Daniel Solis

Woot! BoardGameGeek just posted Branching Out from Kigi to Kodama, my designer diary outlining the history of how Kigi 's international licenses eventually led to domestic development for Kodama: the Tree Spirits . Check it out!

I'm so honored to see Rodney Smith teach how to play Kodama: the Tree Spirits . He really sets the standard for all other video tutorials for clarity, brevity, and thoroughness. Check out the video embedded above to see Rodney teach the game far better than I could. :D

Happy new year, everyone! It's been a long time since I've done a proper sales report, which probably foreshadows the transitions from 2015. I kicked off the year knowing that I couldn't repeat the same pace I held in 2014, releasing one new game or product each month via DriveThruCards' POD service. That wasn't sustainable for the long-term, but it really yielded great rewards and I'm glad I did it. Without further ado, let's look at the numbers and break down some context. The Numbers Here are the sales numbers for each product in 2015 (in red) compared to 2014 (in blue). The good news is that every product that existed in 2014 sold more units than it did in 2015! Across the board growth is very positive. These are the gross sales numbers for each product in 2015 compared to 2014. As you can see with some small low-priced products like the Koi Pond promo cards, the sales numbers far exceed their actual dollar gross. These numbers fluctuat...

Good news! I have a few more copies of the Chinese edition Koi Pond and Kigi direct from Joy Pie. Order ASAP if you want it at your doorstep before the holidays. These are the actual Chinese editions of both games and are normally unavailable in the US. I got a few complementary designer copies and now I'd like to send them to you! Find them at my Etsy store! Thanks!

Whoa. That's all I can say for how amazing the Kodama: the Tree Spirits campaign has been the past 30 days. Hard to believe what began as this weird little idea a few years ago has grown so big. As of this post, we're just over $90,000 and 3000 backers with 14 hours left. This is by far the most successful project I've been a part of and a wonderful way to close out the year. If you haven't backed yet, please do so! And tell your friends! Thank you!

Kodama: the Tree Spirits is now live on Kickstarter! In this game, you and the other players are caretakers of the forest and its inhabitants. You must grow a tree as a new home for Kodama, the tree spirits. Each Kodama has its own preferences, so you'll have to grow carefully and select the right adornments to get it just right! I'm so pleased with how much Action Phase Games has put into this project already. Watch the video below for an overview: Here's the rulebook or watch the tutorial below for how to play: To find out more about how Action Phase and I developed a new game based on Kigi, check out this designer diary on BoardGameGeek . And, of course, back the project to get your copy! US shipping is free and it's EU-friendly! Thanks so much for your support! 🌱

Hello! I'm Daniel Solis, the designer of Kodama: the Tree Spirits , but really it's been a team effort with strong direction and development from Travis R. Chance and Nick Little at Action Phase Games . This is a brief history of how the game came to be. Early Days Kodama: the Tree Spirits began as another game I self-published called Kigi , released as a print-on-demand game in late 2014. Since then, it's licensed and translated in Japan, China, Poland, and Germany. It's a pretty big hit by any measure of POD success. Action Phase Games approached me several months later with a clear enthusiasm for the core mechanics of the game. They had just as much enthusiasm for developing and overhauling everything else about the game, too. I was cautious at first. "After all," I thought, " Kigi is such a hit everywhere else until now, why change things?" Well, a day or two later, Travis R. Chance and Nick Little came back to me having already pla...

Heyo! I'm selling the Japanese and Chinese editions of Kigi and Koi Pond on my Etsy store ! I'm also adding a few other games to the inventory as they become available. These are extremely rare and hard to find in the United States. The handful that I have in stock are the most you'll find anywhere in North America. Get them while you can! Backstory: I sometimes get complimentary copies of my games from publishers when the first print run comes out. Normally these just sit around collecting dust on my shelf, but last month I had to do an emergency replacement for my work computer. Let me tell you, it's expensive and is still hitting our budget hard this month. So I'm trying to make up for the expense a little bit and offer you something interesting in the deal. Hope you enjoy them!

Joel Eddy, of Drive-Thru Review, just posted a video review of Kigi here . (Drive-Thru Review is no relation to DriveThruCards, the POD service I use to self-publish several games, including Kigi.) Now, I'd been under the impression that being a tiny game self-published on a POD site would mean Kigi would fall way below the radar of any video reviewer, let alone a reviewer from the Dice Tower Network. I'm happy to see that I was wrong on that point! Joel has some very kind things to say about Kigi! Check it out in the video embedded above or at the link here . Please note that the scoring example has a slight error which is corrected in the on-screen youtube annotations, which may not automatically appear depending on the platform you're viewing the video. But all that said, it's a very positive review and way more exposure I ever expected to get for one of my self-published games. Thanks so much for giving air time to the little games out there, Joel!

