A solitaire, modular roll-and-write game system with thematic variety and endless adventure in the form of three thematic sets: FANTASY (2023), MODERN (2024) & SCI-FI (2025).
Available soon on our web store!
Watch this overview of the game system, which introduces the basic “skeleton” rules framework that all of the adventure modules are structured around. These are only the basics of course - each module puts the “flesh” on the rules with theme and creative new mechanisms!
Fortress of Terror module, Chapter One
Fortress of Terror module, Chapter Two
Daniel from The Dungeon Dive takes an in-depth look at the “legacy” edition of the boxed set (The Game Crafter, 2022).
Deborah from Geek Gamers takes an in-depth look at the “legacy” edition of the boxed set (The Game Crafter, 2022).
The people of your small hamlet of Felwort are threatened by a mysterious evil power emanating from the dark tower on the other side of the forest. Legend says that an evil warlord once lived in the tower, and terrorized the entire realm. There are now whispers that this warlord, known as Bram, has returned. Your town has chosen YOU to go to the tower and stop this threat. It is said that within the garden outside Bram’s Tower lies the key to stopping him - the ORB of ICE. If you can navigate the garden and find this orb, survive the deadly crypt, navigate the fortress, and defeat Bram, you may be able to save your town. But those who enter the Fortress of Terror never return...
Continue your story from Fortress of Terror and rid the lands of the evil influence of the Temple of Despair. Experience the same basic system with rules variants, new cards, and new things to discover!
Navigate the maniacal maze of King Minos and defeat the dreaded Minotaur to escape. And don’t forget to rescue Daedalus and Icarus from the tower on your way out!
Journey far and wide through the distant mountains to the hidden Vale of Harmony to answer their enigmatic summons…and discover a ancient and terrible Evil living beneath the Lake.
Deep inside an ancient pyramid lies a hidden tomb, well-guarded with traps, puzzles, and monsters that are no longer among the living. Find the secret entrance into the pyramid, explore to discover the tomb - and meet its terrible guardian.
The great city of the dwarves lay hidden under the mountain for centuries, producing items of the finest craftsmanship. Suddenly, all within the mountain grew quiet. What has happened to the dwarves and their proud kingdom?
It's the Wild West out here, and it's up to you, Sheriff of Deadwood, to keep law and order. Unfortunately, the local outlaw gang is making trouble again by robbing the Bank. Find clues to the outlaw's hideout, rescue the mayor's daughter, and return to town for a rootin’ tootin’ showdown in the streets.
You are a famous adventurer searching for a lost fortune in the forgotten jungle. Drive your truck along the dangerous jungle roads, brave the river rapids, and explore the temple ruins to find the 3 golden statues - all while avoiding deadly pits, traps, enemy fortune hunters, cannibals, and snakes.
The theme park rides have been sabotaged! Park visitors began screaming from the rides, stuck on them and unable to get off. You must make your way from ride to ride, overriding the Evil Mastermind's bombs. Disarm them all and chase down the Evil Mastermind in the hidden tunnels under the theme park to win!
B.E.D.L.A.M.M., the evil syndicate of terror, wants to take over the world. As a master spy, attend a grand party and obtain clues to the enemy’s secret HQ. Next, race to the enemy HQ, dodging obstacles and pedestrians in the crowded streets. Finally, infiltrate the HQ, riding a labyrinth of elevators to gather evidence and escape.
The world has fallen apart. Law and order is gone. Bands of raiders rove the desolated badlands in souped-up machines. You are the hero, speeding down the desolate highway in your powerful roadster, dodging obstacles, shooting enemy cars, and picking up stranded innocents in your race to escape.
Are you the only survivor of a worldwide catastrophe? You will soon learn otherwise as you find a way to survive. Explore the apocalyptic wasteland, scouring ruins, fighting off enemies, and searching for other survivors. Eventually, you must find a suitable place to build your new home - a self-sustaining town you’ve named "HOLDOUT".
2/22/2024
The working draft of the RWI Modern rulebook is complete. All rules have been documented, and I have organized all rules into one book this time (as opposed to a basic rulebook and 6 other module rulebooks, as with the Fantasy series). Designing the entire series at the same time has allowed me to streamline the rules, putting less bloat in each of the module-specific rules sections.
