As someone who loves both strategy board games as well as the history of the Romans, a bit of a passion project has developed in my mind but I wanted to ask a few general questions for those who might more experienced in board game design:

1) At what length does a game start being dreadful to play or is “too long” for a strategy game that has a lot of depth to it such as John Company 2e, ARCs campaign, or other games which players operate within an evolving system and mini-mechanics.

2) Is it better to have less systems and mechanics in order to leave some things abstract or lightly covered OR is it better to have several “light” mechanics/levers players interact with but in themselves do not have a large amount of depth.

3) If at the end of a round there is a fair amount of “events and upkeep” that needs to be done that isn’t specifically player driven, how long should that take at most? I don’t want to design a game that is a spreadsheet simulator at the end of the day.

4) This is more open ended and maybe not the right Sub for this but for a game covering the Roman Empire (Fall of Republic -> 450sAD) that focuses on families navigating offices, negotiating, and overall making decisions that affect the wider health and prosperity of the empire, what systems, issues, or mechanics would be worth tackling?
John Company 2nd edition heavily inspired me with its political offices and mechanics of players operating individually within a wider system that I feel like something relatable is deserved for Rome.

Summary of Game Concept (for those curious for context): I imagine a game where players are upper class families/patricians trying to leave the most prestigious legacy in the records of history. This is accomplished by doing “great deeds” for the empire such as having a line of emperors, conquering new provinces, spreading roman culture and religion, passing monumental laws in the senate, or just leaving their mark on the empire. All these things take place within a wider system of the state with offices managing aspects of Roman politics, war, culture, and economics with consequences effecting the whole table potentially. The goal isn’t necessarily to make sure Rome survived till its end or save it from extinction (although this would be possible) but rather to make sure that generations who look back recognize a player’s family as the obvious “greats” of the era for all they contributed and overshadow their opponents.

Do you have any that you particularly like?

I wanted a word game for game nights that I could print completely myself, so I made Noggle (as in "not Boggle").

You shake the letter dice, drop them into the grid, and then find as many words as you can before time runs out. Everything is printed, and assembly needs no tools or screws. The steps are in the pictures.

Print info:

- 4 plates

- about 19 hours total (0.2 mm, 2 walls, 10% infill)

- plain PLA, so no AMS or multicolor needed

- tested on a Bambu Lab A1

Model: 3D Model

My MakerWorld profile: Profile

Hey r/boardgames!

I'm Andrew, one of the designers / founders behind R2i Games (Canvas, Fromage, and Don't Go In There).

Five years ago, Jeff and I launched Don't Go In There, a spooky little game where the box unfolds into a haunted house and doubles as a dice tower. We had a blast making it, and we've wanted to return to that world ever since.

Well, we finally did!

Our newest game, Don't Go Back There, trades the haunted house for a vampire-infested castle. It's a standalone sequel featuring all-new rooms, curses, and other spooky surprises.

One of our biggest goals was to make a sequel that works just as well on its own as it does alongside the original. Everything in the sequel is new, but if you own both games, you can mix and match their contents to create tons of different combinations.

The Kickstarter is live now, and we're excited that the project was fully funded in its first hour!

You can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roadtoinfamy/dont-go-back-there

I'm happy to answer any questions about the game, the design process, or what went into making a standalone sequel five years after the original.

Thanks for checking it out, and Happy Halloween!

-Andrew, Designer & Co-Founder, R2i Games

It's that time of year when 1,000s of board games get shown off in the Messe convention halls as part of Spiel Essen! I've done my short list for seeing at the event, and now time for some 2 player only games that also caught my eye!

0:00 Intro

0:15 Himizu

1:18 Tanbo

2:53 Red Notice

4:56 Isle of Bears

6:48 Restore

8:31 Shimoda Perry Road

10:25 Saga Vikings vs Anglo Saxons

12:08 Bologna

13:41 Ice

15:33 Super Auto Pets Card Battle

I got a used copy of this game. I reviewed contents of the core box and all is there with the exception f a deck that should have a front card labeled “ STOP END Front”.

So far I have not seen any indication where this deck would be used so maybe its not that important. But out of curiosity, whats it for?

(Mods approved) Hi all,

I’m designing a board game called Zealous. I live somewhere remote with no local playtesters, so a browser version was the only way to get it in front of anyone. The design and creative decisions (the rules, the cards, the board) are mine. AI helped me turn them into a web version and wrote the bots. I’m telling you up front in case it affects whether you want to try the game.

The game

Each player is a prophet founding a religion. Every turn you can play a card, move your prophet one step, and place a follower. Followers score every round and spread on their own wherever you hold the majority, so grabbing land early pays off all game. But any rival who walks onto your prophet’s tile kills you. You’re reborn holding a Divine Intervention, a deck that living prophets can never draw from. Different winning conditions are available based on how versed you are in the game (small amount of point, larger amount, number of rounds..) The full rules are available if you’re interested: https://zealous.up.railway.app/rules

Complexity

My own estimate: slightly more complex than Catan, around the level of Lords of Waterdeep. I’d love to hear whether you agree.

