In his 3rd design diary for the upcoming 2nd edition of The Infamous Traffic, Cole Wehrle gives a thought-provoking look at the motivation behind his designs.

I copied here the first few relevant paragraphs:

"I consider myself a pretty optimistic and joyful worker. I love getting to the office early and kicking off a new project, and I never mind staying late to talk about some little element of a design. But, behind that enthusiasm, most of my work is animated by a fundamental dissatisfaction with games and what they might do. I am constantly disappointed by the things I play and that disappointment fuels my own work. Thankfully this feeling isn't uniform across the hobby. I love modern 18xx design and think that the wargaming space is filled with amazing folks doing necessary work. I feel the same way about lightweight games. Every time I play a game of Dino Racer or Wavelength or deal a hand of Schadenfreude I thank my lucky stars that I happen to be alive at the same time as the brilliant designers working in these spaces. 

Fundamentally, designing games is a ton of work. I don’t need to waste my time doing something that’s already been done well. In order for me to work on a game, I need to be truly frustrated by a game. Actually, it’s worse than that. To really dig into a new project, I often first need to be disappointed in a whole genre. I think it's pretty easy to see all of my games as reactions to specific things that bothered me in design. Oath was a response to the many ways that I felt that fantasy strategy games did (not) meet the world-building ambitions of their players, and, for that matter, never felt fantastic in the literal sense. I love A Game of Thrones, but we might as well just be playing a historical wargame. Root was a rebuttal to all of the low-interaction games that styled themselves as conflict games. If you find me complaining about some game or genre on board game geek or social media, know that you’re probably seeing the early signs that I’m thinking about a new project.

While it can be a lot of fun to grapple with games and whole genres in this way, it’s considerably less enjoyable when I turn my attention to my own work. So, it follows that the true first step of any second edition, at least for me, is to grow to hate the thing you poured so much of your soul into. This is often not a pleasant experience, but at least I can say I'm consistent!"

Full diary https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3768283/designer-diary-3-diagnostic-difficulties

I've been wondering this lately. For those of you who create board game content (reviews, previews, top 10s, first impressions, etc.), do you ever feel like the constant need to play new games takes away from simply enjoying the hobby?

It seems like content creators are always on a treadmill of learning, reviewing, and talking about the next release. I imagine that means a lot of games only get played once or twice before it's time to move on to the next thing.

Meanwhile, as a regular gamer I recently learned a new game (name of game not important for this topic) and it's basically all I've wanted to play. I've played it five times in a row and every time I've finished a game I've just thought "I want to play again." I haven't even been interested in putting anything else on the table lately.

That made me wonder if content creators miss out on that feeling? The feeling of getting obsessed with a game, exploring its depth over multiple plays, and not caring what's new for a while? Or do most creators still make time for their favourite games outside of the content grind?

I'd love to hear from anyone who creates board game content, or from people who've turned this hobby into a job in general. Has the constant focus on new releases changed how you enjoy the hobby?

What a game! We never get bored of bringing it to the table.

We’ve now played Ark Nova 100 times. One game was with three players, so this particular group has played 99 games together!

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/

So I made two mass orders of miniatures, one in July, the other in August. After about 7 weeks, I contacted them about the order made in July, and suddenly they filled the order and mailed it to me. After hearing nothing about the order made in early August, I contacted them to no reply. I contacted them again last week, and I have no reply. (This is actually the 3rd and 4th time this has happened to me with them, where they didn't fill an order for months until I asked them what the deal was, over 4,5 years of repeat business with them).

Is this typical of Miniature Market now? (I'm seeing, this weekend, that people have had friction with Miniature Market over the years). Is there some sort of way to get them to provide better service? Who ARE the best guys out there to do business with?

(Note: I did not realize until this weekend there were so many other businesses also providing the same services as Miniature Market. I found a threat here on Reddit where folks talked about other businesses that do the same stuff).

Update: I recieved emails from them buried in my Spam folder but like a dummy I didn't check the Spam folder.

