u/JesusVaderScott

Hey everyone!

First of all, just a disclaimer: I don't consider myself an artist. I'm more of a problem solver.

I started working on a game in 2023. At first it was meant to be a board game, but eventually it evolved into a card game. Initially, it was just something fun to play with friends using stock images, shapes, and icons from Canva, but that idea evolved into something much more serious as my friends started giving me feedback on the game, how to make it better, and how to iterate it into something much more compelling. Before I realized it, I was deeply invested in bringing this project to life.

But there was a problem... the art.

I made the decision not to use AI-generated art or free stock images for the final product. It had to be human-made, and shaped to suit this project, so the game could have its own identity and personality. However, I didn't have thousands of dollars to make that happen. So I realized it would have to be me.

I didn't have any digital illustration experience prior to that decision. I used to make some sketches in my notebooks during high school, but nothing fancy, special, or worth sharing with the world. So I started watching YouTube videos and practicing a lot.

My goal was never to become an artist. I was just solving a problem. I wanted to make a card game, I needed the art, and I didn't have any other option than doing it myself. So I was never looking for perfection, mastering the craft, or even developing my skills beyond a certain level. I just wanted to reach a point where I could "lock in" a style that I liked, stick to it, and eventually produce the game without it taking half my life.

Currently, I have 51 out of 134 illustrations finished, and the game idea has become so serious that I even launched a crowdfunding page. It will still take some time probably until the end of the year, to have all the illustrations done, but I'm quite happy I ended up here. I had no idea that one day I would start drawing and illustrating, as it was never part of my plans.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this progress with you guys and, even though I'm not an artist, leave a message of hope for someone out there who's struggling to start. Sometimes limitations foster creativity (not perfection).

Sometimes we just need a challenge.

Hey guys!

During the last month, I've been focusing mainly on the finishing the visual identity of Kravestorm (card frames, card backs and logo).

All the work concerning the design was done in collaboration with a professional card game designer from Poland, who managed to improve the overall look of the game by miles. It's an incredible feeling to see the new prototype printed using the new card frames. The game no longer feels like a "homemade sketchy game," but rather a "real card game."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall visual identity of the game!

Thank you!

Hey guys!

During the last month, I've been focusing mainly on the finishing the visual identity of Kravestorm (card frames, card backs and logo).

All the work concerning the design was done in collaboration with a professional card game designer from Poland, who managed to improve the overall look of the game by miles. It's an incredible feeling to see the new prototype printed using the new card frames. The game no longer feels like a "homemade sketchy game," but rather a "real card game."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall visual identity of the game!

Thank you!

Hey guys!

During the last month, I've been focusing mainly on the finishing the visual identity of Kravestorm (card frames, card backs and logo).

All the work concerning the design was done in collaboration with a professional card game designer from Poland, who managed to improve the overall look of the game by miles. It's an incredible feeling to see the new prototype printed using the new card frames. The game no longer feels like a "homemade sketchy game," but rather a "real card game."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall visual identity of the game!

Thank you!

Hey guys!

During the last month, I've been focusing mainly on the finishing the visual identity of Kravestorm (card frames, card backs and logo).

All the work concerning the design was done in collaboration with a professional card game designer from Poland, who managed to improve the overall look of the game by miles. It's an incredible feeling to see the new prototype printed using the new card frames. The game no longer feels like a "homemade sketchy game," but rather a "real card game."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall visual identity of the game!

Thank you!

Hey guys!

During the last month, we've been focusing on the visual identity of Kravestorm (among many other things).

All the work concerning the design was done in collaboration with a professional card game designer from Poland, who managed to improve the overall look of the game by miles. It's an incredible feeling to see the new prototype printed using the new card frames. The game no longer feels like a "homemade sketchy game," but rather a "real card game."

Game Logo: The previous game logo needed to be changed. It was made a long time ago, when the game was much more goofy and cartoonish. After running polls on our Discord server, it became unanimous that the logo needed an update. The new logo was designed to feel more like "heavy metal" rather than a "generic fantasy game."

