#Boardgame Blog

[tabletopbellhop]

Classic Review from One Year Ago

Fantastic Factories, A gateway engine builder from @friendlyskeletongames

"I love how quick this game is to set up and how fast it plays, while still giving you the feeling of having actually built something"

https://tabletopbellhop.com/game-reviews/fantastic-factories/

[greenmagickspolls]

Favorite Isle of Cats cat color design! (Round 1) 🐈🏝️🌈

Green: crystals growing out of head, neck, back, elbows, and tail

Oshax: a white in color wild card/color cat, striped back, and vines on head and wrapped around their tail and legs.

*Feel free to vote even if you have never played Isle of Cats! This is based purely on design; the color has little to do with the in game ability (except for Oshax), and the designs were made for colorblind differentiation!

[thegreatbacon]

Bootlegging Board Games

So having been on this site for over a decade now, I thought it might be time to give back a little and start effort posting about my hobbies. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, my hobby of choice is bootlegging board games.

Although not literally bootlegging. I don’t reuse commercial assets. And it’s a little different than “making” games, since I’m not actually creating rule sets from scratch (although I do dabble in that too). But the thing about games is that they occupy a similar zone as things like sewing patterns and recipes.

While art and instructional text can be copyrighted, the actual rules of a game, i.e. how it is played, can’t be. Which means that if you’re a little hardheaded and happy recreating something that already exists, you too can bootleg board games.

More technically, I think of it as remediation. I’m either restoring old games lost to time or recovering simple games buried beneath layers of IP. In this way, I try to put them closer to the collective ownership games have historically existed in. After all, who owns soccer? Who owns chess? I think games are better when they are shared and iterated upon.

But bootlegging sounds cooler, so that’s what I call it. I was originally motivated by it when I first learned how to use an industrial lasercutter at my local hacker space (thanks DenHac!).

The programmatic ability to directly cut out forms and shapes from ⅛” (3mm) thick plywood captured my imagination. When I had previously made board games before, I was always limited to stiff cardboard, brutishly cut out with scissors or boxcutters, leaving tears and rough edges behind, nothing like the clean cuts from metal presses the big boys use.

Seeing a laser cutter work though, was like learning magic was real. Not only was the material of a higher quality than cardboard, the edges were seared smooth, the angles perfect, the faint smell of woodsmoke reminded me of campfires in the mountains.

Suddenly, the dream of making something like a higher quality Catan (my copy has always been misaligned since I got it) or rebuilding a forgotten game (like Acquire, a game a friend of mine had found at a yard sale, but was off the market until recently) were suddenly within easy, feasible reach.

I’m gonna post more about my projects, how I’ve put them together, little tips and tricks I’ve learned, what tools I’m using and other such things. Hope you like what I have to show! edit: If you'd like to try your own hand at fabricating a game, you can download one of my kits for pay-what-you-want here: https://creatorscommonwealth.itch.io/acquisition

[venezart]

From Tabletop to Digital: The Blurring Lines Between Board Games and Video Games

The world of gaming is constantly evolving, blending genres and breaking boundaries. In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in digital adaptations of beloved tabletop games and, conversely, board games inspired by famous video game franchises. Let’s explore this fascinating crossover and what it means for gamers and game designers alike. Digital Adaptations of Tabletop Games With the rise of…

[lets-play-battleships]

The world might be on fire, or it might not, let's play battleships anyways

This is your board, and I have just the same:

[ID: 10x10 grid. Numbers (on top) left to right 1-10. Letters (on left) top to bottom A-J]

And these are your ships, and I have just the same:

[ID: 1st ship: Aircraft Carrier—1pcs—size: 1x5

2nd ship: Battleship—1pcs—size: 1x4

3rd ship: Cruiser—1pcs—size: 1x3

4th ship: Submarine—2pcs—size:1x2

5th ship: Destroyer—2pcs—size1x1]

Rules:

• Your ships cannot overly

• Your ships have to be placed horizontally or vertically (no diagonally)

• If opponent sinks a ship, you have to tell which one it was

• If you hit something, it's your turn again

• If you want to stay anonymous, please identify yourself with a code name (it can be as simple as an emoji)

• Please don't cheate

Gameplay:

~ the first turn is yours, send a call out (ex.:G-6) in the ask box

~ I will tell you whether or not you hit something and then I will call out (if you didn't) {all o' this in a posted answer}

~ It's your turn again, first tell me whether or not I hit something, then call out (if I didn't) {in an ask}

~ this goes on until one of us sinks all of the other one's ships

~If you are unfamiliar with the game itself here's a link to an in depth explenation

Plus info

+ I'm using a different board with every player

+ The gameplay or the rules might be modified if I get bored of them

+ Planning on drawing my own ships and board instead of the current ugly ones

[jamesawood]

Had a games evening with friends on Saturday. For fun we decided that all the games had to be Lovecraftian based.

