#splotter

[caseyscraftycorner]

One of the funniest things to me about boardgames as a hobby is that everyone knows board games, as in everyone knows monopoly/life/catan/etc, so basically everyone is interested when you say you boardgame as a hobby, but far fewer people are Into Boardgames. It results in both a funny little song and dance in conversations where you try to figure out if someone likes boardgames or Likes Boardgames, and it means that, sometimes, you think someone Likes Boardgames and they don't and you end up saying absolutely unhinged shit to them like "it's basically a competitive logic puzzle" or "the second meanest two-player game about growing trees" or "route planning but also you can reverse the direction of time"

[whovian223]

Friday Night Shots - Catch Up Mechanisms

Friday Night Shots - Catch Up Mechanisms

It’s the last Friday before Christmas and all through the malls, too many creatures were stirring, so much so that I would rather carve Shem Phillips’ initials into my hand with a penknife than go shopping. I think that’s how that old Christmas poem goes. I could be a bit off. Anyway, welcome back to the bar! I’m glad you decided to get cozy and warm here, having some libations (maybe not…

[jerichomere]

Yeah okay the ocean gets its own poll. We’re all going in the water. (Have no fear, the reef protects this area from sharkies)

[ghostpalmtechnique]

I played Horseless Carriage, the newest Splotter game, yesterday. I have somewhat split feelings about it. On the one hand, certain aspects of it would probably make it my favorite Splotter game. On the other hand, I semi-seriously recommended that the owner glue all the tiles to thin Lego pieces, because an ill-timed bump of your player area could wreck your factory arrangement in a way that would be difficult to recreate, among other fiddly-component issues.

[shashagames]

Splotter makes the random-est games and I am not sure I will every play Horseless Carriage again 😒

Where did my hours go? #neveragain

[patricia-taxxon]

i remember splotter saying something like "if you cant lose on the first turn then why is it there" and it makes me angry but i can't see any fault in their logic

i think the difference between modern designer board games & long standing competitive staples like chess & go is that designer board games are (affectionately) not really designed to become a lifestyle, they're usually designed so that you can be reasonably good at them and participate after only a few games, which is why chess people only play 1 game and modern board game people play 100 games. there are exceptions of course, some games like food chain magnate go in a more chess-like direction of completely eschewing quality of life anti-kingmaking or anti-knockout mechanics, but this is seen as an alternative and harsh design choice.

[pixelrender]

Board Games Wishlist (2023 Update)

It’s been two years since the last list and a lot has changed. I think that my wishlist actually is the smallest it has ever been and there are very few must haves. Reasons behind this are simple. I actually bought some games second hand in auctions and now I find it much more interesting to have older lesser known games. I also played some fifty different games on BGA and that made my taste and my niches a lot cleaner. I like certain kinds of train games, I like auctions and betting in general and I find most worker placement games I’ve played so far boring.

I also decided on an overall shape my library or collection or call it whatever you want of board games should have. It should contain roughly three groups of games. The core are heavier or very niche games, which can take longer to play and playing them is an experience. I would expect this group to contain games from smaller niche publishers like Holland Spiele, Splotter, Winsome, Treefrog/Warfrog or Wehrlegig. Many of these can be limited runs or difficult to get outside of the USA, so they probably would end up being permanent gems in my collection. I don’t expect myself to get my hands on more than 1 or 2 games in this category short term, so I don’t have to worry too much about space or games getting played here. The second category are games I mostly own now. This category is ideal for medium sized games with quite straightforward rules, but a lot of depth in terms of options. I prefer games with less components, which maximize player’s choices and loads of interaction. Wallace, Knizia, Kiesling and Kramer are typical examples of designers making games, which fit this category. This category should rotate a little bit more and games could get replaced easily with something fresher after some time. Long-term I’d expect it to bloat to some 20 titles and get a lot firmer. The third group are small and ideally fast games. These don’t take almost any space in comparison with previous categories. I could have a drawer full of them, dozens of games. I want to buy some of these mostly to explore possibilities of light rulesets and to be able to take one or two of them with me on a road and maybe use it in a hostel as way to meet new people.

