Chris Backe
@chrisbacke
Making board games since 2016. 🎲 Game designer () 🖥️ Game publisher ( 🎲 Playtester () 🏢 Entrepreneur ()
New game alert - very early playtesting, but it's currently called Roads of an Empire. Based around the Roman roads, it's currently Carcassone's tile laying meets Ticket to Ride's goal fulfillment meets worker movement... Time to iterate!
On a Puzzlerun, you'll venture out in teams of 1 to 4 people as you run and solve puzzles. (Want to go by yourself? Always allowed. Want to get paired up with others? Look for the sign near the entrance when you arrive.) Learn more: puzzlerun.co.uk
Can't. Frikkin. Wait. Yes, I'm proud of my own expansion to Mint Tin Monster Mashup, but I'm also thrilled to see Kickabout from Evan Wilcock (a game I got to playtest in Birmingham). www.kickstarter.com/projects/gal...
Two notes for my last post of the year: In 2026, we are going to bring back the word "overmorrow". Plan accordingly. Also, in 2025, I ran over 1,300 kilometers
#MojoPitch was last week in London - I wrote a blog post about it, along with 5 takeaways if you want to go yourself next year.
Hope everyone going has a great time at Origins! For those gearing up for Gen Con at the end of July / beginning of August, I've updated Tabletop Publishers for all the publishers going. Sort, search, and filter through publishers in a bunch of different ways. Learn more: tabletoppublishers.com
So this is a game that exists… Space Checkers - roll the dice and move a piece towards that color… we began house ruling it about three turns in….
Got Forest Fray to the table on Sunday here in #Birmingham - we split we choose game of area control - 16 tiles and 12 sticks means it packs up small!
TIL there’s a Star Wars Christmas sweater (because of course there is):
Great run today - anyone looking for a challenge? Try a progressive run - 15 minutes at your jogging pace (6/10 effort), 15 minutes at your normal pace (7/10 effort), then 15 minutes at your fast pace (8/10 effort).
Just got a new shelf to hold all of my published board games for the living room! There’s a fair bit of room on there right now, but it will definitely fill up soon :-)
The reference card from the 60’s game ‘The Dickens Game’ - some interesting concepts, but TBH this is the oldest reference card I’ve seen. Have you seen a #playeraid that’s even older?
Pork knuckle. Great stuff. Pair with some potatoes and broccoli and :chef’s kiss:
Great test of Stake Your Claim with my partner in games Parker Simpson. Prototype art, obviously - use the dice rondel to generate a number and terrain that you'll circle on the main map. Score points by keeping your claims connected and by being in the line that finishes the game...
So what you’re looking at is my first prototype of something I’m thinking of making. It’s basically a board game style box with an expandable organizer inside to hold as many print and play games as possible. Still thinking about what size the drawers need to be.
Introduce yourself in 4 #boardgames: No Thanks (classic filler), Dixit (gorgeous art and simple gameplay), Dragon vs. Kingdom (cheeky to add one of my own, but it's genuinely my favorite design of mine thus far) and Star Realms (great deck building game and app). #games #tabletop #gamedesign
24:30 at #BushyPark #Parkrun - back to where it all started. Good time!
At some point in the past week, I passed 2,500 hours in Tabletop Simulator. Three years of online playtesting, designing games, and developing games for clients will do that, I guess!
Join us for playtesting later today? Monday's Virtual Playtesting starts at 6pm UK / 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific! Add your game in the spreadsheet for tomorrow (or a future session) to get it to the table 😊 (Not in the Discord server yet? Join here: )
Join us for playtesting? Thursday's Virtual Playtesting starts tomorrow at 6pm UK / 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific! Add your game in the spreadsheet for tomorrow (or a future session) to get it to the table 😊 (Not in the Discord server yet? Join here: )
Thursday's Virtual Playtesting starts tomorrow at 6pm UK / 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific! Add your game in the spreadsheet for tomorrow (or a future session) to get it to the table 😊 (Not in the Discord server yet? Join here: )
update: I've spent the last week researching and updating the Dossier based on the Essen program / app, and I'm happy to report it now contains listings for over 500 publishers!
#featurealert you can now filter by the country they're based in. Easier way to find who's local to you, who speaks your language, and who's more likely to appear on the shelves in your area. More data to be added and researched, naturally!