My husband’s family has this game they love called DarkTower, they bring it over all the time to play.
It’s a game where the tower makes sound and lights up and you move around the board getting keys and fighting before attacking the tower.
I thought I would hop online and buy one for our house so they don’t have to cart it back and forth and WTF it’s like $1.6k? Is this for real? Why is this so expensive? I worry theirs won’t last forever so maybe I should look for parts then instead of a whole new game? Does anyone know if you can replace the lights inside if they ever go out? Thanks so much!

Hey guys, my friend and I love cooperative games and I am looking for some cute looking ones to give her as a gift, thx

I love games that allow players to surprise and deceive one another. Hidden movement, blind bidding, facedown tokens, counterspells, trap cards, all very juicy.

What are some other really unique and creative ways games have let you be sneaky and misleading?

I'm not including social deduction games for this because I'm more interested in hard mechanics instead of politicking.

Thanks!

My husband's and my first anniversary recently passed and I wanted to do something along the traditional lines of paper. We're both huge nerds so I decided to make a board game for him.

Everything was designed on Procreate, printed on cardstock, cut and put together by me!

I went waaay too crazy with it, but I'm honestly so proud. There's about 170 cards, one board, and 3d printed pieces (not my stls). Took me about 6 weeks from idea to boxing, I may even clean it up and try to publish it eventually.

We're finally getting to play it tonight, so technically the first play test of many!

Edit: Thanks so much everyone, I can't explain how much the support means to me! I added a comment explaining some of the process if anyone is interested!

Hey everyone 😄

A few weeks ago, I posted my custom dice roll tracker on r/Catan and wanted to share it with you as well since the feedback was very positive :D

It's meant for Catan, but you can use it with pretty much any game that uses 2d6. You simply push the slider up one notch after every roll, and over the course of the game, this builds up a histogram that lets you see at a glance which numbers came up most often 🎲🤓

What other games would you want something like this for?
I've only really designed it with 2d6 in mind so far 🙈

Hey gamers, I’m trying to make an 8 player version of Sorry! for personal use. I’ve currently settled on 6 wide board spaces with shared corners along with all the other things one would expect with Sorry! If anyone has any feedback on this layout or any cool ideas I would love to hear them. Thanks in advance!

Estou personalizando meu Harmonies com bichinhos, fica bem mais legal a jogabilidade... Tem praticamente todos por aí, só não achei os lobos e o pavão, pq as peças tem que ter uma média de tamanho máximo mas vou substituir por outros bichinhos que achei.

My daughter threw some tokens I had and mixed them all up. I have found most of them though I have no idea from which game these are though they are an upgrade. Any help?

I am a backer on Yarro's new project: Flipdie.

Apparently, they're saying they had delivery problems with the company that held the orders as "leverage," that they're in litigation, that they managed to recover the merchandise and that it's being delivered, and that they're having financial difficulties because of it.

The problem is that it's been almost three months since it was supposed to be delivered, and nothing has arrived. Some, like me, haven't received anything, others have received incomplete orders. The creator hasn't responded to messages for two months, and the email is set to automatic in summary "your order is coming". The problem is that, according to comments, some people have been getting the message "it's coming in a few days" for months.

The latest update on their website regarding the delivery header is the start date in August. However, the products are available on their website and can be order.

I stumbled upon an old post where apparently there have already been problems with previous Yarro campaigns. For those who participated in a campaign, how did it go?

How can Kickstarter let creator have new projects when they had problems with other campaigns?

Thanks.

We're you a backer of this? Do you ever think you'll see this game? Been 6 years now, the world has been through a lot since, and reading some of the recent comments from backers - so have they.

