Overview
This will bend the rules slightly, but given how much time it has already used this year, and how much I anticipate it will use, I feel obligated to include it.
I am working on a new board game for Stillfleet Studio. It will not be completed this year, but the goal is to get it to at least a place where we can start expanding playtests to a larger circle of people. This work’s focus is on the process of design and playtesting and not specifically on producing the finished work.
Background
In late 2022, I messaged Wythe something to the effect of “Lords of Waterdeep x Stillfleet! You play as a refactor, sending voidminers out to do jobs!”
This became a whole brainstorming stream with he, Ethan, and myself talking about different ideas and how we might do this. Over the next year or so, it went through several iterations, including a few playtests. At the time, I felt like it was just missing something but I wasn’t sure what. Wythe greenlit me to explore the design space (“woodshedding it”) and see what I can come up with. I had until end of June 2024 to decide whether or not I thought the idea could work as a game.
After a lot of work on “MALINGER!”, I had to shelve it. I hit blockers on the playtest and needed to step back. I did, however, pivot to a different game. So the focus of posts will shift from the former to the latter.
The Work
- Prototype MALINGER!
- GenCon playtest
- Prototype SHINKEN
- FLAGCon playtest
- PAXU playtest