u/Old-Somewhere-8762

I’m developing a physical fantasy adventure / dungeon crawler where the miniatures can move automatically on the board and an app acts in the background as narrator and game master.

I’m currently testing something very different: whether the opening of the story communicates what I want it to communicate.

If you read the introduction below with no additional lore, I’d be really interested to know:

• What do you think is happening?
• Who do you think “you” are in this story?
• Does that role feel intriguing, confusing, or too vague?
• What questions does it make you want answered?
• Is there anything you assumed that might not actually be stated in the text?

Importantly, you’re not supposed to fully understand who or what you are yet. That mystery is part of the campaign. What I’m trying to find out is whether it feels like an intentional mystery rather than missing information.

Where the story begins.

Aldor and Bastion had never met before.
They came to Vaelstrom by different paths, for very different reasons.

Aldor had spent years following scattered clues hidden in ancient maps, manuscripts, and forgotten records. Again and again, they pointed toward the same place.

Bastion had followed something else. Beneath the Highlands of Simdur, the flow of Ether was changing, as if something buried deep underground were calling to it.

Both paths ended in the same place: VAELSTROM.
A forgotten fortress among mountains, mist, and storms.

According to the old stories, it has stood empty for centuries.

But Vaelstrom is not dead.

Doors open.
Lights respond.
Ancient mechanisms awaken.
Rooms seem to watch those who enter.

Little by little, Aldor and Bastion begin to suspect that perhaps they haven’t simply entered an abandoned castle.

Perhaps they have awakened something.

BUT THERE IS SOMEONE ELSE

Aldor and Bastion are not alone.

And we’re not talking about the creatures hiding inside Vaelstrom.

We’re talking about you.

You are not Aldor.

You are not Bastion.

So…

WHO ARE YOU?

There are doors in Vaelstrom that seem to wait for your voice.

Characters who sense a presence they cannot see.

Ancient mechanisms that seem to react when you speak.

Sometimes you will have to answer.
Sometimes you will have to decide.
And sometimes the world itself will react to what you do.

Aldor and Bastion don’t understand who (or what) is guiding them.

And at the beginning…

neither do you.

Why can you communicate with Aran?

Why can Vaelstrom sense you?

And why do some things inside the fortress seem to have been waiting for your arrival?

Those answers are part of the story.

Room by room.
Secret by secret.

Because in Vaelstrom, names matter.

Decisions leave their mark.

And some doors only open when someone on the other side chooses to answer.

https://preview.redd.it/gzofnw293cjh1.jpg?width=1434&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6698ad884c8f0e696ba0176b0d49b84113755466

I’m developing a fantasy dungeon-crawler board game, and this is the world map I’ve created for it in Wonderdraft.

I’d really appreciate some honest feedback from a board game/player perspective.

If you opened a professionally produced fantasy board game and found this map inside, what would your first impression be?

Does it feel like a finished, professional component, or does it still look like something created during development?

If you think it’s not quite production-ready yet, what specifically would you change or improve?

Any feedback is welcome: geography, overall composition, colours, textures, terrain, coastlines, forests, mountains, roads, typography, labels, readability, visual hierarchy, level of detail, or anything else that stands out to you.

Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/3sz1ju9y2cjh1.jpg?width=1434&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f0b0afbc9cabc050f8dbeba5e15955038f18824

Hi! I’ve been working on this map in Wonderdraft for a fantasy board game I’m developing.

I’m quite happy with the overall geography and layout, so at this point I’m mostly trying to improve the visual quality and finish rather than redesign the map itself.

My goal is for it to eventually look like something you could find in a professionally published fantasy board game or RPG.

What do you think is currently holding it back from that level?

I’d particularly appreciate feedback on things like terrain, textures, coastlines, mountains, forests, roads, labels, colours, scale, or anything else that immediately stands out to someone with more experience than me.

I’m also happy to use additional Wonderdraft assets if there are any you think would noticeably improve it.

