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Gaming at the Gate: Playtesting Epic Lab Time with Rules of Play | Tinkerbot Games says:

April 28, 2014 at 1:05 pm

[…] they’ve invited us to host a playtest of our game Epic Lab Time which has been selected as a finalist for the UK Games Expo Redesign Competition due to take place at this year’s […]

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Killer Croquet | says:

November 7, 2014 at 2:52 am

[…] Tinkerbot Games […]

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Tinkerbot Games Podcast Ep. 4 – The Jumanji Question and an Interview with Jon Adams (Cartography) | Roll For Crit says:

November 11, 2014 at 1:49 am

[…] Link […]

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Board game design The Apprentice way | Tinkerbot Games says:

November 20, 2014 at 10:06 am

[…] This episode was also discussed on an episode of our podcast Talking Tinkerbots. You can listen to that episode by clicking here. […]

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TT Ep 10 – Kickstarter leaving Amazon, Holiday Gaming and The Cat and the Radiator. | Tinkerbot Games says:

January 11, 2015 at 10:06 pm

[…] Kickstarter leaves Amazon – https://tinkerbotgames.com/kickstarter-to-leave-amazon-payments/ […]

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Kickstarter to leave Amazon payments | Tinkerbot Games says:

January 11, 2015 at 10:09 pm

[…] Hear us discuss this issue on our podcast: https://tinkerbotgames.com/tt-ep-10/ […]

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The 2015 Tinkerbots 5×12 Challenge | Tinkerbot Games says:

January 17, 2015 at 8:57 pm

[…] Contact […]

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A Trivial Christmas Pursuit | Tinkerbot Games says:

January 18, 2015 at 5:31 pm

[…] Contact […]

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TT Ep 11 – Crowd Sales, UK Games Expo, The 5 x 12 Challenge and a baby! | Tinkerbot Games says:

January 22, 2015 at 11:24 pm

[…] The Tinkerbots 5 x 12 Challenge of 2015 – https://tinkerbotgames.com/the-2015-tinkerbots-5×12-challenge/ […]

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TT Ep 12 – Sorry Huw, Being on The Dice Tower and a Board Game Cafe | Tinkerbot Games says:

February 5, 2015 at 7:52 pm

[…] A trip to the Thirsty Meeple – https://tinkerbotgames.com/a-trip-to-the-thirsty-meeple/ […]

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TT #12 – Sorry Huw, Being on The Dice Tower and a Board Game Cafe | Tinkerbot Games says:

February 9, 2015 at 11:49 am

[…] Reviews & News […]

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Lee says:

February 22, 2015 at 1:56 pm

Great article, I loved Mouse Trap! Good perspective on the importance (lack of) rules. 🙂

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1. Bevan says:
  
  March 2, 2015 at 2:05 pm
  
  Thanks Lee, your feedback is much appreciated and I’m glad you enjoyed! Are you a designer yourself?
  
  Reply
A.J. says:

February 23, 2015 at 3:04 am

Bevan,

Amazing article – made me think of three things:

1.) I first interpreted intuition in terms of the subconscious process that can guide game design (as opposed to designing games via spreadsheets and number crunching). I think allowing yourself to design intuitive and inductively can be powerful – so long as you back it up wtih solid play-testing. Also – there’s this interesting 538 article about Twilight Struggle, where they admit to designing by “horse sense:”

2.) Second – I realized you were referring to the power of intuition in the player-experience. The first thing I thought of was 7 Wonders, which has an amazing pictographic form of instructions that are almost implicitly understood just by looking at them. I wonder what your opinion is on graphic design (in addition to just the board game design itself) in creating an ‘intuitive’ game?

3.) Finally – this quote stuck out to me: “rules are a poor way to paper over the cracks in a design.” I’ve come to a very similar conclusion in my game design; that the rules and the game itself are actually two separate entities, even though the game is defined by the set of rules that make it up. In my blog, I define the core ‘soul’ of the game as your vision. It’s absolutely critical, in my opinion to get your vision as refined and concise as possible before you start drafting and play testing – it’ll allow you to iterate quickly and move from one mechanic to another (and one rule to another) without losing the soul of your project: https://ajgarand.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/have-a-vision-and-stick-to-it/

Awesome read though – I’ve subscribed and look forward to what comes next!

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1. A.J. says:
  
  February 23, 2015 at 3:05 am
  
  Sorry – the 538 link didn’t work:
  
  http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/designing-the-best-board-game-on-the-planet/
  
  Reply
2. Bevan says:
  
  March 2, 2015 at 2:12 pm
  
  Hi A.J., thanks for the feedback.
  I think graphic design is essential for making an intuitive game; any game using symbols to convey complex rules (Hyperborea comes to mind here) needs to make it super clear what your intent is. It’s really annoying to have to keep looking something up, plus it slows down the game and ruins the immersion you’re trying to achieve in game play.
  Your idea of two separate entities is intriguing; it sounds like you start with theme first and get this absolutely perfect before you go to the rules side of the game. I work in a similar way, theme begetting mechanics, but I tend to let one feed the other. If an idea for a mechanic reminds me of a theme, I’ll plug it in and see how it goes.
  I love your attention to detail though, how much do you expand on a theme before you put mechanics to it?
  
