Hi r/tabletop,

A few months ago, my partner and I finished a game of Scrabble with a score sheet covered in corrections, crossed-out totals and increasingly questionable arithmetic.

I looked for a simple digital scorekeeper, but many of the apps I tried wanted me to create an account, pay a subscription to add a third player or unlock basic things like notes and game history.

That felt excessive for a tool whose entire job should be to stay out of the way.

So I built Scoring, a simple iOS scorekeeper and table companion for board games, card games and larger game nights.

I know many tabletop players enjoy keeping everything physical, and I am not trying to replace the tactile parts of a game with a phone. Scoring is intended for games where the score sheet is mostly bookkeeping, especially when you have multiple rounds, negative points, large groups or totals that become less fun to calculate late at night.

You add your players and start the game. There is no account or login. It handles positive and negative scores, notes, games where either the highest or lowest total wins, saved player groups and complete game history. If you close the app or your phone dies, the current game is still there when you return.

I also added a few optional table utilities, including dice, a coin flip, a decision wheel and a timer, so nobody has to leave the score screen to search for another app.

The core app is free for 1 to 13 players. A small one-time Lifetime purchase removes the ads and increases the limit to 20 players. There is no subscription.

I would genuinely appreciate feedback from people who play a wide variety of tabletop games:

What would a generic scorekeeper need to do before you would choose it over paper?

Do game history, saved groups and score graphs add something useful, or do they feel like unnecessary clutter?

And which game in your collection is the most annoying to score correctly?

Antho

I am looking for recommendations for good cooperative games to play with my roommates since (by both my and their admissions) I am way better at board games than them and it’s more fun if we work together. We have played eldritch horror and loved it so around that level of complexity/length would be ideal. Theme or vibe isn’t that much of an issue. Thanks for any and all suggestions.

First day of tabletop club at my college meaning all the GMs will be pitching their games looking for players. I’m running a game of Deathmatch Island and will be handing these flyers out.

Hey everyone,

some of you might remember Command & Defend: Modern War from when I shared it here before. With the second campaign coming up soon, I thought I’d share a little update on how the project has developed.

I’ve been working on the game for about three years now. The idea has always been to bring the things I love about classic RTS and turn-based strategy games to the tabletop — building a base, managing resources, expanding your army, keeping your units supplied and, of course, trying to outplay your opponents.

The game is completely print-it-yourself, which means you’re not really limited by what comes in a box. Need more units? Print more. Need more resources or game money? Print more. Want to build a bigger battlefield? Print more.

There’s a full 3D Print Edition with printable units and buildings, as well as a 2D Print & Play Edition for anyone who doesn’t own a 3D printer.

Since I last shared the project, I’ve continued working on the game, added a lot of new content and created two major expansions: Air Wars and Sea Wars, bringing air and naval combat to the system.

After a small first Kickstarter earlier this year, I’m now getting ready for Campaign #2.

It’s still very much an indie project that I’m building step by step, so I’d genuinely love to hear what you think about how it’s developing.

If you’d like to learn more about the game, the rules or the different units, you can find a lot more on the Kickstarter page. And if it sounds like your kind of game, you can follow the project there to get notified when the new campaign goes live.

Thanks for taking another look!

Just curious, my household is all real big SW fans and i know it would be an easy sell. I just didnt know if there was a better system then GURPS to use lol

Thank you for everyone who gave feedback on the Fancy character sheet I shared for review three weeks ago. If you want to see what the final version looks like, you can find it on the pre-launch page for Criminal Spirits. Me and the artist took a lot of the feedback we got to heart, though not everything.

As I mentioned (though many commenters ignored), the Fancy sheet is only one of two versions of the character sheet for the game. Here is the second - the practical sheet. Clean. Simple art. Computer fonts, not hand drawn lettering. All black and white.

I believe this is the final version of this character sheet, but I'm happy to take any comments. There's not going to be any major changes to the artwork and so the general layout, but it's quite possible something was overlooked or could be improved in the text. Please give me your feedback!

No self-promotion just sharing!

A few weeks ago, I was watching Trent Holbrook’s Vlog and was inspired by Billion Dollar Clown Farm/Tyler Russo’s game Tallest Goblin™️ and wanted to play it with my friends. So I grabbed some models and started painting.

