Developing a New Solo Board Game

I really enjoyed making my first 3d printed solo game (You can see it here), it was a space-themed game that could be played solo but also it allowed two boards to be connected together and played asa two player game.

I wanted to dive deeper into making solo games, so I began developing ideas for a dice-based dungeon crawler. Honestly, the first prototype didn’t turn out very well. My original concept was to create a game you could play entirely on a Post-It note, using stencils for each level. The idea was that the player would pick a stencil, draw out the dungeon rooms, and gradually piece together a complete map of the dungeon as they advanced through the game.

I still like this idea, but I think it would work better as a multiplayer co-op game since there would probably be too many parts for a single player to manage. I prefer to play solo games that are simple in set up. So how might a two-player version work? Players could team up to fight their way through the dungeon, collecting stenciled Post-It notes along the way to gradually build the map. Once they’ve completed the map, the exit would be revealed, allowing them to finish the game. I'm parking this idea to revisit it another time.

There’s a lot to be said for keeping things simple, so I went back to the drawing board. Using the Post-It note concept as a starting point, I set out to create a more streamlined pocket board, this time using my laser cutter instead of my 3D printer.

The player sets up the board by attaching a Post-It note to the back, which lets them record their stats in the designated boxes. I felt this was a better solution than using multiple dice to track values. While I liked the concept of tracking stats with dice, it quickly became overwhelming, and I realised coloured dice would be necessary to keep things clear. So, I decided to keep it simple this time. Inspired by a few other dice-based dungeon crawlers, I now only use the dice needed for gameplay.

The rules of the game that I initially put together still needed refining and I found certain elements to be a little over powering and so everything needed to be balanced. I still don't think it's there yet but it's heading in the right direction. I've even started to design the instruction sheet, though I'm not sure I'll include a QR code this time that links to a soundtrack that players can listen to when they're play, like I did with Sector Assault.