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One major thing most developers do – myself included – is to fail to target the right platform. And by that I don’t mean the whole android or iPhone or windows debate, I mean those all-important system specs. Do you focus on your end user’s system specs to start? Or is it better to tweak later? You have a shiny new super powerful computer that you do all your coding, your graphic design, your entire game on this amazing machine, and it performs beautifully. But then you realize it must run on ‘normal’ systems. All those amazing glows and animations, are they going to look good, much less perform decently on a lower end device? That’s the big question! I know I am guilty of doing the same thing and I have a bad habit of developing almost the entire game to completion before I upload it to my target device to test, and then it bombs. Ok, so most of the time it doesn’t bomb, but I have to go back and make numerous performance tweaks and adjustments to get it to run acceptably. Same thing with the latest project, Scratch’n Score. It’s a pretty simple 2D game though using some 3D dice that use physics to roll. It runs great on my system and in the editor with everything on screen at around 6-800 fps. Amazing! Then you remember the device you develop for is a much lower end device, think entry to barely mid-level android devices, and bam, now you’re struggling to hit 60fps during some of the ‘cool’ stuff. I just did exactly that. In fact, I spent hours on one animation, slicing and aligning the images, designing the animation, all to play when the player scratches and loses all their points that round. Does it look great? Yep! Does it play on the device? Well, barely. By the time the device catches up, the whole animation is over halfway done and then bam, it’s gone… Not to mention, now that I see it playing on the device, I really don’t like how it looks. But that’s a developer’s dilemma. It takes time to save and compile everything and deploy it to the device in question to test, depending on the project it can take anywhere from 3 minutes to an hour. Is it worth it to do this on a regular basis or is it better to develop and then tweak it later after testing. That’s up to you and how valuable your time is. On the bright side, deciding out of the blue to test it on the device today (mostly because I wanted to show off a bit), I realized I don’t like that animation anymore and thought of a much better solution, AND saved myself some time since I was thinking about doing some other animations the same way. Overall, testing it on the device probably saved me several hours of designing more animations like that that I would have ultimately tossed out anyways. Well, since the wife is out of state for the weekend, I am going to take advantage of her absense get back to some coding! This project is wrapping up nicely and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The gameplay is essentially done, it’s all the polish and animations that I need to work on now, along with a couple game variations just to add some spice and keep replayability up there! Then all the boring stuff, settings menus, etc.. Ugh.. 

Amid all the distractions last night, not the least of which was standing in line for several hours to vote, I did manage to get some coding time in and made significant progress on Scratch’n Score, eliminating the issues with the old codebase. It took a couple days to truly get over it and delete the old code completely and rewrite it. I know I’m stubborn, but I backed up the two files thinking to use them as a reference, but the problem came when I kept going to them, trying to just copy and paste to fix it, rather than doing what I had intended, a rewrite. Once I was able to get my brain to cooperate, and after several heated internal arguments with myself, I convinced all those nagging thoughts that a rewrite, from scratch, was the better way to attack this. And the result? A lovely dice rolling simulator, that lets you roll until you scratch, or until you score your points and pass the dice to the next player. I amended the score calculating code to keep track of which dice in a roll were contributing to the score to eliminate players trying to cheat… For example, you roll and 5 of your dice are scoring, but that last one wasn’t. Well, you could cheat the system by just selecting all 6 and then boom, next roll it would think you scored with all 6 and let you reroll 6, instead of one. Not anymore. As a matter of fact, I think it’s going to be a default ‘house rule’ that if you try to include a non-scoring die in your take, it will be an instant scratch.. The rewrite also allowed me to handle some other things that would have been harder with the old code like having wild dice where if you’re lucky you could change one of the die values to anything you want, among other variations. In the long run, this was worth it, but painful. I hate doing a complete rewrite as I feel like I have just wasted all that time, but it was worth it. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get back to the code and finish up the gameplay portion. Time will tell!