Card Frames: By far the hardest challenge was the card frames. They had to be designed while taking readability, user experience, and overall aesthetics into account at the same time.

Card Backs: The card backs are almost as important, if not more, to the visual identity of a game than the logo itself. More importantly, they're permanent and never meant to be changed, as the cards become pieces of a much bigger picture of a game that wants to mix old and new. Because of that, consistency is mandatory.

For now, we're expanding the reach of our playtesting, with more and more people trying the game. This is beginning to feel a lot like the start of the beta phase of Kravestorm, and it's really exciting and rewarding to see how far this game has already come.

Hey everyone!

First of all, just a disclaimer: I don't consider myself an artist. I'm more of a problem solver.

I started working on a game in 2023. At first it was meant to be a board game, but eventually it evolved into a card game. Initially, it was just something fun to play with friends using stock images, shapes, and icons from Canva, but that idea evolved into something much more serious as my friends started giving me feedback on the game, how to make it better, and how to iterate it into something much more compelling. Before I realized it, I was deeply invested in bringing this project to life.

But there was a problem... the art.

I made the decision not to use AI-generated art or free stock images for the final product. It had to be human-made, and shaped to suit this project, so the game could have its own identity and personality. However, I didn't have thousands of dollars to make that happen. So I realized it would have to be me.

I didn't have any digital illustration experience prior to that decision. I used to make some sketches in my notebooks during high school, but nothing fancy, special, or worth sharing with the world. So I started watching YouTube videos and practicing a lot.

My goal was never to become an artist. I was just solving a problem. I wanted to make a card game, I needed the art, and I didn't have any other option than doing it myself. So I was never looking for perfection, mastering the craft, or even developing my skills beyond a certain level. I just wanted to reach a point where I could "lock in" a style that I liked, stick to it, and eventually produce the game without it taking half my life.

Currently, I have 51 out of 134 illustrations finished, and the game idea has become so serious that I even launched a crowdfunding page. It will still take some time probably until the end of the year, to have all the illustrations done, but I'm quite happy I ended up here. I had no idea that one day I would start drawing and illustrating, as it was never part of my plans.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this progress with you guys and, even though I'm not an artist, leave a message of hope for someone out there who's struggling to start. Sometimes limitations foster creativity (not perfection).

Sometimes we just need a challenge.

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a game for over 3 years now and I'd like to share my experience with aspiring game designers who are just starting working on their first game, or who are still in an early stage of its development, as this journey doesn't always feel rewarding and exciting, but it can become really brutal as well.

This experience has had a lot of highs and lows so far, and I'm still not nearly done with it. I've heard somewhere that when you're 90% done with a big project, it means you have 90% left to do. I came to realize that this phrase is very real for game designing.

Looking back, I was a fool to believe that my game was near completion already for a couple of times. It wasn't. And there was always a different reason for it. It could be the mechanics, the gameplay, the pace, the art, the card design, the rules, the balance... There are so many variables you need to tackle when you're a solo game designer, that it's really easy to overlook something, which later on will require a massive iteration.

Iteration, that's what game design is about. You walk 3 steps forward, just so you walk 2 steps backward. So what it felt like it will take a year to make, ends up taking 3 years. But that's alright. It's just the way it is. If you're motivated and passioned enough (and really stubborn like myself), you'll eventually get there. I hope...

This is just to say, for anybody out there who might be struggling, facing a blank "canvas", or on the verge of a burnout, that it gets better with time. When you put on the work to iterate further, develop your skills, and learn to be humble enough to accept feedback from peers/playtesters (which you must seek if you're still not), you'll eventually get better.

I didn't have money to pay for artists, and I didn't know how to illustrate. Using AI generated art would be a simple way out of it, but my game deserved more than that. I'm not even gonna enter the AI discussion, or whether or not it's good or bad. People are entitled to their opinions. I just wanted something more unique, more crafty, more indie... Something that could appeal more, not to the mass market, but to a specific niche. A niche where I include myself. So I spent almost 2 years developing my art, before I locked in my style.