I am now spending the rest of the week getting all of the files updated with revised text, and uploading new versions of the files to Tabletop Simulator for more playtesting. The artwork is coming along very well, with new pieces being added almost daily.
2/7/2024
The series is complete, and general in-house playtesting continues. I am working to create natural flow and consistency between the modules, and looking for ways to improve the efficiency of the design to reduce excess bloat and unnecessary rules repetition. I am also looking for ways to greatly reduce the length of the rules from module to module, relying mostly on the basic rulebook. I am considering having just the main rulebook, and then adding rules cards that clarify how the rules apply to each module individually.
Additionally, I will be offering a Tabletop Simulator mod that includes a digital version of the dice and all cards for both the Fantasy and Modern series, offered at no extra charge for backers of the Fortress of Terror and Modern campaigns. This will greatly reduce the amount of printing and cutting of the game components.
12/15/2023
The “skeleton” framework for the entire series is complete, and now technical playtesting and component creation is well underway.
9/1/2023
All attention was turned to the design of the Modern set.
8/14/2023
The Roll-With-It Fantasy Series is now available in a complete set with all content in both PDF and the physical boxed set via The Game Crafter.
4/21/2023
We decided that the way we rolled out the RWIBS campaign could have been better in several ways:
The Legacy Supporter level was confusing (I knew it was a risk, but worth a try).
The Brave Adventurer level
3/22/2023
The Roll-With-It Fantasy Boxed Set Kickstarter campaign launches April 11, 2023! We offered the game as a PnP campaign exactly one year ago, and are proud to be able to offer the game in print, as this was even more in demand than the PnP was. We anticipate an exciting launch day and hope that everyone will come out and be a part of it!
It will contain all the content from the Fantasy series, and will be offered in English and French languages. There will be multiple stretch goals to upgrade components and such, more on that later.
3/21/2023
I wanted to take a moment to be transparent as a designer and small indie publisher, so bear with me here.
My first Kickstarter campaign was the Fortress of Terror PnP in 2022. I believed I had a great product (still do), with lots of potential. As is the case with every new publisher, there are many things to learn, and I want to share the biggest thing I learned that I should have done better. I want to express myself carefully here, but I think I should explain my experience and past decisions as this will not only help my backers understand, but will hopefully help others in their own projects.
The biggest thing I learned through the Fortress of Terror project: do not promise any aspect of a project at the expense of volunteer work. Let me explain further! To be clear, I adore all of my volunteers - without them, this project would not be what it is today. I have a completed French translation, a Tabletop Simulator version nearly ready to go, excellent proofreaders and play-testers, and it’s utterly amazing what others have done to help our games be the best they can be. However, part of my job as a publisher is to serve as a shepherd for the volunteers, providing direction and protecting them from any sense of undue commitment. I think I did everything right here, except for the final point. Here is what happened.
During the PnP campaign, I had multiple people offering to translate the game into their language - I did not plan to offer a language other than English. I believe these volunteers were sincere, and excited about being a part of it. I believe that one of the best parts of a crowdfunding project is to involve your fan base, and that is what I wanted to do. Additionally, one of the volunteer translators also offered to do a fee-based browser app to manage the cards, and I saw evidence of their previous work and gave it a green light. No problem so far, right?
Well, here is where I went off the rails: I publicized these offerings during the Kickstarter campaign to generate more excitement about the project. I took a big risk here, realizing that if the volunteers could not follow through, I would have to go another route to fulfill that aspect of the project. Easier said than done…I imagine that as the project grew, or as the volunteers began work, they saw that the task was more than they bargained for and needed to step out. They had every right to do this, though unfortunately they didn’t always communicate this to me. Volunteer work is not easy, and sometimes a volunteer needs to step back from a project in favor of more pressing life responsibilities. Even though I never named a volunteer publicly, I should have given them less pressure by not publicizing their contributions until after the task was complete.
I should not have advertised other languages until the translations were complete, or in at least in their final stages. The only languages that had any strong demand were French, German, and Spanish. I had more than one volunteer for each, but so far, only the French has been seen through to completion, with the others partially done. This is why I will be able to offer the RWIF Boxed Set in French, but not yet in the others.
