Daniel Solis

Planning an art budget for your board game? Here are average estimates I'm seeing lately, as of the end of 2022. But first, a caveat: Quotes vary by many factors, including but not limited to the following: Dimensions: The bigger the art, the more expensive it is. Medium: Traditional paints and inks cost more than digital. Style: The more you make an artist work outside their expertise, the more it will cost. Complexity: A shot of a superhero flying in the open air is cheaper than the full super-team defending a city.  Color/Ink: Some artists will cut you a deal if you only need linework. Terms & rights: If you want full work-for-hire rights to the art, expect to pay for it. Size of cast: Each character multiplies the complexity of the scene. If you want a big battle, it'll cost more depending on how many participants there are. Detail: Photorealists charge more than cartoonists, typically. That's not always the case though. Timeline: The sooner you need it, the more ex...

Building from my previous post about using factors of 60 as the basis of a set collection game, let's consider how the game might be played. To recap: TSUNDOKU is a game where you gather a bunch of books and try to read as many of them as possible. I have a long google doc I keep that documents various ways to acquire cards in a game. I keep this list as a source of inspiration when I just need to start somewhere in a new design.  I think I'll take a cue from Magic and consider the Winston Draft format. Under normal rules, the Winston draft works like this [ source ]:  All supplied products are put into one large stack and separated into smaller piles with one card each at the beginning. Usually four piles are used. These piles are face up and the cards in the pile are known. The first player must choose a pile. Then one card from the stack is added to each pile, meaning the chosen pile is now one card while all other piles are two cards. Players take turns taking piles in t...

Great Northern Oyster Cracker The Tawny-Breasted Fishmonger Lester's Finch The Forbidden Duck The Lesser Bobber The Rabid Wood-chipper Henson's Fractal The Surly Drunkard Spectacled Ringwraith Headless Horseman Eastern Grump That-Which-Sings Turner's Hooch Red-Breasted Eye-Poker Giant-Headed Bug-Stabber The False Moffat Humpbacked Quail Captain Falcon The Interrupter Warped Dangler Biblically Accurate Grouse  Monochrome Reedwacker The Worst Shrek Blue-Caped Buddy The Flying Nudibranch (shown with chick) Jerry's Neighbor Lovely Lady The Hostile Witness The Sharpest Duck Common Mussel Puncher Marbled Slab Hooting Balloon Common Benchpress Flagrant Scofflaw Rusted Rooter Wooden Spoon and False Wooden Spoon The Freelance Bartender The Whole Wheat Breadbox The Burrowing Evildoer The Flammable Finch The Nasty Janet The Painted Pest The Dominant Dingus The Bastard The Belter Cloud Strangler Sailor's Moon The Flightless Biff Blue-Breasted Creek Sudden Turkey Behold Thine Ow...