Wednesday 28 November 2012

SS Underworld

A link to the current rules file for SS Underworld for those interested.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ejx3ciumskgks03/Swift%20Swords%20Underworld.docx

Some example cards:





First Post - Swift Swords.

Well we all start somewhere. This is a blog that will follow my exploration of developing a game and exploring the use of Kickstarter as an avenue to getting it out to a wider audience.  The primary objective however is to see if I can actually design a game that will become popular.

I have 3 products in mind at this time, which will all fall under the tag of AustWiz Games and the SwiftSwords brand name.  The first two will be multiplayer cards games: SS Underground and SS Gobbos! Both of these will be developed and then released as a Print&Play option through DriveThru.  If I get any interest in them at all I can look at the option of doing a small KSer to develop a professional package.  The biggest hassle I have detected at this time is art work. To make a game look good you have to have good artwork and that costs money.  I have scoured the internet for non-copyright art but it is extremely limited despite a plethora of supposedly free art sources. Most of them are royalty free but still require that you buy the right to use them.

So for now we make do with average to poor artwork and hope that the games are so good people will overlook it.

The first game will be SS Underground, a card game for upto 8 players. The premise is  that all the players work with or against each other to get to a Vault in which is a powerful monster and a large reward, not to mention winning the game.  Players can attack each other or work as teams to overcome the obstacles to get to the Vault.

There are a LOT of cards in this game, at the time I write this it is upto 500 cards.  With 9 cards to a page thats 55 pages of faces and 55 pages of backs. The size of the kit might be daunting to some, we will have to wait and see.  The number of cards does however mean that every game is different, and that it will remain fresh for quite some time.  It also lends itself to expansions nicely.

I will be conducting a playtest this weekend and after that will see about completing Ver 1.0.

It is my aim to launch it on DriveThru as a free set of rules and the card kit as the paid for package. The price will probably be $10 to make it attractive despite the effort required to produce your own copy.  It isnt my aim to make a profit on the game, but to establish my name for the later KSer, to give the supporters some confidence in me.