Katz 🔜 Unpub

And that’s why I only call it 0.636363…

A small swarm of Eastern Lubber Grasshopper nymphs.

... he started designing his own games.

This evening we playtested one, and it was great. A two-player trick taker. It was non-derivative, it was interesting, it was fun, and it played as smooth as silk.

I'm happy and proud. 🔚

🎲✂️ About 8 months ago, I started having weekly #boardgames nights with a colleague of my wife. It's been great.

About 4 months ago, I said, "Uh... hey, do you mind if we playtest a game I designed ?" He said, "Sure."

About 1 month ago...

🧵 1 of 2

A two-player playtest of Sinister Plots, the prototype board game.

A two-player playtest of Sinister Plots, the prototype board game.

A got in a two-player playtest of Sinister Plots. It played smoother than I expected, but it’s still rough. The other player boxed themselves in and had two un-fun final turns. But! “I like this one better than Evenglow.”
#boardgames 🎲✂️

The Iron Giant flying into an oncoming missile, saying, “Superman…”

“Superman...”

I’m interested in the particular flavor of spite that leads to a board game. Believe you me, I got spite in spades. But I don’t think it’s ever resulted in a board game.

A graph. Across the X axis is "Number of iterations". On the Y axis, there is a green line that goes from top to bottom that represents, "What's right with this game?" and a red line that goes from bottom to top that represents, "What's wrong with this game?"

How I'm going to ask for feedback going forward, instead of, "Whatdja think?"

#boardgames 🎲✂️

After a solo, two-fisted playtest of Sinister Plots, I am pleased to confirm that it is, indeed fact, a game. It’s a real brain-melter! It’s not going to be for everybody, but I’m very happy with it.
#boardgames 🎲✂️ #unpub

Eight pages of printables for a physical prototype of the board game Sinister Plots.

I should NOT be trying to prototype Sinister Plots for #unpub, yet here we are.
#boardgames 🎲✂️

… they provide a thoughtfulness on the artefact that I couldn’t otherwise perceive. It’ll never make me want to play Pax Pamir more. But it’ll help me appreciate the form, and I enjoy that.

Sanctimonious drivel complete.

… I couldn’t have cooked up on my own.

I’m not reading to confirm my opinion (my opinion is already confirmed; I am correct about what I like or dislike). I’m reading to experience opinions superior to my own.

I do not like Pax Pamir, but I like hearing from people who do because…

For my own self, I enjoy reading reviews and criticisms after I’ve formed my own opinion because, often, my opinion is rudimentary.
“I liked it!”
“I didn’t like it…”
I’m not wrong, but good coverage provides me with nuance, perspective and food for thought that…

That’s you. You’re the genie for everybody else. Be the magic you want to see in the world. Tighten them seats.

Yes? No? Whatever you need. However you want it to go down. I wanna do the thing.

A screenshot of a video thumbnail from an absolutely bullshit channel that needs to be launched into the sun. The superimposed text says, “Board Game Reviewers are Lying,” and the title says, “Don’t trust Board Game Channels”.

I dunno, man. Seems like they have an air-tight case against these allegations.

Shoot it over, yo.

I hold back from game design changes based on how much work it’s going to be to recreate the components. It’s not a good system!

A rough prototype of the board game Sinister Plots, minus player boards. There are gold coins on the left side and a Black Market board. At the bottom of the Black Market are poison cards indicated the required ingredients. The Black Market pays out less the more poisons of a type are sold. On the right side are hex tiles. At the top of the Black Market board are seed packet.

Two player boards for Sinister plots. Five rows of hexagons; the top and bottom are grey (stone) while the three center are brown (soil).

Workin' on the initial prototype for Sinister Plots.

This is my favorite part of #boardgames 🎲✂️ design. While hope is fresh, before playtesting dashes the dream. This one feels solid, but I've been proven wrong before.

I'm not as morose as all that, but... I just hope it works. At least a little.

It's actually, "rFIC".

Rails of vinyl gutters with holes drilled into them to serve as hydroponic gardens. Early-stage lettuce grows out of the holes.

Fully grown heads of lettuce in a hydroponic garden.

Yellow hardware tubs with plants sprouting out of them in a hydroponic garden setup.

Pickling cucumbers growing in a hydroponic garden.

Hydroponic gardening!

If one descriptor comes to mind, it's "mindless".

I need a new low-key hobby to take my mind off of the hobby I’m burning out on that I took up to take my mind off of a different hobby.

The board game Evenglow laid out on a table at GAMA Expo. A man with a clipboard is in the background.

The board game Evenglow laid out on a table at GAMA Expo.

The board game Evenglow laid out on a table at GAMA Expo. Other board games by The Op are shelved in the background.

Some folks at GAMA Expo playing Evenglow.

I'm not at #GAMAexpo, but I'm there in spirit! If you're there, go visit The Op and tell Evenglow that I said, "Hello."

These photos have made my day, y'all. I'm so excited.
#boardgames 🎲✂️

A very rough approximation of the start of some board game graphics. Hexagonal tiles, a hex-grid player board, a stock market area.

I'm cooking up yet another hexagonal tile-placement gardening puzzle game.

You're planting Deadly Nightshade, Poisonous Hemlock, Mandrake Root and Angel's Trumpet in a companion planting fashion. You sell the resulting poison on the Black Market.

It's called Sinister Plots.
#boardgames 🎲✂️

Agricola tops my list as well, so I’ll have to seriously investigate your 2, 3 and 4.

I love Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan, but I don’t know how much resemblance it bears to the original.

Hank Green | Whatever's Wrong With Me It's Working This product is has two prints. One on the front with a pocket-sized print and one on the back. This shirt is open for pre-order through March 5th. Get it now!

That shirt is available for pre-order ONLY for the next 48-72 hours. Get it while it’s hot.

store.dftba.com/products/han...

From Hank Green, a t-shirt that says, “Whatever’s wrong with me, it’s working,” with a mola mola fish in the center and a few jellyfish around the perimeter. https://youtu.be/oejPfkEqqSg?si=LKimcf9VH747_HJG

My spirit animal.

Yep! Third-hand and slightly busted. It's a whole game, totally playable and nearly everything is in great condition... except for the parts that aren't. Just pay shipping.

YouTube video by Ryan George Trying to Learn Basic Facts About Your Friends

#boardgames