The Jon Yonce

I like this little bit of advice in the rules for Triumph and Tragedy. It's a block game with hidden units. The game tells you to assume that your opponent is honestly following the rules when they move their units. If you can't assume this honesty, you're playing "the wrong game with the wrong person."

In my opinion, Twilight Imperium is the best board game in the world. Why? For me, it delivers the most fun per unit of time invested and the most peak gaming experiences. Here are some of the things that make it so good: -Epic scale, but playable within a day. 5 to 6 hours is enough to play to completion. Within those 5-6 hours you will have a ton of battles, maneuvering, trash-talking, negotiating, threats, etc. Several players will look like they're winning and then get betrayed by an ally, all the awesome roller-coaster of emotions you should get from a multi-player strategy game. -The inter-faction dynamics are just complicated enough to make you think while still being simple enough for new players to pick up. Trade and Commodities are a great example. You have Commodities that are useless to you but flip over into valuable Trade tokens when you send them to another player. Gives you a strong and obvious reason to interact with other players. In our group, we set up trade deals where we regularly swap Commodities each round and keep ships parked next to each other's planets to facilitate this. Then one partner in the trade deal inevitably defects when the timing is right! -Battle system is buckets of dice but resolves reasonably quickly. The relationships between units are cool and reminiscent of WW2 Pacific theatre naval warfare. Tons of fighters is the most efficient combat power, but you need carriers to transport them and Destroyers can still shred them. Those Carriers in turn are weak and take up spots in your precious fleet stacking limit. The stacking limit means expensive, powerful ships like Dreadnoughts or Cruisers are still extremely useful. You might send a single fast Cruiser to secure a planet or trade with another player, or a single Dreadnought with an Infantry to take a planet. Every unit has a use. -Lots of factions, each with lots of unique abilities. It's not completely asymmetric like Root (different sets of rules for each faction) but the unique technologies, abilities and units keep it spicy. My favourite faction ability is the Brotherhood of Yin flagship, which blows up everything in the same space when it's destroyed. So it's a giant kamikaze battleship. Cool. -The victory conditions are quick to explain and force you to pursue lots of different strategies. You just need 10 victory points, a nice round number that's easy to remember. You get these from secret objectives and public objectives. These relate to combat, area control, technology, having specific kinds of planets and many other aspects of the game. So, you don't win just by fighting battles and it's possible for a player to come from behind at the end of the game and catch up by pursuing their secret objectives. -The action economy, partially inspired by the classic euro game Puerto Rico, encourages a lot of player interaction. You choose a strategy card, use the primary action then every other player can use the secondary action. You're always jumping in on someone else's turn. Cuts out a lot of downtime. There's much more to the game than this - you really need to play it to understand the appeal. It remains my number 1 game and I haven't found another game that gives the same experience.

@Justin_Gary Really great episode! Been wrestling with a lot of this over the last 5 years, so it was great to hear about your journey. 🤘

🎙️Embrace discomfort to unlock your true potential. In my latest podcast episode with Ryan Soave, we explore how stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to personal growth and success. Link in comments!

@Clint_Davey1 Any other games to look into that use contested areas well?

One of the things I like about Axis and Allies 1914 is the idea of contested territories. Spaces on the map can contain units from both sides. Battles only go for one round (instead of fighting to the death) so it is very common to have lots of contested territories. Now, this is intended to simulate trench warfare, which is does fairly well. Slow, grinding attritional warfare where it takes a long time to take ground. But contested spaces has another benefit - it basically doubles the strategic depth of the map without adding any additional spaces. It gives the players a feeling of having more territory to fight over, because it's a multi-stage process to actually take control of a space. I've used the same idea in several designs and it works well, without having to add very many rules or make the map any bigger.

@MoreGamesPls As someone who works in non-gaming digital marketing, I’m curious what buckets your work falls into.

Ska. Pass it on

@Clint_Davey1 Runewars and Game of Thrones give similar vibes, I’d say. I’ve only played them both once though.

Is there a game like Twilight Imperium, but with a fantasy theme?

@Clint_Davey1 Would love to get some of your recommendations for book games you’ve seen/enjoyed!

Barriers to entry in game design are lower than you might think. And you don't need to start with a massive, epic, elaborate game. Here are some low-cost ideas to get started in game design: -Postcard games: make the whole game fit onto a single postcard. I got this idea from @hissycatstudio and it was honestly a massive breakthrough that led me to designing bigger games that got publishers. -1 page or 2 page games: Like a postcard game, try fitting everything onto 1 or 2 standard A4 pages. If you're making a wargame, do one page as the map and counters, the other as the rules. -Book games: remember choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid? They are definitely a type of game, and now there are more and more of them that incorporate genuine game mechanics, e.g. book wargames where you are still keeping track of losses and the location of units, but the core gameplay is making decisions and turning to the listed page. Basically the game is a giant decision tree that gets formulated as a book. Very little components needed! -Card games: one of the most successful games ever made is Exploding Kittens, which just has a deck of cards and a rulebook. Obviously don't just copy existing card games - use the medium as a way to make something unique that is low on components, portable and quick to play. All of these get even easier when you realise that you can make all the necessary files in Word and do your play-testing in PowerPoint. Need play-testers? Network on platforms like this. Plenty of people out there willing to try out games, especially if you agree to a swap and try out one of theirs in return!

Here it is, hot off the interweb presses! Come get all your info for Unpub @ PAX Unplugged! unpub.org/upcoming-event… Don't forget to bring Blüdle a cheesesteak! ✂️🎲

We're working on the future of America's passenger rail system—funding high-speed rail projects in the West and expanding service for communities across the country. Get your ticket to ride!

@logodaedalus Yes - with reading, music and playing games.

@WinsmithGames Hope you have a fun and productive time!

Its. About. To. Go. Down. What are you all most excited about at. #GenCon2024? We will be testing two games we have in development at the First Exposure Hall today and tomorrow from 2-6pm. Have a great Con!

Me ma and my best friend put up some donations this morning! So close to the goal I can taste it. How much can we raise for these kids before Friday?

Geoff’s Law: Your game is more complicated than you think, even when you take into account Geoff’s Law.

Things are getting… playtesty 😮

Getting things ready for this coming Saturdaaaaay!

Looking forward to getting in as much playtesting in as possible for not 1, not 2, but 3 designs! 😮

@ZintisMay Sadly won’t be making it to the big UnPub this time around. But we ARE hosting another small one down in VA in April if you’re so inclined! 😄

@Dinasaidso1 @stuffByBez @ReinerKnizia @thunderworksgam King of Tokyo! …if they’re cool with player elimination that is

Can you help me choose a board game for an 11-year-old's birthday party? I'm thinking: Yogi @stuffByBez Modern Art @ReinerKnizia Cartographer @thunderworksgam What else?

@MoreGamesPls I keep trying to find an answer that isn’t Twilight Imperium. But I can’t. And that’s okay.