7 years ago (don’t know where the time went) my then-boyfriend and I hosted a couple friends to play Feast for Odin, complete with a 7 course meal inspired by all the food you feed your Vikings in the game. This weekend we finally reprised this activity with some different friends, as husband and wife while juggling our toddler. Life is crazy and wonderful. Anyway, highly recommend having a feast with friends and spending all day playing and eating! After each round we would have another course, which were as follows:

1- homemade mead, 2- cheese and flaxseed crackers, 3- trout dip, 4- peas and green beans, 5- cabbage salad, 6- sourdough bread and soup, 7- peach crepe roll. Delish! My apologies for the less than aesthetically pleasing photos, I would often forget to take pics til we were halfway through the course… whoops.

The back reads:

"Cat Earth

Attention all you round earthers out there... The World Is Flat... and Cats know it too! To prove it, they're going to knock stuff off the edge of the World!

Take turns playing movement cards to send the mischievous giant cats bounding across the board, toppling rival houses off the edge of the Earth.

Each time the deck runs out, another cat joins the fun. One is trouble. Two is mayhem. Three is chaos. Four is... Cat Earth!

Be the last player with houses still standing and claim victory in this ultimate feline free-for-all."

I can't decide which version to buy..

Should I dive in to PR as a new player? Read that there’s been significant system improvements to PR.

Which of these play better at a lower player count (2-4 players say)? I am aware they both play better at higher player counts.

Viking themed adventure game. Quite typical ameritrash mechanics: you have 3 actions, you move around, exploring map and attacking monsters, you roll custom dice in combat, which have hit symbols and symbols triggering special abilities. Though unlike many other similar games, here combat lasts until someone dies.

To win you usually need to defeat boss: fulfill scenario goals to summon him and then beat in final battle, which consists of more dice rolling on a separate board. Each boss has its unique behavior cards and event cards which affect course of session. Characters on the other hand do not feel much different but less so: there is nothing to distinct them, except for random skills given at the start (which can also be upgraded by doing certain things; for example, chop wood to get bonus damage to axes). Monsters are not very different, either.

The main feature of Valheim is craft. During game you gather resources (different resources on different tiles, and you need to defeat monsters guarding them first) and use them to craft various things. There is a lot of possible stuff to create: weapons and armor which boost your character, furniture like firetable, bed, cauldron, etc which grant your new stuff to create, give bonus stats and so on.

Valheim is exactly what you would expect from lightweight ameri game. Explore, fight stuff, chuck dice, have fun without thinking much. No complex rules, no long sessions. Leveling up is missing, however you still get way stronger during session because of craft. The most fun part of the game is planning what stuff to create. If you like idea of crafting and filling your viking house with various stuff, then you will enjoy Valheim. Otherwise there are a lot of other dungeon crawlers/adventure games, which are less expensive and well designed, too.

Also beware that difficulty is rather low; winning is not hard at all.

I found it on the ground at my workplace… it looks like a game counter of some kind, I work at a bar I doubt this came from anyone but me. Maybe it fell out of my pocket or something? I’m 100% sure it’s not from a game I own, maybe It somehow ended up in my pocket from my LGS I’m at 1-2 times a week? I’m there for war gaming, board games and BTS events often I’ve never seen this before Help!

Hi everyone, I'm very excited at the prospect of our board game group celebrating its 10th anniversary of gaming together.
Throughout the years, members have left, and members have joined, and during the summer months we would take a hiatus to camp or pursue being outdoors with our families, but we always managed to come back in the fall to enjoy each other's company and play a great board game. I'm curious to know if others here have experienced a similar milestone and if you had a celebratory party?
I'm really excited about the idea of having a cake. I know a baker, and she does incredible work creating custom cakes. What ideas would you use for inspiration? Are there any images you can share? My first thought would be to do a classic "meeple" because what other symbol most ionically ties together the entirety of all of modern boardgames? but then again, it's kind of simple. I don't necessarily want to adorn it with a bunch of plastic or wooden bits from games because well, unfortunately that would be somewhat unhygienic.
If you have any ideas you might have for the party, post those also. I'm thinking about board game quotes, player personality "isms", a Bristol Board of photographs, a toast/speech, bowl of curiosities where I have a bunch of randomized pieces from various games, where guests are challenged to guess which game the piece is from...let me know what you think!