There is one more category. I would like to create DIY versions of some of the games just to get crafty and maybe later create some prototypes of my own. There are also games like Chocolate Factory I want to talk about here, suggests ways to make it more interesting and so on. Now, lets talk individual titles still on my wishlist and let’s keep it brief. I’m not including everything. I decided to only include 5 items max in each category and these are the ones I’m the most interested in at the moment.

The Core

Early Railways Collection - Yes, the first item contains three different games released originally independently by Winsome Games and all three of them being iterations of the same system designed by Martin Wallace and considered a spiritual predecessor to Age of Steam. They are a lot less about building tracks and even more about managing your income, auctioning and delivering. They seem to be beautifully simple with a lot of depth. The first two are mostly the same with the last one (Australian Railways) adding more rules and creating a different puzzle. There are quite a few pictures of home brew version on BGG and I might consider making my own homemade version too.

Age of Steam - A lifestyle game about delivering goods via trains by Martin Wallace. I watched a lot of footage of this and I really like it and find the way the game navigates players through a relatively complicated round structure great. It’s interactive, cutthroat and filled with satisfying decision. I would like to buy the new deluxe edition, but I’m slightly worried about its big box and if it will fit among my other games. Other than that It’s a beautiful version with graphics by Ian O’Toole.

Pax Porfiriana - This one could actually enter my collection soon, because it’s very likely that a Czech version gets released this or the next year. Pax games are a weird bunch of historical games, often with weird ethics, originally with a small footprint. This one seems to be the most accessible one with the most interesting theme of civil unrest in Mexico around the reign of Porfirio Diaz. You play cards and do various stuff to improve your situation or to damage your opponent. Other Sierra Madre games could be an alternative (Greenland for example), but this one is the one I would like to try out the most.

Honorable mentions - this category has a long list of them. There are many games fitting it, but because of their availability or price, I would be happy to get my hands on any of them. There are Splotter games including Roads and Boats, The Great Zimbabwe and UR: 1830 B.C. or the original edition of Bus. Most of them are expensive and limited runs. Next on Holland Spiele with games like Dual Gauge and The Soo Line and An Infamous Traffic by Cole Wehrle. This one might actually get updated and published by his own company, Wehrlegig. John Company: Second Edition is super high on my list too. It’s just too expensive to justify the purchase right now. Oath and Arcs look interesting too. Amabel Holland also designed quite a few interesting cube rail games for Winsome games of John Bohrer. There are at least twenty interesting games from the publisher, but I guess that a more reasonable choice here would be to attend a dedicated con and play a bunch. The last bunch of games isn’t as difficult to obtain but they’re still heavier euro games. Very thematic Obsession was my game of 2022, Autobahn looks like an interesting twist on Age of Steam and Carnegie is a very fun heavier games, in which placing workers isn’t boring. Picture featured below is from the Holland Spiele’s The Vote: Suffrage and Supression in America.

The Backbone

Assyria - I mentioned this in my end of the year list, but I love how this game combines theme with mechanisms in a fairly light euro game. Every decision is interesting an important and you feel like you always want to do more. The esthetic of Assyria is also very pleasant and it helps the theme. In its physical form this feels like an ideal game to play once a year with friends.

Tinner’s Trail - I guess this could be easily replaced by other Martin Wallace games. TT is the one I’ve tried and I know I enjoy. I think I would also enjoy slightly heavier Brass and other economic games from the designer. I think that Early Railways games might actually be relatively close to this too. This one has a cool mining theme, a second edition with vibrant artwork (maybe too vibrant) and really fun auctions well tied to other mechanisms. It’s about investing the right amount of money or even losing auctions at some points to earn money. There’s also time management. Each action costs hours. Improving your mines, setting up operations or mining. And if you spend too much time on other actions, you might not be able to mine as much. And ending your round later might mean less points and so on. Mechanisms in this are really well connected and I think this game sings.