Commissioning translation (localization) of a game is a large task, and very expensive. I have received quotes, and hiring localization services for just one language for the boxed set will cost well more than Humble Bard Games can budget at this time. However, in the event that the RWIF Boxed Set campaign is very successful, we will hopefully be able to budget this for German and Spanish as well.
If you are a backer of the PnP campaign and wanted the game in German or Spanish, or were interested in the paid app for the cards, please accept my apologies for making you wait this long. It was not at all my intent. If I could do it myself, it would have already been done. That said, I was taught that integrity is important and to always do what you say you will do. Therefore, I have every intention to follow through on at least the German and Spanish translations (there was very little spoken interest in the app or other languages). Believe me - when they are ready, I will certainly make it known!
Thanks for taking the time to read this. It takes a load off of my shoulders, and hopefully is helpful to someone.
3/4/2023
The last few months have been hectic as we have been working on translations. We have struggled to get the Spanish and German translations completed, as there is simply a lot of material throughout all six modules. The good news is that we have had excellent progress on the French version, and the sixth and final module rulebook is nearly complete. From there, we just have to translate the cards and a few other small components and the French version will be complete! We will then send it out to our native French-speaking audience for proofreading and feedback, and it will be ready, alongside the English version, for our upcoming Roll-With-It Fantasy Boxed Set campaign. It will be exciting for our French-speaking fans to have a copy of the game in their own language. We are striving to be able to offer the same in Spanish and German, but it will depend on several factors that have yet to be determined.
The goal is to launch the campaign for the boxed set at the end of April or May - the one year anniversary of the successful print-and-play campaign!
The Roll-With-It Modern print-and-play set will appear later into the summer/early fall of 2023. Instead of being released one module at a time, the entire set will release in PnP form all at once.
11/9/2022
The Roll-With-It Limited Edition Expansion Set was released for purchase via The Game Crafter this week, as well as the RWI: Fantasy Boxed Set (containing everything from the Limited Edition, minus The Humble Bard promo and the hidden adventure promo, which are/will be available separately). This is a major milestone for HBG. Now that the first major RWI product is complete, we will be taking a brief hiatus on developing RWI to both recover our creative energies and to make time to work on the multi-language versions of the RWI Fantasy set, finishing up Spirits of Christmas, and starting to adapt all this new artwork for Song of the Seas into the graphic layouts.
9/19/2022
As of today, the first 5 modules for the Fantasy series has been released in PDF (print and play) format. This weekend, backers who purchased the Limited Edition boxed set (including FoT and ToD content) started receiving their games, and it sounds as if these have been arriving safe and sound and everyone is starting to get into the game. Within the next 4-6 weeks, expansion modules and related content is planned to be available for order in print on The Game Crafter and on DriveThruCards. We are greatly looking forward to this, as it will wrap up this major phase of the project, the Roll-With-It Fantasy series!
6/1/2022
What a whirlwind of a ride it has been these last 6 weeks. The Kickstarter was a grand success, with over 1800 backers. The game concept and scope has opened up tremendously thanks to the backers’ enthusiasm and ideas offered. I am now in the midst of getting the physical print copy crowd sale ready via The Game Crafter, set to launch on June 7, 2022. Let’s hope it’s just as successful!
4/13/2022
The Kickstarter has launched! It launched yesterday, 4/12. Funded in 35 minutes thanks to our dedicated backers who were ready to grab it up. So far we are over 800% funded and chugging along steadily. Lots of questions about Print-on-Demand options after the campaign, so I am working on planning this strategy using The Game Crafter for full boxed sets, as well as checking with DriveThru’s service team with questions about the best way to use them as an option for backers as well. I will need to order my copy of the whole boxed set soon from TGC so that I can get a preview of the set
3/16/2022
After looking at the nature of this game as well as the shipping struggles worldwide, I began to consider a Print-and-Play only model (at least for now) for the Kickstarter. That is when I saw others taking the same approach to their games with success. So, that’s the plan!
The Kickstarter goes live on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. If successful, I will consider doing at least a print-on-demand option for those who prefer a physical copy, including nicely printed cards and laminated maps for dry erase.
