Rolling Seas - Design Diary - Part 2

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I see a lot of other designers write up design diaries for their games and I've always found it interesting to learn about the process that a game went through from initial concept to publication.  So I decided to share the history of Rolling Seas so you can learn more about the game, how I made some of the design choices I made, and what my plans for the game in the future are.  It's a bit long, so I've broken it down into a few posts that I'll share over the course of a few days.

Rolling Seas Design Diary

• Intro & Part 1
• Coming Up With the Idea - Early November 2019
• The Sailing Tests - November 12-14, 2019
• Part 2 - YOU ARE HERE
• Finding a Sailing Solution - November 14, 2019
• Bonuses - November 15-22, 2019
• Part 3
• A Prettier Game - November 23-29, 2019
• The First Public Playtesting - December 3, 2019
• Part 4
• Maps & Crew - January-February 2020
• The End of Playtesting, Sort Of... - March-May, 2020
• Part 5
• Nuts! Publishing & Rolling Seas Updates - April-July 2020
• New Ideas - July-December 2020
• Part 6
• Second Edition & Getting Signed - January-April 2021
• Crowd Sale - April 2021

Rolling Seas - Design Diary - Intro & Part 1

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Visit the Crowd Sale

So, I'm just a bit excited right now.  I just signed my first game to be published and I'm currently running a Crowd Sale for my Game Crafter edition of the game!  It's been a bit over seven years since I first put on the game designer hat and I can honestly say I've come a long way since.  

The first game I designed was because my wife saw the one-player puzzle game Zoologic by Foxmind at the store and liked the idea of it, but wanted something similar we could play as a family.  Until that time I had played games and had made a few house rules to games, but never considered designing a game from scratch.  But when she said to me "You're creative, you can come up with something like that," a spark ignited and I've been obsessed with designing games ever since.  That first one was pretty lousy, but they got better and better after that.  

Now I'm sitting on about 80 game ideas in various stages of completion, from notes jotted down on my computer, to partially made prototypes, to essentially finished editions available on The Game Crafter.  Rolling Seas was born in late 2019, so it's a relatively new design, and it's now going to be my first published game!

I see a lot of other designers write up design diaries for their games and I've always found it interesting to learn about the process that a game went through from initial concept to publication.  So I decided to share the history of Rolling Seas so you can learn more about the game, how I made some of the design choices I made, and what my plans for the game in the future are.  It's a bit long, so I've broken it down into a few posts that I'll share over the course of a few days.

Rolling Seas Design Diary

• Intro & Part 1 - YOU ARE HERE!
• Coming Up With the Idea - Early November 2019
• The Sailing Tests - November 12-14, 2019
• Part 2
• Finding a Sailing Solution - November 14, 2019
• Bonuses - November 15-22, 2019
• Part 3
• A Prettier Game - November 23-29, 2019
• The First Public Playtesting - December 3, 2019
• Part 4
• Maps & Crew - January-February 2020
• The End of Playtesting, Sort Of... - March-May, 2020
• Part 5
• Nuts! Publishing & Rolling Seas Updates - April-July 2020
• New Ideas - July-December 2020
• Part 6
• Second Edition & Getting Signed - January-April 2021
• Crowd Sale - April 2021

Rolling Seas Crowd Sale - First Discount Tier Reached!

If you didn't know, I'm running a Crowd Sale on The Game Crafter for my roll & write adventure game, Rolling Seas.  I launched the Crowd Sale on Sunday to celebrate my birthday and it's already off to a great start!

What is a Crowd Sale?

A Crowd Sale is a form of crowdfunding, kind of like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, or GameFound, but with some significant differences.

• Crowd Sale games are 100% complete.  Design, art, playtesting, etc. are all completed before the Crowd Sale starts.  You are supporting a finished product, not an idea.
• Crowd Sale games get printed and sent within a few days or weeks, not months or years!  Since Crowd Sales use The Game Crafter's Print On Demand service, as soon as the sale ends the games start printing!
• Crowd Sale games get cheaper the more people that buy.  Since the games are already created there are no stretch goals.  Whereas in other crowdfunding platforms the price stays static and creators are able to add more content (content that must be - or should be - created and tested) in the form of stretch goals.  Often these stretch goals cause delays or aren't well tested and break the game.  With a Crowd Sale, you're getting the same completed game, regardless of how many funds the campaign raises.  But the more people that buy-in, the cheaper the game is for everyone!  You aren't charged until the campaign ends, so whenever you join, you're guaranteed to get the biggest discount reached.

