I want to get one more game available via TheGameCrafter.com so folks can get it in time for Christmas. Subtilla was originally designed in response to TGC’s Vehicles contest … but I couldn’t get the rules ready in time.
So, I put it on hold for a bit … but now I’m ready to finish it off and get it out on TGC. Not sure on the exact timing, but I’m hoping to release it sometime in November.
This is a two-player, head-to-head naval battle game. Each player has 1 sub, 5 surface ships and a base on their side of the board. A player wins by either destroying all 5 of the opponent’s surface ships or by occupying both spaces of the opponent’s base at the end of the opponent’s turn (they get a chance to knock you out of their base).
There are some nifty stealth and movement rules for the subs … I really like how that aspect of the game works. And, of course, the sub gets to fire torpedoes! 🙂 The ship-v-ship battles are dice-based … so this doesn’t really fit the definition of an “abstract” game — it’s very “themey” and has strong chance elements. To say it has a bit of “take that!” is also an understatement.
My son, Seth, contributed a lot to the refinement of the design. He loves to play it, and tends to beat me at it. Games don’t take very long — 15-20 minutes — and when you get beat, it makes you want to set it up again for another go.
My issue seems (again) to be writing the rules down in plain English. While the game isn’t very difficult to teach or learn, it does have a couple of concepts in it that are easier to “show” than to write down … so, that will be what I need to get done in order to release the game.
Here’s a close-up of the board, for those who are interested (click for bigger pic):
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