by Rachel

Mom and I got some holiday baking done today, sorry no pictures. Don't worry, I'll snap some pics tomorrow to share. Snickerdoodles, flapjacks, and oatmeal cookies. We also experimented with some fancy long grain rice we got at Ocean State Job Lot a few weeks back. Pretty tasty.

I also managed to get a bit further on my art and revisions for Charge the Circle. It's kinda amazing what deciding on a path forward does, now that I've made up my mind about using The Game Crafter come 2026, I feel like I've got direction. In terms of gameplay, so far the only change is going to be to the 2-player mode. I was never really happy with the two sets of cards and players having to mirror each other, so I've figured out a way to work the 2-player mode with 1 card set :D. It makes me really happy.

I still have some decisions to make regarding components. The original game used poker-sized cards... because it had to for the 9-card contest :p. There's really no reason to stick with the keystone being made up of 9 poker cards. I actually think big square cards could be a nice way to dress up the game. It's still the same 3x3 grid, just a different format. This is also a great opportunity to revisit the (very) rough graphics of the original print-and-play. I've learned a lot since 2023 :D. Glow is potentially my favorite thing to play with in PowerPoint and while custom shapes used to scare me, I'm not afraid anymore. I also have the Star of Atlantis to incorporate. Something that I certainly didn't have to play with in 2023. I'm still playing, these aren't final, but consider this a preview of where Charge the Circle is headed:

The circle/web of magic is back. And yes, that's the Star of Atlantis in the very center. Because I can :D.

The new design for the Element Side of the cards (starting side of the keystone). Still not quite happy with this, I want some little blips/sparks of each element all over the edges. Remember, the game starts out with magic in chaos! Also, I'm thrilled to finally have a stone background on this game instead of plain gray/plain black. Mwahahahahaha!

The new design for the Circle Side of the cards (game end). Restore the balance, fix the leylines, charge the circle! And, the leylines wander off the keystone, which makes sense. I like it. Even if the glow might have to be toned down/up before final printing. Additionally, the stone background works here too, yay!

And my first try at redoing the old logo now that I have new graphics to play with. Shiny, glowy, just plain magic :D.

Game Over On borrowed time...

Happy Tuesday and happy playing!
-Rachel

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