Thanks!

I’m launching my Kickstarter in a little over a month and I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what I should expect from the numbers I have right now.

At the moment I have 2,000+ people on my email list, around 650 followers on the Kickstarter prelaunch page and about 19k followers on Instagram. Everything has been organic, I haven’t spent anything on ads. Most of the audience came from Instagram.

Some time ago I sent a survey to my email list and told them clearly that the game would cost around $650. Only 76 people answered (out of 2,000+, so obviously it’s a very small sample).

Of those 76, 24 said they would definitely buy it at that price, 24 said they really want it but need more information before deciding, 27 said they like the project but it’s outside their budget, and 1 was mostly interested in following the project.

The game is quite unusual and includes electronics and mechanical parts. I’m building this independently and I simply don’t have the capacity to produce hundreds of them, so for this campaign I’m limiting the complete game to just 20 units.

I’m thinking of setting the funding goal somewhere around $8k to $12k.

I’ll also have a DIY option for around $200. The idea is that makers can build their own version using the printable files, BOM, instructions, PCB with the firmware, free access to the control app and everything else needed to put it together.

I know perfectly well that followers and emails don’t equal buyers. It’s completely possible that I launch and those numbers convert terribly and I don’t even reach the goal.

But I’m also wondering about the opposite problem.

What if the 20 games sell out and there are still people who want one?

I really don’t want to just increase the number of units. The whole reason I’m limiting it to 20 is because that’s a number I know I can actually handle. Selling 50 or 100 would sound great during the campaign, but then I’d have to actually make and deliver 50 or 100 of these things.

So I’m trying to work out what I could offer if there’s more demand than those 20 units.

Would you just leave the physical tier sold out and point people to the DIY version? Is there a sensible way to let people reserve a place for a possible second batch? Maybe some kind of supporter tier that gives priority if I make more later? Or is it better not to take any money from those people at all if I can’t promise them a physical game yet?

And looking at the numbers themselves, what would you realistically expect?

650 Kickstarter followers, 2,000+ emails, around 19k Instagram followers, and 24 people who have actually told me they would buy at around $650.

I know there’s no way to predict it exactly. I’m just curious what people with more Kickstarter experience would consider the most likely scenario here, especially with only 20 physical units available.

I’m preparing the pre-launch page for my board game and I’m worried I may have gone a bit overboard with the GIFs. The game is quite unusual and some of its main features are difficult to explain without actually showing them in action, so I felt they were necessary.

Do you think the GIFs help you understand the concept, or are there too many? Would you remove some, or are there actually parts that could use more?

I’m also wondering if, as a pre-launch page, there’s enough information there or if you’d expect it to be more complete at this stage.

Any feedback would be really useful. Thanks!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vota/vestiges-of-the-ancients?ref=1576jp

I’m an indie developer working on a fantasy dungeon crawler with a heavy focus on immersion and physical interaction.

Like many indie creators, I eventually hit the same problem with the art of the game.

Originally I planned to commission unique illustrations for every attack card, but after adding everything up it became clear that I’d have to spend well over $10,000 just on card artwork. That would mean cutting budget from the parts of the project that actually make the game unique.

I also didn’t want to fill the game with AI-generated illustrations. Besides the ethical debate, I wanted the game to have its own visual identity.

So I think about to change my approach: instead of showing the attack itself, each card now represents something that actually exists within the game’s world.

For my mage, the cards are Aether channeling diagrams. They don’t depict spells, they show the invisible flow of magical energy that creates each spell.

For my dwarf, the cards are ancient forging diagrams. They illustrate how an Aether Stone must be embedded and aligned within a weapon to unleash a specific combat technique.

This meant I could create all of the symbols and diagrams myself as vector graphics instead of relying on dozens of expensive illustrations. It also gave every card a consistent visual language that fits the lore.

I’m actually starting to prefer this approach over traditional fantasy artwork, but I’m obviously biased.