  Reply
TT #13 – Aether Magic: An interview with Jeff and Lee of Happy Mitten Games (inc the Jumanji Question!) | Tinkerbot Games says:

February 23, 2015 at 7:53 pm

[…] Our Weekly Blog – https://tinkerbotgames.com […]

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Andy says:

February 27, 2015 at 2:24 pm

A hack is “an inelegant but effective solution to a problem”. I think the term you are looking for is ‘hackathon’. Came here for the potential neat tips on designing games, but found an advertisement for a hackathon.

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1. Gino says:
  
  February 27, 2015 at 2:28 pm
  
  Hi Andy, sorry you didn’t find what you were looking for. I should probably have made it clearer that this isn’t an advert, but rather a plan I’ve put together for an event I’m holding in my city that people can copy/amend/steal to hold their own event in their city.
  
  I used the term ‘Hack’ as that’s the end result of the evening, a group hack solution to a design challenge.
  
  I put this post together because I’ve been bouncing this idea around with local designers and it’s a lot easier to point them to a page with all the info on. When the hacks are over we’ll be posting a summary of the evening with lessons learned, perhaps that may be more useful to you?
  
  For a place to find useful design tips I highly recommend checking out Cardboard Edison here: http://cardboardedison.tumblr.com/archive (if you’re not already aware of them) and the various design groups on Reddit, Facebook and Google+
  
  Reply
JCtoodles says:

February 27, 2015 at 7:57 pm

This sounds intriguing. (So wish we lived near Cardiff!). My only nagging doubt – can you fit all that into an evening? I’d want to spend the day doing all the that!!!

(I got the use of “hack”. Perfectly good term.)

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Randy says:

March 2, 2015 at 10:06 am

If I lived in Cardiff or at least somewhere in the UK this would have been very interesting to attend.
Alas, the North Sea is kind of a hassle to cross for one night. 😉

Cool initiative though!

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Andi Zimmerman says:

March 9, 2015 at 12:43 am

The Cloak & Blaster
875 Woodbury Road
Orlando, FL 32828
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @cloakandblaster

A tabletop gaming pub with 130+ craft beers, ciders, and meads, with a full kitchen. 🙂

Cheers!

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Matt Holden says:

March 9, 2015 at 12:53 am

The Cloak And Blaster: Orlando, FL http://www.cloakandblaster.com
The Game Shelf: Lakeland, FL https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1924620847/the-game-shelf

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Justin Bell says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:05 am

The Hexagon Boardgame Cafe
10123 82 Ave NW
Edmonton, AB
http://www.thehexcafe.com

Table Top Cafe
5716-75 Street.
Edmonton, Alberta.
http://www.tabletopcafe.ca

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john gallant says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:46 am

The Board Room Game Cafe in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
http://Www.boardroomgames.ca though we use Facebook more:https://m.facebook.com/TBRGC

@TheBoardRoomGC on twitter

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MacCrow says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:46 am

Ludus Luderia

Localização
Rua Treze de Maio, 972, Bela Vista
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
http://www.ludusluderia.com.br/

Funbox Locadora (rent boardgames to play locally or in your house)
Rua Vergueiro, 439, loja 27.
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
http://www.funbox.com.br/

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Vicki Baxter says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:51 am

Strategies Board Game Cafe at 836 Gardiners Road, Kingston, Ontario. A board game cafe with a private event room and combined seating for 140 people. Fully accessible restaurant facilities with licensed bar, we also do schools program, seniors groups and corporate team building sessions.

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Vicki Baxter says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:52 am

Also, for a list of cafes in Canada (including some excellent reviews) check out http://www.placesweplay.ca

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J Foz says:

March 9, 2015 at 1:57 am

The Malted Meeple
5100 Darrow Road
Hudson, OH 44236
http://maltedmeeple.com/

Opening 3/14/15

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Richard Durham says:

March 9, 2015 at 3:40 am

The Caffeinated Dragon opened up recently in Wellington, New Zealand.

70 Victoria Street
Wellington, 6011
info@caffeinateddragon.nz

http://www.caffeinateddragon.nz/

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Caffeinated Dragon Games says:

March 9, 2015 at 4:04 am

New Zealand’s first game cafe.
70 Victoria st, opposite the Wellington Central Library.

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Kevin Grant says:

March 9, 2015 at 12:21 pm

The Castle: A board game cafe
Beverly, Massachusetts.

http://www.facebook.com/thecastlebeverly

http://www.thecastlebeverly.com

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Mei Dean Francis says:

March 9, 2015 at 9:49 pm

GameHäus Café. Wonderful place in Los Angeles!
http://www.gamehauscafe.com/

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Marcus ross says:

March 9, 2015 at 10:32 pm

Spielbound Board Game Cafe
Omaha, Nebraska

1300+ games in the 501c3 nonprofit library
http://Spielbound.org

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Eric Odenheimer says:

March 9, 2015 at 11:11 pm

Emerald Tavern Games and Cafe
9012 Research Blvd #6
Austin, TX 78758

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Alan Stearns says:

March 10, 2015 at 2:15 am

Cafe Mox, Seattle

http://www.moxboardinghouse.com/ballard/

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Peter Müller says:

March 10, 2015 at 6:34 am

Bastard Cafe in Copenhagen:

Bastard Café
Rådhusstræde 13
1466 København K.
Denmark

http://bastardcafe.dk

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Magnus says:

March 10, 2015 at 8:11 am

htere is one in Copenhagen

http://bastardcafe.dk/

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Elizabeth says:

March 10, 2015 at 10:58 pm

Café Mox has a sister in Bellevue now.

