by Vladimir Suchy

DESIGNER’S DIARY – TRISTAN

BEGINNINGS

Hello everyone, I am Tristan Geeraert, and I’m happy to share that my first board game Chronocritters is being published by Delicious Gamesand will be released later this year at SPIEL. The design of Chronocritters started eight years ago (somewhere in 2018), more or less one year after I started to get really engrossed in the board gaming hobby. By that time, I had already developed a preference for euro games and especially those that use worker placement (with a twist) and dice manipulation as mechanics. To me, the main advantage of worker placement (beside liking the mechanic itself) is that games incorporating this mechanic are, for a large part, self-explanatory, because turns are straightforward (placing a figure on the board) and the effect of the different action spots can often simply be read from the board. I think that such a rigid core leaves room to go a little deeper into the intricacies between different actions and certain sec-ondary effects, without ending up with an overly complex ruleset.

Initially the idea to create a game of my own was purely a passion project, something I wanted to create for myself as a personal challenge and which I could share with family and friends when finished. However, while getting more and more caught up into the hobby, the desire grew to make my game into an official product that could be published and brought into the market. During the first two years of working on the game, I created laser cut MDF game boards and player boards which felt advanced (at least for a prototype) and which led to very tangible playtests. While the game looked cool and beautiful, it was not very practical from a design point of view. Whenever certain things changed, I often had to redesign components which was much more of a hassle than if I had just worked with print and play prototypes. However, I enjoyed the creation process, so I didn’t mind it back then. After all, there was no publisher in the picture with whom I had to share a prototype yet. But the desire to approach a publisher started to grow.

CONTACTING THE PUBLISHER

Fast-forward to autumn 2021: I still hadn’t approached any publishers, but I had done some research on which publishers nearby (in Belgium or the Netherlands) would be possibly interested in the heavy euro game that I had created. At that time, the game was still called “Test of Time” instead of Chronocritters. Without any specific reason, I suddenly decided that it was time, so on that same day – two weeks before SPIEL 2021 would start – I contacted the owner of the Belgian publishing company, Game Brewer, through a DM. I introduced myself, asked if I could show them my prototype during the fair and send them some photos of my latest MDF game board. Looking back at it and acknowledging that my way of communication might not have been the most professional, it was very extraordinary that my request was accepted nonetheless and that I indeed had a chance to present my game. After a playtest by the Game Brewer team, they expressed their interest but indicated that the game was still too complex and contained too many items. Back then the game consisted of eight rounds with five workers per player (not counting two additional unlockable workers) and almost 100 dice. Streamlining and cutting out certain mechanics was of the essence. There were simply too many components to make it feasible to produce the game and too many rules for the game’s own good. Luckily, the Game Brewer team had fun, and they indicated that they were open to revisit the game once I did make sufficient changes.

So, I went back to the drawing board and intensively worked on the game for an additional four months before asking for a second chance. A new playtest followed and a couple of days later I signed my first contract. What a great feeling that was! It was clear that a lot of things still had to change, but I looked forward to the development process and improving the game even further. It is not a secret that Game Brewer ceased operation two years later. Test of Time had been pushed back a couple of times and after it ultimately went through a development process in the winter of 2023, I got the news that the game – which was renamed Chronocritters in the meantime – would no longer be crowdfunded due to the cessation of Game Brewer.

The rights of the game reverted back to me and I wanted to get back to work on it as soon as possible. However, I realized that to reach different publishers it would be helpful to have an online playable version of my game. Luckily, my brother helped me out and created a Tabletop Simulator version of Chronocritters in no time. At this time, I had again revised the game slightly. During the Game Brewer development, the game was reshaped into a very tight 16 action game (four rounds instead of eight with four workers) and I preferred to make it a little more loose again. Yet, some ideas that originated during the Game Brewer development lived on in the latest iteration of the game. To me, this was the best of both world: a collection of ideas and mechanics that I liked the most combined with some clever streamlining thanks to Game Brewer.

I contacted some of the publishers that I valued very highly based on games from them that I had played. One of them was Delicious Games as I was very impressed by Vladimir’s games I had played up until that point. In the summer of 2024, I got a reply stating that usually Delicious Games only publishes Vladimir’s own designs (or sometimes a co-design) but that they were nonetheless interested in the game after reading the rules. They asked me to send the files so that they could assemble a prototype for themselves and test the game. They preferred to test the game in a physical manner instead of through Tabletop Simulator, and while the latter option would certainly have been faster to get a first impression, it can sometimes be hard to get a good grasp of a game’s real potential. So of course I send the files to the Delicious Games team.

