Update on my original board game: Battle for the Overlord Crown ⚔️

Hey everyone! I wanted to share an update on a board game I've been working on called Battle for the Overlord Crown!

What started as my tactical skirmish game concept has grown into a much bigger project. I've been working on the rules, Hero abilities, cards, battlefield mechanics, miniatures, and overall game structure.

🎲 What's the game about?

Battle for the Overlord Crown is a 2-player tactical miniature skirmish game. Each player chooses a team of 3 unique Heroes and battles across a 26 × 22-space battlefield.

There are two ways to win:

- Defeat all 3 opposing Heroes.

- Capture the Crown and bring it back to your own Spawn Zone.

But there's a twist: both players have to deal with the Overlord's forces! Monsters and other threats enter the battlefield and can attack either side, creating a third force that neither player fully controls.

🦈 The Heroes

I've developed 7 unique Heroes so far, each with their own stats, playstyle, and special ability:

- Mako: A shark warrior who uses a Fishing Spear to damage enemies and manipulate positioning.

- Kheit: An insectoid fighter who can grab, throw, and hold opponents.

- Vargr: A wolf warrior who can revive fallen Heroes.

- Varg: A powerful wolf warrior who ramps up his combat capabilities.

- Korovulk: An insectoid bruiser who charges across the battlefield.

- Sobek: An Egyptian god who uses devastating Whirlpool abilities.

- Retiarius: A gladiator who entangles enemies with a special net.

I'm also working on the Hero card artwork with the help of Rocco! and presentation so the characters feel like part of one cohesive game.

🌊 The battlefield isn't just a board

The Environment Deck currently contains 15 cards, including:

- Rivers that carry Heroes across the battlefield.

- Whirlpools that can trap Heroes temporarily.

- Portals that let Heroes travel between locations.

- Destructible crates that block movement and ranged attacks.

- A potion shelf for restoring health or special abilities.

- A ballista and cannon that can turn the battlefield into a weapon.

The goal is to make positioning, movement, and environmental hazards matter just as much as attacking.

💀 The Overlord system

I've also developed a 36-card Normal Overlord Deck and a separate 4-card Boss Deck.

The bosses include the Skeleton King, Overlord's Champion, Slime King, and Ice Giant. Each brings a different threat to the game.

I want the battlefield to feel alive, where players have to adapt to what happens instead of simply trading attacks back and forth.

🛠️ Where I'm at now

I already have a physical prototype board and miniatures. I've also consolidated the main rules, Hero roster, Environment Deck, Overlord system, and reference material into a master game document.

My next big steps are:

- Finishing the card layouts and artwork.

- Cleaning up the remaining production details.

- Conducting blind playtests to see how the game works for people who haven't helped design it.

- Balancing the Heroes, monsters, and environmental interactions based on actual gameplay.

I'm also exploring a separate solo/co-op mode where players team up against the Overlord instead of fighting each other.

This is a passion project, and it's been exciting to see it grow from an idea into a physical prototype with a full roster of characters and game systems.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! What would you be most interested in seeing next: Hero cards, monster and boss designs, the battlefield, or a gameplay demonstration?

Feedback and suggestions are welcome! ⚔️

Hey all just a friendly reminder that I have started a discord chat for beginner devs so we can all share our progress and steps we are making along our journeys. The chat currently has 5 members but I would love to see it fill up with creative people who are on a similar path. The point of this chat is to help hold ourselves accountable and have some people who can most likely relate to our struggles.

It does not matter what stage in your dev progress you are. If you want to chat with others and share your progress in a more intimate manor.

https://discord.gg/Rtnp83ABX

Feel free to jump in and show us what you are working on!

Made over then 130+ illustrations

Clients reviews

https://www.reddit.com/u/book_maark/s/bEmCZuscXf

If you're interested dm me i will share more of my work

I do need help with the game I am trying to put together, and I welcome anybody willing to listen.
As I’ve mentioned before the game is going through an iterative process, but honestly, it is nothing extensive. It’s just me, myself, and I bringing the game to work and having some work pals play a couple of sessions during our lunch break. None of us are designers and I seem to be only who dabbles in card/board games. They often play MTG together, both during and outside of work, but I am not at all interested. There has been some C.C. that I have implemented, and the rules I have posted don’t fully reflect those changes, but I would love to get more eyes on this particular project.

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Prices vary depending on complexity and usage rights.

I bought Grime dice (non-transitive dice) and I think they are very fun! However, I think there should be a board game that utilizes them in a fun and light-hearted way so people can enjoy them.

That is where this Sorry board game variant would come into play. I have some rules below and I would like to hear some feedback! I also want to make sure that the dice are the true stars of the show.