Mox Boarding House
13311 Bel-Red Road
Bellevue, WA 98005
http://www.moxboardinghouse.com/bellevue/

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Krishna ravi says:

March 11, 2015 at 8:46 am

Dice and Dine, Bengaluru, India

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Chris Renshall says:

March 11, 2015 at 6:49 pm

For me, designers make for great reviewers because they can cut through most, if not all, the fluff and tell me what I really want to know. What is the game play like? I think a designer offer interesting prespective because they have probably played other designer’s games and tested their own games. This puts designers in a unique position to know the true value of “pure feedback” and are used to giving the same kind of feedback to other designers. If a designer takes that approach to the way they review published games, I think that makes for a better review.

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1. Bevan says:
  
  March 18, 2015 at 11:38 pm
  
  Hi Chris, thanks for the feedback!
  This is exactly what you’d hope for from a designer doing their reviews, so long as this breakdown of mechanics and theme doesn’t become too onerous.
  
  Reply
Andhegames says:

March 19, 2015 at 5:38 pm

Love your comments on the interview! I was a pleasure to interview Bruno, so much great insight. Plus, unicorns.

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1. Bevan says:
  
  March 19, 2015 at 9:50 pm
  
  No problems fella, so jealous that you got to chat the man himself.
  
  Reply
Oh My Gods! - Reviewed by Bevan Clatworthy - Tinkerbot Games says:

March 19, 2015 at 8:12 pm

[…] About Us […]

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TT #14 – Luck in Board Games and a BIG SCARY Announcement | Tinkerbot Games says:

April 1, 2015 at 10:16 pm

[…] Our Weekly Blog – https://tinkerbotgames.com/blog/ […]

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Jamie Gibbs says:

April 15, 2015 at 1:11 pm

I really like the dragon breeding concept, and I can see how the timed breeding/hatching would add unnecessary layers of complexity to the core mechanic.

I’m having similar problems with my WIP, Guttersnipes.

The core mechanic revolves around modular tiles that expand as players explore (à la Betrayal, Zombies!!!), but tiles can become hidden/removed to block paths and create new ones.

In battling some of the problems with this, I ended up bolting on a combat system, attribute points, traps, dice modifiers and a whole host of other things. Most of these are likely needless and bloat the game, so I’m slowly stripping things back to something more basic that maintains the pace of the game.

It’s still early doors yet and I’m my only playtester of a half-finished pre-alpha prototype, so there’s a long way to go.

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1. Bevan says:
  
  April 15, 2015 at 10:32 pm
  
  Hi Jamie, good to hear from you!
  It is tough, especially if you end up falling in love with a particluar mechanic even if it doesn’t fit.
  I’d love to hear more about this concept, is it something you’ve been working on for long?
  
  Reply
Andrew harman says:

April 20, 2015 at 6:14 pm

Hi Gino and Bevan,
Thanks for including me in episode 15! I bet that took some serious editing to put together. Such devotion to gaming. I look forward to meeting up with you again. All the best
Andrew Harman

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Ryan Mentock says:

April 26, 2015 at 10:46 pm

I was just considering the same type of concept for my game (http://bit.ly/1dhxxRn) as I look for artists. Definitely agree with the main points – could discourage the “losers” in the voting process from backing and also make it seem like there isn’t a definite direction in the project. I like the idea, but agree with the majority that it should be done before the Kickstarter. Thanks for the timely post!

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Jamie Gibbs says:

April 27, 2015 at 10:24 am

It’s a tough one for sure. I think a change in artwork can redefine the entire theme of the game, and for some potential backers that’ll influence their enjoyment of the game (and so the likelihood of backing).

For Ghostel, the game can become a light-hearted take on traditional haunted house stories with a fun and more humorous art style, or it can take a more sinister, Dead of Winter approach where guests are “scared to death”.

The core mechanics of the game can remain exactly the same, but the art completely changes the tone of the game and so the attitudes of the players.

I think that nailing the art style prior to the campaign would be better, but I’m completely on board with getting the Ghostel community to collectively decide this beforehand.

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Emil Larsen says:

April 27, 2015 at 5:36 pm

Hi Gino,

A very interesting post, I enjoyed it.

One warning though, the pole you made in the end can’t really be used for anything.
When you put a very respected and influential person’s response right before you ask people “so what do you say?” … You’ll get a lot of similar answers.

I respect Jamey a lot, so asking me after I’ve heard what he says makes me biased. It doesn’t work 😉

Best regards Emil

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Miles Ratcliffe says:

May 10, 2015 at 9:56 am

Thanks for the write-up guys and we’re glad that everyone had such a great time. I actually wish I was able to play more of the games myself; it was really great see the strength of everyone’s designs and I’m looking forward to seeing more. We’re hoping to do a lot more with our next event in the summer, and we’ll be settling on a date for that very soon.

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Rich says:

May 22, 2015 at 4:37 am

Hey Gino, good luck with the event! Since you mentioned it, I’d love to use the hashtag with a similar style event here. Keep it all under one roof, you know?

Wonder if there’d be a possibility of doing a simultaneous collaboration using video chat rooms?

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1. Gino says:
  
  May 22, 2015 at 10:01 am
  
  Hi Rich! Yeah feel free to use the hashtag and do the same event! I’d love to know how it goes so please keep me updated!
  
