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Last week I wrote a fluff piece about my awesomeness. I was so proud of myself that I just had to preach it to the Internet.
I am not ashamed.
I really am proud of this new game!
Hedeby
I spent last weekend hammering out playtest files for Hedeby. About eight people responded to my call for testers and I had to get them on the game as soon as possible. I made a few tweaks after my testing session Friday, and solo-tested, then set about updating all the files.
I sent the files on Monday and waited. This is the only time I've ever put one of my games out there and I wasn't nervous. I was excited. I checked my inbox incessantly just waiting for the comments to roll in. They did... it just took a few days.
Guess what... the playtesters actually like the game! (and not in that friendly "yeah, I like it because I know you" way)
I showed up with it at my weekly game night. The guys were excited to try something new... and lets be honest, I've let them down quite a bit in the past year with some really bad sessions. It was really awesome how involved the players were in game one and something magical happened... we played it twice! I can't remember the last time I brought a game that I could actually talk them into playing more than once. They were actually enthusiastic about trying it again, which felt great.
I left the evening to this quote:
"This is by far the best first version [of a game] that you have ever brought."
So, where are the coveted print and play files I've been promising? Bear with me a little longer dear readers. They are coming, I promise you, but I really need to work on a few small details with the private test group first. It won't be long. I'm 95% satisfied with the design as it is.
Right now, what I want to do is update some of the semantics. A few icons need changed. I'm going to add keywords to some of the cards for classification purposes. I'm going to tweak the cost and point value of some buildings. I'm going to make new buildings. I'm going to change the name of some buildings. On the outside, the game will be almost identical to what it is right now, but I need to make sure it's the game I want it to be before I release it to the public in general.
This is weird for me. I started this site so I could design games in the open... and I want to do that, even with this "magical" game... but even with Project: Dead End, I spent a few weeks solo-testing ideas in my head and with mock-ups before I ever wrote the first post. Because I jumped the gun and started talking about this one immediately, there's a bit of a delay before I "publish" version 0.1 to the world. The fact that I immediately opened external playtesting does not change this. The playtesters have been awesome so far and are a vital reason the game is going to be better when I "open source" it here.
I'll be sure to be less vague next time. Promise!