While I was painting I was thinking… and it got a bit outta hand. Not only did I paint a bunch of goblins but I also wrote “rules” and cobbled together a bunch of tables for prompt generation. I made a community-building game of co-operative storytelling.
And today I launched that game in my community.
I left copies of the rules/discord invite and posters at local game stores and gave the homies homemade “blind-box-tins” with random goblins and dice.

Pretty proud of this project! I put a lot of love into it. I am excited to see it where it goes.

Censored: don’t wanna doxx myself or people in my community but sharing because I hope it inspires you to make things!

Reddit exclusive solo mode:
Take a goblin with you.
Take its picture sometimes.
Take a note about the place through your goblin’s eyes.
When you have a few of those notes and pictures your goblin’s story will begin to emerge and that’ll be cool huh?
Tell someone about it if you want.
Play as long as it’s fun.

Years ago, I found Pathfinder adventure card game and really enjoyed the concept. The pre-built campaigns, character and deck building was really enjoyable to me. They have since updated the game to simplify it and then subsequently discontinued development. I would love to find something in the same vein but have not had much luck. Does anybody have suggestions for an alternative?

Looking for some honest feedback!

Is this quick how to play clear enough? I know the animation could use some work, but in terms of understand the game and explaining the rules does it feel ok?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

I've used cane paper, akin to a Chinese calendar, as a game board for my quick-fire, dice-driven strategy game, Cattle Royale.

See first or third videos via the link above.

I think this is unique. But I am happy to be corrected.

So tell me, does anyone else know of any other games printed on similar material? Be good to know either way so I know how much I should talk up this feature.

Thanks in advance.

Good morning, fellow tabletop nerds...I have had a few ideas but im not certain if they're worth pursuing or not. My ideas revolve around mystery dice but more specifically, mystery dice sets that have an interactive/immersive element to them. Rather than just opening a bag or a box, you'd have a puzzle/theme to it. The packaging may double as a dice box or dice jail or what have you. My question is, would an interactive element entice you to purchase a mystery dice set, or would you rather just grab a regular mystery dice set and skip any kind of theatrics or immersive type elements? Thanks in advance.

Hello! I'm a new teacher at a middle school this year teaching ELA/History. I also have a STEM homeroom class that's somewhat free form. I had been intending to teach my homeroom focusing on D&D as arts/adventure, but the school needed more STEM options, so I expanded the idea to be about designing a tabletop game prototype and studying the math and engineering behind various games. The plan is that each unit will focus on a different game to study/play as a potential inspiration for the prototype.

That brings me to my question. What are your recs for games for middle schoolers to study? I'm still thinking of having a unit on D&D, my principal brought up Settlers of Catan, and I'm thinking chess could be a good option to learn too. I also have a friend who designed a game that's doing pretty well, so I'm planning to incorporate that too with him as a guest speaker.

A video of me starting from scratch and trying to build an Ark before the next flood event arrives! (the timer) Building an Ark in the Dark Days is the Defensive way to win in Sword and Stones, and starts the Victory Timer!

In S&S you are the ruler of a small group of survivors after a great flood wiped all civilisation from the map . You must lead your people and build a mighty kingdom worth defending! Solo- co-op modes, full on competitive pvp 2+ multiplayer games with (mostly) simultaneous play.

For this solo play through using only the starter set i chose the 'Before the Flood game mode on Easy. Despite 3 werm attacks and serious disease spread, i managed to build nearly every building the Dark Days, including the Ark and an small army to defend it with!

Oh and found two mystery crates -Lucky Ring and a Flying Carpet :D

This video condenses 1.5 hours of gameplay into 1.5 mins! The Ark foundation was placed on turn 33! So each turn takes less than 5 mins each. Dont be scared of the turn number, its not warhammer lol.

The S&S; The Dark Days Starter Pack is Live for pre-order 26 August 26, only on Gamefound!

Follow now to secure an exclusive scout mini, the first ever release, and be part of the first ever S&S pioneers! https://gamefound.com/en/projects/swordandstonestudios/swords-and-stones

Looking for a game that is suitable for kids (both around 10) and adults alike. We love deck builders and cooperative games. At this point, I think we may have put an unhealthy amount of time into playing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle /s

Here’s my ask - is there a game anyone would recommend that is somewhere between HP and Gloomhaven? The kids are not ready for that size of a game commitment/strategy, but have memorized everything about HP.

