Updated February 20, 2020:: Depreciated. There is now no difference between being in and out of combat now that we have a huge new innovation in the works. There are a number of ways to keep track of initiative order / turn order in games. I’ve seen writing on clothes pins attached to a board…

The amount of detail that goes into a single level is extensive, far more than a traditional RPG’s hand-drawn level for a night’s session. Gambit levels must be carefully tuned for 2-4 player characters. Rules change when the player count changes. Every single item and piece of treasure must be identified, positioned, and balanced between…

One of the mysteries only found in Arkhaven are Bone Beacons. They are a foreboding sight for the unfamiliar. Impaled on a pole is a skull that is emanating visible energy. Whenever a bone beacon is discovered, players can interact with them and they will emit a single audible phrase in order to provide clues…

We're nearing completion of writing the overview for Act 1. Having a written overview significantly helps the level design process as it creates a map of where the players are headed during the campaign. We also spent a few hours today reviewing different online tools that would help us to do two things: Playtest…

Marvin over at Nerdlikeaboss.com is capturing the essence of the nerd renaissance, specifically within the realm of game design and its cross section with entrepreneurial endeavors. Marvin discovered Gambit after I posted an an announcement on reddit about the project and he was immediately enticed to find out more. In the interview, Marvin leads a…

I believe it was the second isometric action RPG ever made. It doesn’t look like modern ARPGs, but it’s arguable this game, published in 1992, put the genre on the map. What this game and modern ARPGs share are 1) the isometric view, 2) combat happens in real time, and 3) you control one hero….

Since the map tiles are featured significantly in Gambit, it was one of the most important things to get right. As you can see below, I went through several iterations, the most significant being the change from version two to three. If you read How Gambit Started you’ll discover there was a pre-version of the…

If you’ve read through the Game Overview section, you’ll remember that we are planning on five dungeon tile sets that will each be used for 5 levels (totaling 25 levels / game sessions) and each set comprises over 75 unique shapes. The first art set of tiles is the Gray Stone set and all of…