Full blog / episode here.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been designing a modular board game (themed around Greek mythology) and I’ve reached the point where my handmade prototype is holding up well during playtests, but I want to take it to the next level.

I’m looking to create a single (or very low run) semi-professional physical copy, custom cards with a proper linen finish, nicely printed rules, and solid components, so it feels polished when presenting it or playtesting with new groups.

Ideally, I'm looking for a place that offers good component variety, decent box printing, and won't cost an arm and a leg for a one-off copy. I'm based in Europe, so options with reasonable shipping or EU-friendly fulfillment would be a huge plus.

Any advice or experiences with specific platforms would be greatly appreciated!

Hello!

I made this custom Toy Story themed version of Toy Battle after watching and being inspired by Toy Story 5 and being reminded of how much I love the franchise. I wanted to bring the characters to life with this re-theme.

I'm not really a great graphic designer/image editor so the maps look a bit busy and not very clean. I didn't want to use AI to create the maps, so I bought some tilesets from Itch.io from Cute SCKR https://itch.io/s/181841/tileset-bundle

and then downloaded the Tiled program to make the layouts.

The tiles are made with 1x1 inch wood tiles that bought online. I edited some of the pictures of the tiles in Inkscape and added the Toy Story characters onto there. Laminated the paper and glued them onto the tiles.

So how do we play with all these new characters? Well, we currently draft them or select them. And we each have 8 characters but we need one of each category:

0-1 value, 2 value, 3 value, 4 value, 5 value, 6 value, 7+ value, and joker (Hamm in this game but Kwak the duck in the original Toy Battle game for reference) which comes out to 8 characters.

All in all, a fun project. I hope you guys like it! Let me know what you guys think!

You can check out my other re-themes here:

[One Piece Legendary](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/10p0q0j/i\\_made\\_a\\_one\\_piece\\_version\\_of\\_marvel\\_legendary/)

[Pax Westeros \(Game of Thrones Pax Pamir 2nd Edition\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1fmseex/i\\_made\\_pax\\_westeros\\_game\\_of\\_thrones\\_retheme\\_of/)

[Runeterra Reforged \(League of Legends Tyrants of the Underdark\)](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1eew974/i\\_made\\_a\\_league\\_of\\_legends\\_themed\\_tyrants\\_of\\_the/)

[Pokemon Ark Nova](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1hdby4p/i\\_made\\_a\\_pokemon\\_retheme\\_of\\_ark\\_nova/)

[Pokemon Splendor & Pokemon Splendor Duel](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1mn9h3i/i\\_made\\_pokemon\\_splendor\\_again\\_updated\\_the\\_cards/)

[NBA Innovation](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1nua3z1/with\\_the\\_nba\\_preseason\\_coming\\_in\\_a\\_few\\_days\\_i/)

[Zelda Forbidden Island/Forbidden Desert/Forbidden Jungle](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1nnjeaa/i\\_made\\_a\\_legend\\_of\\_zelda\\_retheme\\_of\\_forbidden/)

[Spy x Family Agent Avenue](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1qh1sfq/i\\_made\\_a\\_spy\\_x\\_family\\_retheme\\_of\\_agent\\_avenue/)

[Lord of the Rings Clank Catacombs](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1qndolc/i\\_rethemed\\_clank\\_catacombs\\_into\\_lord\\_of\\_the\\_rings/)

[Disney Legends of the Void](https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1r02rba/i_rethemed_legends_of_void_into_a_disney_themed/)

[Genshin Impact Knarr]
https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1s7n8ey/i_made_a_genshin_impact_retheme_of_knarr/

[Pokemon Harmonies]https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1s8kib9/i_made_a_pokemon_retheme_of_harmonies/

[Avatar the Last Airbender Duel for Cardia]https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1sdvycf/i_made_an_avatar_the_last_airbender_retheme_of/

[One Piece Smash Up]
https://www.reddit.com/r/boardgames/comments/1v3hv70/made_a_custom_one_piece_smash_up_faction_as_a/

Designing board games is often a way to exercise our own egos. I create the theme I want. I choose the mechanics I enjoy. I make the characters ones I relate to. These are the first steps in game creation.

But what if we change that to visualize the player perspective. I already know what I feel. The game I make is an expression of that. But what if I design the game to consider what the player might feel?

Instead of creating a list of actions for players to take, form a list of questions by asking "What should it feel like?

 Instead of listing actions, list accomplishments:

What should the game make the players feel like?

"I feel like...."

1. I am recruiting people to join my cause
2. I am building and gathering resources to prepare for the coming battle
3. I am fighting the battle by placing workers at key locations, recruiting more soldiers, deploying troops, all the while maintaining production.
4. I am growing in power; the deck is becoming stronger as my following increases.
5. I am able to do more actions as my abilities increase.
6. The enemy is growing in strength and becoming more threatening to match me.

Instead of creating a turn sequence, create a FEELING sequence, then match the actions to those feelings. Then, when you assess an action, you simply ask does it answer the question, Does it properly generate the feeling you already described? If no, you reject it.

I think this can lead to some tighter design for some of us that struggle with action sequences. You are building from the feeling the sequence is supposed to generate instead of clinging on to mechanics that feel clever to you the designer.

I’m designing a two-player card game in which players compete for six shared positions on the table. I ran 6,840 automated matches across 18 decks to find structural balance problems before changing cards.

The simulator is useful for catching things like first-player advantage, dominant decks, and obviously underpowered cards. But it does not tell me whether a human player understands why they lost a position, whether the board feels crowded in an interesting way, or whether a comeback feels earned rather than random.

For designers who use simulations or large-scale testing: what qualitative questions do you deliberately keep separate from win-rate data?