A couple months went by and in the weeks leading up to SPIEL, I was happy to learn that Delicious Games was still interested in the game after undertaking some tests. They had certain remarks about the current state of the game and pointed out things that needed to change. One of the bigger changes they requested was removing one of the initial four starting workers that each player had. Knowing that the initial prototype in 2018 had six different workers per player which was brought back to four already before the Game Brewer collaboration, the idea to now – two years later – cut out another worker felt almost impossible. Especially since my entire game was built around the fact that each of the four workers had a special passive ability that was an essential factor in deciding where to place it on the board. At this time, each player started the game with a hare, fox, beaver and eagle. The (fast) hare performed a double action when placed, the (cunning) fox could flip a die to its opposite side, the (craftsman) beaver could perform a special Dam build-ing action among other things and the (flying) eagle could reach parts of the board inaccessible to other non-flying workers. The exercise to cut out one of these abilities was not an easy thing to do.

Nonetheless, I got back to work and tried to incorporate Vladimir’s feedback. I removed a worker (the eagle) and made other changes based on his suggestions and quickly became aware that the game had improved significantly. Not for the first time I was confronted with the fact that as a designer you can sometimes end up having tunnel vision regarding certain game ideas, making it very helpful to let an external person shine their light on the overall game. The latest feedback I received was very positive and with a feeling of hope I met with Delicious Games at SPIEL 2024, presenting the new revision. It was then discussed that Delicious Games wanted to do some more test before taking a decision. And then something unexpected happened…

Out of the blue I received a contract to sign the game from Final Frontier Games (who was one of the other publishers to whom I had sent an email back in the summer). I had once shown them the game through Tabletop Simulator, but didn’t hear back from them until now. They were very enthusiastic about the game I had submitted and wanted to fast forward with developing and producing it without any significant changes. However, there was one “problem”. The prototype as reviewed by Final Frontier Games (FFG) was the previous one (with four workers) and in the mean-time I was convinced that the prototype with the changes based on Vladimir’s suggestions was superior. While it was very nice to hear of their interest, I asked for some time to think about this turn of events as I didn’t want to rush into a decision which I would later regret. I wanted to allow Delicious Games to perform their additional tests, and I was also slightly conflicted about the fact that FFG indicated no changes were necessary. Because even though it can be hard for a designer to change or cut out some things from your own game, it is often worthwhile to remove superfluous parts. Ultimately, Delicious Games sent word that they wanted to publish the game, but that it would require further changes. While the enthusiasm of the FFG team was undeniable, I think Vladimir had already convinced me of my preference for Delicious Games due to his recent suggestions.

One thing was clear when comparing feedback from Delicious Games, FFG, Game Brewer, and a couple of other publishers who reviewed the game: the time travel mechanic and the dice grid were considered the standouts of the game and the varying worker abilities were often praised. Once the contract was signed, Delicious Games started to work on the game and introduced changes to intertwine both the time travel mechanic and the dice grid mechanic even further. A long development period followed where many revisions were made and many mails were sent with suggestions, feedback and updates. It was great to know that the game was being continuously polished. What followed were many great improvements, streamlining exercises and clever ideas. Ultimately, it also led to a very hard decision to cut out the different passive animal abilities. These abilities had formed the core of the worker placement decision pattern since the con-ception of the game, but they were removed in an attempt to enhance the focus on the time travel and dice grid mechanics. The game was also further reshaped in order to align more with the tastes of Delicious Games’ audience. This meant removing random factors like dice rolls and card draws wherever possible. While I personally like games to feature some randomness (in the form of widely varying card abilities and – albeit modifiable – dice rolls) this was less the case for the growing testing audience who preferred the game to be more strategic with fewer luck inducing factors. Luckily, Delicious Games know their audience and acted accordingly. In the end, Vladimir and his team were able to make Chronocritters into a beautiful product that retains the time travel and dice grid mechanics which I created all these years ago and I am very excited to see the release draw closer. I am looking forward to seeing players discover the many strategies woven into the game.

DEVELOPER’S DIARY – VLADIMIR SUCHÝ

In July 2024, Delicious Games received a game proposal from Tristan Geeraert. We do not actively seek out new games, so we usually reply immediately stating that we do not accept game submissions as we have a full publishing plan, or sometimes, the proposal just doesn’t fit into our portfolio of games. However, this particular prototype intrigued us for two reasons: the story behind the game’s release (it had originally been slated for publication but the project was abandoned when the publisher ceased operations) and the mechanics and theme, which appeared innovative.

We therefore decided to test the prototype, with the understanding that the decision on whether to publish it would be made after testing. While online testing platforms can have their merits at times, we still consider them to provide limited insight, especially when deciding whether to publish a game or not. Consequently, we requested the physical files so that we could build a prototype to playtest.

Our initial impression from testing was positive; we saw great potential in the game. We were particularly impressed by the time-travel system – where certain action spaces were inaccessible in time but could be opened up by creating time portals (which also involved a crucial “decay” factor) – and by the dice grid used to complete quests, which created an original puzzle-like mechanic for dice manipulation. The dice in this grid could be used as a resource for other actions, yet they also needed to be collected to fulfill objectives.

These two core mechanisms remained the backbone of the game throughout its subsequent development, right up until the point at which development concluded. From the very beginning, we identified several areas where we wanted to steer the game’s development. After our initial contact, we requested some modifications specifically to shorten the game (by reducing the number of animals/actions) prior to further testing. However, to make a final decision on the future of the game, we needed to gather insights from play-ers and testers.

