I started 2025 with the goal to finish projects. The first item on my list was my game Super Maps & Legends (SuperMNL), planned as TTRPG. I dove in ready to do whatever it took to release the game this year.
Changes, Changes, Changes
In an effort to create a manageable database comparable to what computers offer, I switched it to a card-based RPG in January. I added skills to make it more familiar to audiences. I designed the cards and went through many iterations. I added gameplay elements unique to cards, including “Adventure/Home” classes for all characters. And several other major gameplay mechanic decisions, such as playing multiple characters up to 6. But once I hit March I started realizing that not all the changes were necessarily for the better. Concepts started fighting with each other, logistics on the game table stopped working, and after running budgets on things like character art, it was clear that what I had changed the game into was not any more publishable or fun than what I had in January. It was both depressing and frustrating, but not to be unexpected given all the rapid major changes I’d made.
What to Cut? What to Change?
I am a bit of a maniac when you give me the editing knife. If it ain’t perfect, cut it. But now I looked at my game and after playing it a bit, I wasn’t really sure what to cut, change, or build. I didn’t even recognize the product in front of me. Who would I sell this to? Both I and my product were lost in the woods. I wandered around for a few days morose and feeling awful. Would I ever finish anything ever? Crap like that running through my head.
Leave it Be
My best advice for those who find themselves lost in the woods is to take a short break, clear your head, get some rest, and seek outside perspectives from trusted sources. When I did this last week it became clear that what I had in front of me was not a single game, but two games. One was a casual tabletop RPG card game, we’ll call it Of Hearth & Highway, and the other was an independent TTRPG powered by computer generator tools, called Super Maps & Legends. There certainly was some overlap, but they had distinctly different markets and gameplay needs.
I haven’t drawn much in years. Maybe it was subliminal messaging?
But Which Game Do I Build?
I talked with my friend Matt about which game to build, but I think you know where this is headed. It’s hard to take a knife to one of your children, but such it was with SuperMNL. I can’t make two games at the same time, and SuperMNL was too complex and too expensive. Of Hearth & Highway has a much clearer vision. “It’s designed to be the ‘gateway drug’ for new role-players.” At least, that’s what Matt described it as. I just think of it as a great, simple, card-based RPG that highlights all my favorite aspects of TTRPGs over other games.
So… I’m sorry SuperMNL… I close my eyes and… [*slice*]
Of Hearth & Highway for the win!
Although my goal was to finish SuperMNL this year, now that goal has morphed into a different game. And that’s ok. I just want to finish something and put it out into this world for once. I can say after about three days of working on H&H that it is nice to have a clear vision. It’s nice to streamline. I hope to show you something soon that both you and your friends can get excited about!
Final Advice
How often do we hold on to our creations like a dragon guarding its hoard – too jealous to move, unwilling to budge, and afraid of what will happen if we just leave the hoard and explore somewhere else? Another analogy is, when we bump into a wall, do we keep bumping into it, stop and try to build a huge ladder over it, start digging through it painfully slow, or waste time looking for a way around the mountain? Why not just walk in another direction? Is another direction that bad? People can waste a lot of time, energy, and resources fighting with walls, or wandering around lost in the woods getting nowhere important.
Find the problem, review solutions, and choose one.