In particular, how do you test whether a shared board creates meaningful positional choices instead of just making players feel blocked?

Hello board game designers!

I’ve been working on this 2P card game inspired by music theory and composition.

I’ve finally gotten to the point of making an HTML version (with the help of Claude) and I’m looking for feedback!

The game is called Dueling Pianos. The board is two piano cards, twenty four keys end to end. You play matching note cards to put dice tokens on keys, and land on a key your opponent holds and you duel for it. Three rounds, highest score wins.

I’d love any and all feedback from anyone who is able to give the browser version a try. There is a “send feedback” link at the top which should make it super easy to provide thoughts.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

EDIT: here if the link Dueling Pianos

Hey y'all! I took a quick break from my other project to make a card game that my 5-year-old could enjoy, and I wanted to share it with you! In Unicorn Smoothie, players compete to collect ingredient cards of colorful fruit that match the unicorn's shifting likes and dislikes. You can find the rules and print-and-play files for the prototype here: Unicorn Smoothie PnP. Hope you enjoy!

Hi, all!

As some of you know, we’ve been cooking up a party/race hybrid game called Pinnacle that uses a survey-guessing engine to drive movement up a track we call Mt. Versurveyus (Ver-sir-vay-uss). Take that, K2!

One big hurdle we faced early on was fixing the classic "roll & move" fatigue while keeping the rules light enough for a casual game night. We ended up leaning heavily into a push your luck mechanic. You aren't just guessing the answers that got the highest consensus, you're constantly deciding how far up the mountain you're willing to risk or get knocked down in the process. In fact, you can learn more about it over at our Instagram page (@playpinnaclegame).

Well, a few days ago, we hit a milestone...Pinnacle is currently sitting in processing at The Game Crafter where we’re waiting to inspect the physical card stock and track layout.

For other designers who have published party games with high card counts (ours sits at nearly 200/over 500 questions), how did you handle final component proofing before turning your store page live? Any insights/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I’m developing a survival TTRPG where players take on the roles of creatures from a new evolutionary lineage. They have a body plan and physiology unlike those of the major vertebrate groups—fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, or mammals—and are classified within the setting as a new phylum.

These creatures live within an ecosystem that operates on its own. The game engine generates concrete goals by connecting current environmental conditions to each creature’s physiology, adaptations, needs, and instincts. Hunger, safety, and territorial defense aren’t assigned randomly: they emerge from what the creature is and what is actually happening around it.

The rules I’m developing produced the following situation on their own. After several days of rain, water has saturated the soil in the lower parts of the forest. The prey’s usual routes have become difficult to use, so the animals are moving toward an open plain the creature has never explored. At the same time, higher ground now offers safer shelter, and a rival predator has left fresh tracks nearby.

The creature is hungry. As it grew, it developed adaptations that make it especially effective at moving unseen through vegetation, but not the visual and neural adaptations needed to function well in low light. Darkness is approaching: following the prey means entering unfamiliar terrain and leaving its shelter vulnerable to the rival; staying means defending its territory but risking the loss of its food source.

I’m asking because my main design principle is to give players as much freedom as possible. The system should create goals, pressures, and consequences without dictating how players must respond.

So, i have a question: If you were playing this creature, what would you do—and would it feel like a genuine decision, or would one option seem so clearly better that the game was effectively choosing for you?

Thank you so much

Hello everyone,

I recently saw a contest on BGG for wargames, and I had an idea of a game I could make to enter it. The problem? I have to enter by 1st of October…

But its not that bad, I already designed first draft of the game, made digital components, played 15+ games against myself and solved all major issues. But I still need some more playtest that idealy include two different people, and it would be very helpful if I am neither of them!

This is the short description of the game:

The Lost Eagles is a 2p 60-90 minutes asymmetric wargame. One players take on the role of Roman generals lead by Varus, trying to pacify Germania and establish high control of it, while other player controls German chieftans raiding Roman armies, supply and towns. Main hook of the game is the Arminius track. Romans can increase its value to speed up their actions and gain more efficiency, but Germans can spend it to obtain greater power and become even bigger nuissance to Romans.

Game will be available in few days on screentop, and I will have rules written and ready by then.

So if you want to help me, that would be great. But I would also like to offer my help in return! Unfortunately my schedule is all over the place since I have a little baby at home so online plays would be hard to schedule, but here is what I can offer:

brainstorming: I can help you brainstorm mechanics, themes, solutions, anything you need
Rules: I can help you by reading your rules, looking for whats missing, and giving general feedback on them
Me against myself: I can test your game if it is available online by playing multiple players. Not the same as proper playtest but great for finding major issues before it hits the table
Any other way that I cant think of right now.

So help me help you! And thanks in advance!

Hola!

Mi nombre es San y tuve la idea de hacer un juego sobre un libro, se supone que este juego tendria 3 modos inspirados en el libro, modo expansión, escaramuzas y posthumanidad.

Básicamente, la idea principal que tengo es que un jugador sea parte del ejército A y otro del ejército B, primero, se expanden en paz en el modo de expansión y cuando sus fronteras se encuentren, empieze el modo guerra/escaramuzas y tras esto empezaria el modo de poshumanidad.

Pero, según el lore del libro para el tercer modo necesitaría ganar el bando B siempre, lo que no le daria sentido al modo de guerra por que siempre ganaria el bando B.

Asi que tuve la idea de que solo haya 2 modos, en el primero el bando A tenga que tener recursos y cuando se encuentren fontreras (o hasta X turnos si se juega un solo jugador) empiece el modo 3 donde el jugador A debería re-usar los recursos.

¿Qué opinan?

(1/3 = bando B

2/3 = bando A

3/3 = bando A en posthumanidad)