2/2/2022
After introducing Fortress of Terror and receiving feedback via polls of 130+ gamers from the BGG 1 Player Guild, I found an interesting ratio: for a game of this nature, 65% of potential buyers would rather have a physical copy of this game, and about 35% would sooner purchase a print-and-play copy of the game. FoT is indeed a roll and write, which often lends itself well to PnP. It does require at least 8 dice, which can be proxied at home, and the base game has about 20 cards which is not daunting to print for most people who don’t mind (or prefer) PnP. However, most people (I might wager to guess anyway) have never seriously attempted PnP, and the crafting nature of PnP creates a barrier for many people. Therefore, I think the 65% physical request, even for a roll and write, is certainly nothing to sneeze at. This info has been especially helpful as I plan the crowd funding process.
Additionally, I have added another small campaign made up of two map adventures, called Temple of Despair. This is essentially Chapters 5 and 6 of the game, continuing the story from Fortress of Terror in which players have discovered the source of Bram’s power, which threatens to revive him if not destroyed. You must explore the overworld map in Chapter 5 searching for the true Temple of Despair, in which lies the source of Bram’s power. In Chapter 6, you explore the Temple, seeking the Source that you must destroy. Chapter 5 introduces an Overland, outdoors map concept, which is new to the game, with some new rules and cards. Chapter 6 is another “dungeon”-style map, with new features that allow randomized maps. This will conclude the Chapter content for the boxed game at this point, BUT will provide the means of generating random maps that was introduced in Chapter 6. Chapter 5 is done, working on Chapter 6 now…testing the random map generator will be a chore but will be worth it in the end, as it will provide a lot more replayability in the game.
1/10/2022
The game assets are nearly complete. I have redesigned the Adventure Sheets graphically, adding a more pleasing and thematic look to the maps. I also added some visual aids as to what dice are used and how for each chapter.
Emmie has added another sketch to the rulebook, a creepy, dark stairway in the Chapter 3 section of the book. She is now working on adding a similar sketch for Chapter 1 and 2. That should finish up the artwork.
This week’s task has been to start the process of obtaining manufacturing quotes from a range of printers in an effort to find the best printer suited for this project and for the company. The quality of people I work with is as important to me as the price (sometimes more so), and so far everyone I have contacted has been fantastic.
1/4/2022
Great progress was made on Fortress of Terror over the new year. I reworked the rulebook twice (yes, twice), Emmie added a nice portrait of our hero, a brave young woman from the village of Felwort, to add to the rulebook for flavor. I’d like to add a few more pencil sketches to the rulebook, namely the Chapters 1-3 locations. There are placeholders there now for the time being. I have made the revised print and play files available for open playtesting once more, and within the next couple of weeks I plan to order a full sample of the prototype from The Game Crafter and get an idea of what this might look like in printed form (even though the final printer has yet to be determined). The next question then is whether to go the route of Kickstarter or Gamefound to crowd-fund the game. Benefits and negatives to both.
11/6/2021
A more insane year for me than the last, believe it or not. Despite all the chaos, I managed to take apart the game some this year and streamline it based on the feedback I have received from play-testing. I eliminated the fiddly scoring mechanic and the Hero Sheet entirely, and simply placed the basic record-keeping items on the Adventure Sheet. You can now continue to the end regardless of how well you have done, as long as you have met the requirements to win each chapter. I also tweaked the difficulty of the maps slightly. A big change was removing the score penalty for Traps - now, traps simply increase your Terror by one each time you hit one. To compensate, I have increased the Terror track by several points. Additionally, as a way to make the game a bit easier for newbs, you can choose to have a couple of extra Terror points for an easier game.
I am currently finishing up the latest draft of the rulebook, with the intent of getting the latest version of the game completed and ready for feedback/play-testing by the end of the month.
At this point, the target for a crowd-funding project is Q1 of 2022.
1/2/2021
Wow, what a year we just finished! This year, I hope to get Fortress of Terror into circulation!
This week, I submitted Fortress of Terror to the Indie Game Alliance Minions for a playtesting process. I look forward to some helpful feedback.
Also, Fortress of Terror is now on TABLETOP SIMULATOR! This is my first game that I have created with this fantastic tool, so hopefully it will offer players more options and convenience for play.
6/12/2020
Early morning "saving the world" duties. 😀 The game is pretty crunchy in this version, and I played multiple times yesterday with all losses. With some careful thought, strategizing, studying my options, dice, and relics, I managed to win! I felt like it was my efforts and execution, not random dice luck, that led to my win. And that's a good thing.