So, one of the first things you learn in a learning environment for game design, is the game design document. A sometimes-vital work that gives you all the information and plans for a game, its features, everything about it at a glance. Depending on the game this could be a single page in a notebook or a multi hundred-page document. I hate design documents. Who needs em? My preferred method is to jump into the gameplay, start designing and coding on the fly, more often than not using actual production art. If I can’t see it, I can’t wrap my head around it. Now occasionally I do make up a design doc, but usually only on more complex projects like SLOA or Roll’N Bonez. In the case of Scratch N Score, I did not. I jumped in, started coding gameplay, had a whole thing already done and implemented and working… and then I realized I was wrong. My whole plan and process for each player’s turn was broken and just wasn’t going to work. Then I started a new job, plus I had two games in with the beta testers who kept sneaking bugs into my code… *ahem* Well they did an amazing job finding bugs, which I had to fix, then they found more, which I had to fix. So, the project for this sat dormant on the hard drive, collecting virtual dust until recently when I grabbed the vacuum, cleared the dust away and tried to figure out one burning question. ” WTH was I thinking?! “ Now that I’ve opened it back up, I figure I can re-use about 50% of the existing gameplay code, the rest is a scrub. Now this is a simple game, so we’re only talking a couple hundred lines of code. If it were a larger one like CashFlo was? Then we’d have some issues. I have plans now and have already started reimplementing part of the scoring display, which will lead to reimplementing the other parts of the code I had to scrap. It’s a work in progress but I can at least see now how it should flow and that will make it a lot easier to move forward. Word of advice for anyone who randomly stumbles across this post and reads my ramblings, design your stuff. Even for a simple game, it can save hours of refactoring, sometimes even days or weeks. I guess it depends on how much you value your time! In my case since this is a hobby, no big deal. Had I had a deadline with a publisher tapping their fingers? That would have been a problem!

Welcome! It’s time to roll out the latest version of the website! Easier on the eyes, and definitely easier on me to maintain. I also stripped it down a little bit, removed some stuff like logins, ability to comment, etc. None of that was worth the moderation time since 99.9% of all the signups and comments left were all just spambots anyways. The site worked before, but I never really cared for the layout much. It was cobbled together and yes, it worked but it had issues. Now I love dark mode in most apps normally, but the site felt way to black if that makes sense. So now, we have a brand-new design that will make it much easier to update in the future! Today also marks the release of our latest title for the Infinity Game Table, Roll’n Bonez. This pirate themed dice game is fun for all ages and full of surprises! Roll your dice and let’s just hope the Kraken doesn’t come for your booty!     Click the image above to check it out!

With Stak! and Gremlins Grotto now available on the Infinity Game Table market, two more projects have finally passed through the beta process and are coming soon to a table near you! But first, let’s talk about Josh.. No just kidding, great guy, he found a ton of bugs and helped to make these some amazing upcoming releases! The clock is ticking – can you keep up? Opânico is a fast-paced card game that puts your reflexes and quick thinking to the test. In Opânico, the clock is always ticking, forcing you to make lightning-fast decisions and outmaneuver your opponents. This addictive game delivers an exhilarating experience that’ll have you coming back again and again, trying to beat your high score and prove your quick-thinking prowess. Whether you’re looking to elevate game night, spark friendly competition, or simply enjoy some solo entertainment, Opânico is a versatile and engaging way to add a burst of excitement to your free time. A perfect game for anyone who loves a good challenge. If you thrive on the adrenaline rush of timed games and the satisfaction of quick-thinking victories, this is the card game for you. Dive into the thrilling world of our pirate-themed dice game, where adventure awaits with every roll! Engage in epic battles against fearsome Krakens and ghost ships as you race to claim the gold. Explore mysterious islands, uncover hidden treasure maps, and outsmart your opponents to be the first to seize the booty! Perfect for game nights, this captivating experience combines strategy, luck, and a dash of swashbuckling fun that will keep players on the edge of their seats! Will you be the first to seize the treasure and become the ultimate pirate captain? Or will your fleet be sunk to the bottom of the sea? Brush up on that pirate lingo because the high seas await your daring exploits! These aren’t the only the only things coming though. This year has been a whirlwind, with everything happening seemingly all at once. There’s nothing like getting laid off from a job you’ve held for 22 years, only to end up getting a new job as a contractor working with your old coworkers, on your old project, yet for a different company. Gotta love the way life works. The new job does have some downsides though, including slowing down the development process. Not to fear though, several more titles are in the works including variations on 10,000, the dice game, and another based on the old board game, Perfection! In addition to those, a brand new original board game based around the secret lives of aliens.. Do you send a scout down to gather your intel? Beam up and probe a cow? A pedestrian maybe, or do you risk grabbing one of those guys in the black coats that are always chasing you. The choice is yours as long as you can get the information needed for your people to conquer the earth! Also coming soon is a strategy game that’s been done for a while, it just needs some tlc and some AI players. Your goal? Sneak into the dungeon, grab the treasure and get out.. without being seen of course. Can you make it to the vault, avoiding the guards and of course, the other players who might be trying to take your treasure from you. It’s a card / board / strategy game you can even play by yourself! There’s a lot more coming soon, although the pace may slow a bit, but I can assure you that many more wonderful titles are heading your way!    

