Going Rogue

Just quick post about where I’m at with my next game, which I am calling “Rogue Element”. I was originally aiming to do another game within a month but I have been enjoying this one so much I think I need to extend into May. It’s not that it’s such a big project, just that I want to finish off some things properly and clear my desk for June and going forward.

The game itself started out as a “pockethammer” game. I wanted to make a very small scale wargame that could fit into a box that could easily fit in a drawer at my desk. Something that would be easily transported and quick to set up and play. That idea is still a good one, but in the course of making the game it shifted quite a bit.

Rogue Element is a solo sci-fi / cyberpunk game of infiltration and sabotage. The idea is to infiltrate the various installations of the ominous Nexogen corporation, steal data, sabotage equipment, then fight your way back out. It’s fair to say the game is skewing a little more board game than miniatures game, but has the mechanics at it’s heart of a wargame.

Have a look at a render from a test game I was playing in Blender (because that’s just easier than using Tabletop Simulator).

There’s plenty of work still to do and more playtesting but this gives a good idea of where I’m at with the project. It plays very quickly. One of the problems I’m having right now is in the stealth part of the game, unlike a computer game where you have to wait for an enemy to be in the right position, which can be great for building tension, a board game allows you to go at any speed you want. The mechanics I have work but I want to find a way to give that same feeling.

I’ll have more to share about the game in the upcoming weeks.

-Callie