Betrayal Blog: Development Diary #4

Hi everybody,

Sorry for the slight gap since my last post. There are several reasons for this which I explain below. Nevertheless, things are still moving along and I’m very proud of how things turned out – The rules are completely built and everything is ready for blind testing – I’m sure when it’s all done and dusted, we’ll have a fantastic looking product with a sleek mechanism that will really be enjoyed by Loyal and Traitor.

Lately I’ve been feeling unwell. I managed to get sick *twice* with a bad throat ailment since the last blog post. I feel better sometimes…feel much worse other times. I think some of this has to do with exercise, but I’m starting to suspect that it’s mostly related to diet. I would keep a food diary and track what I ate and how I felt each day to see if I could isolate whether a particular type of food was the cause. Feeling tired, low energy, bloating, etc. I don’t want to whine, but this is something I have to proactively work on. I will also try to cut back on sugar as much as I dare. I’ll let you know how I progress and if I notice any big differences – who knows, it might help someone.

For those of you who follow this blog, you know that marketing is not my forte. I tried my best to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Twitter seems to be the number one *place* for people interested in upcoming Kickstarter projects like board games and so on. I actually don’t like Twitter for a number of reasons, the main one being that it seems quite political, whenever possible often silencing people who disagree with their company’s political stances and views. Google and Facebook are both at fault here. Since I am a strong supporter of free speech, this rubbed me the wrong way. While I’m not the biggest fan of Twitter, most of my followers seem to come from there. Even though I don’t like Twitter, I will focus my efforts on gaining followers on Twitter and sticking with followers (besides this blog of course). So please make sure you follow me Twitter to stay up to date on any major developments. Of course I will also provide other important updates via my other social media listed here.

One message I need to remember to convey is how Act of Treason would be a great game for those who enjoy social deduction style games like mafia and werewolves but are looking for more opportunities and the ability to cheat, bluff, and cajole. I think that’s the strongest part of Acts of Treason. Act of Treason is specifically designed to allow players to flex their social deduction and prowess as much as possible, And that’s purely because that’s the game I want to play! I’m tired of playing games like Mafia and Battle Star Galactica where there are limited opportunities for social deduction. Playing Act of Treason was humbling. Just when you think you have mastered how to play well, someone will show you that you can still be fooled and maybe you don’t know everything you think you do. But it’s not easy to fit all this into a soundbite. “Act of Teason – Betraying your friends, Deceiving the Kingdom.” Very close, right? it’s certainly the best I’ve heard so far.

Example of draft regulations

I’ve refined all the assets to be as close to the final product as possible. This helps because the fewer changes I have to make, the fewer errors there are during the transition from prototype to final revision. I always try to follow the adage “Practice how you play”. I think that’s great advice that can be applied to many aspects of life – and it definitely applies here. The Act of Treason prototype is close to the final product in every way other than final art. All one has to do is ‘drag and drop’ the new artwork to make the game look as good as possible. Everything else is already there. Part of revising the assets involved me making the Rulebook as close to final as possible with existing layouts, diagrams and references – this is actually a surprisingly large task, and I have no doubt that blind playtesting will reveal many more changes that I need to adapt to with a rulebook to help with any problems. I was just working my way through the rulebook today, it’s surprising how the smallest details can help smooth out the explanation for new players. I hope to have the best rulebook, as well as having the rules online, and on video, at www.playaot.com.

Example of online rules

We’re getting close to Kickstarter. Once my Rulebook has been checked a few more times by a third party, and my prototype from Game Crafter is shipped and checked, then I’ll be ready for blind playtesting! After that third party and straight to kickstarter! Very close friends! I could see the horizon and it looked majestic!

I also want to give a shout out to Sem Phillips (@garphillgames on twitter) who I met at Boardgames By The Bay, a local board game convention in my area. He has given me some great advice on how to progress towards the Kickstarter. Feel free to check out the amazing games he created here. I also found out about the Game Artisans NZ Facebook Group at the same convention, which will be a great resource for me in the future.

I didn’t forget some other topics that I promised to cover in the previous post. I’ll be doing a big recap on some of them leading up to the Kickstarter – or after. It depends on the topic. But that’s enough for this week.

Greetings everyone,
Tyson

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