New Tuck Boxes from DriveThruCards!

Tuckboxes are now live for I Can't Even With These Monsters and Curse You, Robin Hood! When you're in the checkout page, just select the third option for the item. It's entirely optional as always, but they look great. Here's a quick tour of their features!

 

First off, the print quality is great as always. The print is smooth, the colors are vibrant, and the consistency is top notch.



When you take a closer look, you'll notice this seam along the edges of one of the panels. This is because these boxes use no glue in their construction. They're entirely secured with folds and flaps. This has the additional benefit of making the box very rigid and sturdy.



When you open the box, you'll see the deck of cards you ordered without the usual order # card or cellophane band that comes with no-box or plastic box decks.



The rear hinge of the top lid needs a crease here to open properly, which is why I designed the back of my box to be on this panel. I set up the info bar to be just above that crease so it looks more intentional. I also made sure not to put any important text along this crease.



Here's a close-up of the inside of the box, showing one other benefit of this construction. Unlike typical tuckboxes, there's no bottom flap sticking up, pushing against the cards. It makes returning the cards to the box an easy breeze.



This big interior flap is the key to the whole box's construction. That flap sticking into the side a bit creates a gentle pressure against the deck keeping it nice and snug.

 

And that's a quick overview of the new tuck boxes! I hope you dig them!

Two New Card Games on Sale!

Hello, all! These are the first two card games I'm self-publishing in over a year and I'm mighty proud of them.

Curse You, Robin Hood! is a rowdy pub-style card game where you're merchants in Sherwood Forest trying to get as rich as possible. The only problem is that if you're the richest in a particular type of good, Robin Hood will steal it all from you. Different legendary characters will also join your game, introducing the basics of bluffing and negotiation to new players without getting in the way of gameplay. I really love the art by Molly Ostertag.

» Buy it here: Curse You, Robin Hood!

» Watch the video tutorial here:



I Can't Even With These Monsters is the first game in the I Can't Even series. In these games, there's one major rule: Only the highest odd-numbered score will win the game. Even if four players have 22, 20, 18, and 3 points respectively, the player with 3 points will win. This edition introduces the basic concepts with seven fun monsters illustrated by Charles Andrew Bates.

Buy it here: I Can't Even With These Monsters

Watch the video tutorial here:

Art Preview - Molly Ostertag's Illustrations for "Curse You, Robin Hood!"

Huzzah! Molly Ostertag just wrapped up a new batch of art for Curse You, Robin Hood! These are the legendary characters Robin Hood, the Sheriff, Maid Marian, Will Scarlet, Little John, Friar Tuck, and the Prince. Here are Molly's final pieces with some of the art direction.

I wanted a more ethnically diverse retelling of the Robin Hood myth, set closer to the Iberian peninsula than Britannia. That flipped things around with casting a bit as the Sheriff would end up looking more like Errol Flynn.

Maid Marian was the only prominent female character in the lineup originally, so I asked Molly to model Will Scarlet on a roguish Ruby Rose. Little John was modeled on the Rock.

Friar Tuck was modeled on Kristian Narn's portrayal of Hodor on Game of Thrones. The Prince was modeled on Brad Dourif's portrayal of Grima Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings.

My art direction initially called for the Prince and Sheriff to be flipped here, but Molly's renderings were so distinctive that they seemed more appropriate this way. This is one of those nice cases where being in the driver's seat lets me adjust the game mechanics to suit the excellent art.

For more on Curse You, Robin Hood!
» One-Page Summary 

Find more of Molly Ostertag's art on her website.

UnPub6 Feedback for "Curse You, Robin Hood!"

Wow, I'm finally starting to recover from the wild pace of preparing for UnPub. I had two games I was primarily showing, the main one being Curse You, Robin Hood! You can find the full rules for the game on this Google Doc. Overall the response was very good and I made some procedural tweaks after several tests that really streamlined the game significantly.  Check out the scores and responses out of 28 feedback forms. I've bolded some of the more representative comments as well.

(Image Source: Lauren Woolsey)

Was this game predictable?
No 100%
Yes 0%

Will you play this game again?
No 10.71%
Yes 89.29%

Will you buy this game?
(The responses to this question had a lot of "YESNO" responses, so I think there was something wrong with the form. In either case, the results were inconclusive.)


