SharkBait Rules [UPDATED 3-Jan]

  December 21, 2012 - 7:21 am | SharkBait
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SharkBait's Token BoardThis week has been extremely productive in a couple of ways.  The top two, from a game-related standpoint are the release of the print-and-play alpha version of “King of Danger” (my Castle Danger themed trick-taking card game) and my polishing of the written rules for SharkBait.

As mentioned in a previous post, SharkBait is a family style dice game and I showed off some of the Chevee Dodd artwork I’ve had the pleasure of working with as I get this prototype into shape.  My intention is to get this game tested and honed over the next couple of months, and to pitch it to game publishers that target the family game market.  (I’ll pause here to give Mr. Dodd a big shout-out … because not only is he a skilled artist and game designer, he was also instrumental in getting me through this rule-writing process, which I often struggle with.)

So, getting the rules into a publishable format (I plan to use the saddle stitched booklets now available through TheGameCrafter.com) is a big step.  I need to be able to send the game off to groups to “blind test” the game … and that requires the rules to be easy to follow without me around to answer any questions or to give any guidance.

If you’re interesting in reading through the rules (these are not a print-and-play copy of the game … just the rules), you can download a copy of them here: {original file had 11 downloads, 4 responses} … UPDATED FILE: SharkBait Rules Book (updated) (37)

I’d appreciate any feedback that you have.  You can post a comment below, send me an e-mail, or post at me via Twitter or Facebook.

 

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King of Danger: A Trick-Taking Card Game [updated 11-Jan]

  December 19, 2012 - 11:18 pm | Castle Danger, King of Danger
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King of Danger Main Deck Card BackFor a number of years, I’ve wanted to design a new trick-taking card game, based on 3 suits and some specialized trump cards.  And I kept thinking it would work to base it on the same theme as Castle Danger, with players building up their castle walls while tearing down those belonging to the other players.

The idea sat on the back-burner for quite a while until two things happened within the same day a couple weeks ago: (1) I had an interesting chat with Grant Rodiek about a new design of his that might have some trick-taking elements in it, and (2) I read through a Twitter exchange between several designers on how complex the setups are for some of the currently popular card games.  This got my mind wrapping around the idea of a good, old-fashioned shuffle-and-deal card game … which brought me back to the trick-taking card game that was on the back-burner.

So, I present an early print-and-play version of “King of Danger” (aka “Castle Danger: The Card Game”).    The graphics are quite early and not overly great … but they are functional and should let people test the game out to see if it works, and what still needs work.

From the introduction to the rules:

“King of Danger” is a mix of old and new.  It is based on traditional trick-taking card games, but uses a custom deck of cards and adds-in special actions and an extra element of building and destroying castle walls.  Players score points by taking more tricks than other players and by having more walls in their castle.

And here is the download: King of Danger Rules (with Print and Play cards) (69) … {updated to v3.1 on 11-Jan-2013}

If you give it a try, please let me know what you find.

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New Dice Game: SharkBait

  December 5, 2012 - 3:06 pm | SharkBait
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SharkBait Title PageFor the past couple of months now, I’ve been referring vaguely on Twitter about a “super-top-secret dice game”, and even linked to a generic dice game rule set to get some feedback a core mechanic for a new design.  Well, here’s that design I was hinting at — SharkBait, a family-style round-the-table dice game.

Theme-wise, you are helping to guide fish away from being eaten by sharks … or, whenever the sharks fight, to get a close look at the sharks.  The “sharks” and “fish” are dice, and the core rules determine how you place the rolled dice on a scoring board.  At the end of a player’s turn, the fish on the board are scored based on how the sharks are setup and where the fish are located compared to the sharks.

Your score with the dice will let you pick up a scoring token — the higher the score, the further on the scoring track you are able to move your pawn.  After seven rounds, the player with the pawn furthest down the track is the winner.  (There are a few more interesting twists to the rules, but I’m waiting to post all of the details until I get those honed a bit more with additional testing.)

But, I wanted to share the prototype artwork with you, because I’m very fond of it … (more)

(more…)

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Repainting the Castle: Castle Danger 10th Anniversary Edition on the Way

  December 3, 2012 - 4:43 pm | Castle Danger
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Castle Danger, 5th Edition, Quad-Fold Board GraphicIt’s hard to believe that my first completed board game design, Castle Danger, is about to turn 10 years old in the next few months!  The game actually got its start as a computer game in 2001, but by late 2002 I was working to get a tabletop version available for sale.

