by Tomcat1304

And I got a lot of these Microsoft helpdesk scam calls. Tried to keep them as long as possible on the phone, but they have learned to hang up if they can't get you to follow their instructions quickly. Once I had a beginner in the line. We talked for 15 minutes when I became bore. Told him he was a scammer and I was just playing along all the time and he still wouldn't hang up. 😄

I'm waiting for them to call again to ask if they're a colleague of "Dave". Because Dave called some time ago and hung up in the middle of our talk. Now I ask them to have a chat with him and to tell him how rude it is to end a phone call this way.

by Ugavine

I did recently try to come up with a small game.
Only after near finishing the rules did I find a very similar game, of which I never heard of, using very similar theme and mechanics. I've put it on the backburner now while I have a rethink.

by brumcg

When I was a kid (🍸), I created several dice-chucking sports games. They were terrible but kept me entertained. They were mostly played solo, but I did compare notes with friends who were doing similar stuff. I'm guessing we did play some with two players.

I would eventually find better published games and never looked back.

by Tomcat1304

Not telemerketing but people ringing at the door "Have you considered a solar collector system on your roof?"
"Yes, actually..."
"Well, we could submit an offer to you."
"Would you mind to walk down the road a few yards and take a look at the roof? These panels have been installed five years ago."
"But they were not visible on Google maps!"

by Flyboy Connor

As a student I designed some board games around events happening at the society I was a member of. They were more for fun than to be good designs. After that I got my first computer and mainly designed and implemented computer games from then on. In my work I sometimes design and implement board games for research. Some of these work really well, but their purpose generally is different than mere entertainment.

by GeoffreyB

I bowled a game of GeoffreyB previously rolled d390 = 142 before.

by GeoffreyB

Over 35 years ago the neighborhood kids created a knock-off game of Monopoly called Businessmen to Bum. We played it a couple of times but never published it.

by Tomcat1304

shiva666 wrote:

Yes, once. It was a go around monopoly kinda thing, with batman returns themes and vehicles. It was bad, but the day we played it was a riot.

14yo me approves! 👍

by Tomcat1304

Wouldn't call it "design", more like "build your own boardgame". And yes, I did some of them. Back around 1990 or so a friend and I spent the summer holidays to create some boardgames. He designed some Risk-like game with armies and navies on a big map. Playable, basically pushing lots of meeples around a map.

I remember a Formula 1 game, where you had do find sponsor contracts to pay for drivers, engineers and engines. the actual racing depended on the quality of the team assembled. Very simple but we spent quite some time with that.

Then I designed a dungeon crawl. Combat was like in the Fighting Fantasy books. Giant map with small paper slips on each square - took ages to set up. The "small" map had 540 squares, the "big" one 720. Some areas were locked and you had to find a key first to get there. Both maps were played exactly once.

And then there was some trading game with railway lines and shipping routes. 40 cities with 10 different goods following a random stock trade system. Let's say that doing 400 dice rolls each turn to determine the new prices is a bit too much overhead for a board game. :)

by pdzoch

Several have been started. A couple have been aborted. Survivors are in a state of stalled/slowed designed -- life intervenes, and work is a villain to free time.

1: First attempt: Supreme Steampunk Scientist as part of a 9-card nano game contest. Playtested by others in the contest and by my son and me. Identified some problematic issues during playtesting that I started to resolved, but I was not going to get fixed well enough (or at least well-enough to my satisfaction) to meet the contest deadline, so I withdrew. I have not worked on it since. It was a valuable experience and I found that working with such tight constraints helped me focus on core issues I might have otherwise overlooked or ignored if it were a bigger project.

2. Second attempt: Plebe as part of the 54-card game contest. This is a trick-taking game in the theme of plebe duties at the United States Military Academy. I never got playtest feedback from others in the contest, but my family and I playtested several times to hone the rules. Time ran out for the contest, but I am still working on the game. Artwork for the cards are almost complete (but I will probably rely on a professional artist for a final product). Rules have been refined quite a bit -- but the scoring still remains a little tricky. I have plans to take the game to the local playtest group in Kansas City, but available time has been the challenge. I have plans to have cadets playtest the game and give feedback. Eventually, seeking liscensing approval from USMA before publishing it.

3. Third attempt: A West Point Cadet game. a very heavy hobby game, almost a Euro about managing the stress of being a West Point cadet, trying to excell in all the areas of emphasis for class rank. I am in love with the concept as it evolves, but I am trying to simplify it while keeping its heart and experience. Very challenging. Unfortunately, during COVID, some young West Point graduates published their own West Point game with licensing that really took the wind out of my sails. It is a different game with the same topic, so I really shouldn't let it deter me, but the reality is that it did sap my motivation. It is still on my aspirational design project. My family and I have playtested several versions of the game. We have enjoyed every play, but it still needs work to be more accessible to the players unfamilair with USMA.

4+ I have several on the drawing board ranging from Concept to initial drafts:
a. A wild-west CCG similar to Magic: The Gathering. Players takes on wild-west roles (colors) to build a town in the wild west and have the most influence in the town once built. Roles include Law & Order (white), Outlaws and Gamblers (black), Merchants (blue), Ranchers (green), Rail Barons (red)
b. HOA -- A political game to rise to president of the Home Owners Association. It is an area majority/influence game to gain the appeal of the different homeowners who all have different interests and needs.
c. An economic game of competing carwash companies to go from start-up (a few guys and a bucket) to a chain of carwashes. It requires more than just gimmicks -- it requires knowing or acquiring a customer base and meeting their needs. (I've toyed with the idea of using lawn-mowing services instead)

by dysjunct

An item RPG Item: To Boldly Hakuho has been added to the geeklist What RPG book are you reading right now?

by maadmann

Related Item: Cyberpunk RED (Core Rulebook)

Sign me up, please!