The Rolling Seas Crowd Sale has already reached the second discount tier, so now you'll save over $5!  And you can also pick up the Crew Members and Islands & Map Pack 1 expansions at a discount, too (at least $2 off, each).

If you want to get a copy of Rolling Seas now, this is your best opportunity!  After the Crowd Sale, the price will go back up to $39.99, and in a few months, I'll be taking it off of The Game Crafter's site for good in preparation for the new edition that Nuts! Publishing will be producing (but that won't be available for a few years still).

Did you like this article?  Show your support: Support me on Patreon! Also, click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

People Behind the Meeples - Episode 274: Rebecca Robinson

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Rebecca Robinson
Email:	beccyx36@gmail.com
Location:	London, UK
Day Job:	I work for the National Theatre in London.
Designing:	One to two years.
Instagram:	@boardgamebeccy
Find my games at:	The Game Crafter in the Community Anthology Challenge coil book and hopefully on Kickstarter in the future.

Today's Interview is with:

Rebecca Robinson
Interviewed on: 1/3/2021

This week we get to meet newer designer Rebecca Robinson. Rebecca started designing games just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, so she's had to learn how to playtest in a very unique environment. Though only designing for about a year, Rebecca has jumped right in, with a game entered in The Game Crafter's Anthology Contest and another design she's working on for the Solo/Duo contest. To learn more aobut Rebecca and her projects, read on!

Win a copy of my new roll & write adventure game, Rolling Seas!

Support me on Patreon!

Thanks to the continued sponsorship of Organic Aromas, I'm able to run another giveaway!  This time it's for a game that I designed.  Enter now to win a copy of my new roll & write adventure game, Rolling Seas!

Be sure to enter below before 11:59pm CDT on April 23, 2021!  If you don't win, this will give you a week to grab the game on Crowd Sale for $5 off, or more!

Want to see more giveaways like this?  Consider supporting GJJ Games on Patreon!

PRESS RELEASE: QUARANTINE BABY GAMEAPART GROWS RAPIDLY

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GAME PLATFORM SEES GROWTH AMONG PEOPLE CONNECTING FOR VIRTUAL GAME NIGHTS

March 29, 2021 – Huntington Beach, CA – Just a few months after launching, GameApart, a platform that allows groups to play popular card, board, and party games together over video conferencing software, continues its momentum with pre-seed funding and the rollout of additional online multiplayer party games.

GameApart’s rapidly growing game library includes GIFs Against Society and Done With 2020. Both games are similar to the hit Cards Against Humanity, however, GIFs Against Society brings features only available digitally, including memes generated on-the-fly, and Done With 2020 helps players to laugh instead of cry when thinking about the start of a very memorable decade. Done with 2020 is GameApart’s first collaboration with an independent game designer.

GameApart’s first card game, Ochos Locos, was released this month and is based on the classic Crazy Eights. Those who like word guessing games will love The Word, Verboden, and Tip of the Tongue, designed for fans of Just One (winner of the 2019 Spiel des Jahres award), Taboo, and Heads Up.

With the introduction of numerous virtual party and team-building games, GameApart saw tremendous growth in the past two quarters, averaging 29% week-over-week growth in users.

For 2021, GameApart is ramping up content production through licensing agreements with some of the hottest independent game makers in the world agreeing to host digital versions of their titles on the platform.

GameApart works on any video conferencing service (Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Slack, Teams, etc.) that supports screen-sharing, with one person acting as the “host” who starts the game and shares their screen with everyone. Players then use the GameApart app on their smartphones to play, interacting with their friends live around the virtual game table. GameApart is available for both iOS and Android users.

 

Did you like this press release?  Show your support: Support me on Patreon! Also, click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

People Behind the Meeples - Episode 273: Tom Hughes

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Tom Hughes
Email:	imaduckinspace@gmail.com
Location:	Ireland
Day Job:	I work as a Scrum Master currently - which is basically a Project Manager. Formerly I worked as a producer and designer with Activision most recently.
Designing:	One to two years.
Webpage:	spaceduckgaming.com
Blog:	cardboarddesigner.com/
Twitter:	@CardboardRaptar
Find my games at:	Currently nowhere :(

Today's Interview is with:

Tom Hughes
Interviewed on: 1/3/2021

Today's interview is with Tom Hughes, one half of the team that brought Factory Floor to Kickstarter last month for a successful campaign. A former QA tester in the video game industry, Tom started Space Duck Games and the Cardboard Designer blog to showcase and publish his tabletop game designs. Read on to learn more about Tom and his current projects!