Four tabletop editions, 2 computer versions, and a free print-and-play set later and 10 years has gone by. Phwew. ;)

In the meantime, TheGameCrafter.com, where the 4th edition has been produced, has been steadily improving their services, offerings and quality … so, it was time to give my old classic a face-lift.  I plan to release it sometime in early 2013 — January/February timeframe, if everything goes as planned.

I’m switching to a thick 18×18 quad-fold board with brand new graphics (click the pic in the upper-left to see it full-sized).  I’m also getting my player pieces consolidated around a standard look and feel (no more mix of 4 different types of materials, etc., like in the 4th edition).  The player pieces look like this:

 Castle Danger, 5th Edition, Player Pieces

I also plan to redo the rule book, taking advantage of the new saddle-stitched booklets available at TGC … and a new box wrap too.  I’ll spend the next month-or-so tweaking the board graphics, creating something new for the box cover, and getting the rule book in shape.

I’m not sure what this will cost yet … I’m hoping that $39 will handle it, but I need to get all of the pieces finalized an setup on TGC to see what the underlying per-unit cost is.  I’ll post more pics and give more info as I progress on this.

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Some Things to Like: Castle Danger, Keeps & Moats (first in a series)

  December 2, 2012 - 7:31 pm | Castle Danger, Keeps & Moats, Keeps & Moats Chess, Some Things to Like
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A Montage of Matt Worden's Games as of December 2012As I mentioned in my previous post, Grant Rodiek is one of the designers whose blog I read on a regular basis.  He recently wrote an intriguing post on the idea of purposefully designing joy into games.  It got me thinking about my own approach to design — how I go about it, what I focus on, and why I put things together the way I do.

It made me realize that when I’m designing a game, I focus mainly on creating problems for the players to solve, providing them some limited tools to solve the problems, and then forcing some tough decisions on when and how to use the tools available.  Usually, those tough decisions work around the player choosing to give something up in order to gain some advantage.  This means that while I usually start with a theme and then form mechanics within it, I’m really a mechanics-first designer … since the mechanics play a more important role for me.

This does a few things:  It means that I usually am able to get the elements of a design to work together mechanically very quickly, making it easier to test things at a mathematical/physics level. But, more critically, it means that I’m relying quite a bit on the players to convert the theme and what I think may be a nifty combination of mechanics into the “aha” moments of joy that Grant wrote about. And, even more critically, it clarifies for me what causes some players of my games to respond with phrases like “missing that magic spark” or “dry” or (more painfully) “soulless.”  I’m not sure what this means for my on-going designs yet, but I think it it will cause me to take a wider view of the design, and focus more on the overall player experience. (I just don’t really know what that means yet … but willing to learn.)

So, as an exercise, I thought I’d walk through some of my more-or-less completed designs and comment on a piece or two that I really like about each of them. Quite likely, these will be related to the game’s mechanics (due to what I wrote above).  The first two games I’ll cover are a couple of my earliest — Castle Danger and Keeps & Moats Chess.

(more…)

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Designers Talking Shop: A Few I Read

  November 15, 2012 - 12:18 pm | Board Games, Fellow Designers, Others' Works
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Protospiel Discussion Panel at GenConIndy 2011One part of game design (and design or engineering of any sort, really) that I really enjoy is the discussion of the process by those who are in the midst of it.  To listen to other designers “talking shop” and to participate whenever I can is an important part of my own design process.

Twitter has been an amazing avenue for me to connect with dozens of other designers of various types and skill levels.  The best part of visiting GenCon this past summer was to meet eye-to-eye with these folks I’ve been chatting with via the Internet over the past couple of years.

So, I thought I’d take the time to point out a few of the designers I’m currently reading.  This isn’t a comprehensive list … just 3 guys I picked out who have blogs that I make sure to read.

(more…)

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Current Happenings

  November 4, 2012 - 9:22 pm | Board Games, Jump Gate, Magistrate, Special Events
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Matt Worden Games LogoWhile this is normally a pretty slow time of year for me (things really crank from Con of the North time in February through GenCon in August, andthen sort of change into a slow-mo through Fall and early Winter) I have been up to a few things.