Not only did I win, but my goal was to see how high I could get my score. I was able to, with creative manipulation of movement using relics cards, use all my dice every round of combat with Bram, and lost 0 Fortitude. I finished with a score of 28! So I see it is possible for such a score. I still need TONS of play test scores to find where they will fall in order to place the Titles at game end in appropriate places - you don't deserve to achieve CHAMPION status your first play through. Sorry. You don't. 😁
NEXT...as I continue testing, I am considering a small addition to expand and extend gameplay...VARIABLE PLAYER POWERS.
*EDIT: After multiple plays today, I, for the first time since the inception of the game, managed to craftily collect every single Relic throughout the entire game. This really paid off in the final battle, as I had 17 relics to draw from to mitigate the dice rolls. I scored a 43, which may be towards the highest possible for the game. It's not easy to get that score, hopefully others will have to struggle through the adventure many times before getting a score like this. We'll continue to tally scores and find ranges and averages.
6/11/2020
VERSION 3.0 IS DONE. This is intended to be the complete game. Naturally, there will be some changes and issues that will need to be addressed, but the game is now a complete package with all necessary elements for full and total play.
6/9/2020
It has been a while since I updated the log, but I have been hard at work on a MASSIVE reworking and update of the game to version 3.0. It is nearly there, and I have made huge progress towards a version of the game that plays a little faster (maybe), is balancing challenging difficulty with a feeling of player choice (as opposed to just unlucky dice rolls), and looks lots better in the graphic design and presentation of the game sheet and hero sheet. Just today, I think I have tweaked the maps and a couple of small rules tweaks that fine-tunes things - I was winning with 70-80 points often, and another play-tester did the same. But I think that is highly unlikely if not impossible at this point. Now, winning feels like a triumph, and the final scoring range will not be all that high compared to before.
Now that the Game Sheets and the Hero Record Sheet are completed, I will be moving on to the graphic redesign of the Relic cards. Additionally, I have been thinking of how to add the story cards to the game, and I have done so by reintroducing the TERROR mechanic back into the game, albeit a little different than before. The base TERROR mechanic works and puts pressure on the player, but I will be experimenting with them to create varying TERROR cards that add effects, and perhaps some Story cards that progress the story more thematically.
But, for now, the overall game design and structure is fairly tight I think, we will see how further play tests go. I will be updating again with updated components soon, as Version 3.0.
5/30/2020
OK, Version 2.1 was very short-lived. After consideration of some player feedback, I nixed the 5th Phase, Mark round/Terror. I think it is not critical to the game in any way at this point. I think players will have more choices and flexibility now, and the reality of getting trapped by being too greedy will become more real.
THE CURRENT VERSION IS NOW 2.2, and has been uploaded to the Drive.
5/29/2020
Well, the Fortress of Terror is done. There are three Chapters to the game, and they are meant to be played consecutively. The game culminates in a brief Final Battle sequence against Bram himself.
The game is currently in Version 2.1. The Hero Sheet is fully functional, but it will need some further tweaking in order to maximize its user-friendliness. I played through the entire game this afternoon and had an absolute blast. It's really fun to see what my rank will be at the end...and what the village thinks of me!
After tweaking the Hero Sheet, I will begin experimenting with the final stage of the game - the icing, if you will. There will be STORY CARDS, thematic additions to the game that will include some short flavor text to flesh out the story, and some small effects on the game mechanisms when drawn. The cards will not make a huge impact on game play, but the goal is provide #1) thematic flavor, to help the whole story make sense even more and #2) add even more to the variability and replayability of the game. Story Cards will not be drawn very often. First, I will explore simply drawing one card at the beginning of each Chapter, to make the story fresh and interesting as well as to add throw a little variable into the mix that wasn't there the last time you played. Simple to add, but the excitement factor shoots up exponentially. Those are the goals. Probably will end up being a small handful of tarot-sized cards, that's it.
The full game is ready for play testing. I look forward to seeing the response of play testers!
5/26/2020
SO! After a few days of working through the tedium of creating new documents and a full rules rewrite, and then updating the feedback form, I think we are now in business to start testing the "campaign" style game as it will be. There will be three chapters: Bram's Garden, Bram's Crypt, and Bram's Tower. Each chapter uses the same basic rules set and mechanisms, but each chapter also has unique features of game play for the new location. I am now officially changing the name of the game to FORTRESS OF TERROR. For now, there are only 2 chapters. For play testing, simply play through Chapters 1 and 2, then record your score on the Hero Sheet. For now, you "WIN" if you have at least 0 points cumulatively for both Chapters. I will now set to work on the 3rd and final chapter, Bram's Tower.
