by Antonio Guillamó

INITIAL IDEA: SALT&PEPPER CONTEST (2024)

High Moon first came to life in a contest that consisted in creating a game with 20 cards or less. I’m not sure why, but I ended up using the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time medallions as a four coloured element for the game. This game was called “Medallones” (very original, I know).

Steal a card from the pile, place it on top of a card already on the table and create the biggest group of medallions of your colour of choice. The game was submitted, even knowing that the premise was way too simple. It didn’t make it past the first round. After this, “Medallones” was abandoned for almost an entire year.

TIME TO RESCUE “MEDALLONES”
August 2024, the date for the “Protos y Miguelitos” event, was drawing near and I wanted to at least bring there 3 or 4 prototypes so I could test them and keep working on them.
“Medallones” was one of the many other protos I had in store (and not in stores) and I decided on picking it back up since it needed little to no time and work to be able to be tested. I tried not to keep my hopes up, but you never know.

“Medallones” Prototype
“MEDALLONES” IN “PROTOS Y MIGUELITOS” (Summer of 2024)
Friday. 10 a.m. Albacete. “Protos y Miguelitos” event. Kortes (from Combo Games) and Toni López sat down to give “Medallones” a try and we proposed ideas such as creating a card market; an incremental cost for placing your tokens; covering other players’ medallions and receiving tokens back and Toni’s key idea: creating power plants of some sort that feed electricity to the roads you’re building and having to connect your medallions to those power plants in order for them to count for points. EUREKA!

Next morning, I grabbed a tip-ex and a pen and started changing the cards so I could turn them into power plant cards. I came up with a market from which you had to pick a card during your turn; the activation of squares with action icons by covering them, and a couple more things. All of this allowed “Medallones” to become something more.

“Medallones” with power plants
Flipper, Héctor Carrión and David Heras played a second game of “Medallones” and agreed on the prototype’s potential, suggested many interesting ideas that I ended up implementing. At that point, it was clear that the game needed a new name and a new look. Animals and burrows? Trains and stations? Caves and dwarves? NOPE. I decided on cities being fed by power plants. The name? Watts Up.

CÓRDOBA FESTIVAL (October 2024)
“Watts Up” was in an advanced state of development after the Córdoba festival, in which I was able to test it 10 more times. It was polished, simple and to the point, and that’s what caught Combo Games’s attention.

The main change introduced was the elimination of the card market and, in its place, a player card deck. This would demarcate the number of rounds per game, making it more tactical and less haphazard. Every player would have the same type of cards on their hands, only changing the order in which they appear.

Card market with costs
Furthermore, a scoring system was introduced, allowing the players for different play styles.

Watts Up in Córdoba (2024)
COMBO GAMES DEVELOPEMENT ERA
A few weeks after signing with Combo Games, the first big debate arose: a change in the theme of the game. Their proposition was to create a game inspired by the Far West in the USA. This way, instead of connecting cities and power plants, you would connect ranches to towns with cow caravans.

The game was renamed as “Deadstock”. Teepee tents, peace pipes, and totems would be some of the key elements of the interactions between cowboys and natives, who would help us prosper through our stock routes.

Prototype for “Deadstock” in “Las Levantadas” (May 2025)
After 7 months, the most meaningful changes at a mechanical level was the creation of a track were you progress as you cover native related icons from the cards and obtaining victory points and powerful actions in exchange, and the adjustment of different existing scoring criteria from when the game was still Watts Up.

Besides, a “token economy” was created consisting on covering the ranch cards of the other players. Now, the decision was even tougher. Should I cover their ranches to obtain many tokens, also giving THEM tokens in the process? Or should I play a more modest turn, but not benefiting them?
Undoubtedly, the game had increased in complexity and difficulty, but without losing its essence: placing cards and placing tokens. At this point, the type of game Combo was aiming for was beginning to take shape, almost reaching what it is today: a “Small Thinky Eurogame.” A small-box game that really makes you think, searching for the best option in each of its 6-7-8 turns.

If I’m being honest, it was my initial idea to have a simpler game, but the end result is simply outstanding and I love it.

THE FINAL COSMETIC CHANGE: FROM “DEADSTOCK” TO “HIGH MOON”
The feedback from people trying out “Deadstock” was very positive, but we all agreed on one thing: the theme wasn’t original. In this regard, Pablo Sanz, drawing inspiration from the cartoon aesthetic of the video game Grim Fandango, or from details in Tim Burton’s artistic creations, proposed a “Weird West” setting, in which skeletal cows were herded to distilleries to extract their marrow and create spectral liquors. This twist gave the game the final, original, and distinctive look we were aiming for.

High Moon on TableTop Simulator

High Moon in physical format (prototype Córdoba 2025)
FINAL TESTING
From August to December 2025, extensive testing was conducted in both physical and digital formats to refine aspects related to the track scoring system, the balance of the scoring criteria cards, and other elements. This process transformed a prototype using colored medallions into what we now know as High Moon. It’s a game that can be explained in 5 minutes, plays in 30-60 minutes, and, with just a few components, presents numerous decisions and alternatives in each game.

High Moon Render
AUTHOR’S THOUGHTS
As you will see when you play High Moon, the decision of where to place the card, to obtain tokens by covering the ranches of other players, or your own, is the main driving force for the second phase of your turn: the “token placement” phase. You’ll see that the phases of placing more powerful tiles will require you to cover rival ranches with the card, giving them tiles that will boost their next turn. It’s the price to pay.

Furthermore, being able to acquire bottles of liquor by connecting your ranches to different cities is very stimulating. And by doing that you get a boost that will allow you to have some truly satisfying turns. Use them at the right moment!

We’ve managed to achieve a high level of interaction, but not one that’s too harmful. Whenever you do something wrong for your own benefit, others will somehow be rewarded and will have alternatives to continue prospering in their respective turns. This balance is key in High Moon.
I sincerely hope you enjoy your time in the Death Valley,

Antonio “Guilla”.