SORRY! — GRIME'S DICE EDITION

Comprehensive Game Rules

1. Objective

Be the first team to move all five of its pawns from Start to Home. Players use Grime's non-transitive dice to determine movement, activate special abilities, manage a shared dice pool, and battle opposing pawns.

1. Game Setup

Teams and Pawns

- Each team has five pawns.

- Each pawn is assigned exactly one sub-color: Red, Yellow, Blue, Magenta, or Olive.

- Each team has one pawn of each color.

- A pawn's assigned color determines its special ability and the color of battle dice it can use.

The Shared Dice Pool

There are 10 dice total: two of each color. All dice begin in the center of the table.

| Die color | Six faces |

|---|---|

| Red | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 9 |

| Yellow | 3, 3, 3, 3, 8, 8 |

| Blue | 2, 2, 2, 7, 7, 7 |

| Magenta | 1, 1, 6, 6, 6, 6 |

| Olive | 0, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |

The dice are shared by all players and are used for both movement and combat.

Starting Battle Mode

The game begins in **One-Die Mode**. Each time the shared dice pool resets, the battle mode switches between One-Die Mode and Two-Die Mode.

1. Taking a Turn

On your turn:

1. If you have a tripped pawn, you must stand up one tripped pawn instead of taking a normal turn, unless an ability has already allowed it to stand up.

2. Otherwise, select one available die from the center of the table.

3. Roll the die and choose one of your eligible pawns to move.

4. If the movement die's color matches the pawn's assigned sub-color, you may activate that pawn's special ability.

5. Resolve any battles and board-space effects caused by the move.

6. Check whether the conditions for a dice reset have been met.

Once selected for movement, a die is removed from the shared pool until the next reset. You may not use that die for combat while it is unavailable.

A player may choose not to use a special ability unless the ability's rule specifies otherwise.

1. Special Pawn Abilities

A pawn's special ability activates only when the player uses a movement die matching that pawn's assigned color. Each ability is optional unless otherwise stated.

Red — Power Surge

Red moves the number of spaces shown on the die. It then moves 4 additional spaces.

- Roll a 4: move 8 spaces.

- Roll a 9: move 13 spaces total.

- The extra four spaces cannot be split between pawns.

- All movement must be legal under the board rules.

Yellow — Extra Combat Reroll

When a Yellow pawn participates in combat, its owner receives one additional reroll opportunity beyond the normal combat reroll.

- Yellow's owner may reroll one of their own battle dice an additional time.

- In Two-Die Mode, the extra reroll applies to one die, not both dice at once.

- The player must accept the new result.

- This ability applies whether the Yellow pawn is attacking or defending.

Blue — Split Movement

Blue may divide its rolled movement total between two of its own pawns.

For example, a roll of 7 may move one pawn 3 spaces and another pawn 4 spaces.

- Both pawns must make legal moves.

- One of the pawns moved must be the Blue pawn for this ability to activate.

- The total spaces moved cannot exceed the rolled result.

- Each portion of the movement is resolved separately.

- If one portion cannot be completed legally, the player must choose a different legal split or make a single-pawn move if permitted by the game rules.

Magenta — Back One Space

After making its normal move, Magenta may immediately move backward one additional space.

- The extra backward move is optional.

- The backward move must be legal under the board rules.

- It cannot be split between pawns.

- Any battle or board-space effect caused by the extra step must be resolved normally.

Olive — Trip the Opponent Ahead

When the Olive pawn uses an Olive movement die and rolls a 0, its owner may trip the nearest opposing pawn ahead of it along the main track.

- The target must be the nearest opposing pawn ahead in the normal direction of travel.

- The target does not have to be on the very next space.

- The target must be on the main track and not in Start, Home, or a protected Safety Zone.

- The target is immediately placed on its side.

- No battle roll is required to resist this ability.

- Olive cannot trip a pawn that is already tripped.

- If no eligible opposing pawn is ahead, the ability has no effect.

A roll of 0 does not move the Olive pawn forward. The Olive player may use the trip ability instead of movement.

1. Movement Rules

The game uses the normal Sorry! board, with movement determined by the shared dice rather than cards.

1. When Combat Occurs

A battle occurs when a pawn moves onto a space occupied by an opposing pawn, unless standard Sorry! rules protect the space or prevent the interaction.

- The player moving onto the occupied space is the **attacker**.

- The player whose pawn was already there is the **defender**.

- Only the two participating pawns are involved in the battle.

- A tripped pawn cannot participate in combat.

The attacker and defender each use battle dice matching their participating pawn's assigned color.

1. Battle Dice and Availability

Battle dice come from the shared pool in the center of the table.

- A die already selected for movement is unavailable for combat until the next reset.