All new documents have been uploaded, and the official version is now Fortress of Terror 2.0.
5/24/2020
Has anyone ever told you that designing a game is a lot of hard work? If we didn't love it, we wouldn't do it...😁
Today, I got The new Game Sheet, the 2 new cards for the Crypt, and the Hero Sheet completed. The next step is to modify the rulebook to reflect the Crypt rules that have been added (mainly doors, Lore Stones, and Orb Die). While I am at it, I may change the overall Rules layout a bit.
One other big change that is coming is an official name change. "Bram's Garden" is not going away, it is only moving into its rightful place as the title of Chapter One. Chapter Two is of course Bram's Crypt. Chapter Three will be Bram's Tower.
The name of the game itself is changing to FORTRESS of TERROR. I wanted this game to reflect the popular fantasy game books from the '80s that I enjoyed so much, like Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, and so forth. This overall name change will occur when I get the rules adapted for the Crypt.
5/23/2020
Today I nailed down the Bram's Crypt (Chapter Two) map and did some more testing.
I also did the following:
1) Created a new Game Sheet, combining the Garden and the Crypt maps onto one sheet and removing the charts. I am resigning a "character sheet" (if you will) that will be a smaller, separate score pad for you to keep track of score and other details throughout all Three chapters. That is not done yet, but it's in progress. The new sheet is 99% done and will be posted either this evening or tomorrow.
2) I created two new Relics cards that will be added to the draw deck for the 2nd chapter - they give you power over doors and to morph a relic into another one, chosen from the deck.
The next steps are to adapt the rulebook to add Chapter Two, and to create the Character Sheet. Then, they will be added to the Drive for play testing. I will make it clear in the next post when this new version, 2.0, is ready to download and go.
5/22/2020
I spent the last two days designing - and redesigning - the next chapter of the adventure, BRAM'S CRYPT. In this chapter, you have fallen into the crypt after escaping Bram's Garden, and you must collect items of Lore from the crypt, then use these Lore items to escape the crypt by activating four locks.
The map design took about 6 or 7 tries, all completely different. I think I settled on one that is good. Time to test it. A bunch. The good thing is that the overarching story and flow from one chapter to the next, synchronizing the mechanisms between them, is coming together and making sense. Now, I am ready to test Bram's Crypt a bunch, and do lots of little tweaking.
Ideas for the final chapter, Bram's Tower, are already coming about. I will have a running start on that one once I get the crypt nailed down. When the Crypt is ready, I will post it here for everyone to try. You can play Bram's Garden, then go right into Bram's Crypt and carry over your relics, refreshed and ready to use again.
I have uploaded the latest rules document, as well as the new Relic cards, to the Google folder.
The primary rule changes are:
1.) The Magic Boomerang can grab any item (Relic or the Orb of Ice), not just Relics
2.) When you collect a Relic, instead of choosing, draw a Relic card and add that Relic to your inventory by checking the box as usual.
5/20/2020
Today, due to wonderful player feedback, I have made the following adjustments to the current version 1.2:
1.) Added a note in the rules about the Luck Die: "NOTE: It is possible to subtract the Luck die value from a Movement Die of the same or lower value - in this case, you would use the Movement Die as a “0”. This is an interesting strategic advantage."
2.) It seems huge, but it's really more of a way to clear up the flow of the game to make it more understandable: I changed the order of the round FROM:
1. Mark the New Round
2. Advance the Doom Die
3. Roll Dice
4. Activate Dice
5. Bram's Power
TO:
1. Roll Dice
2. Activate Dice
3. Bram's Power
4. Advance the Doom Die
5. Mark the COMPLETED Round
This eliminated the "don't Advance the Doom Die in the first round" disclaimer, and grouped the effects of the Doom Die together. Pretty smooth, I credit [user=russ][/user] for this suggestion, thanks Russ!
3.) I clarified the usage of Relic Powers to "must use a Relic [b]immediately before activating a Movement Die[/b]".