Palaces of Carrara - Palaces didn’t make a good first impression on me. But I gave it a second chance and it has become my favourite game. It’s not a complicated game. Basically, you’re collecting cubes from a wheel and pay them to build structures in various cities and race to score those cities and to accomplish variable goals. It has a ton of replayability, agonizing decisions and scoring big feels satisfying af. I would like to own the first edition in a smaller sturdier box. I might even like the cover better. The photo was originally uploaded on BGG by Daniel Danzer aka @duchamp.

The Fodder Drawer 

Age of War - Actually, I put this back on my list earlier today after looking throw previous versions of this list on this blog. Surprisingly, the little Knizia dice chucker has become a rarity and It can’t be easily purchased. Still, I find it to be great little package, easy to get into, travel with to have in my drawer. In the end I decided to make it my Knizia in this section instead of great two player games Lost Cities and Battle Line.

Bohnanza - Because Shut Up and Sit Down says so. It looks like a fun little game, it has this great wacky theme and old school illustrations and it is cheap. Another Amigo game I would consider is 6 Nimmt, which is a good party time. Bohnanza  got the spot in the end, because it’s a bluffing game and I quite enjoy bluffing.

Targi - I played this on BGA few times and it’s a great thinky game. It’s not a game I’m always in mood for, but it’s fairly easy to explain and it only takes two. Basically, It’s an alternative to chess.  Targi is dry as the desert it is set in, but it’s still little more merciful than the olde game and I don’t feel as bad losing it.

Village Rails - I still want this fairly new game from Osprey. I like the visual style, the local theme being boring in a good way and I actually quite like the designer, who also made Chocolate Factory.

Las Vegas - I really wanted to feature Rudiger Dorn on this list, because there’s a whole bunch of game he designed I would like to at least try. The obvious is Istanbul but I’m very likely buying an app here. Based on that I might end up getting the game eventually. Goa is on my wishlist too. Asante with its Swahili setting is something I would like to play too. Las Vegas is the one I thing should be here tho. The original version is small and simple and fun “area control’ game full of rolling dice and making good and bad decisions. The picture used is from the BGG user Fran F G aka @garea37.

To sum it up, I made this update more to show the shift in my thinking about board games and to show how my tastes has developed. There could be many other games listed, because there are many games I would purchase if there’s a cheap enough copy available. All of the featured games are ones I would love to own, tho.

[scrumpyfan43]

just got the worst Food Chain Magnate map

[heavydice]

This game blew my tiny little mind. With simple rules bordering on lightweight, the strategy involved in succeeding is incredible. Bus by Capstone Games and Splotter Spellen is the real deal, cons side red to be the first ever worker placement game. #busboardgame #boardgame #workerplacement #splotterspellen #splotter #capstonegames #meeples #strategygames https://www.instagram.com/p/CF19b6lhVST/?igshid=z7vpklb4915l

[jeremyheereissomeow]

Or

Splotter Man

like the spot and slender man

spot and slender mans friend name sould be... spotty slender

like the spot and slender man

[whovian223]

Food Chain Magnate: Special Edition Coming to Gamefound November 14

Food Chain Magnate: Special Edition Coming to Gamefound November 14 @luckyduckgames

Food Chain Magnate is not a game that I’ve ever really been able to get into, mainly because it appears to be long and pretty vicious. It’s a Splotter game, and I’ve never actually played one of their games before. I want to! But I haven’t. Anyway, the news I saw today made me excited for its fans, even though I am not one of them, so I wanted to give you a heads up about it! Az Drummond…

[niceferatu]

im having fun making designs for obscure Ohio Worms players.... This is Muse Scantron and Persephone Splotter and the images of them in my head makes me want to learn how to draw.... anyway i stan a chronically losing team

[clematys]

gamers. i didnt want to design an ohio worms logo but i did want to draw a card for persephone so here we are

[hellsplumber]

Before we get started: Firstly if this project interests you then please Follow us either here or at www.Aquars.co.uk for updates.