What was one thing you would change?

• Maybe the option to add the AI with 6+ players
• nothing comes to mind
• art
• Some of the suits look a little similar and get a little confusing at first
• Nothing in particular
• Maybe add in some Trump cards that can mess up other players.
• The game is really easy to learn, but having a quick-reference card for each player that described the order of card-swapping would help a lot.
• Better instructions or not sure I understood the bartering
• Find some way to encourage players to arrange deals more. You may want to include a reference card to explain the resolution order
• Clearer explanation of when I would barter with other players.
• Nothing
• N/A
• Nothing.
• The exchange system is completely blind. Maybe there could be a way for players to have a card to always go to market.
• It looks ready.
• Use characters
• nothing
• Rolling scoring option for longer play
• Not really sure. I found the game to be pretty well balanced
• This game is well thought out. I would not change anything.
• Nothing
• Nothing
• Something to help me learn the why behind my choices quicker.
• Nothing!
• Nothing.
• Not sure...strategy was hard for me, but I\'m not sure how to make it better
• change six back to a number
• Make icons a bit bigger

What was your favorite part of the game?

• unpredictability
• card options to play
• attempting to guess other players possible selections
• The "solitaire" aspect, ease of learning
• The art is fantastic, it's a great original idea for a game and a really interesting mechanic. I'm excited to buy it when it's available!
• The trading and negotiating
• The fact that there's no downtime!
• How quick it was
• the robin hood targeting mechanic is implemented in a very clever way. the forced trades made for surprising results.
• Fast play. Creativity typing into the Robin Hood theme. Ability to play single to 6 player
• I love the whole concept.
• Ability to play up to 6 players. Great for our gaming group!
• The swapping mechanic.
• That robin hood always steals from the highest target.
• You never 100% control which card you will receive at time of card selection. Game allows for different social dynamics to make the game play differently.
• The bluffing
• being able to mess with other players
• Varying random hands (Tuck, etc)
• Trying to outwit the other players at the table and get the specific card you're looking for in the market
• This is another game I would love to play with kids because it's easy enough to pick up but also allows for players to try to manipulate the game with what cards you throw into the center.
• Mexhan (The rest of this form looked pretty broken, so I assume it's some bug?)
• The additional player card
• Great art, fun "yes" or "no" moments.
• That the gameplay made you need to say "Curse You, Robin Hood!"
• The balance of targets to points.
• Loved the theme, loved the art, loved the idea
• never knowing what was coming next
• Trying to figure out who would wind up with which card

Additional Comments

• I liked it as is, but could love it with a little more player control though I\'m not sure how to implement it.
• would buy this today if it were available

Overall pretty good results! We'll see where it goes from here, but I'm pretty happy with letting this game be the fast, wild, rowdy tavern game it wants to be. :)

6 Games I'm bringing to UnPub 6!

Unpub 6 is in just under a month! I'm bringing almost all of my self-published games to pitch and present, but here are 6 games I'd like to highlight in particular. You may have seen my last post on the subject of "sale sheets" or "summary sheets", but I've since expanded this to a whole series of at-a-glance summaries for handing out to publishers.

Curse You, Robin Hood!
You’re a merchant of Sherwood Forest trying to get rich while dodging those thieving Merry Men. Get as much treasure as possible, but not so much that Robin Hood notices you as a target!

Koi Pond
A zenlike, fast-flowing card game. Collect colorful koi fish and keep your pond as balanced as possible.

Monsoon Market
In 1405, a Chinese emissary sails the Indian Ocean, reporting the quality of each market along the way. It’s time to get busy! Earn a reputation for accurate orders or rush off any old goods in bulk. It’s a race to earn the fastest fortune in the Monsoon Market!

A La Kart
Food fighters, hit the road! Bump karts out of your way with Pasta Shells! Blast ahead with a Mushzoom! Baste the track with an Olive Oil Spill! Taste sweet victory while rivals eat your dust!