With Stak! scheduled for release soon, there are a ton of other projects in the works.. Here’s a few that might be making their way to the game table soon! Gremlins Grotto – A simple yet complex strategy game that involves placing gems on a grid in order to complete magic spells. This one is currently in beta testing and has some bugs that still need to be fixed! Rogues N Riches – Another strategy game where you’re goal is to collect the treasure from the vault and make your way to the exit at the other end of the board! Sound easy? It’s definitely not. Plenty of obstacles from monsters, spells and even other players will try to thwart you! Opanico – A custom card game where you need to match different elements on the cards. Your goal? Get rid of all your cards first; but even that may not crown you the winner! Scratch N Score – A common dice game where you take your chances on each roll in order to score the highest amount of points without scratching! Rollin Bonez – Another card game, this time with a pirate twist. Roll your dice in order to collect as many gold coins as you can, but be careful. Ship battles, Raids, Krakens and more are there to oppose you! Can you collect all the treasure and plunder the rest of the players? Unnamed Acronym Game – A concept I am working on that will pit players wits against each other. If I give you an acronym, can you come up with the best meaning for it? Everyone submits their answers and then votes on the winner!  SWASQF – Skunks Will Always Smell Quite Funky ! This concept will allow players to use their mobile devices to connect and enter their answers and vote in secrecy!  

And next up on the list is Stak! Coming soon for the Infinity Game Table! Stak! is based on the classic game of skipbo, which in turn is actually based on several other games. This title has now been brought to the game table with a host of new features! Stak! Is the ultimate card game for players of all ages combining elements of sequencing, luck, and skill to keep you on the edge of your seat. The goal is simple: be the first player to empty your draw pile by building stacks of cards in numerical order. With it’s easy to learn rules, it’s fun for all ages! There are several game options you can customize to get the style of game you prefer. You can adjust the number of cards in your draw pile or you can even add cards to the game and go from 1 to 15! If you’re ready to have some fun, Stak! is for you!   

Another year, another great game release, and hopefully only the first of many! In their terminology, CashFlo has been code released. What does that mean? We have a release date! Wooooohooooo! So, on Feb 6th, jump onto your gameboard or table and snatch this one up fast! They found a lot of bugs, and some especially difficult ones to track down as well. It left me searching through code until the very last moment. You’d think a board game would be pretty simplistic, but, lesson learned.. It’s anything but! It did however give me a lot of ideas and a lot of reuseable code and things to work with for upcoming releases, and with each version and each game, some of those components get better and better and more and more robust, like the player select code.. Yea, I limit to 4 players typically, but if I had to my player select will handle pretty much whatever I throw at it, and it works surprisingly well. It was copied into Rogues and Riches, and is being copied into the next 4 projects as well. I have about 6 total projects in the work, so i’m hoping I can keep pace and release something new every 2 months or so. We’ll see how this goes! For now, it’s time to get back to work!

Cribbage was released on 12/5.. and despite the bugs, (that we have fixed!)  it continues to climb in sales, already surpassing Popalot and two thirds of the way to Tetridoku! Definitely surpassed my expectations, especially in the first 30 days. Now, there numbers and mine didn’t exactly line up, but theres a lot of reasons for that. I did see a bunch posts on social media where people had connectivity issues , so they’d only connect to a hotspot to download, and not stay connected while playing, which would in turn affect my tracking.. So, looks like my portion will be a little more than I expected..  But now that that is done and out of the way, it’s been back to work on some of the other projects sitting around, notably CashFlo, which is currently in beta testing and looking to be released next month. Also coming up will be Rogues & Riches, a board and card game based on robbing the vault and escaping before you’re caught! Definitely a lot of quick fun and strategy involved, and I’m having a blast with it! Once Rogues is off to beta test, it will be time to move on to other projects.. still have goblins grotto, delve, opanico, skip, frustration and more.. I have enough on my plate to last through the year, and maybe then some.. Sigh.. That’s ok I guess, I am loving it and loving that people are having a great time playing my games! Thank you!