  Simultaneous events would be amazing! Only problem is time-zones so we’d probably have to hold one on a weekend, what TZ are you in?
  
  Reply
  1. Rich says:
    
    May 28, 2015 at 10:50 pm
    
    Time Zones would be an issue, unless it was a 24 hour event. I’m in the Pacific/Auckland time zone, so currently 13 hours apart.
    
    Reply
Luke Hector says:

May 25, 2015 at 7:09 pm

How many Euro Game designers does it take to change a light bulb?

Two, one to recycle the old one and the other to paste on a new theme.

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1. Gino says:
  
  May 25, 2015 at 7:16 pm
  
  Wahay! Good one Luke! We’ll consider that your entry for the joke section!
  
  Reply
Ryan says:

May 28, 2015 at 2:08 pm

I’m really sorry for this, but…

Why did Monopoly and Cluedo want a copy of XCOM?
…because they were bored games.

Sorry.
Sorry.

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1. Gino says:
  
  May 28, 2015 at 2:12 pm
  
  Ahahah that really made my chuckle, mostly for the apologies at the end! Ryan are you going to be at the Expo?
  
  Reply
Andrew 'LasBlast' Dennison says:

June 3, 2015 at 6:53 pm

I play-tested Gnolems at UKGE2015 (and actually won – early grab of the biggest item of jewellery and some solid Buildings paid off nicely!)

Still hoping to see Epic LabTime make it out there one day too (although I may have the name wrong…), and/or Hack the Block

As for a joke…

Why did all the Rook and the Bishop want to work on a hexagonal board?
…They heard it would offer them equal opportunities 😉

So assuming you survived that I’ll take two entries please!

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1. Gino says:
  
  June 3, 2015 at 8:39 pm
  
  Hi Andrew!
  
  Thank you for playtesting Ghostel, ELT and Hack the Block! You’ve got an excellent memory!
  Unfortunately the competition ended on Sunday so you’re too late to enter! However, we will be running more giveaways (very soon hopefully!) so if you want to make sure you get in on those then sign up to our newsletter and you’ll be notified immediately! http://eepurl.com/QgY2z
  
  I like the joke! Took me a minute to figure it out!
  
  Cheers!
  
  Reply
Jamie says:

June 9, 2015 at 10:20 am

Sounds like a lot of fun! The dex mechanic coupled with the theme very much gives it an Olympian “Clash of the Titans” feel.

Shall be keeping an eye on this one – looks like a blast.

You’re right about the artwork too – it’s gorgeous.

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1. Gino says:
  
  June 9, 2015 at 10:37 am
  
  That artwork right? I want big prints to put on the wall!
  
  Reply
Jamie says:

June 16, 2015 at 10:41 am

Sounds pretty cool! I love the idea of these redesign contests – coming up with something entirely new from existing components should be something that all aspiring game designers have a crack at sooner rather than later.

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1. Bevan says:
  
  June 21, 2015 at 9:49 pm
  
  Hi Jamie! Totally agree, it was a real mind melter to try and figure out how to use the components without just copying what was already there verbatim. Hopefully it can be something we cover in one of our design hacks but on a much smaller scale!
  
  Reply
Jamie says:

June 21, 2015 at 10:28 pm

I can’t wait to attend the next design hack (it’s a shame I wasn’t able to make it to the first one – boo!) Time travel as a mechanic too? Going big on the first event, nicely done 🙂

Sounds like it was a lot of fun – hope there are many more to come!

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Jamie says:

June 24, 2015 at 11:10 am

The artwork for Bevan’s character is outstanding – you picked a great artist! Shall send you my face within the next few days 🙂

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Patrick Barry says:

June 30, 2015 at 10:06 pm

Did you give people a choice, or just say ‘i think you’ll likewise one’ and hand them a game?

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1. Gino says:
  
  June 30, 2015 at 10:22 pm
  
  Oh we let people pick if there was something they liked the look of (The 10 year old REALLY wanted to try Rampage). Otherwise people would ask us to suggest something.
  
  Reply
Jamie says:

July 1, 2015 at 10:35 am

Looks like it was a success! My best success with non-gamers has been when I bring Loonacy to the pub. A friend and I stat playing and pretty soon there’s a small crowd of people baying for eachother’s blood while playing 🙂 It’s a 2-5 recommended game but we’ve done up to 10 players at one point, just to see what would happen.

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1. Gino says:
  
  July 1, 2015 at 10:39 am
  
  We’ll have to try Loonacy next time! Perhaps you could come along and bring it with you Jamie, it’d be good to see you there!
  
  Reply
D. B. Gaston says:

July 2, 2015 at 5:28 am

Playing a variant of this with Looney Pyramids would probably work well.

http://www.looneylabs.com/looney-pyramids

Reply
1. Gino says:
  
  October 18, 2015 at 10:48 am
  
  Ooh that could be fun! We’ll try and give it a go! Cheers!
  
  Reply
djkizza says:

August 1, 2015 at 1:02 pm

Apologies for the late comment 🙂 I am in the same boat as yourself. I kickstarted Ghosts Love Candy and I didn’t actually realise the bankruptcy was a thing for a few months after it had been posted.

