Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. Some of you know that last year I decided to branch out from game design into game publishing. I see so many great designs in our online community and wanted to become a part of bringing those games to tables around the world. As part of this process I applied for and was accepted to the GAMA Horizons Fellowship program, an accelerator for emerging publishers and retailers from historically underrepresented groups in the tabletop industry. I'm excited to share...
19 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. Bubble Net is live on Kickstarter! Congratulations to Cat Drayer, of Drayer Ink! Bubble Net is Drayer Ink's first Kickstarter, and one of the first games they ever brought to Protospiel Online. Bubble Net is a meditative, multiplayer Solitaire game for 1 to many players, designed and illustrated by Cat Drayer, and developed by George Drayer. In the wild, most humpback whales hunt by lunge fishing - they see a shoal of fish and they lunge at them. It’s not very...
30 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. Surf's Up! Released in US, Australia, and New Zealand Congratulations to Jay Bendixen, whose first signed game, Surf's Up! has now been released across the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Surf's Up! is a bluffing card game in which you play as surfers trying to catch the best collection of waves while scoring bonuses from matching your surfboard to your waves and avoiding bluebottle stings. Your goal is to win the wave without tying, which causes you to wipe...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. Scrapbots is in its final days on Kickstarter! Congratulations to David Torres, who has been designing this awesome deck builder since 2019. Scrapbots is a bot battling deck builder, combining the tactics of a card battler with the strategy of deck building. Set in a post-apocalyptic robot junkyard arena, you take on the mantle of a Scrapjack, a scrapbot operator competing for glory in the Arena. Build your army of scrapbots, power them up with gadgets, and...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Heather Newton here. When Protospiel Online attendees playtest with me and find out I'm the main person organizing the event, they sometimes ask me what prototypes I brought to test for the weekend. My response is that they've been playtesting my game the whole time they've been engaging with the convention. I suspect plenty of people think I'm kidding when I say this. While I might say it with a bit of a chuckle, I do mean what I say. This session, I made the prototype listing...
3 months ago • 5 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. Congratulations to Leonie Grundler and the team at Lioness games who launched their new game Biome on Kickstarter, and it funded in just nine minutes! Biome combines strategic card placements and engine building in a nature themed tableau builder. You’ll raise baby animals, feed and protect them, achieve biodiversity, and activate unique flora and fauna abilities to create the best Biome and win the game! Biome comes with real straw nests. And yes, you get to...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. Our Protospiel Community is incredibly inspiring and we love to celebrate each others' wins! Today is one of those stories, of playtesting that led to dreams coming true. Ironwood In 2022, at the summer Protospiel Online, Maël Brunet and Julien Chaput playtested their game "Black Flag." A few months later, after pitching it all around, they received 3 offers to sign the game! Mindclash Games was more than they could dream of and after one year of very dedicated...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Some links in the below message are affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking one of these links, Protospiel Online will earn a commission at no additional cost to you David Kessler here. The 2024 Board Game Design Virtual Summit is coming soon! The Summit is a week-long game design event, featuring interviews with industry experts, live Q&A panels, and more! HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL GET A week-long free event for board game designers In-depth interviews with...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. If it's January, it's time for Protospiel Online! I love kicking off the new year with our community, playing exciting new games and hanging out with amazing people. Hopefully everyone has recovered from the holidays and is starting to think about playtesting. Today I'm sharing a few quick reminders to help people get themselves ready for the weekend. Get Your Badges If you haven't gotten a badge yet, you can do that today! Your badge unlocks the door to...
7 months ago • 2 min read