Games By John Sherman

A quick update from our time at UKGE. Thanks to everyone who came by and said hi / played :)

Do you know someone whose collecting badges at UKGE?

why not share this post with them.

We're offering 4 different badges. 1 for those who visit stall 3-321 and say hi :) and, if you stick around to play Entombed, you'll also receive 1 of the other 3 special badges. #ukge #badge

An Early Newsletter? Yeah, as UKGE is on at the end of the month, and knowing how my body reacts, I’m expecting to be out of service for quite a while after. Cuckoo Rebrand and Thingo Both games weren’t heading where we’d like, so both projects have been scrapped. The Mariner / Untitled Fishing Game A lot has happened with this game, and there have been some major overhauls. Firstly the Mariner theme has been dropped, as I couldn’t quite get it to work, and Mariners don’t really fish much. The game is more of a cosy type game, so will lean more into this, The game length has been shortened; no Mariner means no need for the 7 in game days, which means the game doesn’t take 4 centuries to play. You are now taking part in a 3 day fishing tournament and a 4 player game can currently be played in about 2 hours. Still brainstorming a name for the game ATM, so will be referred to as the untitled fishing game for now. The game is progressing nicely and I’m now in a position to start thinking about the artwork. After a recent poll on Instagram, the general consensus was that the artwork should be done in plasticine. Finally the biggest change to the game is that it is no longer a dice management game and instead is a deck builder. The Future Once recovered from UKGE, I will have a go at making the plasticine models and will go from there. This will probably take a while, but will still be playtesting the game in the meantime, especially as I need to get to some playtest sessions to increase the number of different early prototypes I’ve played this year. Having a stall at UKGE meant I was unfortunately unable to do much else. Speaking of UKGE and Entombed, the manufacturing process will begin sometime in August, just to make sure it arrives in time for UKGE next year. May also need some extra helpers at UKGE ;) Until Next time :)

🎲✂️ An early newsletter this month, no idea why ;)

(Woah!) We're halfway there. Game 10 of 20 for #testerthursday is Moby Dick.

🎲✂️ So ... I've never really written a story with missions before, but there has been some interest in it; if anyone who is at UKGE next week has 5 mins, would you be able to to swing by and offer some feedback (even if it is you think its 💩) Thanks :)

People have shown interest in a solo story mode for Entombed, so I'm currently in the process of writing one (never done it before, and am not a solo gamer, so am a bit out of my comfort zone 😅) hoping to gain some feedback at UKGE on the stall. How's your projects going?

We Are: Games By John Sherman Our Logo: Stall Number: 3-321 We Are On: Chaos Cards Avenue / Pegasus Spiele St. Stalls Near Us: Unfringed, Roc Nest Games, Ex Stasis Games and Pegasus Spiele / Spiral Galaxy We Are Offering: Cuckoo for £5; Demo’s of Entombed and photo’s with our special guest. Entombed in 3: Escape Game, Abstract, Puzzle Closest Examples: Quoridor, Lego Minotaur

🎲✂️ @ukge.bsky.social is just over 2 weeks away! Here's a quick look at where exactly in Hall 3 you can find us :) Feel free to swing by, say hi and try Entombed. Shoutouts to our neighbours @unfringedthings.bsky.social and @rocnestgames.bsky.social :)

It's #Testerthursday time, this time it is the turn of Sengoku 9 down ... 11 to go

Entombed at UKGE

With just under 20 days until #ukge here's a look at how Entombed looks.

If your at UKGE, why not come and play Entombed at stall 3-321 :) #ukgamesexpo

#testerthursday is back; I forgot to ask the name of this game, but sure someone who has played this game may be able to help :) 8 down, 12 to go.

Will be at #ukge at stall 3-321; why not swing by and try out Entombed before it's release next year

A Flip and write game where the object is to load your dishwasher the best you can; the player with the most points wins. There were 2 play modes, but we played the race mode, where you can either try to fill your washer or could call it quits and hope your opponent hasn’t loaded their washer better than you. It was a great puzzle of a game and loved having multiple levels to load, whilst having the constraint of having to chose 1 card from the 2 levels available that turn (3 levels total). Looking forward to trying this again.

Tester Thursday is back! This time it's Extreme Dishwasher Loading by @kevmakesgames.bsky.social

What's New? Honestly, not much; it’s been a really rough month; had a really bad flair up, started to feel better, then had another one (hence why there’s been no Tester Thursday posts). Hoping to be a lot better for UKGE otherwise I’ll be grinning through the discomfort. However, there is some big news. UKGE A friend kindly offered me their stall (thanks Scott), so will now have a stall (3-321) at UKGE. We’ll be offering playable demo’s of Entombed (had a fair bit of interest so far), and photo op’s with our special guest all weekend. Have managed to upgrade the board, cards and standee’s and can’t wait to show you. Also, randomly found an old box of the original Cuckoo game. Have printed the updated version 2 rules (same cards, different artwork; version 3 is what I’m working on and is a different game completely) and added them to the original games, which will be available to purchase on the stall. All money raised from this is going towards the physical launch of Entombed. Entombed Has A Launch Date? Yes, UKGE 2026 (If I can get a stall). However, there is a planned soft launch happening before then, subject to the games arriving on time. The current plan is to focus predominantly on the UK and European conventions until things calm down (hopefully before next year), as Entombed will be produced in China. So far I’ve had potential interest from 2 stockists in the UK, so we shall see how things go. Until Next time :)

May update time :) 🎲✂️

Yeah, it's only 2mm thick, so it's not too bad to be honest. Nice, did look at laser cutting, but a few companies were unable to help, which is a shame

Broke the acrylic standees needed for UKGE next month 😬 so about to cut new ones ... Safety 1st.