Big news! Action Phase Games and I have teamed up to develop a brand new game called Kodama: The Tree Spirits . Theme The forest is growing fast! As caretakers for Kodama, the tree spirits, you must keep the forest a healthy and lush home for your little friends. Over three growing seasons, you must cultivate trees with the right mix flowers, animals, and branch arrangements to make your Kodama as happy as possible. Whoever cares for their Kodama best will be remembered for generations! History Earlier this year, I realized that Kigi was my biggest hit on the POD market. It dwarfs all my other products in sales and has been successfully licensed in several other countries now. And yet, it didn't really have much presence in the US. I debated whether I should pursue my own kickstarter or team up with a publisher. Lo and behold, Action Phase Games swoops in bustling with energy and enthusiasm for Kigi. Turns out they've been playing it a lot in-house and had a ...

This week I'm on the Game Design Round Table podcast mainly to ask advice of the prestigious hosts. The topics range from international licensing, to crowdfunding, to generally how to make a living as a game designer. I ramble a bit, as is my habit, but hopefully there are a few cogent points scattered amidst my mad ravings. Please enjoy! Game Design Round Table Episode 129 0:00:26 – Daniel’s background 0:07:01 – Card counts 0:11:10 – Sharing ideas 0:15:27 – Playtesting 0:18:31 – Kigi 0:22:04 – Publishers in different regions 0:33:39 – International legal matters 0:39:49 – Royalties and crowdfunding 0:53:58 – Upcoming projects   Subscribe and review the show on iTunes as well ! Please support high quality game design discussion like this show. Thanks!

JoyPie was kind enough to send me some photos from a public event where they were promoting their games, including the Chinese edition of Kigi . Check 'em out! I'll never get tired of seeing my games played on the other side of the world. :D

It's crazy busy here at Smart Play Games HQ, so I only have a few bullet points before I head back to the quarry. :) Until midnight tonight, Belle of the Ball is available on MinatureMarket.com for just $10! Next month, I'll be releasing a version of Suspense on DriveThruCards featuring the art from the Brazilian FunBox edition. The Chinese edition of Kigi from Joy Pie is 381% funded so far! Trickster is almost ready to go to print, I just need your eyes on the rules doc one more time to find any errors. Please leave comments in the doc. Thank you!

The most recent episode of Board Game Blender covered "Gaming on the Go." I was happy to see +Suzanne S feature a couple of my games in her segment! Starting at 1:06, you can see her cover a bunch of small games that pack easily in a tight space and can be played with a wide range of players. Kigi gets the most screen time, which I'm very happy to see. It's great when my lack of boxes is a feature, not a bug, as is the case when you're trying to carry a lot of game in a small package. Thanks so much, Suzanne! If you want to get your copy of Kigi, visit DriveThruCards !

Great news! Kigi made a huge impression at Tokyo Game Market. Reports from the event said there was a line at the GameField booth and lots of activity around the live demo. They had my video tutorial running the whole time, which is a great idea given the small space available at the Game Market. Gamefield brought 300 copies to the show, which is very ambitious for a new game. Thankfully it all worked out! I hope this is the beginning of an even more successful life for Kigi overseas. Many thanks to Gamefield! (Photos from @nasika , @boardgamegeek , @zenxcred . Thanks!)

GameField just announced that the Japanese edition of Kigi will debut at the upcoming Tokyo Game Market on May 5! It's so cool seeing how quickly this little print-on-demand game has grown in popularity. It was by far the fastest seller in the recent Spring Sale, moving over twice as much as the second-place seller. I'm just glad people enjoy it!

Big news! Kigi will be officially translated and published in Japan by Gamefield ! In Kigi, players "paint" a tree by placing cards along branching organic paths. It's a very easy game to learn, but presents interesting spatial puzzles and lots of replay value. This game has been a huge hit with families with varying play experience. Get the English edition here! Here's a video tutorial: Here are some photos of the original edition. The release date and final packaging isn't determined yet, but I'll keep you posted!

Check out this video tutorial for how to play Kigi , my card game about pretty trees! It's a very simple game but I was surprised how much I had to prune in order to come under the 5 minute mark. Get it? Trees? Pruning? Hee. Kigi (and the full rules) are available here!

Kigi is almost ready to go to print! If you want to preview and comment on the rules cards, check them out here at this link . Thanks so much for your support! I hope to have Kigi available on DriveThruCards by the end of the month.

One of the persistent issues I have in Kigi playtesting is that players naturally want to grow branches below the implied horizon. There is no rule against it and sometimes the shape of branches just makes that formation most logical. I have two solutions. The first, shown above, is to start trees from the edge of the table so that it is physically impossible to grow branches below the horizon. That's a simple, elegant, understandable solution. Sadly, it took a  long time for me to figure that out and lots of exploring alternate themes to make it work. See, I first tried changing the whole perspective of the game to a top-down view. This worked mechanically, but didn't really look like a recognizable tree anymore. I explored several different themes where these patterns and organic paths would make sense. First I started with a river. Pretty bland at the moment, but I could see it working. Alas, this was an unpopular choice among Twitter followers, so I ask...