Found in the Alley Podcast

The guys at Found in the Alley interviewed me in their podcast. It's pretty long, talks about my past as a designer, and some things I'm working on now. Also, they really like Yomi! :)

Various Updates

Puzzle Strike Online

The online version of Puzzle Strike now has rules-enforcement, meaning the game knows the rules. That makes it quite a bit easier to play and allowed us to clean up the interface a lot too. The screen doesn't need a bunch of buttons to do every possible thing because the game knows how to keep track of your gem pile, ongoing chips, and everything else for you. There's no AI to play against yet, but other players will be happy to walk you through the game if you're new. (If you like the game, there's also the physical version.)

Yomi

Yomi has had an online rules-enforced version for a while now, and we're still actively developing it. It does have an AI bot so you can learn the basics there before you try playing against real people. Also, you still have about 3 weeks left to get free Yomi Cursed Cards if you pre-order the next print run of the game that will ship in late May.

Flash Duel

I'm working on a second edition of Flash Duel that has a whole bunch of gameplay modes and a lot of new characters, too. It won't be done for a while, but it needs your help testing it. You can see a thread about it here, and maybe mock up the game yourself with a few decks of playing cards and a reference sheet:http://forums.sirlin.net/showthread.php?t=4972

Also, here's some in-progress art for the powerful dragon who can take on 4 other players at once:

Chat

There's a new sirlin.net web chat you can get to by clicking the blue button in the sidebar on the right. You're especially welcome if you're looking for Flash Duel opponents, ha. A lot of development for all my games goes on there, so if you're interested in getting involved, check it out. I think a lot of players have kind of become designers just by playtesting and discussing how to fix balance of various things while maintaining whatever feel those things were supposed to have.

Design Dilemmas

I'll tell you about some design issues and the process of working through them, even though I can't actually tell you any of the details. Sorry about that, but you'll still get the gist.

One of many things I've been working on is a new card game, to be released in about 100 years. It's "somewhat similar to Magic: The Gathering." I have One Big Idea for what makes it new and different, and I've played the prototype a fair amount. It's fun. I've played probably dozens of my own prototypes, and having them actually be fun is a kind of rare and great thing, so that's a strong signal to keep going.

I discussed this game with several other professional game designers, some of whom actually worked on the real Magic: The Gathering. The problem, I said, is that even though it has the One Big Idea that makes it play a lot differently, it still is just too close to MTG. Like how do I not have a card that destroys a "creature," or that deals 2 damage to a creature, or Llanowar Elves, etc, etc. Even cards like Ball Lighting are hard not to have.

In my prototype, many specific cards are like MTG cards. Even though I think that's good for the game, I think the audience has a strong, almost irrational love of the "new" and would actually prefer a game to be new and different than for to be the best it can be if that means a lot isn't new. Every single designer I talked to including the MTG guy said don't be afraid to copy MTG. They said the more you copy it the better, probably, because it's damn good (I agree it's damn good) and that my One Big Thing and my completely different business model are more than enough to make it stand apart. They said of course many of the staple cards should be in the game, and not to avoid a bunch of good ideas just because they are in MTG.

Well, I didn't really listen. I think those designers are underestimating

Click to read more ...

Yomi Pre-orders, Again

It's been a frustrating wait to get new Yomi sets in stock, but they should be here and ready to ship out in late May. You can pre-order them now, here. Incidentally, I was also sold out of Puzzle Strike, but I managed to get ahold of a just a few copies before the next print run arrives (also late May, along with Yomi), so that's actually in stock right now.

Also remember you can play Yomi online for free on our development server here.

Yomi Cursed Cards

The cursed cards are a set of new, alternate character cards for Yomi. You don't actually need these or anything, and they won't help you win. In fact, they will help you lose because they weaken your character! You can use them as a handicap against weaker or beginner players, or you can play cursed vs. cursed characters for a kind of hilarious lower-powered game.

The cursed characters all have a different epithet, too.

Grave, Wind Warrior -> Rusty Warrior.
Jaina, Phoenix Archer -> Phoenix Arsonist
Midori, Mentor Dragon -> Scrub Dragon
Setsuki, Ninja Student -> Outfoxed Ninja
Rook, Stone Golem -> Tiny Golem
DeGrey, Ghostly Diplomat -> Debaucherous Diplomat
Valerie, Manic Painter -> Depressed Painter
Geiger, Precise Watchmaker -> Careless Watchmaker
Lum, Gambling Panda -> Unlucky Panda
Argagarg, Water Shaman -> Savage Shaman 

You can get a pack of these coveted (ha) cursed cards for free, just by pre-ordering Yomi from sirlingames.com by Friday, May 13th. If you do, you'll automatically get them with your order.

If you are late in ordering, or if you already have Yomi, you can still get the cursed cards. They're just $5 in my store, so no big deal. (One per customer.)

Bundle

If you want to get Yomi, Puzzle Strike, and Flash Duel Deluxe all in one go, there's now a bundle to save a few bucks. Check it out.

Retail Stores

If you're a brick-and-mortar retail store (anywhere in the world) and you'd like to carry Sirlin Games, just contact Dan at Salute@GameSalute.com and he'll arrange it with you. You can also contact Dan if you're a customer who just wants to see Sirlin Games in your local retail store. If there's a store near you that you'd like to support (possibly because it holds great local game nights and events that help build community) then let him know about that store, and we'll reach out to them!

The Camera Is The Enemy

Check out this "second-person shooter"

The camera is actually the enemy looking at you, and there are multiple cameras (split screen) when there are multiple enemies. This is a pretty interesting idea and the game explores it well. There are slow moving enemies, fast moving ones, enemies with shields, teleporting enemies, a really annoying bird thing that suddenly swoops in fast, zombie enemies that come back to life after killed, and more. The "blind" enemy is one of the more interesting ones in that you have to use the cameras of other enemies to even see him.

The ammo mechanic is simple and well-done too. You have a laser and missiles, each which recharge slowly to their max capacity. It takes 3 laser shots to kill a normal enemy and one missile. It's actually suboptimal to sit on your unused missiles, because then you aren't getting any benefit out them refilling over time. So using both missiles and the laser is a good idea. I'm glad that playing in a fun way is also the right thing to do here.

I just wanted to spotlight an interesting mechanic for you guys, but go ahead and play it for yourselves.

Unity3d and Sirlin Games

This second-person shooter was made in the Unity game engine, by the way. Speaking of Unity, if you're an experienced Unity programmer, or a programmer who would like to learn more about Unity, you could help out with online versions of my card games, or a fighting game, all of which are using Unity3d. You can talk to my tech lead Thelo about it here.