Poster saying Entombed will be at UKGE, hall 3, stand 321

🎲✂️ ENTOMBED WILL BE AT UKGE!!!! 🎉 (riddle answer)
Hall 3, stand 321.
If you're at UKGE, why not come down, say hi and give it a try, before its release in Early 2026 :) We are currently taking bookings for demo's (message / comment for info)

Riddle Me This Update in 3- Kept a low profile (stalling for time); but now I’m 3 Got something important 2 say Exciting times May be ahead if you decode this 1 Can You guess? Clue: it’s board game related

🎲✂️ 🤔👀🤫

Man with a net

🎲✂️ Meet 'Man with a net' ... As the card states, he has a net. Part of Cuckoo's rebranding includes new cards and artwork (still my iffy drawings unfortunately 😂 ... Just need to learn to draw on a computer)

Trying to reinvent my 1st game, Cuckoo; trying to fix some nagging issues and make it a bit more interactive.... It's slowly taking shape, but still feels like it's missing something.

Update 5 / April 2025 Conventions Its been a busy month for conventions, having attended both Airecon and Paradice. It was good to see so many friends both old and new. I’m currently in the process of trying to finalise a list of conventions I’d like to attend in the next year and a half. The Mariner The game is currently broken; however, after receiving some extremely helpful feedback, I’m slowly working on fixing it. Version 4 is promising to be quite a fun experience and should help narrow the games focus, but I’m not sold on its current ending. Entombed Still working on some stuff behind the scenes and hope to reveal more info next month, as I did apply to Warner Bros to obtain a Scooby Doo license and was waiting to hear back before exploring the other avenues. Unfortunately they didn’t reply within their response timeframe, so presumedly they are not interested … oh well. I was thinking of renaming Entombed to Escape: The Pyramid, but after putting it to a poll, the name Entombed is staying. New Projects Work is underway on 2 new projects. Firstly I’m currently helping a new designer get their game idea off the ground. May post a bit about this from time to time, but hope their game does well and looking forward to seeing how it develops. Secondly, Cuckoo is back! This time as Cuckoo Replucked. At it’s heart it’s still a push your luck card game, and some things haven't changed, but it fixes a few issues, increases the player interaction and both the take that and the push your luck aspect. Have a loose plan for this, and have recently done some testing with it. Hopefully I’ll be able to share something more concrete soon.

🎲✂️April Update :)

Game 6 of 20 in our #testerthursday series. This time it's the turn of Hacktivist (no social media link).

Why do I always forget about this until silly o clock 😂 projects are going well, juggling 3 prototypes now and hoping to test 2 this week. How's yours going?

Good luck :)

Time for game number 5 in the 20 game challenge. This time it's the turn of Meow Squeak by tinyurl.com/c74nat2b ... we're quarter of the way there :)

It's Thursday, so it's time for game 4/20 in the 20 game challenge; this week it's the turn of Crunchy Caterpillars. The game genuinely had me intrigued.

Game 3 of 20 is Heist by Silent Fox Games (discord.gg/aTYdZcYM - please note some games are not suitable for minors and those who are easily offended). Haven't tried the solo mode yet, but looking forward to.

Games By John Sherman Logo (top left) Update 4 (middle) Entombed logo (top right) Events I was planning on having a stall at various conventions this year in the hope to generate some hype for Entombed. Unfortunately due to ill health that plan has now changed and I hope to be on a stall (or two) in 2026. Airecon If your at Airecon and are looking for something to do on the Thursday evening, feel free to come over to the Playtest Zone and say hi, as I’ll have The Mariner with me. I’ll also be around a lot of the event (health permitting) and will have Entombed in the bag on the other days if people wish to try it. 20 in a year In case you’ve missed it, I’ve started a challenge of trying to play prototypes of 20 different designers (in person) in 2025. The plan is to very briefly talk about them as well as sharing any social media links to the games / designers (if possible) every Thursday. Currently there are 2 posts in the series and the next few posts are ready go. Until Next time :)

🎲✂️ March update time

Imagine chess crossed with fantasy creatures and a light switch. The idea is to be the first to score 20 points. This game is great for anyone who likes 2 player strategy games like chess and Onitama. On the whole it was an enjoyable experience; there’s lots of different strategies and options that can be employed. If you like games that really make you think this may be for you.

Game 2 of 20 for #testerthursday is Starsquares (no social media link unfortunately). Had a good time with this one.