I'm going to make a FREE Roll and Write game for Christmas!

​Why?
In game design class today, the tutor brought up itch.io to discuss puzzle games. On the site there was a game that essentially used roll and write mechanics in the form of creating your own forest with sudoku like rule sets (except without the harsh punishment of having to start over if you get something wrong).
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The reason why I mention this is because I have always been interested in making a free game for people to download, especially around the holiday time. However, due to my like of expertise when it comes to art, I thought this would be economically not viable due to the need for artwork. This along with my lack of experience with creating print and play games really put this dream on the back burner for the last two years. However, since running two Kickstarters which had a print and play pledge, and also discovering how amazing roll and write games can be, and just how unique you can make them, I have decided that I am going to challenge myself to create a small, fun roll and write game for people to enjoy over the holidays. These series of blog posts are going to document this brief journey. ​

Theming
As this process is going to be quite short, let's first talk about the artificial elements of the game, the  theme. I really like the idea of having my own world (I actually do, though it’s in my head) so having an abstract representation of that in a game could be really cool. The fantasy world I have created is called Old World and revolves a lot around territory, history, politics and race, so using sudoku rulings as a foundation, allocating villages for races such as Leppits (rabbit people) and Shellings (essentially humpty dumpty except that Tim Burton had his way with him) would be a good way to start. 

Mechanics
Using the infrastructure I have in Old World already, I will come up with a basic ruleset that will see players puzzling out how best to place the race that they just rolled. The board (or cards, I am yet to decide) will also have landmarks and districts that can affect scoring. I am excited to find some unique mechanics along the way that could prove useful to differentiating the game from others. I really like the idea of having effects happen based on certain combinations of events. For example, if there are four Leppits next to each other, you can move two of them somewhere else. So having the restriction of not being able to move races once placed down could lead to some really fun mechanics involving those combinations. 

Conclusion
I plan on getting this game quickly designed and playtested within the week, and once I do I will post again with the results, and hopefully the outcome of a quick playtest too!

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