It was a couple of days ago. I was driving home and thinking about Crazy Karts. No idea why. Just the random stuff that comes to your mind when you are tired and drive a car. The idea of introducing a change in the rules came naturally. Instead of two

The weather has been pissing me off lately. For the past few years there had been no real winter in Poland and although I felt like I missed real winter, well, it turned out, I didn’t. I am not a big fan of low temperatures and all that crap that

We grew up reading Tolkien, Howard, Herbert, Dick, Lem… We were watching Willow, Blade Runner, The NeverEnding Story, Robin Hood… And yet, we don’t write books… we don’t make movies. We don’t make those things, because we make games. We make games that tell stories. Books and movies are a

My New Year’s resolution was super simple: I need to get back to writing regularly. I need to write every single Wednesday as I used to write in previous years. I need to make Board Games That Tell Stories blog active again. So here I am. Writing about New Year’s

‘You made a mistake. You underestimated it,’ she said. She sees the hype growing and she knows I am not prepared for that. She knows I made a mistake. I didn’t see it coming.  *** I signed Cry Havoc (Battle of York back then) in 2013. It was three years

Today we presents you new article wrote by Michał Oracz, one of designers of Cry Havoc! Whenever I start working on a game, or on any project for that matter, I delve into it COMPLETELY. It’s not like wading in it up to the knees, or even up to the

Welcome to part 5 of our design journal series for Cry Havoc. Today we return to Michal Walczak, the lead developer for Portal Games on Cry Havoc. And one day, early in the morning, Michał Oracz came and blew everything to hell and back. Michał arrived at the company before me, he

Today we share with you the third in a series of design journals from Cry Havoc designer Grant Rodiek. Enjoy! When you license a game to a publisher, you need to recognize that you’re entering into a relationship. When you’re just the designer, you don’t have to listen to anyone’s feedback.

I am a huge fan of children‘s games. I have a big collection of board games for kids and even though my own kids got older and they won’t play with me anymore, I still keep these kids games in my collection. I won’t get rid of them. I will play with my grandchildren, right?! There are some real gems among

Grant Rodiek in his recent interview said: “You can make a game that is functional. It is relatively easy to make a game that works and is balanced.” These are the most honest and true words about game design I heard in a long time. Let us talk about submitted

Portal Games announces Board Games That Tell Stories Second Printing The second printing of Ignacy Trzewiczek’s hit book is now in stock. Gliwice, Poland – November 30th, 2015. Today, Portal Games announced the second printing of Board Games That Tell Stories, the hit book from Ignacy Trzewiczek. After a massively

I didn’t need to do this. I mean, rights for the game came back to Portal Games. The base game was out of stock for some time. It was obvious we will do a reprint. Stronghold was always one of the designs I was most proud of. I wanted it

In the newest instalment at Board games That Tell Stories is about user – that is player! – experience and how we work to enhance positive experience when you play our games. Have a good read!

Today we posted first article in Game Designer Journal series dedicated to Rattle, Battle. For the couple of upcoming Wednesday’s you will learn about developing our new pirate game! Everything began in Lviv, Sping 2013… Enjoy this read!

It was Essen 2013. I was approached by a young guy with prototype in hand. He told me in a few words about his game and it sounded interesting enough that I agreed to take prototype with me and play it when I am back at office. I came back