Now I can make a very objective comparison using the pictures I've shared, which put side by side my initial concepts from 2025, and the most recent iterations for the same characters/concepts in the style I've locked. I'm actually very happy to see that perseverance and hard work are bringing their dividends.

Just a final note: success can mean a lot of different things. For me, gathering with my friends on a weekly basis to play a game I've completely made from scratch is a form of success. Having my finalized game box with all the cards professionally printed, even if it will be the only copy in existence, is another form of success, and that's what I'm aiming for. Anything else will that might come, will be a bonus added to that.

TLDR: Stay strong and best of luck with your games! Most people won't know the pain and sacrifice it takes to make them, but you will. And that's what it make it so fulfilling.

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a game for over 3 years now and I'd like to share my experience with aspiring game designers who are just starting working on their first game, or who are still in an early stage of its development, as this journey doesn't always feel rewarding and exciting, but it can become really brutal as well.

This experience has had a lot of highs and lows so far, and I'm still not nearly done with it. I've heard somewhere that when you're 90% done with a big project, it means you have 90% left to do. I came to realize that this phrase is very real for game designing.

Looking back, I was a fool to believe that my game was near completion already for a couple of times. It wasn't. And there was always a different reason for it. It could be the mechanics, the gameplay, the pace, the art, the card design, the rules, the balance... There are so many variables you need to tackle when you're a solo game designer, that it's really easy to overlook something, which later on will require a massive iteration.

Iteration, that's what game design is about. You walk 3 steps forward, just so you walk 2 steps backward. So what it felt like it will take a year to make, ends up taking 3 years. But that's alright. It's just the way it is. If you're motivated and passioned enough (and really stubborn like myself), you'll eventually get there. I hope...

This is just to say, for anybody out there who might be struggling, facing a blank "canvas", or on the verge of a burnout, that it gets better with time. When you put on the work to iterate further, develop your skills, and learn to be humble enough to accept feedback from peers/playtesters (which you must seek if you're still not), you'll eventually get better.

I didn't have money to pay for artists, and I didn't know how to illustrate. Using AI generated art would be a simple way out of it, but my game deserved more than that. I'm not even gonna enter the AI discussion, or whether or not it's good or bad. People are entitled to their opinions. I just wanted something more unique, more crafty, more indie... Something that could appeal more, not to the mass market, but to a specific niche. A niche where I include myself. So I spent almost 2 years developing my art, before I locked in my style.

Now I can make a very objective comparison using the pictures I've shared, which put side by side my initial concepts from 2025, and the most recent iterations for the same characters/concepts in the style I've locked. I'm actually very happy to see that perseverance and hard work are bringing their dividends.

Just a final note: success can mean a lot of different things. For me, gathering with my friends on a weekly basis to play a game I've completely made from scratch is a form of success. Having my finalized game box with all the cards professionally printed, even if it will be the only copy in existence, is another form of success, and that's what I'm aiming for. Anything else will that might come, will be a bonus added to that.

TLDR: Stay strong and best of luck with your games! Most people won't know the pain and sacrifice it takes to make them, but you will. And that's what it make it so fulfilling.

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a game for over 3 years now and I'd like to share my experience with aspiring game designers who are just starting working on their first game, or who are still in an early stage of its development, as this journey doesn't always feel rewarding and exciting, but it can become really brutal as well.

This experience has had a lot of highs and lows so far, and I'm still not nearly done with it. I've heard somewhere that when you're 90% done with a big project, it means you have 90% left to do. I came to realize that this phrase is very real for game designing.

Looking back, I was a fool to believe that my game was near completion already for a couple of times. It wasn't. And there was always a different reason for it. It could be the mechanics, the gameplay, the pace, the art, the card design, the rules, the balance... There are so many variables you need to tackle when you're a solo game designer, that it's really easy to overlook something, which later on will require a massive iteration.

Iteration, that's what game design is about. You walk 3 steps forward, just so you walk 2 steps backward. So what it felt like it will take a year to make, ends up taking 3 years. But that's alright. It's just the way it is. If you're motivated and passioned enough (and really stubborn like myself), you'll eventually get there. I hope...

