I created a little game. The test prints came this week. The cards look great.
However much I enjoy playing Gotlandia, it’s never going to be a commercial blockbuster. So I had this idea in the back of my head for a while to also do a simpler game.
The idea
Inspired by the games I picked up when visiting Singapore, I decided to see if I could come up with a fun game that is also a great souvenir. There is a three hour ferry ride to Gotland, the Swedish island in the Baltic Sea that sees one million tourists every year. What if you could pick up a game in a shop on the ferry, learn the game and play it in 15 minutes and have so much fun that you decided to go back and buy a second copy? To have as a memory of your vacation and to gift to your friends and relatives back home?
What if you could pick up a game on the ferry, learn and play it in 15 minutes and have so much fun that you decided to go back and buy a second copy?
The process
Card games is a great format. Everyone knows the basics of shuffling cards, drawing cards to a hand, and collecting sets. Lots of printers out there can produce high quality cards at a good price point. You can order a custom deck as print on demand. The final product doesn’t take up a lot of space on the shelf or in a storage.
So one Saturday morning before getting out of bed, I designed a card game about Gotland in my head. Before breakfast I created a prototype. Before lunch I played the first playtest with my family. By Sunday evening I had designed the card deck and ordered ten copies from printerstudio.com.
The game
The game is called Churches of Gotland. You compete to have the most beautiful church on Gotland. You decorate your church by playing sets of cards. Cards are simple. Three numbers and a nice picture, pictures I took earlier this summer. There is a little twist but it’s set collection with well known mechanics. You can play it with your kids. Your kids can play it with their friends. You can play it with grandma.
I mailed copies to potential partners on Gotland. I will also bring it when I tour around with Gotlandia over the winter. Let’s see how it goes! Feels great to combine my interest for games and game design, Sweden, history, and photography into one project. That might just make me enough money to fund a print run of Gotlandia.