Where the game is at

It’s at an early, iterative stage. I’m testing balance and how the core mechanics affect each other. I haven’t done any graphics yet. When the time comes, I’ll commission a real artist rather than use AI tools.

What I’d love feedback on

Balance, strategies, over-complication or unnecessary rules, game length, and whether it’s fun at all.

How to try it

You can try it here - https://zealous.up.railway.app. No account or signup is needed, and I don’t ask for any personal information. You can play alone against bots to learn it, or invite friends and play together. Against bots, a game takes me about 10 minutes. You’re under no obligation to give feedback, but it would be much appreciated. If you’d rather play against real people, you can arrange games on Discord: https://discord.gg/TNpu2Jfmw

I’m happy to answer any questions below. 

I made a post here once asking for board game recommendations. I mentioned that I was planning to collect at least 50 to 100 board games, so I wanted to be selective about what I bought. I’m pretty much the only one who’s really into board games. The people I play with only play when I invite them for fun, but not to the point where they’d actually buy their own games. Besides, I don’t think they would buy any since they can already play the ones I own.

Anyway, I asked for recommendations on which board games I should buy. Of course, I searched for Gateway Board Games and even watched MsMojo’s Top Board Games videos.

Then recently, I happened to search for board game awards and discovered that there’s actually something called Board Game of the Year.

There are also different categories, ranging from easy to mid-weight games to the really heavy ones.
What I noticed from the results is that most of the winners are also the games I commonly see stocked in board game stores here. Now I understand why. I used to think those were just the popular games, but it turns out that the games stocked by our local stores are also often Board Game of the Year winners.

However, I also discovered through board game content creators that some of these games are considered overrated. They sometimes use that audio that goes, “underhyped, overhyped, and appropriately hyped,” if you know what I mean.
Games like Bomb Busters, Sky Team, Cascadia, Just One, Azul, Codenames, Dixit, Wingspan, Ticket to Ride, and Catan are the ones I frequently come across online and see in stores. They’re also among the games that have a lot of fake copies.

So, is it really worth using Board Game of the Year winners as a basis for deciding which games to buy?

It seems like once a game wins Board Game of the Year and becomes popular, people start calling it “overrated.” Is it really the game’s fault that it suddenly became popular and overhyped?

To be fair, I don’t want to buy all of them either. I still need to be selective about what I add to my collection. I’m looking for games that are visually appealing but not too complicated to teach to people who aren’t really into board games.

What do you guys think? Should I consider Board Game of the Year winners when choosing games for my collection, or should I just focus on finding games that fit my preferences?

I recently picked up Everdell Duo because I can rarely play anything but games that play well with 2 players. From what I gather, it's identical to Everdell in many ways, minus elements that make it a longer game. That seemed like a fair way to test the waters of a game I've heard so much about. First impressions about 5 or 6 games:

Analysis paralysis easily sets in. So many possibilities and permutations of card play, maybe too many. I'm not a fan of long drawn out turns or anything that makes it feel like a solitaire game. I assume that will fade as we become familiar with all the cards, though.

Somewhat confusing rulebook. It's not a terrible rulebook, but it has a tendency to make simple mechanisms seem convoluted. Not what I would call beginner-friendly.

Colours are pointless. Referring to cards (e.g. purple cards) by their colour only makes it confusing for people with colour-deficient vision, and it's unnecessary since the cards are easily identified by their symbols. The "red" destination cards are not very red, so don't call them red.

Small cards. Bigger would be better. I'm an adult with adult-sized hands. Give me cards that I can hold. Make everything bigger. Small cards, while necessary to keep costs down, tend to make any game feel not as good.

Other than that, it's easy to see why it's such a popular game. I wouldn't recommend it for casual players. There's too much think about it. But the synergy between cards can be satisfying, and there are more than a few tense moments when the other player takes a cards that you were playing towards. At the moment, I don't love it but I like it.

I know that's not much of a review, but what do other fans of the game like about it? Any specific strategies or things to keep in mind that might increase my enjoyment of it as it learn the game?

Played Sky Team with my daughter, and what a ride! Things started going pretty badly, and for a moment, we weren't sure we'd make it. But somehow, we managed to pull it together and land the plane successfully!

An absolutely amazing experience and such a fantastic game every single time! It's especially perfect when you don't have much time and want a quick, engaging game that delivers plenty of tension, teamwork, and memorable moments.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for a brilliant two-player board game!

Hot take: we have enough posts on this forum where people complain about sore losers in board gaming. I get that this is an issue for a lot of people, but the question is always the same, and the answers are always either "stop playing with them", or "have you tried talking about it like adults?"

