dave's PnP kit builder has been such a boon to the Oath community who have been rapidly assembling and updating their kits (and providing feedback and enthuastim) over the past month while the team takes the game through prepress.

Oh hey, it's Code Unknown for me. A movie I adore, think about often, and don't need to see ever again really!

Don't give me a bunch of funny historical alliances when you already have a fully fleshed out and responsive diplomatic system. That bothers me a lot more than the scale shift to the operational with all of its attendant details.

Not properly. I've learned it and gone through some multi-handed turns. It seems interesting, perhaps filled with good ideas, but lacking in a sense of proportion or maybe just restraint. I don't mind the historical chrome or complexity at all. But I do mind system redundancy.

I think the 1532 long game may be the best way to do HIS. For VQ, I think I'm convinced that the 25 point threshold is a reason why the game isn't liked as much. It's just a bit too easy to lunge for the win.

I think both games are best when the average game is ~6 turns long with the occasional fools mate on t3 or drag out brawl that goes to t7. (With VQ this means playing to 30 or 27 points instead of 25.

With the exception of France and the Hapsburgs, the roles feel just a tad bit too scripted. I think it's great as a piece of asymmetric design, but doesn't reward repeated play as much as VQ which dazzles you with its range. Nearly every game feels like a novel situation.

I think I've now played all factions in both games, most multiple times. I think the Prot/Pope game in HiS is interesting but it doesn't quite overlap with the other positions enough to justify the time it takes (and we're speedy players!).

We played it back to back with Here I Stand it was remarkable how much more mature of a design it was in contrast. I love both games, but VQ is twice as dynamic and I think far superior. I could start another game today!

Thankfully the player who won the battle gets to retain a single strength point, which keeps the English leader alive. Though, the protracted Anglo-French war did end up badly damaging both powers and, while we repaired our positions it wasn't enough for the win.

I remember feeling great, hustling through the second section and then hitting a wall at the The Zone. It took a third attempt to get through that properly and the Polker + all of the central Asia section just hummed in my mind for days.