2024 - Year In Review

Let's take a quick look at some highs and lows, and some games and game-related experiences that stood out in 2024.

Milestones for me as a game designer

2024 was, I would say, the first big year for me as a game designer in anything more than a hobby capacity. 2024 saw the official release of my first published game, Survive The Serengeti, through HenMar Games and saw a release in The Netherlands/Belgium area. While this is a small company, I am grateful they took a chance on my game, and so far it seems to be well-received with all reviews I've seen so far being positive. It was never going to set the world alight, but it's fun thinking there's people out there enjoying my game.

The cover of my first published game, Survive the Serengeti.

I'd set myself the goal at the start of the year to get 3 games signed: Chillies, Cheeseboard, and Bear Necessities, and I'm pleased to be able to say that 2 of the 3 did get signed with publishers (I gave up on Cheeseboard halfway through the year when I couldn't get the design to fire how I wanted).

Chillies has been signed with a small, independent publisher in the UK, Team Custard Kraken, and after very minor design requests, they're planning on publishing it as I showed it to them which is great news. That game is, so far, my magnum opus, and the one I am most excited about being out in the world - hopefully later in 2025.

Bear Necessities, signed with Australian-based publisher Good Games Publishing, on the other hand has undergone fairly extensive development and redesign work, including a retheme to what is currently called Dryads. The game has also been expanded to accommodate 2-4 players, rather than 2P only, and this necessitated some changes to the design including expanding the deck size, rethinking how the grid refills, and adding some new card types (including the Blight mechanism which I was quite proud of). The direction of the game has been influenced by the publisher and their choice of artist, as they were looking to utilise existing artwork from a popular Instagram artist and her Dryad universe. The prototypes look very striking, and I'm hopeful forward progress continues towards a 2025 release, but no firm timelines have been set.

Design goals for 2025

2024 presented unusual and extended periods of creative drought, due to some challenging personal circumstances that occupied my brain space. Thankfully that settled towards the end of the year, and the year ended with a flurry of new ideas resulting in several new prototypes (as well as the revival of some older ones).

In addition to goals of seeing Dryads and Chillies released this year (ideal world), I've once again set myself the goal of getting 2 games signed with publishers, and I believe I have enough promising prototypes to make that happen. The games I'm working on with greatest excitement at the moment include:

• GHOULS - 2-4 player game that combines hand management with point to point movement and dice rolling combat as players try to control crypts, liberate Ghoul Lords, and dominate each other in battle.

• SPIRIT ANIMALS - 2-5 player 15 minute game that plays like a hybrid of Uno and 6 Nimmt where players try to avoid collecting piles and taking cards to their score area following very simple rules.

• CATCH 21 - 2-5 player game based on core concepts from Blackjack. Players get dealt cards that they need to arrange into a 3x3 grid, aiming to get as close to 21 as possible in each row and column.

• GOOD GNUS BAD GNUS (perhaps my favourite game title ever) - A 3-5 player game of resource management, dice rolling, and majority bonuses. Each turn take a wildebeest from the line then roll dice to see if you get to keep it or not. Oh, and some are worth negative points, so you'll want to pass them on.

• PICK OF THE BUNCH - A card game with a classic feel for 3-6 players that combines trick taking and auctions as players try to collect cards that "bunch" by playing out tricks that determine draft order. Then the cards you played become the market for the next turn.

Best games of 2024

I played lots of new to me games in 2024 (around 90 by my count). Generally I play games with my two closest friends, and for the last few years we've played Fantasy Realms nearly exclusively (314 plays and counting), with the occasional game of 7 Wonders or Abyss thrown in. So it was nice to add some new games to the collection taht gave Fantasy Realms come competition, namely:

• Castle Combo - which has quickly become a hit with its smooth fast gameplay, though we all agree it works best at 2p.

• The Vale of Eternity - a longer, more AP-prone combo builder that again works best with 2p (and which we tend to avoid at 4p). Good, but doesn't give us the "let's play again immediately" experience we get from FR and CC.

Some of the other games that stood out as excellent from playing them in 2024 were:

• Sky Team

• Captain Flip

• Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth (which I much much prefer over 7WD)

• Chronicle

• Faux Diamonds

• Lure

• Akropolis

• Buccanneer

• Cabanga!

• Black Fleet

One the pleasant surprises front for games I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did:

• Meadow

• Family Inc.

• Stockpile

• Forest Shuffle

• Rajas of the Ganges

• Kingsburg

• Cult: Choose Your God Wisely

• The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31

• Heroes of Might & Magic III

While on my slightly disappointing list:

• Scout

• Borderlands: Mister Torgue's Arean of Badassery

• Hot Lead

• Tucano

• Sidereal Confluence

• Yamatai

• Cheaty Mages!

• Flip 7

• The Gang

Then there's the downright stinkers I didn't think much of at all:

• Stick Collection

• Great Heartland Hauling Company

• Avant Carde

• Four Humours

• Cafe

• Seasons

I'm looking forward to see what the wide world of board games presents me in 2025, and what, if anything, I can contribute to people having fun around a table and playing games.