Every Game A Lesson, Every Lesson a Story
Community Through Games
Design Through Community
Community Through Games
An avid tabletop gamer since the mid 2000's, tabletop games have become a consistent aspect in my life. A social boon, I found community and the player experience to be the cornerstone of games.
Games Through Design
Design Through Community
Community Through Games
From my first roll-and-move fantasy game concept PathQuest to over a dozen games since, I seek innovative concepts in game design matched by elegance. I have outlined a few of my games and game concepts below.
Design Through Community
Design Through Community
Design Through Community
Starting game design in my early teens, I have developed games tested by both friends and acquaintances alike. The game designer journey is not traveled alone, but alongside the playtesters who transform a game from good to great.
Clash on Clashington
A Silly War-Like Cartoon Battler Card Game
Date: Mid 2014
Components (Creator's Kit): Large Retail Game Box with Six-fold Game Board, 3 Copies of Every Card (totalling 300 Game Cards), 6 Six-sided Dice, Foldable Instructions and Paper Insert (listing recommended deck lists and an alternate game mode)
Status: Self-Published; Onto the Next One!
After my first game PathQuest came what I thought to be my magnum opus: Clash on Clashington, a goofy, war-like battler card game that prided itself on accessibility as a "P.C.G." (printable card game). "Clash" - as I often called the game for short - was quite the undertaking with a hefty development time of three years.
This was also the time I established the first title to embody my game ideas: Home Brewery Gaming. The title would include a YouTube channel and other content to showcase our games. One example is Clash on Clashington's game tutorial, linked below.
In Clash, players would play minions in each of their three "Clashingtons" and eventually call a clash. The player with the most power in a Clashington when resolving its clash would win the Clashington. First player to win two of three Clashingtons won the game.
The catch of Clash mainfested in the silly cards and mechanics that changed the state of Clashingtons. Though it worked at the time, I would argue today the game could benefit from a stronger twist in the mechanics.
Beyond the clunky jargon Clash on Clashington taught me where to center my focus on games, reducing development time by centering on playtests and keeping art to a minimum.
That said, the game was fully published on The Game Crafter and for those who wanted more than a printed copy, was and still is available for purchase today: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/clash-on-clashington-:-1st-set-creator-s-kit1
Masons of Bricklemore
A City-Builder of Cooperative Investment and Sabotage
Date: Early 2017
Components: Large Retail Game Box with Bi-fold Game Board, 20 House Tokens, 80 Plastic Cubes, 1 Four-sided Die, 84 Game Cards and Small Instructions Booklet
Status: Near Playtesting; Would Seek Cooperative Design in Future
Masons of Bricklemore would be the second large game under Home Brewery Gaming, with the game art commissioned beyond myself to focus more on the intricacies of Masons of Bricklemore's hybrid gameplay.
In Masons of Bricklemore, players spent Bricks to construct buildings together, play actions and influence the direction of the Mayor, an AI-driven game piece that would determine which buildings could be built in a game turn. The game held some Lords of Waterdeep influence with how buildings additionally rewarded the owner, though its owner could change throughout play.
Cooperation was a necessity to construct buildings, as the reward for each building's construction varied by the number and types of bricks in their construction. Players would also have secret agendas to gain (or even lose) victory points based on the layout of the city, meaning sometimes a player would seek a building's destruction over its construction.
Though the game was on the cusp of a playtest, I concluded the influence of my playstyle greatly elongated the design process on a socially-dependent game. If I ever revisited Masons of Bricklemore, I would seek additional designers to expand the game's play patterns and reach its full potential.
Land of Doodle
A Quirky, Dr. Seuss-Inspired Reverse Deckbuilder
Date: Mid-Late 2017
Components: A Poker Tuck Box, 97 Game Cards, and Instructions Booklet
Status: In Playtest; May Revisit in the Future
Land of Doodle was one among first concepts under Dark Pine Games, and with it the friends and colleagues to playtest its design.
The card game sought to be unequalled in concept as a reverse deckbuilder, or so I thought, where players would journey in a strange land (a 50-card "World Deck") under the roles of characters with magical powers (represented by their own, 10-card decks).
Players would add their cards to the World Deck to reap their benefits while shifting the world's canvas in future turns. The first player to place all 10 cards from their mini-deck into the World Deck won the game, claiming their title as the new ruler of Doodle.
Though the game's distinct art style still holds dear to my heart, Land of Doodle's wordy components and low-impact gameplay has left this concept collecting dust on my shelf. That said, it would be one of the first concepts I would revisit, as the low component count and streamlined turn play would result in quick test iterations in the future.
Alloy
A Program-Generated, Team Battler Collectible Card Game
Date: Mid 2019
Components: Decks of 35 Game Cards with 5 Robots and 30 Combat Tricks
Status: Conceptual; Bottom of the Idea Box
With the advent of Richard Garfield's Keyforge in late 2018, I grew enamored by the idea of a game comprising unique, one-of-a-kind component combinations. With that, Alloy was born.
The card game comprised a player choosing 5 robot fighter cards - each with their own set of combat trick cards - for their team. That player would then shuffle their team's combat tricks into one deck, then play out those cards on their robots in play and defeat their opponent's team.
The catch? You guessed it - Alloy implemented a computer program to generate combinations of robot fight stats and their combat tricks where no two robots were the same. Sure robots may have similar or identical stats, but if so would their combat trick card pools differ, and vice versa.
The concept of Alloy was a flash in the pan at best. With some encouragement (and a seasoned programmer) I would possibly consider resurrecting the idea, but for now I am content letting the concept rest in peace.
Current Day
This leads us to Dark Pine Games as it is today. With the lessons learned from games past, we hope to produce more amazing games and embrace the lessons they will bring. Be sure to check other pages on our site to learn more about our current projects or contact us.