We ended up playing two of mine - Unspeakable Words which is essentially what happens when you mix Scrabble with the mythos and a variation of Pandemic called Reign of Cthulhu (pictured above). Love both of these games and a lot of fun was had.

Looking forward to the next sessions as we have decided it's time to start a campaign based game again so a we going to play Descent Legends of the Dark.

[hand-face-chan]

I'll either feel really sad and left out that so many people have watched something and I haven't watched it or I'll feel incredibly smug and self-assured that so many people have watched something and I haven't. The one thing I won't do is get around to watching anything whether I want to or not

[mortallychaoticrebel]

How Board Games Can Make You Smarter, Happier, and More Social https://link.medium.com/L6Z0QCaHcEb #boardgameJP #blog

[chireikiden]

The unofficial translation of Gensou Narratograph is now available to download! (PDF only or .rar file with bonus assets)

I know no one ever actually looks at tumblr blogs, but I've made a basic page to hopefully collect information and links in the future.

An unofficial tabletop RPG published by Kadokawa. While the game as a whole is by no means "canon", it includes a full transcript of a game session with ZUN as one of the players, plus new character quotes and location descriptions written by ZUN, so it's worth checking out just for that alone.

Narratograph is largely boardgame-based, played with a selection of 30 characters gathering clues on a map of Gensokyo to progress through objectives and resolve the incident/kerfuffle of the week. However, it is still an RPG, with every scene being roleplayed and the incident also having a proper story to it. Narratively the game leans towards the light and feel-good end of Touhou fanworks, though I suppose it's up to you what you do with it. The book includes two prewritten adventures as examples, one of which I've run for a group to test it out.

It has pretty digestible mechanics, and a very unique danmaku combat system. To help with the number of sheets, figurines, tokens etc. needed, I've made public the Tabletop Simulator mod that I use to run the game myself, together with character figurines. You can use the assets included with the game to try and make it work in some other virtual tabletop of your choice. Or of course, you can also just print everything and play it live, if you can get a group together.

The rules have some quirks, and I'll try to figure out the best way to post my own notes and suggested houserules. As things stand, though, despite having nothing to do with the game officially, after putting a lot of work into it, I'm also curious to hear anyone's thoughts or experiences running it!

[cripplecharacters]

Hello! Rather new to your blog so I don't know if this has been touched on before but I have a blind character, a few things I was wondering was a) what are fundamentals you shouldn't forget when writing a blind character so I can make her writing a bit more accurate and b) what else can blind people do for entertainment besides reading in braille? Thank you in advance!

Hello!

Your first question is very broad and I'd suggest taking a look at the pinned post for some links to helpful posts. Under the "specific disabilities" section is a list for blind characters. I believe you'll find those helpful.

For your second question, there's so many options out there!

Something to remember is that most blind people have some remaining vision and many can still read print books, especially if they have access to large print versions or E-books with adjustable text sizes. My eyes aren't great but I'm still able to read regular sized print books if the font size is standard and clear. I can also read books with smaller print with the help of magnifying glasses. Depending on your character's level of vision, this could be something to consider.

For indoor/chill activities similar to reading, many are already accessible to blind folks or can easily be made accessible.

Watching TV/films, for example -- with or without audio description. Nowadays with streaming services and the internet, there is more availability of audio description. That said, it's still not always available. There are also some genres of shows/movies that are easy to follow along with even without audio description. I find that sitcoms such as New Girl or Modern Family are easier to follow compared to crime or medical dramas such as NCIS or House.

Listening to content without a visual aspect such as audiobooks, podcasts, and video essays (to a degree) can also be an option.

Playing cards/boardgames is another one. There are braille playing cards that you can buy and many classic board games (such as Scrabble or Monopoly) have braille versions available -- though usually unofficially. You can also get braille or otherwise tactile pieces custom made.

Braille labels are also a thing so games like poker, checkers, etc. can easily be made accessible too. Or, if you're cheap like me, the dollar store has those little raised stickers. My vision is especially bad in bright light so I've spent summers playing checkers and backgammon with little raised flower stickers on top of all the white pieces.

