Karvi marks the second BGA implementation I make this year (after Botanicus). Again, it's a Euro game by Hans im Glück, but it's little meatier than Botanicus.
In Karvi, workers take the form of dice, upon which pips represent "beer" or the resources available for that die to spend on actions. As you move dice around the board you can deplete their beer levels to perform various actions.
I received an email about a platform for building multiplayer games called Rune, and it intrigued me. Having already started my own multiplayer platform, Kangaroo, but never managing to find the motivation to finish it and polish it up, I was curious what alternatives were out there.
Rune is super easy to use. You can test locally using a dev ui, from which you can add and remove users, simulate different latencies and test spectators. When ready to publish, you simply push to their platform, and once approved, the game becomes available to their users through the Rune app. Rune supports both turn-based and real-time games, although I didn't try making anything real-time.
In 2018, I was asked to make an educational physics game about Neutrinos, an experience I really enjoyed. And, I've been asked again – this time a game to explore Causal Sets. Both of these introductions were made through my partner who is also a Physics PhD.
Causets Game aims to introduce how causal sets work geometrically, whilst also being fun to play. It is a twist on Square Worlds, but instead of placing objects you are placing tiles which contain "nodes" or "events". There are various ways in which connecting these nodes together scores points.
In February this year, I said goodbye to Board Game Arena as a full-time developer after having worked there for about two and a half years. Working with the team there was a total pleasure, both because I liked my colleagues so much and because I was (and remain) a big fan of the website. I was sad to leave, but felt I needed to take control of my own time again and return to freelancing. As a freelancer, I have the freedom to dedicate the hours I want to my work, and to explore my personal projects when I wish to. I also get to have many different projects with various clients on the go at once, which suits me very well: I thrive on variety!
My submission to 7drl 2024 is Trichromat. You play as a spectre who has discovered that they can perceive three colours...
As per usual for this game, I've tried to make a game in the Broughlike style. A small grid, with some cryptic mechanics.
trichromat by sunil.