September Update - Game Development

Sometimes things move quickly while developing a new game, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes things click into place really quickly and everything comes together (the idea for Strong Point came together very quickly once it became Strong Point), and at other times it's like an avalanche that starts slowly, but the further down the mountainside it gets the more it gathers momentum. It's almost a year ago that we announced that we had plans for a new game, based around running a marathon. At that point we had a name, and a basic concept of what we wanted the game to be like. And like an avalanche things started slowly. In fact, for some time it felt like we might struggle to overcome that inertia, but slowly, surely, we started to roll.

Over the last month or two, the game has really begun to take on a definite identity. An identity of how the game will play, of how it will look, and how we can refine it to be where we would like it to be. Gill has done some incredible work in creating cards for the game that are improving with each iteration, to the point that now we want to see what an artist can do to bring them fully to life. The player boards are also close to how we would like them, and again, are just needing the artwork to take them to the next level. As for the race board, all it is needing now is some finishing touches and it too is ready for an artist to work their magic. The original design of the board that Gill did (virtually in one day), has received so much love and attention from everyone who has seen it, it has gone from a quick idea to use for testing the game to 'this is probably how the board will look'.

Game development isn't a linear process, it's a circular one. You design something, you try it out, you make changes, and then you try it out again. And again. And again. All the while the aim is to explore what works, what doesn't, and what nearly does. So during this process the game changes, sometimes a little bit, sometimes quite drastically. The following images show how some of the components in the game have evolved:

With all of these pictures it needs restating that these are not how the finished game will look, these use placeholding artwork, designed for testing the game, and for giving some guidance for when the artist gets to work! However, it is possible to see the steps in the evolution of the design, from the very early idea, to how the Training cards could look. The aim was to move towards reducing the text on most of the cards and replacing it with icons that are hopefully much quicker and easier to understand.

That is also the case with one of the core concepts of the game, which is the Fitness Tracker. We believe using the Fitness Tracker is a unique concept that we are bringing to the race game genre, and we also wanted the tracker to help players identify what each facet of 'fitness' brings to your ability to move during the race phase of the game. The evolution of the tracker was about ensuring a consistency of iconography across the cards and the tracker, again making it much easier to understand and use.

Over the weekend of the 5th-7th of September, we attended Tabletop Scotland at The Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh. It is the third year in a row that we have been at this event and it has very quickly become one of our favourites. The atmosphere is chilled, the people friendly, and the connections made invaluable. This year we weren't just exhibiting with our Strong Point Trivia collection, we were showing 26.2 to real people for the very first time. And by showing, this meant giving them the opportunity to play the game, either in part, or if they were willing, a full playthrough from beginning to end. There was a little nervousness about how it would be received, as you can probably imagine!

We had some amazing feedback and responses to the game, with some of the responses being quite humbling. Everyone who played was complementary and enjoyed their playthrough. We have really tried to make it as immersive and engaging as possible, so that playing the game feels as close to being part of a marathon experience as you can get without actually having to run 26.2 miles! A few comments we got from players encouraged us to feel that we have got that aspect of 26.2 close to where we want it to be.

We also had some great feedback and constructive suggestions to help improve the game. Feedback like this at this time is exactly what we hope for by demonstrating 26.2 at events like Tabletop Scotland. We want players to find improvements with the game now rather than after we have launched it! So, if you did play over the weekend, rest assured your feedback has been listened to and given due consideration!

In terms of development, we're part of a fantastic board game designer community which can be found on Instagram which allows us to connect with other indie designers for advice and support.

https://www.instagram.com/boardgameprotohype/

So where next for 26.2? Playtesting will be a vital part of the coming months tweaks to make and then conversations will begin with an artist to take the look of the game to the next stage of producing prototype copies. As for trying it out for yourselves, we are hoping to be at AireCon next year, along with Tabletop Gaming Live, Leeds Board Game Convention, and UK Games Expo, so if you want to have a play of 26.2 look out for us at these events!

If you've enjoyed reading this we have one little request, if you know any gamers or runners who would be interested in this game, please forward this email or point them in the direction of our website and ask them to subscribe to our mailing list so they can stay in the loop with the future developments of 26.2 too!

Thanks for reading

Gill & Si