Art and sports also exist. Though blind people can paint and draw, there are also other forms of art that are more tactile such as sculpting, origami, jewelry making, etc. Many solo sports also wouldn't need any major accommodations either -- such as kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, skating, sledding, jogging, etc.

I can go on and on and on listing hobbies/activities -- herping, bird-watching, traveling, theatre, writing, music, dance, video games, cooking/baking, animal training, Dungeons and Dragons -- but my point is: most hobbies/activities can be made accessible for your character.

One piece of advice I'd offer for this: don't choose your character's hobbies based on what would be the most accessible/easiest for them to do. Pick your character's hobbies based on what they'd be most likely to be interested in/enjoy and then go from there to figure out how they can do it.

This would go a long way in preventing your character from falling into certain problematic tropes/stereotypes and can also help you develop your character further.

When figuring out how your character can partake in their hobbies, consider the following questions:

What do they want to get out of the hobby? Is it something they do to relax? To stay in shape? To learn/develop a skill?

What kind of means do they have at their disposal? Are they able to afford/access actual assistive tools/technology/devices such as a braille labeler, audible ball (for sports such as football, soccer, etc.), or braille cards or do they have to DIY something?

How much time/money do they dedicate to this hobby? Is it just a passing interest or is it a passion of their's?

Do they have friends/family members with the same hobbies? Do they share materials with them? Do they do the hobby together?

Is there a disability community for the hobby?* Are they involved in the community?

*Some hobbies such as parasports have a more close-knit community and, depending on where your character's located, there may be recreational leagues for parasports they could join. There are also many artists collectives specifically for disabled artists/writers.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[on-a-lucky-tide]

As someone who wants to join the fandom more but it’s too scared to do so, I’m wondering how did you cultivated this community…? It’s so sweet to watch the way you talk to others and helping their works and such. How did you meet like…??? people ??? Like I always see you tagging the artists (ngl I found your blog because of Gomz) and I’d really want to learn, I’ve tried joining previous fandoms and it was always too competitive in some sense, like everyone was busy pushing their works for likes and retweets (maybe it’s more of a twitter thing)

Oh yeah. That's a Twitter thing. Twitter is a cesspit and I only go there for porn. The whole thing is set up to make people feel shite because people that feel shite scroll for longer/look at more adverts. Lock your account, bud. You'll feel a lot better.

But everywhere else? Gratitude and humility. Also, understanding what I wanted from fandom; a small community that hypes each other and encourages new people. Those are my bros (non-gendered). My Cakeshop Bros I found five years ago in fandom; they have slept in my spare bedroom, I've gone drinking, played boardgames, and we laid on the floor in London in a space art installation near Soho being weirdos drunk off our heads. Not just fandom friends now, friends for life.

When I first started posting for CoD, I was dead nervous as I'd been stung in a previous fandom. People took a chance on me as a new person; they reblogged my work with the sweetest tags. They hyped me. They took the time out of their day for a stranger, and they didn't have to. They coulda just read it and moved on. So, I said thank you in their inbox, or in their DMs. We started talking more, I was a bit weird and they vibed back. They are also good people. Genuinely. You mentioned Gomz; literally, so kind, so sweet. Deserves the world.

When I can, I make sure I hype them back; I wish I could do more but my job is absolute pig in terms of time. It's mock season (now over, woohoo) so I have a backlog of fics to catch up on - Nekro, Mikey, T, Oliv, Nikkie, Hexx, Gomz (who I deffo know have written), but there are probably more! I'll set a few hours aside over half term with a beer and crack on.

Also, I guarantee everyone is as nervous as you are. Everyone gets imposter syndrome. And also, everyone gets jealous. Jealousy is a natural human emotion that you need to process into something productive. "I'm jealous" = "this person is really fucking good, has worked hard, I'm gonna encourage them and learn from them because they clearly know their shit". Reframing rather than ignoring or letting it fester. They're just people after all and probably shitting themselves as much as I was.

I also guarantee you I am not everyone's cup of tea. And that's ok. Letting go of the burning desire to be liked by all, sometimes at the expense of my own bloody happiness and seeing it as a personal failing if I wasn't, was probably one of the most powerful things I did for myself over the last five years. The only thing I care about in regards to others is if I acted with integrity and kindness (not necessarily niceness). That's all I can control.

Sorry, mate. That came off as a bit of a rant! But uh, don't be scared. Keep reaching out. Be feral.

