Mindful Design

Grant Rodiek | April 19, 2018
The Mind is a short cooperative card game for 2-4 players that is getting a lot of buzz lately. Eric Martin of BGG is mentioning it quite a bit as he boasts over 100 plays already. It's not yet available in America, though some specialty sites have it, and you can go on the German Amazon to buy it.
Read more

The SPQF Rules Demo

Grant Rodiek | March 06, 2018
This weekend, March 9-11, I'll be at Game Kastle Mountain View for my favorite event: Protospiel San Jose. It's an event where local Bay Area designers test their new designs with hundreds of volunteer testers.
Read more

Why I think Rising Sun really matters.

Grant Rodiek | February 25, 2018
I played my copy of Rising Sun for the first time this weekend and I was very pleasantly surprised. Last year I played the much lauded Blood Rage at long last and hated it. I hated it almost immediately and spent my entire play of it wanting to leave the table.
Read more

The First Two Tests

Grant Rodiek | January 06, 2018
I am slowly going through my growing pile of emails from designers taking me up on my offer for assistance in 2018. It's very cool, a bit stressful, and a bit of work. With that in mind, folks commonly ask about testing, how to evolve a game, what to look for.
Read more

2018 Design Resolution

Grant Rodiek | December 26, 2017
I'm not huge on New Year's Resolutions, mostly. The thing is, I'm always trying to lose weight, I'm cool with the amount of alcohol I consume, and I'm doing my best to be more positive.
Read more

My 2018 Design Priorities

Grant Rodiek | December 24, 2017
Today is a bit of a slow day, so I'm going through my folders for active designs, in stasis designs, and old designs to have a heart to heart with my creations. Some active games are getting lopped off and killed.
Read more

Design Assistance in 2018

Grant Rodiek | December 24, 2017
Something I used to do a lot more of, probably because I was more outspoken about doing it, is helping other designers. It's something I'd like to do again in 2018, so hopefully you can share this, or tell someone you know, if you think I can help them.
Read more

My Two Favorite Games of 2017

Grant Rodiek | December 18, 2017
Every year about this time I like to write a "game of the year" post. Well, today is that day! I do things a little bit differently every year, so here are the ground rules for 2017.It must be a game that is new to me in 2017.
Read more

Designing for Special

Grant Rodiek | December 03, 2017
I discovered a new PC game this week that has completely captured my imagination. This doesn't happen very often these days. About five years ago I more or less stopped playing video games as a typical hobby, opting instead to read, go for a walk, and most commonly, design tabletop games.
Read more

Re-Shaping the Shapely Cards

Grant Rodiek | December 02, 2017
I love graphic design. It is one of the skills I've taught myself on my tabletop journey, and it's one of the most important ones. Many designers are content to write in pencil on index cards, but I personally cannot do that, for a few reasons.
Read more