During August, Workhorse Game Studio has been primarily focused on more playtesting of Gales of Winter, as well as an initial pass on the graphic design for the card art.
The State of Gales of Winter
Gales of Winter finally feels like a solid, playable, well-paced game. One of the biggest changes made to the game is a “graduated” Weather card system. Rather than throw all of the Weather cards at the player all at once, the Damage Weather cards are now spaced out around the board, providing a gradually more difficult experience for the player.
Overall, the game felt much more well-paced, but still needs work striking the balance between “too easy” and “too hard”.
Wins
- Developing the “graduated” Weather card system significantly helped the pacing of the game.
- The initial work on the graphic design shows promise, but it is too early for any art to reveal just yet.
Challenges
- The new Weather card system was a huge improvement, but it took the game from “too hard” to “too easy”. I need to strike a balance.
- As a dad with a family, full-time job, and a ton of ambition, finding and balancing time can be difficult. I have started working on systematizing my schedule to better utilize my time.
Playtesting
The game feels solid and just needs some tweaking, but I have been the only primary playtester, which can be a bottleneck simply due to time.
What’s Next in September?
My big priority for Sept is to set up Gales of Winter on a digital platform and open it up to blind playtesters.
Public playtesting for Gales of Winter is coming soon! Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know.
What are your favorite survival games? How are they able to remain challenging enough to feel like a real struggle for survival, but not too difficult that it alienates players?