[greenmagickspolls]

Favorite Isle of Cats cat color design! (Round 1) 🐈🏝️🌈

Orange: gem on forehead, spots on back and legs, striped thin tail

Blue: fluffy coat, striped fluffy tail

*Feel free to vote even if you have never played Isle of Cats! This is based purely on design; the color has little to do with the in game ability (except for Oshax), and the designs were made for colorblind differentiation!

[thegreatbacon]

At around the same time I was rediscovering my love for the vintage board game Acquire, I had also signed up for a membership at my local hackerspace (shoutout DenHac). The first tool I learned how to use there was the laser cutter. Laser cutters, while generally being highly automated and precise, still require a bit of fiddling. One of the first projects you do with a laser cut involves making a little diagnostic tool to show what a line or fill looks like at a given percentage of power & a particular speed & focus length. Looking at etched out, sunken engravings on this diagnostic tool, I thought to myself “I bet I could make an Acquire board like this.”

Some example lasercutting diagnostic tools

It was the perfect intro project for a laser cutter too. When working with laser cutters at the hackerspace, we all use a tool called Lightburn. A straightforward and intuitive piece of software, you’ll generally go through two types of usage loops with it. 

The first step is design. Lasercutters primarily work from vector shapes and Lightburn includes numerous tools for creating, scaling, and shaping vectors. There’s also a built in text tool. So to make an Acquire board was a straightforward process of copy and pasting a bunch of 1x1” squares, framing a cutout around them, and then adding a second layer to etch in the letters & numbers.

Once you’re done with your design, then you get to deal with the more fiddly part of the process, fabrication. It’s exciting though, since this is where the laser meets the board. First, you need to check to make sure that you’ve got the right size piece of material under the laser by framing it. Then you’ve got to make sure your speed & power is set properly (otherwise what you want to be an “etch” may just cut clear through!) Lastly you hit run and babysit the machine to make sure it doesn’t catch on fire while it works. Laser cutting is a great hobby to have if you’re looking to catch up on your backlog of books.

Anyway, on my v1, I also had to cut out tiles to slot into the board. Part of what makes this a great starter project, is that it is really easy to repurpose the “etch” work into “cut” work. By copying over a layer and tweaking some power & speed variables, you’re good to go. It really helps clarify how you can get two completely different outcomes with the same core design, just by fiddling with some settings. From design to fabrication the whole project took probably 3 hours to execute.

My first ever lasercut game board

One of the other things I really enjoy about fabricating board games as a hobby, is the ability to iterate and polish on things as I go. When I finally was able to play a round with some friends on my v1 board, there were two immediate pieces of feedback.

First, the etched letters & numbers were hard to see against the etched out tile spots. Second, why not switch the letters and number axis to align with how spreadsheet software lays out cells?

The first piece of feedback was expected and highly localized to my fabrication method, but the second piece of feedback felt like a bolt of lightning. It was so clear and obvious when stated, and yet no one in the 60 years of production of the actual game seems to have thought about tweaking it. Anyway, both pieces of feedback were immediately incorporated into the current v2 board design.

The current v2 design

However, Acquire is more than just its board, there’s also a series of stock certificates & some money that need to be made as well, which I’ll go over my design and fabrication process for in future posts.

[parasafterdark]

The Real people that don't know I'm roleplaying as a muzzled fish having weird out of body moments inside a possible murder mansion VS I play turnbased which means every Mission takes 2~3 days which means there is 0 consistency happening at all

Also post cancelled cause while typing, someone threw a tantrum in the table chat because *checks notes* different Player gave them the target card which would make it easier for them to fullfill the goal. And then gave direct Orders what cards people should play.

Putting aside that this is already a no no for a limited Information game, why are you so mad about this?

Given the amount of media I watch/listen to it's amazing how little of it makes it into my daydreams. All those mansion slashers and the boardgame Podcast and east Asien occult movies and poof, into the aether!

Anyway, ignore the note that says: "HG!Captain game 3 = Occult Boardgame Mansion Murder Mystery" >.>

[i-love-rules]

HELLO! IM PARKER! THE BOARDGAMES! Mac help me set up this thing ASK ME QUESTIONS!!

DNI: CHEATERS

Hello! This is a roleplay blog for Parker Bradley from Date Everything!! This is my first time running an in-character roleplay blog, so please forgive me if i make any mistakes!! Im not associated with Date Everything or the creators, just a fan who LOOOOVES Parker Bradley!! There will be some headcanons sprinkled in, but ill try to keep him as close to canon as possible!!

This blog is run by one man with a dream, so go easy! I might not get to everything right away! Besides that, go ham! Parker is free to listen to all of your inquiries!!