So I’d genuinely like to hear your opinion on the cards I’m showing here.

Do they already feel polished and professional enough for a commercial board game, or do they still look like prototypes? Is there anything you think is missing or should be improved to make them feel more finished and production-ready?

https://preview.redd.it/dvn2ukaql6ih1.png?width=1029&format=png&auto=webp&s=102092c4213caba688e775c29b65af67faf58075

I’d really appreciate honest feedback. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m an independent designer preparing a fantasy board game with an ancient/medieval setting for Kickstarter.

I’ve hired human artists to create the visual identity of the game, including the box, boards, rulebook, characters, environments and other important components.

However, while finalising the production budget, I realised that commissioning a unique illustration for every attack and ability card could push the total art budget above €10,000–15,000.

For a large publisher this might be manageable, but for an independent creator it would consume most of the funds I need to invest in a complex physical and mechanical system that is central to the gameplay and needs to be as reliable as possible. It could make the campaign financially unviable or force me to invest substantially more of my own money.

I do not want to use generative AI artwork, so I have been considering another approach.

My idea is to commission artists to create around ten high-quality card backgrounds or templates representing different attack schools or categories, such as arcane, lunar or runic attacks. Each individual attack would then be represented through its name, effects, statistics and a custom or properly licensed vector-style symbol, rather than receiving a completely unique painted illustration.

The artists would still define the backgrounds, frames, colours, textures and overall visual language, so the cards would remain consistent with the rest of the game. The game would also still contain human-made illustrations for the box, boards, characters, enemies, environments, rulebook and other key elements.

This would be similar in principle to games such as Gloomhaven, where many ability cards rely primarily on graphic design, icons and information rather than individual scene illustrations.

What do you think about this approach?

Would it feel like a coherent design decision, or would it look like an obvious cost-cutting measure?

What elements would make cards like these still feel premium, thematic and visually interesting?

Are there other games that handle this particularly well?

And can you think of any other ways to reduce the number of illustrations without using AI or making the cards feel generic?

Thanks for your feedback.

Hi everyone,

I’m an independent designer preparing a fantasy board game with an ancient/medieval setting for Kickstarter.

I’ve hired human artists to create the visual identity of the game, including the box, boards, rulebook, characters, environments and other important components.

However, while finalising the production budget, I realised that commissioning a unique illustration for every attack and ability card could push the total art budget above $10,000–15,000.

For a large publisher this might be manageable, but for an independent creator it would consume most of the funds I need to invest in a complex physical and mechanical system that is central to the gameplay and needs to be as reliable as possible. It could make the campaign financially unviable or force me to invest substantially more of my own money.

I do not want to use generative AI artwork, so I have been considering another approach.

My idea is to commission artists to create around ten high-quality card backgrounds or templates representing different attack schools or categories, such as arcane, lunar or runic attacks. Each individual attack would then be represented through its name, effects, statistics and a custom or properly licensed vector-style symbol, rather than receiving a completely unique painted illustration.

The artists would still define the backgrounds, frames, colours, textures and overall visual language, so the cards would remain consistent with the rest of the game. The game would also still contain human-made illustrations for the box, boards, characters, enemies, environments, rulebook and other key elements.

This would be similar in principle to games such as Gloomhaven, where many ability cards rely primarily on graphic design, icons and information rather than individual scene illustrations.

What do you think about this approach?

Would it feel like a coherent design decision, or would it look like an obvious cost-cutting measure?

What elements would make cards like these still feel premium, thematic and visually interesting?

Are there other games that handle this particularly well?

And can you think of any other ways to reduce the number of illustrations without using AI or making the cards feel generic?

Thanks for your feedback.

A few days ago I asked people whether they could figure out what my game was within the first 10 seconds.

The feedback was really helpful, and I’ve already made quite a few changes to the website based on what people suggested.

I’d like to try another little experiment.