This is just to say, for anybody out there who might be struggling, facing a blank "canvas", or on the verge of a burnout, that it gets better with time. When you put on the work to iterate further, develop your skills, and learn to be humble enough to accept feedback from peers/playtesters (which you must seek if you're still not), you'll eventually get better.

I didn't have money to pay for artists, and I didn't know how to illustrate. Using AI generated art would be a simple way out of it, but my game deserved more than that. I'm not even gonna enter the AI discussion, or whether or not it's good or bad. People are entitled to their opinions. I just wanted something more unique, more crafty, more indie... Something that could appeal more, not to the mass market, but to a specific niche. A niche where I include myself. So I spent almost 2 years developing my art, before I locked in my style.

Now I can make a very objective comparison using the pictures I've shared, which put side by side my initial concepts from 2025, and the most recent iterations for the same characters/concepts in the style I've locked. I'm actually very happy to see that perseverance and hard work are bringing their dividends.

Just a final note: success can mean a lot of different things. For me, gathering with my friends on a weekly basis to play a game I've completely made from scratch is a form of success. Having my finalized game box with all the cards professionally printed, even if it will be the only copy in existence, is another form of success, and that's what I'm aiming for. Anything else will that might come, will be a bonus added to that.

TLDR: Stay strong and best of luck with your games! Most people won't know the pain and sacrifice it takes to make them, but you will. And that's what it make it so fulfilling.

Hi everyone,

My name is André. I’m originally from Portugal, but I’ve been living in Warsaw for 10 years. I’m sharing this post because I'm committed to pursuing a dream that started 27 years ago, and I've decided I'm gonna make it 100% made in Poland.

Back in 1999, I was a huge Pokémon fanatic, from the games, to the series, and to the movies, but especially the Trading Card Game. As such, and because I had to spend most of my time after school in the back of my parents' store, I made my own Trading Card Game (way before I gained access to the Internet). My mom kept those original cards, made out of wrapping paper cut into rectangles, for 27 years, so I still have them.

Life happened, and about 20 years later I ended up moving to Poland.

In 2023, I can't exactly explain why, I felt an urge to create a game once again. As a "joke", I developed a game called "Quests, Beasts and Other Sh**" to take to a Secret Santa meeting (an old tradition of my group of friends from high school). What started as a light, easy-going joke became an obsession, and for the last 3 years, I have evolved it to become a card game called Kravestorm. I describe this game as: "formation-based card battler fueled by self-destructive power".

As I ended up seriously considering giving this project a real chance, and as I've been calling Poland home for so many years, and with Poland being such a huge center of gaming in Europe, I figured I wanted to make this game 100% made in Poland. And that's what I'm doing:

- Design: I'm doing all the design and illustrations myself (I pretty much self-studied illustration over the last 2 years just to bring this project to life), but I'm also collaborating with a talented Polish designer specialized in card frames and symbols for tabletop games / TCGs.

- Playtesting: I'm playtesting the game in board game cafés / bars in Warsaw on an ongoing weekly basis for more than 10 months.

- Manufacturing: I'm planning to print the game in Poland, most likely at Fabryka Kart (which I've been in contact with)

- Crowdfunding: I've chosen Gamefound (based in Wrocław) as the platform to crowdfund the project. I've recently launched the page.

Regarding the game, it's a 2–4 player card battler that has a duration of approximately 10–15 minutes per player. It revolves around Capitals, which you have to defend using your Kravers (Units) while you try to destroy your opponent's. The fuel of war is Nekthar, a highly addictive substance that brings great power at a great price, as Kravers often become "Wasted" or even "Overdosed" while using it, ensuring that you need to time your attacks well so you don't jeopardize your defense.

The game has been playtested for over a year (still ongoing), and I currently have 41/136 illustrations finalized. I’ve already launched the preview page on Gamefound to start building a community, even though the campaign is only due to start next year. In the mean time, I'm focused on finishing the art and finalize the playtesting until the end of the year!

Thank you for reading my story!

Dziękuję i pozdrawiam z Warszawy!