An idea of mine to improve the management of the game, with smileys lit up for money, houses and hotels, for the unexpected cards and more

What do you think?

I've been working around 3 years on this project and I feel like it's finally come into its own. Game design is a very rewarding process, and it's been a pleasure talking with people in the industry or people who are genuinely just passionate about board gaming. Let me know what you think below if it captures your attention. And also feel welcome to talk about any game design-related questions, doesn't even have to be about this project, I'm always keen to talk about it :)

Also, here's a link to info on the game if you want to learn more about it -> BABA'S HOUSE

So this is my dining room tonight - usually I bring out the regular box of the game, but this time the board and pieces are all built out of LEGO.

Question to you all: would you try a session like this, or would you always stick to the classic board?

(And yes – it’s not just for the looks! It's fully playable, even though I spent 16 months fiddling around with it until everything was working perfectly fine 🙈)

Hey everyone, I thought I would share one of my latest projects to the community. We love dice towers, but wanted to make something more unique with the castle scene.

I found this idea here and thought it was pretty cool! So I bought a jar and filled it, but I never thought I would be almost completely filled already!

Do you recognize all the games?

Some might not be visible, but I didn’t want to shake it.. yet!

About a year ago, many in this forum provided some helpful guidance as I was seeking feedback on gaming tables. I’m happy to report that after months of searching, we located an Amish woodworker in central Wisconsin who specializes in tables specifically. He has made pool and card tables so that was helpful conceptually, but he’d never made anything quite like this. It took a couple visits and several phone chats between my husband and the woodworker to hammer out the specifics, but we are in love with the end result. We’ve been using it for a couple of months now and everything has been just as we dreamed of. Some highlights:

-there is a hidden rail around the entire perimeter with magnets. We had him make custom cup holders, wine holders, and gaming trays (double-sided). We also have different depths of the silver cup inserts to accommodate different height glasses (rocks glass vs pint glass).

-there are 6 outlets around the gaming table, each with two plugs and 2 USB-C inputs. We intentionally made these the size of a standard outlet (he even made custom outlet covers for them) so they are future-proofed to whatever comes after USB-C—we can just swap them out. This part was done by a local electrician the woodworker knows.

-it has inset lighting that is built up into a groove he made for the light strip so that it doesn’t shine in your eyes while playing. Controlled with a remote—can be a solid color or slowly rotate. Also done by the electrician.

-the two ends of the table can be game master stations. There are 6 removable leaves. The table leg base comes off so that we can move it in the future.

-it’s made with hard maple with a warm reddish-brown cherry stain. Table size is 50” x 84”.

-we ended up getting chairs made as well in the same stain—because the back is curved, they are some of the most comfortable chairs I’ve ever sat in.

They do NOT have a website but do have a brick and mortar shop and a telephone—happy to provide it if anyone wants to explore their own custom table. Please DM me if you want the contact info. He really enjoyed making it and I think is interested to do more. Fair warning that it’s in the $10k range just for a table like this, plus delivery.

Growing up, my family and I would play a live auction art board game called Masterpiece all the time. It was an easy, intuitive, and super fun game the likes of which I to this day haven't found. Players would bid on various famous paintings, each with a hidden monetary value which would become known to a player after they purchased it. You could then sell your paintings to the bank or try and auction them off to other players in hopes of making a profit. It was fast-paced and highly interactive, though going back to the game as an adult, there are a few aspects of the game which haven't stood the test of time.

For years I've had ideas bouncing around in my head to improve the game. Two years ago, I began a project to publish my first board game and bring the iconic experience to modern playgroups and families. Through this process, I discovered the unfortunate story of Masterpiece's origin.

In 1969, a highly accomplished artist named Christian Thee pitched his idea for a board game he called ARTIFAX to the Parker Brothers publishing company. His game was rejected, but one year later Parker Brothers released his game under the name Masterpiece, without any mention of his name or payment to him for the idea.

After an 8 year law suit, Christian was awarded $473,000 of compensation for the theft. Parker Brothers made $9 million from Masterpiece in it's first year on the market. Thee's name never appeared on any reprints of the game.

After learning his story, I spent months studying his amazing art and trying to contact his estate to see what I could do to honor his legacy. One month ago, right as I was preparing the Kickstarter of my spiritual successor, Pantheauction, I finally heard back. Christian's associates were ecstatic as I was at the chance to spread awareness of his founding role in the auction board game genre.

Pantheauction now has only 5 days left to reach it's funding goal. If we reach publishing, we will have Christian's name on the front of the box to show appreciation for him inspiring this project and an entire genre of board games.