If you could help spread the word via sharing this post or anything else we’d greatly appreciate it! Not only for exposure, but we’re going to need testers!

Patreon:

Lastly if you feel extra passionate about the project, please consider supporting us over at Patreon!

Just knowing people are interested is a huge boost mentally, and if you want to fuel us with caffeine to boost us physically then all the better!  (In all seriousness, the money is for extra assets to speed up our workflow and server costs...).

There are rewards over there too such as being the first to play, creating a weapon for the game or simply being in the credits~<3

Okay, on with the post!

Discord: I was going to save this as a reward tier for Patreon but the more the merrier! Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/WZnf3R2

If you’re new here then let me explain Aquars!

Aquars is a colorful paint-based 4v4 online shooter. Players takes sides with 1 of 2 species then battle it out over new territories in a multitude of game modes.

Player characters are customizable with clothes, weapons and hairstyles, and get their own apartment to decorate.

Along with online battles, the hub-world itself is connected online allowing you to socialise with other players, shop together, visit the arcade and even visit each others apartments.

Those who’ve been following along with us from the start, here’s what’s new:

Characters: As I’m sure you can tell from the images, @nimadoodlez has been hard at work finalising our character models and bringing them from our original low-poly idea to current-gen specs. They’re now complete and I couldn’t be happier with them!

She’s also created some artwork that you can see at the top of the post, designed a few weapons (featured in the artwork!) AND created the first item of in-game clothing, a Donut Bikini.

With the character models complete I’ve been able to start coding the character customiser that’ll make sure everyone sees your character’s customisation online.

Visuals: I’ve been hard at work moving the project over to Unity 5.6 as it offers a much improved lighting system along with post-processing effects. The result is what you see above, pretty impressive global illumination and bounce lighting!

I’ve also added generated clouds to the sky to make the world a little more believable and got some nice water effects for our first battle stage. Shaders: I’ve completely re-wrote the paint shader for the FINAL final time! For the nerds out there, a single paintable area can use a single 128x128px texture, and uses a single color channel (plus alpha). The shader colorizes the paint, generates normals & shadows and animates the surface. This is a lot more efficient than writing to separate textures, and combined with an updated paint engine painting is super smooth.

I also modified the fur shader for the players so we can “mask” the fur, preventing it from rendering where it’ll be covered by clothing.

Environment: I’ve been hard at work creating misc models for use around the cities and stages, everything from shop-fronts to paving slabs. They’re all textured using PBR techniques which is new for me but much faster than previous texturing methods. You might be able to make a few of the models out in the pictures.

The city has been a major issue for me but I’m happy to say I’ve finally come up with a design I love! It may look simple right now as I block things out, but the finished version will have lots to do and places to explore. Here’s a view from the train station:

And one from the arcade:

The rest:

Here’s a quick look at the “interest” mechanic. Things in the players environment can grab their characters attention. There’s not much use to this, it just adds a little interactivity and makes them even more adorable!

In addition to all of this we’ve explored a few new mechanics for the players, a few alternate game modes, improved the character controller and squished a few bugs with it, reworked the gun system, figured out inverse kinematics for the tails AND worked on a new website;

Check out Aquars.co.uk, our official homepage! It’s a work in progress but it’s well on it’s way.

I’ll be posting news over there in the Dev Blog. I’ll continue to post on Tumblr too with links to the corresponding site post in case you want to interact with us there. It offers a few advantages over Tumblr as it allows you to comment and give us feedback and ideas, and allows me to post larger gifs and files.

As always, thanks for following our progress!

[retrocgads]

USA 1982

[thegaminggang]

Food Chain Magnate Board Game Returns to Stores

Food Chain Magnate, from Splotter Spellen, is a heavy-weight strategy game where players compete to run the biggest and best fast food conglomerate.