Just browse the site naturally and tell me:

• At what point did you finally understand what the game actually is?
• What made everything “click” for you?
• If you stopped before understanding it, where did you lose interest?

Website: https://www.vestigesoftheancients.com/

It looks much better on desktop than on mobile at the moment.

I’m working on the website for my board game and I’m currently struggling with one specific question:

If you land on the page knowing absolutely nothing about the game, do you quickly understand what it is and what makes it different?

I’m probably way too close to the project at this point, so I don’t trust my own judgement anymore 😅

I don’t want to explain the game here before you see it, because that would defeat the whole purpose of the test.

https://www.vestigesoftheancients.com/

I’d mainly love feedback on these three things:

1. What do you think the game is after the first 10–15 seconds?
2. What caught your attention first?
3. Was there anything visually confusing or that made you lose interest?

It looks much better on desktop than on mobile at the moment.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently launched a small free website created to give visibility to independent creators and their projects.

For this community, I’m especially interested in DIY electronics projects: Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi builds, sensors, robotics, automation, useful devices, hardware prototypes, custom tools, assistive tech, interactive objects, educational electronics, 3D printed enclosures with electronics, and other original electronic builds.

The idea comes from a problem many independent makers run into: you can spend a lot of time building something interesting, but it can be difficult to show it to people without it being seen as self-promotion or spam. Social media is algorithm-driven, ads usually don’t make sense for early-stage projects, and many communities understandably limit promotional posts.

So I wanted to create a small discovery space where independent projects can have a proper page with a description, images, videos, links, schematics or code if the creator wants to share them, and useful context about what the project does and how it was built.

There is no hidden catch, no paid promotion, no store, no publisher angle, and no secret commercial interest behind this. Right now the goal is simply to give more visibility to independent projects and build a small space where creators can also discover and support each other.

One important idea behind the site is reciprocity. I don’t want it to become a dead gallery where everyone only posts their own thing and leaves. The goal is that creators who appear on the site also take a little time to look at other projects, leave feedback, show interest, or support other creators.

If you’re working on a DIY electronics project and would be interested in possibly appearing on the website, feel free to comment with:

• The name of your project, if it has one
• What it does
• What hardware, boards or components it uses
• The current stage: idea, prototype, testing, finished, open source, launched, etc.
• Whether you’d be open to being contacted for more details

You don’t need to post full materials here. If your project seems like a good fit, I’ll contact you and let you know where you can send the full information.

I’m especially interested in original, useful, unusual or educational electronics projects. It doesn’t have to be polished or commercial. Rough prototypes, experimental builds and small personal projects are welcome too.

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently launched a small free website created to give visibility to independent creators and their projects.

For this community, I’m especially interested in inventions, prototypes, useful devices, technical experiments, product ideas, early-stage builds, assistive tools, mechanical concepts, 3D printed solutions, electronics projects, and other original things people are trying to design or build.

The idea comes from a problem many independent creators run into: you can spend a lot of time building something interesting, but it can be difficult to show it to people without it being seen as self-promotion or spam. Social media is algorithm-driven, ads usually don’t make sense for early-stage projects, and many communities understandably limit promotional posts.

So I wanted to create a small discovery space where independent projects can have a proper page with a description, images, videos, links and useful context about what the project is, what problem it solves, and what stage it is in.

There is no hidden catch, no paid promotion, no store, no publisher angle, and no secret commercial interest behind this. Right now the goal is simply to give more visibility to independent projects and build a small space where creators can also discover and support each other.

One important idea behind the site is reciprocity. I don’t want it to become a dead gallery where everyone only posts their own thing and leaves. The goal is that creators who appear on the site also take a little time to look at other projects, leave feedback, show interest, or support other creators.