5/18/2020
Today, I am experimenting with two things: (1) random relics and (2) 1 less round per game.
1.) First, I am attempting more long-term planning, namely, when the Bram's Crypt and Bram's Tower modules are added. In seeking further variety and replay, I realized that while it's nice to be able to choose the Relic you want each time you obtain one, I realized that it is not extremely critical to have that privilege in order to win the game. I find myself being able to strategize which relic I need at a given moment, but winning each time with a score above 10 was bothering me. Additionally, as you finish Bram's Garden, you can only take with you the relics you found. I wanted a way to vary which relics were available each time you play. So, after messing around, I settled on just a good ol' random card draw.
Each time you collect a Relic, you draw one of 12 cards, and "you get what you get". After trying this several times so far, I have not found myself getting "screwed" by the card draw, as each item is powerful in its own way. Getting a random item does not exactly "screw me over" due to bad luck, but so far I feel like it just poses me with a new dilemma to solve, and forces me to work with what I have in order to get the job done. Basically, it keeps my approach fresh when I don't know which relics I will have to work with throughout the game.
Another benefit of random relics is that I cannot simply plan what items I will have throughout the whole campaign (the immediate Crypt and Tower chapters) and choose them. I have to work with what I discover, creating more brain-burning and even more variation in gameplay from campaign to campaign.
So, I think I will stick with the random relics for now, and add these 12 cards to the print & play files.
2.) I need the game to be tighter. I am winning every time. I need to sweat more. Even some first timers are winning. Not good. The struggle should be more real. Looking at the average scores, I think I can tighten things up without going crazy by reducing the game to 7 rounds. It shortens gameplay, and makes the sweat more real for sure. More harrowing decisions, less tromping around the garden smelling the roses.
Combined with the random relics, the 7-round game is surely the sweet spot. I will probably recommend that if players want an easier game, go with 8 or even 9 rounds. But "campaign" play with require 7 rounds and random relics before moving on to the creepy Bram's Crypt.
5/17/2020
-Working on art for the game "box" cover. The style I am looking for hearkens back to the fantasy adventure games I played in my youth
-Now brainstorming the possibilities for the next module that immediately follows Bram's Garden: Bram's Crypt. You carry your relics that you collected with you into this second module. While the goal of Bram's Garden is to collect Relics and the Orb of Ice, in Bram's Crypt, the goal is to find the exit before your Fortitude is depleted. One new kind of die will likely be added to the game, and you have a new action you can take with your dice in addition to movement: INTERACT with something (door, lever, etc.).
-Bram's Crypt will lead you to the final and biggest chapter, Bram's Tower. By being able to maintain relics you collect from one module to the next, it creates interesting long-term strategy, planning, and replayability.
5/14/2020
Changes:
-I have added variability to the game by allowing the Orb of Ice to move to a new location each round according to the Doom Die. This makes things EVEN MORE interesting, and creates a lot more variability. This required me to have to change the map a bit, and things are now too different from the EASY map, so I have eliminated the EASY version for now. I will try to create a new one in the near future.
-The current version is now 1.2.
I am very excited about the changes to the game. There is tension, plenty of strategy, and now more variability with the moving Orb of Ice. Give it a shot and record your results on the above Google Form! 😎
5/13/2020
1.) I have edited the Game Sheet (latest is 1.1) with the following changes:
-Alphabetized Relics List
-Added a check box next to the Relic name for "cleaner housekeeping" on your sheet
-Added a reminder icon or set of icons below each Relic to remind you of its unique power
2.). I have created an "EASY" version of the Game Sheet (latest is EASY 1.1), which serves as a gentler way to learn the game. Once you get the hang of it and want the "real" challenge, use the standard Game Sheet.
EASY version is no longer available due to version changes. I will consider adapting a new EASY version.
These new files are located in the same Google Drive link listed above. The old files have been removed to avoid confusion.
05/12/2020
Things I would like play testers to look for:
1. Is it fun?
2. Does it feel challenging?
3. Do you want to play it again immediately when finished?
4. Please complete the Google form (xxx) after each play test. I need the scoring data to make tweaks on difficulty and balance.
Thanks so much! 😃
05/11/2020
STARTED THE PROJECT!
GOT A QUESTION? CAN’T FIND IT IN THE RULEBOOK?
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