Game Designers of North Carolina

Board games Bullseye and VNTYPL8S

The latest additions to the GDofNC library are Bullseye by Grace Kendall and Mike Belsole, and VNTYPL8S by @stoichamster.bsky.social! Both published by @25thcentury.games.

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Chipotle Cashier (pointing at my GDofNC hoodie): Oh! You're a software engineer?
Me: No, I design board games.
Cashier: Oh. Well.. You'll get there! Everybody's gotta start somewhere.

Had an amazing playtest of “Ravenous Seas” tonight trying out a couple of quick changes I made since Tantrum Con this past weekend.

This is the most destroyed I have ever seen the ship. It was so close to sinking, but the players pulled it off in the end.

Cooking up something brand new with @boardgameghee.bsky.social, currently codenamed A Season for Paws 🐾

Another great playtest tonight of my co-op sea monster hunting game, Ravenous Seas. The core systems are almost right where I want them. Which means soon we get to move onto the fun part, making whole new monsters for the players to fight.

Squirrel Away and Off With Their Heads board games

Latest additions to the GDofNC library! Squirrel Away, designed by group member @stoichamster.bsky.social and published by @floodgategames.bsky.social, and Off With Their Heads, designed by group member @mihealsick.bsky.social and published by @druidcitygames.bsky.social.

Solo test of the gem game. Modified the rules to be able to create chains of the same color gem more easily. I think it worked!

GDofNC are hosting Playtesting 4 Prizes at Whose Turn today. 5 tables, 10 designers, and 18 prototype designs!

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It's time for a 2025 Retrospective on my board game design journey! Read along for some insight (including some detailed numbers) into a semi-professional who makes money from design, but not quite enough to be a full-time job that supports a family. 🧵

Got to playtest by cooperative sea monster hunting game last night. Made a lot of small tweaks lately and they seem to be working really well.

Made myself get a brand new design to the table tonight - codenamed "Stupid Gem Game". It's still super raw, but there might be something interesting in there!

It’s great when you get that playtest that you were really looking for. One where you get just the right feedback and now know exactly which direction you need to go with it.

Mountain Goats: Legacy and Enchanted Ivy Climb higher than ever before with Mountain Goats: Legacy. Plus, dive into Enchanted Ivy—Allplay's debut solo-only title.

Mountain Goats Legacy, from group members Alex Cutler and @mihealsick.bsky.social, is now on Kickstarter from @allplay.bsky.social! www.kickstarter.com/projects/boa...

Widget’s Workshop board game

The latest addition to the GDofNC library is Widget’s Workshop! Designed by group member Alex Cutler and published by @phaseshiftgames.bsky.social

It's release week for Beasts! This Friday you'll officially be able to find it in game stores in the US, so we'll be celebrating all week long 🎉

Squirrel Away is on the Holiday Must-Play list from Board Game Gumbo!

YouTube video by TerreDice Games PAX Unplugged 2025 - We came, we played, and we got A LOT of Games!

TerreDice is calling VNTYPL8S their party game of the year! Squirrel Away and Flintlock (a game I helped dev) also get some love! youtu.be/-YhT1QPT_Wo?...

The latest addition to the GDofNC library is Tír na Nóg Blessings & Burdens by group member @isaacshalev.bsky.social!

We walked around Ueno, then Akihabara to visit the game shop Yellow Submarine. Tokyo Game Market has a printed catalog available for purchase so I needed to study and translate what was going to be available. Spotted a @gdofnc.bsky.social game on the shelves! Art Society by Mitch Wallace!

It's almost time for #paxunplugged! Here's where and when you can find me and my games this weekend, including some signing sessions for Squirrel Away and VNTYPL8S. If any mutuals are going and want to meetup sometime, reach out, or just stop by one of these spots!

Going to PAXU!
Who will I be seeing there?

Also: Unpub room times
Fri:: 1:30-4:30
Sat:: 10-1

Gonna be showing off my upcoming game this weekend at PAXU. Look for Alpha Team Mechanized Battle Force Go! at the How to Steam Broccoli booth!

Just a sign. That’s the post.

Coming soon: Alpha Team Mechanized Battle Force Go! A giant monster is attacking the city! Use the power of teamwork to overcome evil... with awesome!

The project page for my upcoming game Alpha Team Mechanized Battle Force Go! is now up on Kickstarter.

You can select to be notified on launch!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/how...

Submitted one of my game designs to a couple publishers today and it's a bit of a personal success for me.

The games I am currently working on with publishers kinda fell into my lap - right place at the right time - so doing the work to get my other games out there feels like a big step.

The cover art for yanari. It depicts a farmers market with witches and fantastical creatures. The art style is inspired by studio Ghibli.

An overview of the components from the base game.

An excerpt from the kickstarter page showing the base game with box, priced at $40.

An excerpt from the kickstarter showing additional components in the deluxe edition: a bonus which, wooden tokens, and card sleeves.

Yanari: The Witches Market is entering its final week on Kickstarter. I hope you enjoy it!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/198...
@1985games.bsky.social
#BoardGame

Squirrel Away design diary complete! 😮‍💨
I always super-underestimate how long it takes me to write these. Somebody teach me to be less verbose!

The final end state of my new party game, Subject Matters.

This game continues to be a rip-roaring good time!

Obojima Tales From Yatamon A Leisure Fantasy D&D Campaign Setting and Board Game Inspired by Studio Ghibli and the Legend of Zelda.

My new card game Yanari is live on Kickstarter! Check it out! www.kickstarter.com/projects/198...
#boardgame

SPIEL Essen 25 Preview Hundreds of new games will be introduced at SPIEL Essen 25. This preview covers games debuting at that show or recently released or (for smaller publishers) released since 2024.

Just realized that there will be 6(!) of my games on the floor at Essen - Beasts, Squirrel Away, the German editions of the Merchants of Magick expansions, and the German editions of Chomp and the Flyers and Scavengers expansion. boardgamegeek.com/geekpreview/...