I also am in two minds about the whole thing. Yes, bankruptcy is a terrible thing that I wouldn’t wish on anyone (If he is actually going bankrupt, there are a few skeptics on Kickstarter about it). However, the fact that the creator was using Kickstarter funds for his own income and doesn’t seem to have spent a cent of the money raised for the Ghosts Love Candy project on the game leaves a MASSIVE bad taste in my mouth.

I do, however understand the risk associated with Kickstarter. This is my first (hopefully and only *touch wood*) Kickstarter that I wont be receiving out of the 58 I’ve kicked. Not a bad run I guess.

Reply
1. Bevan says:
  
  August 1, 2015 at 2:39 pm
  
  Hi DJKizza, and no problem on the ‘late’ comment, we love to hear from people.
  
  Yeah, it was a conflicting time finding out about this issue. But one out of fifty eight is a cracking ratio, looks like you have an eye for a winner!
  
  Reply
Jeffrey Allers says:

September 28, 2015 at 12:48 pm

Good advice about the first prototype. I make quite a few iterations in between your first and second.

For me and others who do not self-publish, it’s really only about the first and second stage. But there’s no clear break between them, as I do many different prototypes with incremental improvements in layout and graphics. How good it looks is really only important if: 1) it is a hook to get playtesters interested (many of my playtesters don’t care) an 2) if it can communicate to a publisher what it COULD look like (approximately, but with better art). It’s there job to visualize the final product, but I try to help them a little using simple clipart and my own sketches.

The main thing with any prototype is usability: do the components make the game easier to play, without the need to ask or look up the rules?

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Carl Burnett says:

October 5, 2015 at 9:40 pm

Hi Bev. Played this briefly at Dragondaze and was impressed. Definitely going to pick this up when the KS rolls out.

Games that use Dice worker placement Alien Frontiers and Kingsburg. Those are quite a bit heavier although Ghostel is a good introduction to next level games I think.

Can’t quite remember what he upgrade cards did.

Have you guys tried “Blind bidding” as a variant. If each player had a small board of the mansion behind a screen and freedom to apply dice as they wish. Might be a bit swingy though.

Do players get bonuses for rolling Doubles? Allocating a double 1 to beat a players 6 would mitigate some low rolling.

Anyway I’m not a designer lol. Just curious.

Your design as it is seems perfect to me.

Reply
1. Bevan says:
  
  October 9, 2015 at 10:53 pm
  
  Hi Carl, good to hear from you and glad you enjoyed!
  
  Also, thank you for the suggestions. I think the blind bidding idea could be interesting, however this would mean the player with the lowest score wouldn’t have the advantage of knowing where the other players were going. That said, I reckon it would be amazing as an Expert level rule, as you try and second guess where everyone is going!
  
  The doubles idea is a cracker, will definitely keep that one in mind for future expansions.
  
  Regards
  Bevan
  
  Reply
Lewis Pulsipher says:

October 7, 2015 at 8:27 pm

My first prototypes were paper (in the days before personal computers); now my first prototype is usually computer-printed, because I have the experience and facilities to do that at least as easily as doing it by hand.

At a later stage I’ll make a prettier prototype (to help attract testers) and mount the board (if any) on foam board. I never make fancy cards. If the cards work without graphics, they’ll work better with good graphics.

I often use plastic pieces (I have thousands) to help improve attractiveness to testers.

But I never quite get to your second stage, I think, and as I don’t self-publish certainly not the third stage. Thank heavens, I have never spent dozens of hours making a prototype. Waste of time.

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Rich says:

November 18, 2015 at 1:35 pm

So, Gino flipping tables over zombicide and I’ve just noticed that Bevan doesn’t sit next to me on game nights….. You trying to say something Bevan?

Reply
1. Bevan says:
  
  December 1, 2015 at 10:49 pm
  
  Yup, you smell! 😉
  
  Reply
J says:

December 2, 2015 at 2:30 pm

Typo on number 9

Reply
1. Gino says:
  
  December 2, 2015 at 2:32 pm
  
  Woops! Fixed! Thank you!
  
  Reply
Ashley says:

December 2, 2015 at 8:40 pm

Rift Vibes

Mid Onion

Tummy Rise

Pug Zone Dent

Arrest Alms

Reply
1. Nata Chen says:
  
  December 7, 2015 at 8:46 am
  
  Five Tribes, Dominion, Mysterium, _, Star Realms
  
  Reply
KingOr9 says:

December 2, 2015 at 9:13 pm

I have one (the longest I could come up with): “Tavern Dude Raged in the Far Camp”.

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Mike says:

January 21, 2016 at 12:55 am

It seems the Arsenal Game Room in Indianapolis is no more. I had trouble finding information on it, and on its Facebook page, the last post says the guy retired from gaming dated February, 2014.

