Honing in on Game Mechanics for Shrumans

Shrumans Game Testing Review

 
 

Game testing at Diversions Tabletop Game lounge was a success! The tables were full and some groups even played multiple rounds. It is the best feeling to see people enjoying themselves and the feedback was incredible. I collected feedback forms and most were filled out completely. The Diversions attendees were on a mission and tabletop gamers don't hold back!

Here is a general sense of the feedback I received:

ACTION CARDS

  • Need more for variety and better interaction with other players

  • Some action cards like Parasitize have too much power. Make sure the action cards are balanced so a player does not have an outsized advantage

  • Add clarity to Actions

ECOLOGY CATEGORY
Each Shruman card has an M, S, or P in the bottom, right corner that represents the ecology, which is the fancy scientific word for how mushrooms get their nutrients. These letters stand for Mycorrhizal, Saprotrophic, and Parasitic. 

  • The purpose for the Ecology category was kind of confusing for players. It is not a category for creating sets, but has a small role in bonus points for P cards. This category needs a major rethinking to make sure M, S, and P all have a purpose. The solution I have in mind is an action card that is a "Discard 2" based on the Ecology, which will give players more opportunities to draw and build sets. 

 
 

GENERAL FEEDBACK AND ENDING THE GAME

  • More clarity is needed for the instruction cards

  • The way the game ends needs more structure. In the current iteration, the game ends when the draw pile runs out, but only after the "Forage Pile" (a second draw pile) is shuffled back into the draw pile. There is some confusion on when that happens and what to do with remaining cards in hand. 


After this game test, the revised game play is close to 80-90% completion. There will be another game test with the completed art so stay tuned on how you might be able to help with that!

Now is time for me to finish all the card art! Please share about Shrumans and encourage friends to follow me on social media! Having a following helps on the crowdfunding side when we eventually launch on Kickstarter. 

New Stickers are Here!

Stinkhorn Shrumans can now be enjoyed in sticker form along with a holographic set of Shrumans "Expressions"!

Find Stickers on my store!

New Year, New Projects

I have two major self-directed projects year! The first is a card game for my Shrumans and the second is a series called Spindleroot.

The card game will be a casual dedicated deck with light strategy and fun for all ages. There will be mushrooms galore with categories like medicinal, edible, and poisonous that will educate on the sheer variety of fungal species! I start with designing the game play and then illustrate the full deck of cards. Once the art assets are in place, there is sure to be a crowdfunding campaign (most likely Kickstarter) to help with the manufacturing costs of the finished card game.

Spindleroot is the series name for a project I am developing featuring a magical world inhabited by animal characters. For the time being, it includes artwork that is set in the same universe, but there are plans to include other forms of media. I am gradually building Spindleroot with each piece and look forward to sharing the unfolding narrative.

Speaking of Spindleroot, I finished one more illustration in the series this month titled "Beware the Wyrm". Enjoy a few of the progress images below.

Project Support

To fit all these epic illustration projects into my schedule, I need to reduce my typical freelance load. This leaves me a little short on funds, so that's where having more passive income really helps. This can include things like print sales and other items in my shop. Here are all the ways to help:

  1. Share My Art Online

    • Send links to your friends to my website or print shop or repost my art on social media. Please remember to put my name in the post ( "art by Candice Broersma") for proper crediting. It’s easy to forget, but important to do whenever you post artist’s work online

  2. Subscribe to my Newsletter

    • It’s free and comes just once a month except for special event announcements

  3. Follow and "Like" Me on Social Media

    • You know the shpeel. More activity is attractive to the finicky algorithms, which will in turn boost my visibility

  4. Buy My Prints, Stationery, etc.

  5. Donate Directly

Links to Socials