Dolomball - the first test

Now that Dolomball is the new shiny, I got it far enough for the first solo test today.  With the current rules it took two rounds until the first time someone got a ball from where they start, and six rounds until the first time someone scored a goal.  That was about as far as I took it, because I'm tired and I was starting to get a headache from tracking three "players'" simultaneous moves, but it was enough to point specific situations that I need to prepare for (i.e. write rules for).  I also got a sense of the rhythm of the game - it felt slow at the start, with players just moving up toward the middle of the field where the balls start, but the excitement picked up quickly once they got there.  Probably okay to stick with the movement speeds I have now, but I'll see how it goes after some more tests.  Hopefully involving other players besides myself.

Next steps - fill in the gaps that I caught today, then work out one-time special moves and how/when you get to activate them

Further in the future I might do something with giving each team a special play they can make, but I need to get a better feel for the overall gameplay first.

Ooh, this one comes with existing IP...

My daughter plays basketball, and at her last few games I've been pondering the possibilities of a sport with multiple balls in play at the same time.  Now, I'm not a sports person at all, so it's very possible that such a thing already exists and I have no idea.  But no matter.  I've been pondering, and because I'm me, I've been pondering it in the form of a tabletop game.

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One of my favorite Fate-based RPGs is a sci-fi game called Bulldogs!  There are a lot of cool things about that game, one of which is the really interesting alien species available to players.  One of those species is the Dolomé, who are tall, tough tripods.  I've always thought they were cool.

Illustration by Jaime Posadas and/or Kurt Komoda, from the Bulldogs! rulebook, ©2016 by Galileo Games

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Over the past week or so, these two unrelated thoughts have collided, and this evening I've put together a rough sketch of the rules for Dolomball.  And also of the playing field/game board.  It's a triangular field where three teams play in each game, with three balls in play throughout the game.  To try to capture the feel of a chaotic sport, my initial idea for game mechanics is that players roll three dice at a time, set them in order, and then resolve simultaneously - everyone's first die takes effect at the same time, then everyone's second die, then everyone's third die.  Score points by throwing a ball into either of the other team's goals.  Use "fumble" and "intercept" cards to mess with other teams' throws.

Oh, and there are bumpers in the middle of the field, for extra meshugas.

I still need to work out the rules for throwing a ball, and for colliding with another player, but I'm happy with this as a starting point.

And I need to thank the fine folks at Gallileo Games for giving me permission to write my game around an element from their game.  Hopefully they don't regret that by the time I have a finished product.

Werewolves - for real this time

Alright, redid the map and got the go-ahead from at least one Londoner, so here's what we're looking at:

Next step is to figure out which territories give what bonuses, now that it's completely different from what I had planned before, and then make virtual versions of all the components so I can get it set up on Screentop and/or TTS.  Playable version in the next 3-4 months, hopefully?

Werewolves - attempted map

I've been spending time here and there researching neighborhoods of London (okay, skimming Wikipedia and WikiTravel) to get an idea of what their resource values should be in Werewolves of London, and this morning I finally finished the first draft of the game map.  And promptly met with comments from at least one local who suggested that I should set it up differently than I had.  I will probably do that, although I want to make sure I can still fit in all the song references.  So it'll be some more work before I have a map I'm going to share here, but I still wanted to post something today so I'm at least not giving the impression of neglecting the game, or the blog.

Violet Moon - new video

Last summer I posted a video for Under a Violet Moon, as part of my submission for a competition.  With another six months of feedback and a much prettier game board, I've posted a new video in preparation for the next competition coming up.  This one also does a much better job of actually explaining how the game works, so that should help.