Reply
Crowdfunding spotlight: Ghostel by Tinkerbot Games – Geeks in Wales says:

January 26, 2016 at 8:06 pm

[…] Cardiff-based board game designers Tinkerbot Games have launched the Kickstarter campaign for their dice-placement game, Ghostel: […]

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TT#24 – Ghostel is ALIVE! (on Kickstarter now!) – Tinkerbot Games says:

January 26, 2016 at 8:31 pm

[…] https://www.tinkerbotgames.com/ghostel […]

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TT#25 – Solo gaming and an interview with Ghostel artist Tyler Johnson – Tinkerbot Games says:

February 5, 2016 at 8:01 pm

[…] – https://tinkerbotgames.com/portfolio/ghostel Our Blog – https://tinkerbotgames.com/blog/ Our Lovely Sponsors – http://rulesofplay.co.uk/ Subscribe to the Monthly Summary – […]

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Vanity Whale says:

February 5, 2016 at 11:24 pm

I started playing this game with my family and they love it! I am going to introduce it to friends soon to. Good job with it

Reply
1. Gino says:
  
  February 6, 2016 at 8:52 pm
  
  I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying Tinker Tactics! Thanks for letting us know! Any winning strategies? I’m terrible at this game…
  
  Reply
TT Bonus Episode – Ghostel Kickstarter Final Days – Tinkerbot Games says:

February 23, 2016 at 12:52 am

[…] – https://tinkerbotgames.com/portfolio/ghostel Our Blog – https://tinkerbotgames.com/blog/ Our Lovely Sponsors – http://rulesofplay.co.uk/ Subscribe to the Monthly Summary – […]

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Therese says:

March 3, 2016 at 12:50 pm

Just discovered your blog. I can’t wait for this to come out also. My nan, who paessd away quite a few years ago, always left the house in style – with spritz of Chanel and a box of Tic Tacs to boot.

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Jeffrey says:

March 3, 2016 at 1:02 pm

That’s really thinnikg out of the box. Thanks!

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Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:

May 3, 2016 at 2:04 pm

I think I pretty much jump to your stage 2 after my first playtest. If the basic game works, then I might as well take a stab at some art and do stick figures.

Honestly, I think I can write out and draw 55 unique cards faster than I could do a bare-text computer-printed version.

Conversely, I never really get to your stage 3 (and this has probably hurt my KS campaigns) – I send reviewers games that are still (photocopied) hand-drawn cards, stuck into card sleeves.

I think that in future, I’ll continue jumping ahead to stage 2 after the initial ‘proof of concept tests’ but will make sure to have more-final art and get it properly printed for reviewers.

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Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:

May 8, 2016 at 5:34 pm

Writing a negative review is always a risky proposition. Specially so for designer/reviewers, who have even more to lose if they turn off folk.

I was kinda planning a series called ‘play, gift, destroy’ about whether I keep, give/sell a game or destroy it. It’s probably not a great idea as it’s a very negative thing (I was first inspired by some terrible games I want to get rid of, but feel the need to ‘say goodbye’ to somehow.) and it does very much invite a backlash towards my own games.

I think maybe the key is simply to go in depth with your negative reviews. Positive reviews can be brief, but if you’re being negative, you better explain yourself.

I personally don’t see any downside to the designers who choose to only publish positive reviews, although I guess that in itself could be seen as a question of authenticity.

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1. Bevan says:
  
  May 14, 2016 at 10:54 pm
  
  Never even thought of that, length of article being affected by whether you’re giving a negative or positive review. I’ve gone back and looked at some of my earlier reviews and it looks to make sense (although I have far fewer negative ones!)
  Maybe I need to add a disclaimer that I was always taught ‘if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all’!
  
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Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:

May 8, 2016 at 7:14 pm

Interesting how the desire for escalation in difficulty and ramp up towards a climax inadvertently made the early game a bit dull.

Acquisition of resources or abilities is definitely a great way to provide a ‘narrative arc’, but I guess the takeaway is to ensure that the first few choices are still non-obvious and various options exist, of seemingly similar value but that push you in different directions.

Thanks for sharing the lesson!

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Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:

May 8, 2016 at 7:22 pm

I definitely enjoy a bit of hidden information in a game – it helps prevent ‘analysis paralysis’. Furthermore, it usually allows the losing player to blame their loss on luck, since for there to be asymmetric information I think there needs to be some randomness by definition.

Even if the information was a choice or selection made by one player, this can feel like luck (and in some games, if you play optimally, it is indistinguishable).

Hidden info, when known to one player, also allows for mindgames and other forms of interaction.

I wonder if – as a rule – the higher the % of hidden info, the lighter the game?

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1. Bevan says:
  
  May 14, 2016 at 10:51 pm
  
  I think you could be on to something there Bez. Hidden information can make a game feel random, and the more information that goes unseen the less control players can feel. Games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf remind me of this. Sure you have some social cues you can look for, but often it comes down to a guess. It works though as it’s very light.
  
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Mike says:

May 11, 2016 at 7:13 pm

Thanks for the game! Easy to learn, but with good depth. I’m thinking of making a wooden game board with larger squares. Maybe two boards with magnets to join them after the initial setup.

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1. Gino says:
  
  May 11, 2016 at 8:34 pm
  
  Ooh I’d love to see that when it’s done! Please post pictures!
  
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Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:

May 22, 2016 at 8:58 am

I think it’s a different story if you’re self-publishing. If working with a publisher, then maybe they will develop it and refine it to be as best as it can be. This won’t happen if KSing.

But whilst a simple game could be made without much additional development, I do feel like any game with strategic depth (unlike the simple party games I’m making) need to be really stress-tested.

Of course, things like Citadels become as much about the second-guessing as they do about the relative strengths of the cards.

And Bruno is also very clearly a very smart guy.

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Fiona Garvey says:

June 13, 2016 at 6:43 pm

Did you pick a winner to be on the cards from those who entered at the games expo? I’m super excited! I hope it’s me!