If I am able to scroll past these posts, you are able to instead find posts that already mentioned the same issue, and we can all move on.

Edit: yes I am new here :-). Thanks for pointing out r/boardgamecirclejerk. This was my first post anywhere ever, and I had a lot of fun, even though you guys are meanoes, lol.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is what makes a board game work well with people who enjoy playing games socially but don’t necessarily play modern board games on a regular basis.
Some of my personal favourites are games like Inis, Dune: Imperium – Uprising and recently The Old King’s Crown.

What I enjoy about these games is the meaningful decisions, strategic depth and, perhaps most importantly, the interaction between players. I like games where you’re constantly reacting to what others are doing, negotiating the board state, and trying to outmanoeuvre your opponents rather than simply optimising your own engine.

The challenge is that these qualities don’t always translate particularly well to a casual game night with people who aren’t used to modern board games. A game can be relatively straightforward to learn but still demand a fair amount of experience to understand what makes it interesting. On the other hand, making everything too light can leave you with a game that feels a little too random or multiplayer-solitaire for my taste.

It makes me wonder what actually defines that sweet spot: games that are approachable enough to get to the table with a mixed group, but still offer meaningful strategic decisions and genuine interaction from the very first play.

I’m curious how others approach this. Do you think it’s primarily about simplifying the rules, shortening the playtime, reducing the number of mechanisms, or something else entirely? And do you find that certain types of player interaction are easier for newcomers to engage with than others?

I’d be particularly interested in hearing how others balance their own preference for deeper, more interactive games with the reality of playing with less experienced groups.

The game would have been from my early childhood, so a date of around 1990-1995 range. The game was not a traditional flat board but it had a mountain in the middle. I remember there being a snake wrapped around the mountain. The mountain could have been a volcano as well? I remember the goal was to climb up the mountain. The real gameplay was that there were there yellow treasure chests that had hooks on the end of them, sort of like barrel of monkeys. The idea was similar, you had to use a separate plastic hook to either remove them or place them on the board. I can't remember if you had to attach them to each other or to something on the game board ( I think one attached to the board and the rest to each other?) I seem to remember us buying the game at K-mart for whatever reason. It is entirely possible one or more of my points is off about the game, but I distinctly remember the yellow treasure chests and the hooks.

I have searched through wikipedia after wikipedia trying to track this down. Gone through old board game sites and even used AI. The game had a similar vibe to Fireball Island but the board was more vertical only. 99% sure it isn't that.

So I’ve always kinda wanted lords of waterdeep with the expansion and with the reprint I was considering getting them . I do however already have a decent collection which includes dune imperium and lost ruins of Arnak ( which it always gets compared to ) would you say it’s still worth getting lords of waterdeep regardless or should I just admire it from a far.

Edit: Thanks for all the replies guys I appreciate all your info!!!

I have seen people sharing their 3D printable organizers and inserts for board games here. I do have designs that I create and share for free (for non commercial purposes). I have been hesitating to share them on this sub because of the off topic rules “Apparel, Dice, and Accessories” — does a sharing or starting a conversation over a non-commercial, indie-made 3d printed insert or accessory for a board game violate this rule? Thank you for clarifying

If this is allowed, how do people feel about this? In case a non-mod replies with a comment — cheers

Hello all, I’ll be attending Essen Spiel for the first time this year and doing it solo, what time would people recommend queuing up or just going during the day? I’ve watched just about every YouTube video about Essen Spiel but none really say when’s best to go etc.

Also any tips, tricks and must knows that’s worth thinking about?

Thank you

3 of my friends are visiting me for about a week in Michigan. Two of them are from across the continent (one from Saskatchewan Canada and the other California. The other is local). Today we wanted to play a long epic game all day. They all three selected ElderScrolls one of if not my favorite. One has played with me before.

All set up and ready for an awesome long gaming session.

Just wanna make sure before i buy it as a gift.

I wanted to make an insert for the game, but I couldn’t find a simple and practical design. So I designed my own idea and collaborated with a self-employed 3D printing designer to bring it to life. I just wanted to show you the result! My first insert design. (Design in Creo Parametric)

Hey all,

I've recently started up my YouTube channel to try longer form content. I've been doing shorts for a while so it's been nice to be able to show a game all the way through.

Shared my recent playthrough of Final Girl, A Demon in the Shadows where I literally played one of the worst games ever, as in I made all the wrong choices.

Any feedback is always appreciated, thank you!

So I'm playing the base game and have a few questions:

I have the anniversary edition, so enough to play at 4 players: will the expansions support the 4 player game or do I need to buy 2x of each?

Also is there a list and explanation of all the expansions available? I'm having a hard time understanding them all and how many of them are out there

Do you suggest some expansions more than others?

Thanks