Second run on Westeros

Two days ago the second round of Westeros happened. This time we didn’t focus as much on the instruction manual as we did the first time, but more one the gameplay. To my surprise and maybe to our all, the goal of the game was reached in 4 hours. That is quite a surprise, considering that the group i played with had never played the game before. I did make a few changes to the gameplay between the first and this second try. The experiences of our first play were fully implemented and some additions were made that came up during the time we didn’t play. This round was again very fruitful because i got to see the changes in action and advance into the game much more than on the first play. The changes worked well i must say. Another advantage for me was that the group i played with this second time, was very boardgame experienced. I played a lot of

First steps towards the crown

Again weeks have passed and i am happy to tell you that i sucessfully entered the phase IV of the development of my new boardgame Westeros. As i mentioned before, this phase deals with playtesting and thats what we did, at least once. It might sound easy to just test if everything works out but let me tell you, it is not. After almost 10 hourse we weren’t near the goal of the game. Its because there are some steps in playtesting that are crucial for the whole process and cannot be left out. For example, it would be much easier just to let the players know how to play the game. That could be done in half an hour or less, depending on the complexity of the game. If you do that you are making your first mistake before even having started to play. And i tell you why. As said in my last post, there is nothing more difficult than

Now for the hard part

Finally it is time to enter phase III in the process of the development of my new baordgame called Westeros (working title of course). In the last few weeks i managed to get all the material done that is needed for the game to be played. I sprayed countless little wooden cubes and small metallic plate with six different colors for the players and created character, crisis and evolution cards for the gameplay. Also the big map, where the game is played on, is now fully designed and just needs to be printed out (which will hopefully done by a friend of mine on his large scale printer, so that i have it in one piece and not 10 pieces that need to be glued together).  Everything worked well so far and my notes to the gameplay swell with many more ideas and corrections.

Scissors and Spraycans

Finally, i am back with a new entry for my boardgame section. I have been very lazy with respect to may beloved inventions, but that is going to change with this post. For the last days i have been in the second work phase of my new board came called Westeros. That name might sound familiar to you and you’re right. It is the name of the continent where the story of Game of Thrones takes place. And yes, the game is somewhat related to that story. After seeing a few board-games that try to combine military and political aspects of the show/the books i came to the conclusion that none of them really has covered all my interests that made the series so wonderful. So far, the preparations for the first phase of the development of my game idea.

The first phase really started a few weeks later, after letting the games make an impression on

Cards, Cards, Cards

Finished doesn’t necessarily mean totally finished as I now had to experience myself. Today I reworked all the cards for my board games Capital and Plantage. It was necessary because due to the fact that there were changes applied to the stats and texts on the cards during the last plays, they looked really messy. They were still playable, but i prefer to have clean and good cards that display a certain finality. So today, i took the opportunity to rework them all. Only thing i have to do now is, to print them on thick colored paper, cut them out and laminate them, so that they will stay clean. Then i really can call the games finished. I added a photograph from Plantage on the site, so you can take a look how the game looks like in play.

Plantage

Plantage

• Start of development: 2003
• Actual Version: 4.4
• Players: 2 – 4
• Playtime: 2 – 5 hours
• Status: finished

Plantage is a game where the player slips into the role of an art collector, whose goal it is to assemble the largest and most popular art collection. To attain the money for the art-auctions in Europe, each player has to establish and manage plantations all over the world. The goal of the game differs with respect to the amount of participating players. but the fun factor is independent from that. Additionally the luck-factor is much lower than the players choice factor.

Ingame Photo

Cap 6-1

Due to the fact that there isn’t much to say about my music at the moment and the fact that i have been working on my board games a lot, i thought, why not giving that area a stronger focus in the nest days.

Today, i start with my first board game called Capital. The development of this game started in the year of 1995, when i was doing civil services instead of army service. It all started with the idea and before i even stuck my hands into the creation of any game material i planned the complete game on paper. Shortly after that, i wanted to create the game material and i was really lucky at that time, because the man, who supervised me in my civil work had a woodwork studio in his home, so i took the offer and created the complete

Capital

Capital

• Start of development: 1995
• Actual Version: 6.1
• Players: 2 – 8
• Playtime: 3 – 8 hours
• Status: finished

Capital is an economic simulation in which the player assumes the role of a company founder, who must, like his competitors, build a business and lead to economic success. The goal of the game is to be the first company to take over a majority stake by another player. An optional objective may also be taking over the business of all the other players. Capital is only slightly influenced by the luck of the dice, but depends more on the choices of the player. An increasing number of players increases the fun and also playing time.

Photos coming soon.