I’ve been making a few updates on Facebook and Twitter — so, that’s a good place to get daily info on what’s up.

First, I’d like to direct your attention to a copy of Jump Gate that I have entered into the 2012 Jack Vasel Memorial Fund Auction at BoardGameGeek.  I will sign it and write an inside-the-cover message (if the winning bidder wants that sort of thing) … and I’ll ship it to anywhere in the world.  So, if you’re still looking to get a copy of the game and/or want to back a great gamer-focused charity, then put a bid on the thing.

Second, I’m happy to see that FatherGeek has had a chance to play Dicey Curves with the DANGER! Expansion, and really seems to like it, as do his little geeks.  I’d love to play a game with that crew — it has to be a blast!

As for games I am working on right now … lately, my time has been spent working out a simple dice game that recently popped into my brain.  I’ve put up a generic set of rules here: Simple Dice Game (Code Name: SB) (150)

MagistrateI do have a theme planned for the game, along with a specific target market … so, my next steps will be to get a nice prototype put together and get it tested by some folks.

Finally, I am continue to edge Magistrate forward. All of the post-GenCon changes have been worked in, I’ve figured out what would all go into the updated prototype, and I’m slogging my way through an updated rulebook … and, if you know how I work, you know that the rules-writing thing is a bit of a hang-up for me.  So, wish me luck and send me encouragement. ;)

 

 

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Game Stores & Distributors: Half Off Wholesale on Final Sets of Jump Gate (2nd ed.)

  September 26, 2012 - 11:12 am | Jump Gate, Special Events
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Box top artwork for 2nd Edition of "Jump Gate"

It’s time to reclaim my basement!

I have the last sets of Jump Gate (Second Edition) taking up space in my basement … and it’s time for me to get rid of them and convert that space over to something more family-friendly and useful.

To do that, I would like to sell as many of them as quickly as possible.  So, that means I’m quite flexible and willing to negotiate if someone has a great (and reasonable) offer to take a bunch of them off my hands.

To kick it all off, I will be offering them all for half-off the original wholesale pricing for stores (both online & FLGS) and distributors.  If you’ve bought from me in the past, you’ll know what that means.  If you haven’t purchased from me before, send me an e-mail and I’ll give you the full details.

Preliminary Artwork for "Jump Gate" 2nd Edition Box BottomAlso, there will be no shipping costs within the U.S. for orders of 5 or more copies.  Outside the U.S., I will split the actual shipping costs with you 50/50.

I will be e-mailing all of my previous store/distributor customers to let them know of this … but I am always happy and excited to work with new customers as well.

For those of you who aren’t game store buyers or distributors, but would like to get a copy of Jump Gate: START HERE, and then e-mail me if you aren’t finding what you’re looking for. :)

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Dicey Curves Only Available for a Limited Time

  September 25, 2012 - 8:33 am | Dicey Curves
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Dicey Curves I just got word over the past few days that the supplier that TGC buys their “Sporty Car Pawns” from is discontinuing that part … which means that Dicey Curves (which uses 8 of those cute little cars) can only be sold as long at TGC still has stock remaining.

And, from some follow-up e-mails with TGC’s folks (they’ve provided some very good customer service to me on issue) I know that they don’t have large quantities of some of these cars … so, you’ll need to get ‘em while you can.

CLICK HERE: To View Dicey Curves in the TGC Shop … after adding Dicey Curves to your cart, take a look around the shop a bit and add a few other cool games as well.

If you haven’t heard of Dicey Curves … it’s a casual, dice-based racing game where the track is made up from a deck of cards.  You try to form combos with your dice in order to move your car down the track.  There are “gates” on the curves that specify the size of the combo you need to form in order to continue on the track.  And there are a number of ways to control the dice in order to give some help when luck isn’t in your corner.  It plays 2 – 8 players in 30-60 minutes.

I’m not sure what I’ll do with the game once those pawns run out.  TGC’s other cars don’t really fit the look of a racing game, and probably wouldn’t fit very well onto the spots on the track cards either … so, I’ll need to get that figured out between now and then.

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