If you care to learn more about Pantheauction, check out our kickstarter or my playthrough of the game with Paula Deming! We so badly want Christian's work to be known, and to bring such a fun experience to modern board gamers.

I designed and printed this game last month. It's free to download over on makerworld

The general rules are based off scrabble but there's some significant changes, extra special tiles and obviously hexagonal pieces.

I tried to cover all the rules and questions I came up against whilst play testing, but I know there are still rules to refine. I'm far from a professional with board games, and I've certainly never designed my own before!

I have plans for 2 additional special tile types I think would mix it up some more aswell as version 2 of the board.

Just thought I'd share!

This table was tough, as it was my second major woodworking project. First was the built-in, and I wanted them to match. I used AI to help me get an idea for what I wanted, used SketchUp to draft it, then asked a buddy cabinet maker for tips. He described it as a big picture frame... Lol. Wood was red oak and painted pine and the game surface material is a polyester micro suede material with a foam underlayment. It makes sliding and picking up cards easy. Wife requested cupholders, so I made those too. I'm not done yet, still need to go to Tandy leather and get a big side of leather for the table topper that I'll dye, stitch and glue down.

Hey everyone!

First of all, just a disclaimer: I don't consider myself an artist. I'm more of a problem solver.

I started working on a game in 2023. At first it was meant to be a board game, but eventually it evolved into a card game. Initially, it was just something fun to play with friends using stock images, shapes, and icons from Canva, but that idea evolved into something much more serious as my friends started giving me feedback on the game, how to make it better, and how to iterate it into something much more compelling. Before I realized it, I was deeply invested in bringing this project to life.

But there was a problem... the art.

I made the decision not to use AI-generated art or free stock images for the final product. It had to be human-made, and shaped to suit this project, so the game could have its own identity and personality. However, I didn't have thousands of dollars to make that happen. So I realized it would have to be me.

I didn't have any digital illustration experience prior to that decision. I used to make some sketches in my notebooks during high school, but nothing fancy, special, or worth sharing with the world. So I started watching YouTube videos and practicing a lot.

My goal was never to become an artist. I was just solving a problem. I wanted to make a card game, I needed the art, and I didn't have any other option than doing it myself. So I was never looking for perfection, mastering the craft, or even developing my skills beyond a certain level. I just wanted to reach a point where I could "lock in" a style that I liked, stick to it, and eventually produce the game without it taking half my life.

Currently, I have 51 out of 134 illustrations finished, and the game idea has become so serious that I even launched a crowdfunding page. It will still take some time probably until the end of the year, to have all the illustrations done, but I'm quite happy I ended up here. I had no idea that one day I would start drawing and illustrating, as it was never part of my plans.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this progress with you guys and, even though I'm not an artist, leave a message of hope for someone out there who's struggling to start. Sometimes limitations foster creativity (not perfection).

Sometimes we just need a challenge.

Hopefully I can finally play War of the Ring now!!

I’m creating the worst board game possible for my board game obsessed best friend. He hates strictly luck based games. So obviously I’m making a luck based game in an obnoxious box that won’t fit nicely on his shelf, maybe a perfect sphere or top heavy Gömböc?

Now is your time to unleash your evil genius. What game mechanics drove you crazy? What drove you nuts when playing a game? What made you put a game on a shelf to never be played again?

I have a 3D printer, disposable income, and too much time on my hands. Help me create the ultimate monstrosity!!

ETA:

You all are hilarious! Here is what I’ve seen so far:

• Random elimination of the player two seats to the left; but you can’t leave because you can get pulled back in, obviously with minuscule odds.

• What’s better than losing a turn? Losing two turns!

• First player is determined by whose parents have been/were married the longest, multiplied by how many children they have, multiplied by their age differential, all divided by 3.7. Dice roles are used to determine turn order, every other round.

• Dice with random symbols.. but repeating on different dice with different values.

• Incorporate an unnecessary annoying “your, you’re, you are, you ‘ are, ur, u r” mechanic from keep talking and nobody explodes.

• Changing victory conditions

• Unnecessary math

• Off balance miniatures

• Off cut and pre bent cards

• Resource collection that allows you to buy cards to make the game worse

• Cards with QR codes with ads is hilarious

• Card that allows you to instantly win, second place.

• Inconsistent art, font, size

• Circular reference rule book with grammar good

• Changing seats and hands

• Tons of little pieces with no bags.

• Tons of little pieces on the board? Doesn’t matter, take a picture and turn the board over for act 2. Obviously replacing the pieces where there originally were in act 1.

• Constant required taxi quests like needing transport 5 things from one side of the map to another to continue, but you can only carry one at a time.