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1. Gino says:
  
  June 13, 2016 at 7:20 pm
  
  Hey Fiona, we’ve done the draw and contacted the 8 winners. If you haven’t heard from us yet then unfortunately you didn’t get drawn.
  We haven’t released the names of the winners yet because we’re waiting to confirm that all 8 winners are happy to take the prize and proceed. If anyone declines or fails to respond to our messages then we’ll re-draw the unclaimed prizes. Once we have 8 confirmed winners we’ll announce all the names in an additional update.
  Cheers!
  
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Jay says:

July 26, 2016 at 6:05 pm

Wow great idea and well done for doing this. Hope to make the next one and please do post up the next dates for 2016 or 2017 if I missed the one this year. Would certainly love to contribute.

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Marty says:

August 14, 2016 at 4:24 am

i got it in my mates coffee 🙁

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Daniel Anderson says:

November 5, 2016 at 3:16 am

Why do you have to hide enitial roll cant someone lie? I understand hiding dice placement

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1. Bevan says:
  
  November 6, 2016 at 9:42 am
  
  They can indeed lie, but where would be the fun in that! The reason for the hide is to minimise information before the placement and dice reveal. If you know your opponent has lots of evens, you can gain a small advantage based on parity. It’s a tiny advantage, and in the grand scheme of things won’t matter to most players. Like we say, we just build the system, feel free to tinker away! ?
  
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Daniel Anderson says:

November 5, 2016 at 3:46 am

Also when playing 4 cards does the center gap count as a space? Thanks awesome game 😀

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1. Bevan says:
  
  November 6, 2016 at 9:44 am
  
  At present it counts as a gap (so no movement across or into it), however we are planning to more extensively playtest this variant. We’re always looking for playtesters if you fancy getting involved!
  
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  1. Daniel Anderson says:
    
    November 7, 2016 at 5:57 am
    
    Awesome thank you for the help and its a great game … I will keep you guys updated if I find anything else I just made boards ill be playing with friends to see how it goes. High Fives. …. oh P.S. do you know of any other easy to play games using polyhedral dice this is a fun way to mix in with down time during DnD sessions 🙂
    
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Daniel Anderson says:

November 17, 2016 at 3:36 am

what are your thoughts on adding a heal option. You can sacrifice one die and roll a D10 which can be used to heal all pieces.

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1. Gino says:
  
  November 17, 2016 at 10:51 am
  
  Hi Daniel, thank you for your suggestion. It seems like an interesting way to bring in a heal mechanic, but we intentionally avoided any element of healing to avoid lengthening what we’ve intended to be a quick, tactical game. However, the beauty of board gaming is that you can house-rule as much as you like 🙂 Feel free to try out that additional rule and let us know how it goes 😀
  
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Russell Buxcey says:

January 19, 2017 at 8:57 pm

For those of us with the Connie room card – are we now allowed to know what her ability is so we can use her in the base game?

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1. Gino says:
  
  February 4, 2017 at 7:06 pm
  
  Hi Russel, you can find Connie’s rules here: https://tinkerbotgames.com/ghostel/ghostel-rules-for-connie-and-connor/
  
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John Randall says:

February 4, 2017 at 4:21 pm

where can I find the rules for creepy cultists?

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1. Gino says:
  
  February 4, 2017 at 7:04 pm
  
  Hi John, the rules for the cultists are on a card in the deck that comes with the game. Let us know if yours is missing from your game.
  
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Tinkerbot Games Season 3 Podcast with Me!! | Who Dares Rolls says:

March 27, 2017 at 5:01 pm

[…] We’re Back! Season 3 Starts Here with special guest Mike Barnes […]

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Jess Robinson says:

April 16, 2017 at 7:22 pm

Answer is “depends” as always! I think it’s mostly important that the game play itself is different enough – new techniques or new assembly of existing technique, with an interesting theme.

Btw: I’m amused that this post is in “design lessons”, and I can’t read at all the date that this was posted, it shows up as light grey on white here.. I almost didn’t find it at all! Could you maybe fix it?

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1. Gino says:
  
  April 16, 2017 at 10:11 pm
  
  Hi Jess, thanks for your comment. I can’t seem to change the format of that field but I’ll keep trying!
  
  I suppose it isn’t really design, more like publishing/manufacturing but this was the closest category we had for something like this!
  
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Matt Macken says:

April 20, 2017 at 6:21 am

Picked Ghostel up at Indiana Comic Con. Lots of fun, can’t wait for my next game.

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Jess Robinson says:

April 22, 2017 at 4:07 pm

How did you go about getting people to come in the first place?

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1. Gino says:
  
  April 23, 2017 at 7:28 am
  
  The promise of cheap curry and fun.
  
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  1. Jess Robinson says:
    
    April 23, 2017 at 11:31 am
    
    I meant more, where did you find them / advertise, in order to say that?
    
    btw the “reply” link in the email dumps me at: https://tinkerbotgames.com/curryboardgame?replytocom=3594#respond – which fails.. 🙁
    
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    1. ginobrancazio says:
      
      April 29, 2017 at 10:25 pm
      
      Oh we joined a fundraiser event that was already happening! The offer of cheap curry won most people over 😉
      
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massifgames says:

June 9, 2017 at 9:58 pm

Nice article! I remember that robbery at Essen… I was so nervous leaving our inventory and mountaineering directions there… Security is definitely not that tight! -Corey Wright

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1. massifgames says:
  
  June 9, 2017 at 9:59 pm
  
  ** “mountaineering decorations”
  
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2. Gino Brancazio says:
  
  June 9, 2017 at 10:01 pm
  
  Yes it made me very nervous, but with the money belt I felt much more relaxed about it. I assumed that something on the stand would get nicked, but not a single thing got swiped! Not even a meeple or a dice! Very proud of the UKGE crowd 🙂
  
  Or maybe we had nothing work nicking!
  