If you’re working on an invention, prototype or original build and would be interested in possibly appearing on the website, feel free to comment with:

• The name of your project, if it has one
• What problem it tries to solve
• What type of invention or prototype it is
• The current stage: idea, sketch, prototype, testing, finished, patent pending, launched, etc.
• Whether you’d be open to being contacted for more details

You don’t need to post full materials here. If your project seems like a good fit, I’ll contact you and let you know where you can send the full information.

I’m especially interested in original, useful, unusual or early-stage projects. It doesn’t have to be polished or commercial. Rough prototypes, experimental builds and small personal inventions are welcome too.

Hi everyone,

I made a free showcase website for people building creative projects.

The idea came from a problem I kept running into: when you make something, it can be hard to show it to people without feeling like you’re just self-promoting or spamming communities. Social media is very algorithm-driven, ads don’t really make sense for small personal projects, and many forums understandably limit promotional posts.

So I built a small website where independent creators can present their projects properly, with a dedicated page, description, images, videos, links and useful material.

It’s meant for original projects such as board games, card games, RPGs, prototypes, inventions, 3D printed builds, art, crafts, tools, educational projects, indie games, tech experiments and other personal or small-team creative work.

It is not a store, not a marketplace, not a publisher, and not a paid promotion platform. There is no hidden catch or secret commercial angle. Right now it’s simply a free project I built to help give more visibility to things people are making.

One important part of the idea is reciprocity. I don’t want the website to become a dead gallery where everyone only posts their own thing and leaves. The goal is that creators who appear there also take a little time to discover other projects, leave feedback, show interest, or support other creators.

I’m already adding the first real community projects, and I’m still improving the site based on feedback.

I’d appreciate thoughts from people who make things:

• Would a free showcase like this be useful for your own project?
• What would make you trust a new website like this?
• Does the reciprocity idea make sense, or would it feel like friction?
• What kind of projects would you expect to see in a place like this?

If anyone here has made something and thinks this could be useful, feel free to comment with a short description of your project. I’m not asking for full materials here, I’m mainly sharing something I made and trying to understand whether it can be useful to other creators too.

Hi everyone,

I’m testing a small free website idea for independent maker projects, and I’d like to get feedback from people who actually build things.

The idea is to create a simple discovery space for original projects: inventions, hardware prototypes, Arduino/ESP32/Raspberry Pi builds, robotics, 3D printed objects, functional prints, tools, props, assistive devices, educational projects, tech experiments, crafts, and other things people are physically or technically building.

The problem I’m trying to solve is that many small creators make interesting things, but it can be difficult to share them without it being seen as self-promotion. Social media is algorithm-driven, ads don’t make much sense for early-stage projects, and many communities understandably have strict rules against promotional posts.

So I’m exploring whether a small, free, curated showcase could be useful: each project would have its own page with a description, images, videos, links and useful material, so people can discover what independent makers are building.

One important part of the idea is reciprocity. I don’t want it to become a dead gallery where everyone only submits their own thing and leaves. The goal would be that creators also take some time to look at other projects, leave feedback, show interest, or support other makers.

I’d appreciate honest feedback:

• Would something like this be useful for maker projects?
• What would make you trust a new showcase like this?
• Does the reciprocity idea make sense, or would it feel like friction?
• What kind of projects should or should not be included?
• Would you prefer submitting through a form, email, comments, or DM?

If anyone here is working on a maker project and thinks this could be useful, feel free to comment with a short description of what you’re building. I’m not asking for full materials here, I’m mainly trying to understand whether this is useful for this kind of community.

Hi everyone,

I’m building a small free website: a showcase for independent creators working on original projects, especially tabletop RPGs, RPG systems, settings, adventures, zines, solo RPGs, dungeon crawlers, print-and-play material, playtest documents and other tabletop design experiments.

The idea is simple: many RPG designers are building interesting things, but it’s hard to get visibility without feeling like you’re just self-promoting or spamming communities. I wanted to create a place where creators can properly present their projects with a dedicated page, including a description, images, videos, links and other useful material.