Further playtesting took place, during which Tristan informed us of a new contract offer for the game. We asked for some additional time, and after further testing, we recognized the game’s strong potential and decided to offer the author a publishing contract with Delicious Games.

The game after the first graphic and gameplay adjustments at Delicious Games
Initially, we had envisioned this game being developed alongside another title that I would author or co-author. However, we subsequently decided to capitalize on the fact that we had a prototype ready in the autumn of 2024 and so a game that could be released in 2026. This allowed us to adjust our release schedule and workflow at Delicious Games.

Previously, the process typically involved me finishing a prototype (either solo or in collaboration) during the summer of one year, followed by intensive playtesting, with the game’s release scheduled for the following year, specifically in time for the SPIEL Essen fair. This tight schedule created significant time pressure, particularly regarding the rules, which often had to be finalized shortly before the game’s release.

Incorporating a game by an external author (Chronocritters) into our schedule allowed us to extend the entire process; we are now aiming to finalize the prototype two to three months earlier in the spring, while also gaining about a year and a half for playtesting and graphic design. This provides more room to work on the game and reduces stress. We have postponed the release of the game we are currently developing with Ross Arnold, who is the same designer behind Woodcraft, from the original 2026 release date to 2027.

After taking over the game for testing, I identified the following key areas requiring change:

• Managing, or potentially shortening, the game’s duration. This was resolved by removing one round, a change that fit well with the game’s structure, logic, and action sequencing.

• Introducing elements that fostered engine-building. This involved adjusting how mines operate, adding animal development mechanics, and modifying ability cards.

• Eliminating elements with a high degree of randomness specifically dice rolling, event draws (which were ultimately removed entirely), and the luck factor involved in drawing scoring cards.

• Removing elements that relied on negative incentives (mechanisms that punished players for failing to meet a requirement) and replacing them with positive incentives. During further development, for instance, the game eliminated penalties for insufficient participation in specific areas (such as the dam) and the requirement to “charge up” workers before they could perform any actions. These negative mechanics were replaced with positive ones: players can now gain turn order advantages and various bonuses at the dam, while critter development provides both extra actions and enhanced capabilities and bonuses when deploy-ing upgraded critters.

The final area targeted for improvement was the integration of the game’s various components. Previously, the different parts were largely isolated, allowing players to focus on just one are – an approach that tended to make gameplay repetitive. The integration of the various components was achieved primarily by introducing colors for the hard disc quests (tasks arranged in a grid) and implementing a scoring system based on color matching. This feature now effectively motivates players to engage with all parts of the game.

I endeavored to implement these elements into the game gradually. This process involved frequent consultations with Tristan, particularly during the initial phase. Once the core components were finalized and the game was nearing its definitive state, we conducted numerous additional playtests, primarily to fine-tune the balance. During this stage, I incorporated insights gained from testing sessions with Katka and other testers, as well as a series of observations provided by our external tester, Štěpán Peterka, based on his own playthroughs and analysis.

Theme

One key insight from the testing phase concerned the game’s theme. The original concept featured a rather broad fantasy narrative starring animal workers. However, due to gameplay adjustments, this premise largely lost its justification, and the scenario lacked intuitiveness. Acting on the testing feedback, Štěpán proposed shifting the game to a post-apocalyptic setting while retaining the animal characters. We decided to adopt this theme. Following this decision, we selected artistVlad Ricean to create the game’s illustrations and cover art; his work, which was complemented by the contributions of illustrator and graphic designer Anna Zvocová, elevated the game’s visual style exactly as we had envisioned.

Individual characters beautifully crafted by Vlad Ricean
Solo Mode

Once the mechanics were solidified, I implemented a solo mode. As always, the goal was to minimize the administrative overhead required to manage the “automa”. Given the game’s complexity, the rules and setup are somewhat more extensive than usual, yet the actual gameplay management remains, in my view, just as straightforward as in other DG titles; the objective, as with our other games, is to beat your own high score.

Finally, as with other projects, we had to establish the rules. This is usually a rather tedious process, though this time we (Vladimír and Katka) are creating them ourselves.

plan without graphic additions
Changing Actions in Seasons

After the game’s balance had been refined, the final adjustment involved introducing a system for the random drafting of season actions over time. As previously mentioned, one of the game’s key innovations is the time-limited availability of actions and re-sources – a constraint that applies primarily to “engine-building” actions. Randomly drawing these tiles ensures a unique experience in every session, requiring players to adapt their strategies and thereby enhancing the game’s replayability.

I believe we have succeeded in creating another Euro-style game that, while offering fresh, intriguing concepts from a new designer, stands proudly alongside the best titles from Delicious Games. It excels not only through its original elements but also through its sheer fun factor, offering a vast array of strategies, action combinations, objective fulfillment, and diverse development options that blend into a highly entertaining and innovative mix.

Final version of the game – Chronocritters