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Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:

June 12, 2017 at 10:16 am

Nice breakdown. Thanks for sharing.

Do you think there’s any actions you can/will take as a result of knowing the income per hour? Of course you need more people around at busy times but how will those charts influence your 2018?

I’m also curious as to why you consider this your first year with a ‘proper stand’ – my memory isn’t perfect but I’m sure I remember you being present at UKGE 2016.

Anyway, congratulations on all your success! Well done!

I imagine the costume also worked well.

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1. Gino Brancazio says:
  
  June 12, 2017 at 11:00 am
  
  Hey Bez!
  I think knowing the busier times per hour will help us if we ever find ourselves really struggling to put people on the stand. If we have to pick times to be under-staffed then we’ll know when to do that, but ideally we’ll be fully staffed at all times because we were busy all the time anyway!
  
  We did have a presence in 2016, but it was a half-stand for first-timers (literally half the smallest stand you can book) and it was for demo-ing Ghostel and taking pre-orders before production had been completed. It essentially a table with Ghostel on it with a few chairs crammed around. I don’t consider it our first ‘proper’ year because it was essentially a play-table, not much more than that.
  
  The costume was fun but didn’t help us much! Lesson learned 😉
  
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  1. Behrooz 'Bez' Shahriari says:
    
    June 12, 2017 at 11:25 am
    
    But as you say yourself in the article, the income you got might not directly relate to the busyness at all times.
    
    Is there a graph I missed?
    
    I think you guys are incredibly well organised and I’m amazed you were even able to get a graph for the income per hour! I’m guessing you kept records of all the sales across time, which I find astounding.
    
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    1. Gino Brancazio says:
      
      June 12, 2017 at 11:36 am
      
      In regards to keeping records, we put all sales through the PayPal card reader app (PayPal Here), even the cash payments. That means we had each order tracked and time-stamped. After the show I ran a report of all sales over the weekend (with time stamps) and bingo! instant graph 🙂
      
      We didn’t track how busy we were vs sales, it was just a something we noticed.
      
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Terry Burnett says:

June 16, 2017 at 9:19 pm

Wow that’s cool well done guys.

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Stephanie Sargeant says:

June 18, 2017 at 2:47 pm

Well done guys that is brilliant

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The Village Square: June 22, 2017 says:

June 22, 2017 at 2:06 pm

[…] Conventions and indie publishers Tinkerbot Games has a nice article on attending conventions from a small or indie publisher’s perspective. The informative guide breaks down what to expect, what to bring, how to interact with the crowds as wells as their experiences at a recent convention. Source: https://tinkerbotgames.com/post-expo-breakdown-for-small-exhibitors/ […]

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extempore13 says:

August 19, 2017 at 8:48 pm

We love love this game!!!! Even our 82 year old Nana likes this game! however i need an extra ghost? Anywhere we could purchase one please? many thanks. Charlene

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1. Gino Brancazio says:
  
  August 19, 2017 at 9:00 pm
  
  Hi Charlene! Thanks for letting us know you like the game, especially your nana!
  When you say you need an extra ghost, do you mean a 5th player or a replacement for one of the original ghosts?
  
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5 Recent Innovations in the Kickstarter World – Stonemaier Games says:

October 12, 2017 at 3:59 pm

[…] as the one that Gino Brancazio created for his game, Ghostel. The timeline infographic on this page shows the date of every update, milestone, and benchmark starting from launch day and ending on their fulfillment […]

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Liz Lam says:

October 31, 2017 at 5:33 am

Great game! Have you considered putting the rules on the print and play too?

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1. Gino Brancazio says:
  
  November 1, 2017 at 3:49 pm
  
  Hmm, good idea, we’ll look into it!
  
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Susana says:

March 12, 2018 at 8:31 pm

I played Ghostel at my friend’s house and lived It! Where can I buy it? She got here’s as a Christmas present and doesn’t know.

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1. Gino Brancazio says:
  
  March 12, 2018 at 8:34 pm
  
  Hello Susana,
  
  Thanks for getting in touch! You can find it in some local game stores or get it directly from us and we’ll ship it to you: https://tinkerbotgames.com/buy-ghostel/
  
  Hope that helps!
  
  Gino.
  
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Susana says:

March 12, 2018 at 8:31 pm

Loved It! Spell checker strikes again 🙁

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Robyn Stone says:

June 3, 2018 at 7:41 pm

Hi Gino, i saw with the prototype game the ghosts were 3-D printed. A friend of mine wants to create a green one

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1. Robyn Stone says:
  
  June 3, 2018 at 7:42 pm
  
  *helps if I finish the message! Is the STL available for things like this at all?
  
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  1. Gino Brancazio says:
    
    June 7, 2018 at 2:31 pm
    
    Yep! You can find the file here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1095254
    
    Hope that helps!
    
    Gino.
    
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Umberto Farese says:

September 14, 2018 at 9:20 am

Hi guys, we are in London. What do I need to do to get any expansions for the retail version of Ghostel? We love the game and are looking to deepen the experience. Thank you

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