Tractor Pull (Co-design with Matt Everheart)
It’s time for the Tri-County Triple-Rope Tug-of-War! Lead your team of scrappy vehicles against your rival in three unique arenas! Beware the crooked refs! Pull the most ropes to win the match. Win two out of three matches to become champion!

Light Rail
A new age of rail empire dawns in the near future! Barons vie for ownership of a mega-city’s growing commuter network. Claim routes that connect as many different districts as possible and fulfill lucrative contracts.

You can find PDF versions of all these sheets in this dropbox folder. Hope to see you at UnPub!

Preview Molly Ostertag's Art for "Curse You, Robin Hood!"

Molly Ostertag illustrated "Curse You, Robin Hood!" omg! OMG! I'm so happy with how these five characters turned out. She provided the line art and I did my best to add a few pops of color that wouldn't get in the way of her awesome work. Below is a time-lapse video of the coloring process.

And check out how it turned out below:

The People vs. Robin Hood

It's been about two months since I posted the rules for "Curse You, Robin Hood!" for public feedback. To summarize it, you're a merchant in the time of Robin Hood. You're trying to get rich, but not rich enough that Robin Hood notices your stockpile and robs from you. Each player simultaneously reveals a card from their hand, then some players engage in mandatory trades based on whether they play matching ranks or highest/lowest ranks. Here's the gist so far:

+ Many funny surprises as a result of the simultaneous reveals and mandatory trades
+ Great quick playstyle for tavern play
~ It's feather-light, which is a plus or minus depending on your group's preferences
- Though it is easy to play, it is hard to know how to play well
- Nuances of negotiation aren't immediately apparent

My options going forward are, very broadly speaking:

A. keep it light
OR
B. develop a heavier game with this core mechanism
AND
1. put it on a POD site
OR
2. put it on the pitch track for traditional publishing

A1: Keep it light and POD it
This was my usual modus operandi throughout 2014, which served me pretty well for that whole period. However, it also made for a frustrating dilemma for future publishers who took interest in the games much later. At the moment, I've had more games rejected for being too light than for being too heavy, which says to me that these light games are just better products for POD channels.

B1: Develop a heavier game and POD it
This will take a little longer as I figure out what to add to the game, meaning new mechanisms and components. I can foresee what is currently a trading mechanism instead being some other mandatory interaction, similar to the destiny deck in Cosmic Encounter. With new components, that likely raises the price beyond the usual $9.99 psychological limit. A tougher sell for the POD market.

A2: Keep it light and pitch it
I've had more games rejected for being too light than any other reason, partly because the economic pressures of POD games compel light gameplay with low price tags. As a result, it's harder to "stretch" these games for kickstarter campaigns. Meanwhile, even if it does get accepted, you have to compete with hundreds of other light games that come on the market every quarter. It's a very crowded market. Gotta admit, this option isn't enticing.

B2: Develop a heavier game and pitch it
More recently, I've tried to beef up my old light games to be a little more meaty, but then now I'm having the opposite problem. The games are feeling a little too cumbersome in their procedures or upkeep. That's probably just me still grappling with this sphere of game design, but more than one bit of advice has told me that I need to go in this direction if my career is going to develop any further.

So yeah, I'm trying to figure out where to go next. No verdict just yet. All of these options have pros and cons. What do you think?

"Curse You, Robin Hood!" seeks playtesters!

I'm happy to say that "Curse You, Robin Hood!" is now ready for public playtesting. In the legendary days of Sherwood forest, the regular Joe merchants trying to earn an honest buck keep getting robbed by Robin Hood. They quickly learn that the trick to getting rich in Sherwood is to just not be the richest merchant, otherwise you're the biggest target for the Merry Men.

Find the complete rules here along with a PnP PDF of the 50 cards. This is the next stage of development of Sharewood, the original light tavern card game a bunch of us playstormed at BGGcon this year. (The story behind that is in this post.)

Curse You Robin, Hood! expands from 1 to 6 players, uses a custom the deck, simplifies scoring, adds shooting the moon and multi-round rules. I'm pretty proud of the solo rules as well, since they're not exclusively limited to one-player games. The bots can be added to a group of any size. It's pretty fun! Hope you get a chance to play!

Have fun!