Sam Francis (Samphire Games)
@tzartzam
Editor, father, feminist, writer, capoeira, boardgame designer (Samphire Games: Dwarf Union, Poll & Write) (he/him). I believe in letting people flourish. Bristol, UK.
First half of July was rather taken up with my partner being ill, but a family holiday meant I caught up on the games.
I didn't know how the big family holiday would be in terms of games, but it's been prolific! And I have learned that the designer of Scrabble has the most metal name: Alfred Mosher Butts.
I've been trying to crack a problem with lobbying in Dwarf Union and I think I might have it, if it survives the next playtest! This is a game about dwarves in a mine – one player is the owner, another is the workers' union, yet another is the ruling Thane, and there's the Idealist.
Our new prime minister is called Andy Murray and we expect him to be a winner
Word Dungeon daily challenge! This is a brand new thing my friend made 😍 word-dungeon.com
While saving assets, I only just realised that the suits I'm currently settled on for Dwarf Union are: A xes B eards C rowns D iamonds
Great to receive a copy of a game you've playtested! I played a late version of some of the modules of Last Week of Summer and enjoyed how it was soaked in the 80s theme, so I backed the Kickstarter when it came. Shawn also gave me great feedback on Dwarf Union! @alliesorenemies.bsky.social
Anything else on the ATG lineup that you like? I'm very open to recommendations 🙂
This image shows (in a an admittedly abstract way), is the final moment: the Idealist played their Expropriation card in an attempt to take over the Master Forge. One more location controlled (represented by the circular black zeal token placed on the map) would fulfil their solo victory condition.
You can see the changes here – rather than a single binary effect of each card, players only gain the benefits on their card where the other player has matched that suit. The players can (and should!) discuss this – ‘I’d really like to get a crown agreed, and I have an axe on the card too’.
This struggle began with a simple iron mine. I’ve found that early decisions and outcomes often set the tone for the rest of the game economically. I’ve leant into this (and removed some uninteresting choices) by having mine tiles dealt into position during setup.
Tried out this version of the bargaining* mechanism just the other day, and it worked first time about as I expected. More testing needed as always, but I'm confident in this! It provides less binary agreements and more using the language of the suits between players.
Set up to self-test some new ideas! How often do you self-test your games? I'm finding it's all the more important/practical for a complex asymmetric game. 🎲✂️
This is my gem from UK Games Expo so far! Played in bed this morning for a mini lie-in instead of scrolling. Very nice puzzle by @kevmakesgames.bsky.social
Saturday and Sunday I'll be at UKGE! Looking forward to seeing some lovely people and playing some great games! I'll hopefully speak to manufacturers and distributors there too. Feel free to come say hi if you see me!
It's hard to articulate how I can be making what feel like major changes to the way each faction interacts with the game and yet the core system is stable, and it feels like I'm in the late development stage.
If we get a chance I'd love to show you where the development on Dwarf Union has got me so far! I've just been comparing some 3D prints of the workers or the Pamir pieces... I've also never played Oath so if that's a useful type of player then let me know!
Tonight I tried a new physical layout for the mines. It was a bit of a whim but changing from basic cards with no physical adjacency that mattered, to octagons they do – that's elevated that bit of the game. Spatial stuff is good! 🎲✂️
This is me adding runes (suits) to my councillor tokens! The suits allow you to influence how they vote on laws that are proposed.
Airecon. I'm on my way! And I'm playtesting tomorrow morning officially, but also anytime I can 🤗
Infighting between the union and radical delayed the union's progress. The radical attempted to assassinate the Thane, but the Thane's minions instead took out the Radical – which was enough to clinch the win.
Accidently stress-testing the component limits! There's only 1 union worker in the supply now as the whole lot are unionised! The game shouldn't last long unless the other players can crack down on the union.
February: Quite a mix but noticeably a lot of short games this month, and a lot without cover images (mostly prototypes which I'm tracking a bit more).
Similar for Wolverhampton. Presumably AI as it gets "the Black Country" wrong twice ("a Black Country" and "the Black County"). I clicked on the Black Country one a few times to reveal more, and then the Black County one, so I wasn't reinforcing the algorithm to give me more race stuff.
I do understand the drive behind @ericlang.bsky.social's point. I simplified my Poll & Write system for the Poll & Write USA game and it became a more pure and fun area-majority electoral-strategy game. I think it loses something in between, but both versions exist so it's good differentiation.
And it ended with a speech by the radical to a small crowd! The radical and union won together as a result!