Compagnieën
Strategic and tactical board game around the Dutch merchant fleets during the Dutch Golden Age. Each player controls a fleet to compete for the biggest profits, battle victories and settlement control.
Beat other players either by trade, battles or controlling ports. Go aggressive, be the pacifist or end up somewhere inbetween. Plan ahead through the weather, but be wary of pirates and the stock market.
Roles and Responsibilities
I am responsible for the entire project, from coming up with the idea/concept, designing mechanics to the visual design. The images on cards and cities are all taken from the web, but the icons are my own work.
Final Product
The latest version:
The current game during a two player session. Starting October 2022, I started work on the game again after a year long break. Smoothened the rules for more consistency. Added a completely new, based on actual tactics, battle model. Some placeholders, some mechanics are still being slightly updated.
Process and Methods
Completely the wrong way around, but that's what learning is about. At first I designed a system rather than a game and focused on getting it to look reasonably well over getting the gameplay right, all while still in early phases of prototyping.
Very first prototype. Back then the idea was to design a game around naval trade and battles, not necessarily involving the Dutch Golden Age.
Second prototype, started way to early on the visual stuff. I didn't see more potential in this, so I decided to start over.
Third prototype. Based on a world map divided into hexagons.
Fourth prototype. An evolution of the third. This is where the deeper problems started to show; players had a hard time keeping up with all the factors and with being able to move the pieces multiple fields per turn, this could turn into the ultimate analysis paralysis game. Not my goal. What the board on the left did, I don't even want to know anymore..
Fifth prototype. Introduced a weather system, larger hexes for a less complex feel. The sixth prototype looked basically the same, but had some new mechanics introduced and some old ones removed.
Ship cards of the current game, as well as renaming from "Kapteins" (Captains) to Admiralen (Admirals). Images are obviously ripped as it's still a prototype.
Earlier version that has quite a lot of similarities to the current game, yet plays very different.
The long time (2016-2020) version during a two player session. There are still some unpolished white pieces of paper used for a few of the mechanics.
The 2021-2022 version during a three player test.
Toughest Challenge
Converting a theme into an interdependent system with enjoyable and meaningful choices; a strategy board game. The deeper I studied the Dutch Golden Age, the trade routes, ships, goods and technologies, the harder the game became to get right.
Another tough challenge is the tradeoff between quick prototyping and the need for good visual design; you have to be able to easily distinguish all of the different objects, something that's very hard when everything's drawn and written in black on white paper.
What I'd do Differently
Most of all: go for a more simple first game. Interdependent systems, as most complex strategy board games are called, require lots of years of prototyping and testing, and even then a lot of them fail.
As far as this game goes, I think I would've been better off starting with a set of mechanics. Prototype that until it works. Then choose a theme.
Tools Used
- Word: rule books
- Pen & Paper: design of maps, logo's, cards
- Excel: calculations regarding balance for the early versions
- Trello: checklist and project planning
- Illustrator/Photoshop: board design, card design, icons
- Various online sources: knowledge on the Dutch Golden Age