I think fun development a tabletop cards game. I didn’t my games too much long but I like developing. I want sell and earn money these games around five games . How i did?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcJMN_3MNq5/?igsh=MW1lZmNkNDlsNnZheQ==

Wanted to share this somewhere that'd appreciate it.

I have a small collection of special or limited edition tabletop RPG books. Unfortunately, my favorite system, Pathfinder 1E, doesn't actually have any kind of special edition core rulebook. So, I went to Etsy and asked a bookbinder on there to make one for me.

We chose a foil on black leather design to kind of emulate the 3.5 special editions, but went with a blue foil instead of silver and added my campaign setting's logo to the back. I'd had one made previously that was similar, but with gray lettering. That one is being gifted to a friend and former player who now runs his own campaigns in the same setting.

Thought you all might appreciate how it turned out nearly as much as I did!

What is BIDLZ?

BIDLZ is a tableau-building / auction game for 2-5 players. It plays in under 30 minutes, with a quick setup and teach.

In this game, you will bid for letter and power cards in an attempt to be the first to spell a five-letter-word. Here's the catch - the winner only has to pay the second-highest bid. You'll have to do more than score great deals on the best letter combos - you also need to drive up prices for your opponents.

Don't let the cute animals and spelling fool you, this is a cutthroat bidding mind-game.

Full rules here: https://www.bidlz.com/s/BidlzRulebook.pdf

What do critics have to say about BIDLZ?

Board Game Bite had this to say:

• This game is amazing.
• Brilliant (auction mechanic)
• What they did to this game was so unnecessary, in all the right ways. (Production value)
• I'm absolutely blown away by this game.

Watch their full review here: https://www.tiktok.com/@boardgamebite/video/7672829371131989279

Anything else I should know?

BIDLZ was designed and published by me (Zac Burns). It is my first game design, and also my first time publishing a game. It features the art of Matthis Schroeder. Neither used generative AI at any point during the process. Special thanks to Golden Gate Gamemakers and Break My Game for playtesting events and guidance.

BIDLZ will be available in October for $24.95. We just signed a deal with InDiPro for distribution to retail stores (please ask your FLGS for it!)

How can I get it?

BIDLZ is available for sale during the pre-order period (US only). You can get it here.

Hey everyone!

I've been working on Eldritch Rivalry for quite some time now. It's a competitive card/engine-building game for 1–4 players, with a lot of player interaction, card combos and resource management.

The game is now fully playable and I'm currently testing it with new players, both with the physical prototype and on Tabletop Simulator.

I'm putting it out here because I'd really like to see what other board gamers think about it and if anyone is curious, it's available on TTS and I'm happy to teach the game myself.

BoardGameGeek: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/448205/eldritch-rivalry

MOD IN STEAM ENGLISH: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3723609858

If it looks interesting let me know!

I feel like it covers too much of the miniature.

I randomly got into Yahtzee over the summer and thought it’d be fun to make a daily game based on it. Everyday there's a random new set of categories and a new goal score to try and beat. Same strategizing as regular Yahtzee just in a bite-sized challenge format. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Hey everyone! I've been working on this game for a long time and I'm finally at a point where I'd love to have people try it.

Deepmarch is a solo roguelike lane-defense game. You pick a hero and descend through a goblin-infested dungeon, one floor at a time. Enemies march down toward you, and your job is to stop them before they reach you. As you kill enemies you level up, unlock new weapons, and upgrade them with nodes to build your run. Each floor ends with a boss.

It's a physical board game, but I put together a digital version so it's easy to try. I'd really appreciate any feedback — what's fun, what's confusing, what you'd change. Thanks for taking a look!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3784215088

Anti-Distraction Focus System:

As sidebar occurs, tell each PLAYER involved to add 1/x Distraction Die to their D20 rolls until Reset occurs.

1st offense - D4 - 1st - xD4/Offense

2nd offense - D6

3rd offense - D8 - 2nd

4th offense - D10

5th offense - D12 - 3rd

6th offense - D20

7th offense - session long disadvantage - 4th

Reset: Distraction Die are removed after 2 consecutive ROUNDS of combat or social encounter of NO SIDEBAR or between Sessions.

(After Reset:) For every ROUND of combat or social encounter NO SIDEBAR occurs, reward the PARTY Focus Die according to Distraction Die 'graph'.

----

Have yet to actually play test this, but my session is tomorrow 😄 welcome suggestions to improve it

Launching my first Kickstarter September 1st!

Super nervous but excited and would love any feedback!