The Backlog

Like many designers who are constantly coming up with more ideas than they have time for, I have many projects I'd really like to see get off the backlog and onto the front burners. I've taken a slightly break from Hostargo (in no small amount due to getting re-addicted to Heroes of Newerth), and have instead focused on rejiggering one of my previous projects, Lords & Lackies. I even missed a week of blogging - blah!

I basically had L&L done, complete, and out-the-door. I had a small, silly game I thought, and that was that. But then some people actually played it - and I got a few bits of feedback from the odd corners of the web (a huge shout out to those guys who have tried it!). The main issue with the game, it seems, was that it played too much like a card game, and not enough like an RPG. While one of my design goals was to create a competitive RPG that was "balanced", I completely missed the target when it came to why we love RPGs in the first place.

So I went back to the drawing board, and have a new-found focus for this weird little game. I've scrapped the main card play mechanics in favor of a round-based initiative system that focuses the decision making of the game on what your character needs to do in-fiction, not just which cards played will get you the win. This new style lets players gamble on when to act in a round, and whether to step up to heroics or allow their loyal lackies to die.

That's the idea anyway. Unfortunately, good things rarely come easily. The first iteration of L&L I pumped out in a weekend. This one has already eaten away at more time than that...