Hey everyone, long time no chat!
As a few people in the GoF Discord chat know, I have been working on making a board game for the last while. I've been playtesting it by myself a bit but there's only so much I can do alone!
In short, I'm looking for people who are eager to try out this potentially broken, alpha-state board game with me by playing online together!
First 4 volunteers to commit to a time will be selected!
[EDIT]The game on Sunday, Feb 25, 2018 is FULL! I'd be happy to catch anyone I missed in the next play session (TBA)! Thanks for your interest!
[/EDIT]IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE PLAYTEST:Date and Time: Sunday, Feb 25th, 2018. I'm available all day and I propose
11am MST (GMT -7). Please let me know if there is a better time for you. I'm flexible, we just need to all agree on a time.
How are we going to play together? Tabletop Simulator on Steam. This game is a physics sandbox that lets people play board games together, just like in real life. You grab pieces, draw cards, throw coins at each other, all the normal stuff you can do at a real table. I converted my game into Tabletop Simulator so all I need to do is host a game and anyone with Tabletop Simulator can join!
I recommend messing around with Tabletop Simulator a bit on your own before our playtest so you can get a bit of a feel for its controls (how to draw and flip over cards, how to look at your hand, stuff like that).
I don't have Tabletop Simulator but I want to join! I have 2 copies to give away. The first two people who ask me for a copy and offer to playtest with me will receive one of my copies for free! [EDIT] Rhombus and Hypno have claimed my 2 free copies. Thanks guys!!
After that, Tabletop Simulator often goes on sale so you can pick it up pretty cheap.
Will you be running other playtests at later dates? I don't just want just to buy Tabletop Simulator to play this with you once. Absolutely! This will be an ongoing project that's already seen very good progress and has had a lot of time spent on it already. It's not being abandoned.
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COOL! WHAT IS THE GAME ABOUT? WHAT IS IT?Title: "Seaworthy" - Name subject to change.
Number of players: 4-5 ideally but I can handle more than 5 if it comes to that later on. For this test however, I'm looking to run no more than 5 players. If we only get 4 that's completely fine too.
Premise of the game: Each player takes control of 1 of 5 seafaring adventurers on-board a ship together. The goal is to be the player with the highest score at the end of the journey...assuming you survive that long! Players will need to work together to keep the ship afloat through challenges. Gain points by doing better than your fellow crew members at maintaining your health, gaining Clout (power) over others, becoming the Captain (until someone snatches that title from you!) and amassing glorious Loot. Bonus points are awarded by helping take care of the ship and keeping others alive. It's a semi-cooperative experience full of diplomacy, backstabbing and pushing your way to victory!
It's a tense interplay of resource management and strategy as you need to decide when to do what, how greedy you want to be...and even when it may be best to die in a catastrophic pirate raid so you can haunt old crew members to victory!
At the beginning of the game, you choose between 1 of 5 characters. Each one has a unique deck of cards which you use throughout the game. These decks give each character a unique playstyle, from being a master thief to pummeling their way to victory and taking advantage of weaker players. Still others prefer to earn their way to victory more honestly and benefit greatly from being the Captain. Others are just here for the Loot and have countless ways to accumulate it. Want to be rewarded by keeping everyone alive? One character specifically focuses on achieving victory through this method! Want to kill everyone in sight? You can do that too! Want to be relentless and risky? You can. Want to play it safe? You can.
What if you end up dying an untimely death? You come back as a Ghost, still completely able to win the game. Every Ghost in the game works together with every other Ghost. Ghosts either all win together or all lose together! Be careful not to create too many ghosts too early or you WILL regret it!
Type of game: What will I be doing? Your turns will consist of playing cards from your hand to build up your Life, Clout and Loot, or pummeling the stats of other unsuspecting players. Every 4 turns, you regenerate your limited Energy, which can be used to help - or sabotage! - the current crisis, reinforce the ship or protect yourself from the cruelty of your fellow shipmates. It's a game of Energy resource management and strategic timing of how to use the cards you've been dealt.
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ENOUGH TALK! WHAT DOES THE GAME LOOK LIKE?I'm no graphic designer, but here are some images from the game so you can get an idea of what it's really like:
How the game looks, in-progress, in Tabletop Simulator
Here are the 5 playable characters:
Gracie the Eccentric Archaeologist - the master of treasure hunting! Excels at amassing Loot
Zeke the Parrot Whisperer and his parrot, Shipwreck - The honest, quirky hard worker. Excels at amassing Clout and becoming Captain.
Victor the Pirate Hunter - The short-tempered fellow who whips out his pistol at every opportunity. Excels at attacking opponents' Life and taking advantage of players at low Life.
Scarlet the Adventurous - This one is sly, cunning and manipulative - a great thief. She exploits the Captain at every opportunity.
Norah the Enchanted Mermaid - She's been enchanted into Human form but still retains her mystical healing and natural powers! She excels at keeping the crew alive, resurrecting players who are killed and being rewarded generously for doing so! Don't get on her bad side or she may sacrifice some of her OWN lifeforce to put you out of your misery!
The HAUNTING DECK - This is what all Ghosts use in their gameplay instead of their original Character deck. All sorts of spooky effects lie in here, including the imfamous POSSESSION card, where a Ghost can take a turn FOR a living player (provided the Ghost has enough Clout) MUAHAHAHAHA!
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A few examples of the other side of some cards:
Victor the Pirate Hunter:
Norah the Enchanted Mermaid:
Scarlet the Adventurous:
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Post back if you're interested!
I will post up the game's FULL rules ahead of time so you can be familiar with the game before we start testing. Of course, I'll be in the game too to guide and answer questions!
Thanks everyone!