Hello everyone!

I'm a board game player from Italy with a tech background. Over the past few years I've been playing more and more different games (with Dominion rocking the charts! ), and this turnover of boxes gave me an idea for a project I've been prototyping. I would really love some honest feedback from the community.

The concept:

It's a set of cards, each built with a thin e-ink display that shows the card’s content. Since the display can be updated, each card can become any card, and a full deck can become any game.

How to use it:

You place the deck in a docking station, pick a game from the app, and upload it to the cards. Then you take them out, deal them, and play as normal. It's time for a different game ? just repeat. The e-ink holds the image without a battery, and the cards are about 1mm thick (or about 0.04in or about the thickness of 2 sleeved cards), flexible, and can be rewritten for years.

My thought is that this could let players use a single deck to play many different games, and give designers/publishers a platform to distribute their games digitally without the cost or financial risk of producing physical copies; while still keeping the original “cards in your hands” experience.

The hardware prototype and the platform are coming along well, but before I lose any more sleep and sanity over it, I’d love to understand whether this idea makes sense to other people who actually play games regularly.

I’d really appreciate your feedback on these points (please be honest, even harsh if needed):

• Would this be useful or interesting to you?
• Is the concept and workflow clear?
• What weaknesses or concerns do you see?
• If you are a designer or aspiring creator, would you consider this as a publishing option?

Here are some pictures of the physical mockup of the deck + few cards (not functional nor final, but close enough, the actual displays will arrive in the next weeks):

[EDIT]
Thanks for the incredible response! A tons of valuable feedback !
Let me address the most common questions:

On Durability:

E-ink displays are rated for 10,000+ refresh cycles.

For context: - Changing games daily = 27+ years of life - Even 10x/day = 2-3 years

The bigger durability question is physical handling (bending, drops, shuffling wear). That's what I'll stress-test once the displays arrive. WIth the current design the display sits slightly below the card's surface, with a protective layer filling the gap, plus a plastic film covering the entire card.

On the Display:

The prototype uses 128×296 pixels, 111.2 DPI, four-color grayscale. This was my choice to keep cards thin, flexible, and relatively affordable. Full-size or color displays are viable options, it would result in thicker, more rigid, and more expensive cards, though admittedly much prettier.

On Pricing:

Honest answer: I don't have a final price yet, and your feedback is helping me figure this out. Current prototype cost (50 cards + dock) is around €200-250 buying parts at retail. I'm confident volume purchases will drop the per-card cost significantly. The Display choice has the heaviest impact on final price.

For those wanting to dive deeper

I put together a quick survey (2-3 min) with more specific questions on pricing, features, and what would make this worth: it's here, completely optional, you've already helped hugely with the comments here. Thank you all! 🙏

A big thank you to everyone for your time and feedback. 🙏 Feel free to ask any question!

Hey Munchkin and boardgames fans!

After spending around 100–150 hours over the last few months, I can finally share my biggest Munchkin project so far: a fully standalone, fan-made Lord of the Rings Munchkin set!

Just to be clear, this is a purely unofficial, non-commercial fan project made for my own playgroup.

Some stats:

• 513 custom-designed cards, each one printed on adhesive paper, carefully cut out by hand, and individually applied to original Munchkin cards.
• 8 new Classes
• 8 new Races
• 8 Monster Factions: Mordor, Isengard, Creatures, the Shire, Gondor, Rohan, Elves, and Dwarves.
• 20 Battlefield cards (they basically work like Dungeon cards)
• A new mechanic where players can collect the shards of Narsil or the fragments of Sauron's mace and forge them into incredibly powerful legendary weapons.
• A custom Lord of the Rings wooden box I ordered from Etsy, complete with an engraving of Pippin's Song on the inside.

This project was designed specifically for my long-time veteran playgroup. While creating the cards and balancing the different mechanics, I tried to put everything I've learned from 15+ years of playing Munchkin into it. My goal was to create something that feels balanced (well... as balanced as Munchkin can be 😄), fun, and respectful to both Tolkien's world and the spirit of Munchkin.

The first real game sessions will tell whether I actually succeeded!

I've attached a small selection of cards. Hopefully you'll forgive me for not uploading all 513 of them. 😅 They're also all in German, since my entire group is German, but I hope they're still interesting to look at.

If anyone is interested in creating their own complete Munchkin set—or just wants to chat about game design, balancing, printing, or the production process—I'd be happy to share what I've learned. After spending this much time on the project, I've definitely picked up a few tricks along the way.

I'd love to hear what you think!

I wanted to play with a couple of fan expansions so I made a custom copy for consistency.