The site is not a store, not a publisher, and not a paid promotion platform. It’s a free discovery space for creators and people who enjoy finding independent projects.

We’re already starting to include some real community projects from independent creators, and I’m now looking for more RPG and tabletop design projects that could be a good fit.

One of the main ideas behind the project is reciprocity: I don’t want it to become a dead gallery where everyone only posts their own thing and leaves. The goal is that creators also discover and support other creators’ projects, by leaving constructive comments, feedback, or simply showing interest. A small community where people actually look at each other’s work.

If you’re working on an RPG-related project and would be interested in possibly being featured, feel free to comment with:

• The name of your project
• A short description of what it is
• What kind of RPG project it is: full system, supplement, setting, adventure, zine, solo RPG, hack, playtest document, etc.
• The current stage: early idea, draft, playtesting, ashcan, pre-launch, crowdfunding, published, etc.
• Whether you’d be open to being contacted for more details

Hi everyone,

I’m building a small free website, a showcase for independent creators working on original projects, especially board games, card games, tabletop prototypes, RPGs, dungeon crawlers, solo games, print-and-play projects and other design experiments.

The idea is simple: many designers are building interesting things, but it’s hard to get visibility without feeling like you’re just self-promoting or spamming communities. I wanted to create a place where creators can properly present their projects with a dedicated page, including a description, images, videos, links and other useful material.

The site is not a store, not a publisher, and not a paid promotion platform. It’s a free discovery space for creators and people who enjoy finding independent projects.

We’re already starting to include some real community projects from independent creators, and I’m now looking for more board game and tabletop projects that could be a good fit.

One of the main ideas behind this web is reciprocity: I don’t want it to become a dead gallery where everyone only posts their own thing and leaves. The goal is that creators also discover and support other creators’ projects, by leaving constructive comments, feedback, or simply showing interest. A small community where people actually look at each other’s work.

If you’re working on a board game or tabletop-related project and would be interested in possibly being featured, feel free to comment with:

• The name of your project
• A short description of what it is
• What type of game it is
• The current stage: early idea, prototype, playtesting, pre-launch, crowdfunding, published, etc.
• Whether you’d be open to being contacted for more details

If you’re working on a tabletop game project and you’d like to share it, I’d like to hear about it.

It could be a board game, a card game, a dungeon crawler, a wargame, a solo game, a party game, an RPG system, a prototype, a print-and-play project, or any other kind of tabletop design experiment.

I’m creating a small website to give visibility to creators, projects, and ideas that people are building on their own or with friends.

The idea is to make it a space for creators, by creators, and also open to anyone who wants to discover interesting tabletop projects.

Part of the reason I’m doing this is that it can be difficult to find places to share what you’re building without being immediately seen as self-promotion. I understand why communities need rules against spam, but I also think many designers need more spaces where they can simply show their work, explain what they’re making, and receive useful feedback.

So if you have a project you’d like to share, feel free to comment with:

• The name of your project
• A short description of what it is
• What type of game it is
• What stage it’s in: early idea, prototype, playtesting, pre-launch, crowdfunding, published, etc.
• Links, images, videos, rules, PnP files, devlogs, or campaign pages, if you have them
• Whether you’d be open to being contacted about possibly appearing on the website

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a fantasy world where ancient mechanisms were created to regulate forces like magic, movement, hidden paths and corruption.

I’m also building a real physical tabletop object based on that world: a board-like artifact that represents a small fragment of the setting. In real life, it can react to the player, move pieces by itself, block paths, reveal events, trigger enemies, and respond to cards that work almost like spells or ancient commands.

I’m trying to make the physical object feel narratively coherent, not just like “technology pretending to be magic.”

From a worldbuilding perspective, what would make an artifact like this feel believable and powerful?

I’m especially interested in how to make it feel ancient, mysterious and slightly dangerous, like something discovered rather than invented.

What would you add to make this kind of “living artifact” feel stronger in a fantasy world?