I talk a lot about Luthiers, because it is my game with the most maturity so far, but I have been spending more time on other projects than this one lately to be honest. Here is a sneak-peak of my other projects. I might have blurred out a few screenshots because they are not ready to be revealed yet :-)
TURISMO
I haven't talked about this one a whole lot, but we began the playtesting. In this game, players are hotel resort managers in Riviera Maya, Mexico in which they build and improve their facilities, and attract/lodge tourists. Actions are taken with Action Tokens around a Rondel. There are Facilities cards (that generate income, attract tourists, etc) and Lodging cards, on which you can lodge Tourists for the round and gain income (or lose money if vacant!). There are many tracks : Maintenance (create expenses, but can be reduced), Income, Restaurant/Amenities/Lodging quality, Rating, Employees Needed / Employees Hired.
This version below had an additional modular rondel on the player boards, but this has been removed (maybe will be reused in another game?). New screenshot will follow.
Mechanisms
- Action Selection in a Rondel
- Tableau / Engine building
- Set Collection
- Area Majority
INFIDELIS
My most ambitious and heaviest game, and certainly the one with the most back-and-forth. I have great mechanism ideas, but I create the theme based on these mechanisms and not the opposite like I usually do. Expect a very dark theme, and very heavy game for this one. A lot of ideas are in place, but I am still far from being able to playtest it. In summary, players will place/move/remove upgradable workers along four different tracks using deck-building / hand management. There will also be a fifth location in which the action locations will be tiles layed down by the players and will evolve throughout the game. There is also a Tech Tree, many resources, burnt out workers, political climates, etc. Oof. I also recently wanted to try a mechanic in which players choose how many workers they want to hire at the begining of a round. The trick is, you have to pay your hired workers at the end of the round as well (Age of Steam influence here...).
Mechanisms
- Worker Placement with Point-to-Point movement
- Deck Building / Hand Management
- Tech Tree
- Upgradable Workers
- Grid Coverage
- Tile Placement
??? (no title Economic game)
Probably the game I am the most stoked about lately. It is no secret that I love City of the Big Shoulders; it is such a clever and unique game, and a great gateway to 18xx's. I needed to create something in that same idea. The Stock phase should be pretty similar to CotBS, or at least we'll start from there and make it evolve. The rest is however completely different, and the visual/feel will be modern.
In summary :
- There are 3 different products that can be produced and sold. The products are similar, so companies can choose to either specialize in one or diversifies and make 2 or 3.
- Products are sold by completing worldwide Contracts.
- Companies can be started in any of the 6 Continents. Each continent will have pros/cons and access to different Contracts. Companies can access Contracts in other continents by hiring Salesman.
- Production lines can either be Manual, Mechanized, or Automatized. Manual lines will provide more flexibility around the products made, but will have a smaller output. Automatized line, on the opposite, are very effective but can only product one product. They also require more employees and better expertise.
- Action are taken by drafting dice. Each dice represent workers. There are 7 different colors, which represent the different functions : Operator, Maintenance Supervisor, Buyer, Salesman, Engineer, Plant Manager, Director. The value of the die represent the employee's experience; a higher number will give you better rewards but also increases expenses.
- Drafting a die allow you to take the action corresponding to that color. The die's value may also impact the action taken. Important : you must have available spots on your compagnie's board to hire that worker. Operators (value 1-3) are wild and are the only one that can be replaced in-round. Improving your plant will unlock more spots and thus allow you to take more actions for that company.
- The dice are drafted from a Rondel that gives bonus/malus when drafting them. Fired workers are sent back to the Rondel. New workers are drawn from a bag each round. Workers that exit the rondel go back to the bag.
Mechanisms
- Ownership
- Stock Holding
- Dice Drafting
- Rondel
- Contracts
Route 132
A thinky-filler that is being playtested on Tabletopia. Unfortunately, the game has a bigger footprint that what I wanted, still need work... So, you play cards to move on the map and take actions such as drafting tiles. There are 3 shapes of tiles possible - each having 3 hexes - and each hex has a color (out of 5) and an icon (out of 5). You score point by completing different color and icon combinations. Cards can also be played in your area to create a landscape, earning VP's at the end of the game.
Mechanisms
- Hand management
- Tile laying
- Point-to-point movement
- Set collection
"PENROSE TILES + MANCALA"
I said too much.
AGE OF STEAM - QUEBEC MAP
Working on my first AoS map : the province of Quebec ! Details to come.
What game seems the most interesting to you?
Simon D.
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