I’ve been pretty quiet on this blog. In fact, it’s been two months since I posted something. I drastically underestimated how busy life gets with three kids. But I recently started actively designing again.

Back in March and April I collated all my designs and realized that I have 14 designs somewhere along the progress train. That was a little shocking. I then decided to focus on two designs and pursue them with great vigor rather than chipping away one small piece at a time.

Those two designs that I am focusing on are Trading Post and Ziggurat. Today I will discuss some of the concept of Trading Post.

Trading Post Status

Do I finally have a fun game here?

Trading Post was my second ever design concept. I began working on it when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing regarding design games. (Some might still think that’s the case). But now I’ve redesigned it from scratch and I like where it is headed.

The theme of the game revolves around the Fort Union Trading Post. You can learn more about it on the National Park Service site here. The trading post at Fort Union was requested by the Assiniboine Indian tribe. All the local tribes and the inhabitants of the fort were friendly with one another, so the game includes no conflicts with the tribes. This is thematic and accurate.

The current status of the game is that I have solo tested it once. Here is a spoiler image of the prototype:

This image is purposefully not very revealing.

The game utilizes a rondel for action selection. It is a resource collection and management game. Players earn the most points by getting higher level resources via trades and then trading those higher level resources with Indian tribes.

The focus of the game is completing trades. I suppose you could put them in the same boat as the recipes in the Chili Cook Off in Scoville. They fit that mold. But in Trading Post you have to do a bunch of legwork to get the resources that are needed for those high level trades. And to get those resources you will have to manage your actions in the most optimal way.

There are eight action locations on the rondel. Four of them offer resources or trading abilities. The other four offer “experiences.” The experiences include hunting, encountering Indians, and building the fort. To hunt you will need guns. Encountering Indians is one of the higher level trading options. And building the fort will reward the player with the greatest number of points as it also determines when the game ends.

The whole premise is to contribute to the building of the fort. The best way to contribute is by completing trades that give you the resources with which you can build.

Next Step

Why is it that the “In My Head” concept step always seems so perfect until I actually get the game to the table? Honestly the best step any game designer can take in figuring out their game is to make the prototype and play it. I liken that step to completing the border of a puzzle. Once you have the border completed then you have a better idea of what you are actually working on.

So I solo tested Trading Post the other night. I now have my border in place. After solo testing I realized that I needed tiers to the resources. This is similar to the idea of clay and brick in many Uwe Rosenberg games. The clay is a standard resource and the bricks are advanced resources. So I am going to implement a tiered system in Trading Post.

I also learned that the Indian Encounter trading objectives are too focused. Rather then requiring absolutely specific things, like two knives, they will require a more simple objective, like a pair of cards. This should help players complete those objectives, provide rewarding moments in the game, and allow the game to move more quickly.

The other thing I want to really emphasize in the game is player interaction via player to player trading. Right now I have a simple mechanic like the trading in Catan but I want to step it up just a bit. I’m still working on this and I’m hoping it falls into place when I have a few more pieces of the puzzle together.

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So that’s the latest from me. I’ll post a similar article about Ziggurat probably next week. My goal for both games is to have them past the solo-testing phase so that I can bring them to Gen Con and get feedback from awesome people like you. Thanks for reading.