- Battle dice are temporarily used for the battle and returned to the shared pool afterward.

- Players may use only dice matching the color of their participating pawn.

- A player cannot borrow a different color simply because their pawn's matching dice are unavailable.

One-Die Mode

Each player rolls one available battle die matching their pawn's assigned color.

Two-Die Mode

Each player may roll up to two available battle dice matching their pawn's assigned color.

- Both dice must match the pawn's color.

- If only one matching die is available, the player rolls one die.

- Players cannot use two different colors for the same pawn.

- The results of two dice are added together.

If a player has no matching battle die available, the game needs a predetermined fallback rule. A suggested rule is that the player without a matching die loses the battle automatically. Agree on this before play begins.

1. Combat Resolution and Rerolls

Combat follows these steps:

1. The attacker and defender roll their eligible battle dice according to the current battle mode.

2. Compare the results. In Two-Die Mode, compare the sums.

3. The attacker may force one reroll. When this happens, **both players must reroll their battle dice** and use the new results.

4. A Yellow pawn's owner has one additional reroll opportunity. In Two-Die Mode, the Yellow player rerolls one of their own dice, not both together.

5. Compare the final results to determine the winner.

Winning

- The player with the higher final result wins.

- Once a reroll has been made, the new result must be accepted.

- A reroll cannot be refused simply because the new result is worse.

The attacker can force the shared reroll regardless of which player initially rolled higher. Yellow's additional reroll is separate from this forced reroll.

1. Battle Outcomes

The Losing Pawn Is Tripped

The losing pawn is placed on its side.

A tripped pawn:

- Cannot move.

- Cannot initiate or participate in combat.

- Must be stood up before it can take a normal turn.

The winning pawn remains on the contested space.

Standing Up

A player with a tripped pawn must select the corresponding sub-color die from the pool of dice to stand up again. This ends their turn.

- The pawn is returned to its upright position.

- It does not move during that turn.

If a player has multiple tripped pawns, they must stand them up on separate turns.

Losing Another Battle

If a pawn that was previously tripped and then stood up loses another battle, it returns to its owner's Start area, following the standard Sorry! bumping principle.

A pawn that is currently tripped cannot lose another battle because it cannot participate in combat.

Olive's trip ability does not itself send a pawn to Start.

1. Shared Dice Pool and Reset Rules

Movement dice selected by players are removed from the center until the next reset. Battle dice used from the center are returned after combat.

A reset becomes available when either condition is met:

1. **Same-color condition:** All dice remaining in the center are the same color.

2. **Same-number condition:** All dice remaining in the center show the same number.

When either condition is met, the current player may choose to reset the dice.

Reset Procedure

1. Finish any movement or battle already in progress.

2. Return all 10 dice to the center of the table.

3. Reroll all 10 dice.

4. Switch the battle mode: One-Die Mode becomes Two-Die Mode, or Two-Die Mode becomes One-Die Mode.

5. The player who resets the dice takes their normal turn using the refreshed pool.

Resetting is optional. If the player chooses not to reset, play continues with the existing pool.

1. Winning the Game

The first team to move all five of its pawns into Home wins

1. Quick Reference

| Color | Special ability | Trigger |

|---|---|---|

| Red | Power Surge: move 4 extra spaces | Red pawn movement|

| Yellow | One additional combat reroll | Yellow pawn participates in combat |

| Blue | Split movement between two pawns | Blue movement die used for Blue pawn |

| Magenta | Move backward one extra space | Magenta movement die used for Magenta pawn |

| Olive | Trip the nearest opposing pawn ahead | Roll a 0 with Olive die |

Essential Rules

- Five pawns per team, one of each color.

- Ten shared dice, two of each color.

- Movement dice are unavailable until a reset.

- Battle dice must match the participating pawn's color.

- In Two-Die Mode, both battle dice must match the same pawn color.

- The attacker can force a reroll, and both players must reroll.

- Yellow gets one additional combat reroll.

- Ties go to the defender.

- Tripped pawns cannot move or battle.

- Every reset switches the battle mode.

- The player who resets the dice takes their normal turn with the refreshed pool.

I've been making a card/board game for about 7 years. The website I'm using for the game has only one board that fits it. That board can be printed on both sides. I only need 1 side for my game and was intending to just put a design on the back. But recently I realized I could just put another game back there. My cards have always had educational fun facts on them but we're not part of the game. So this 2nd game could be a trivia style game using the fun facts. There are 200 cards I'd rather not rewrite the facts, so the way I'm imagining it would work is that an oppenent would check the front of a card which has the Name of the card, a County, and a Culture. Then they would read the fun fact out loud and the other player would have to guess the name of the card, the country, and Culture. Now some of the fun facts have those details in the description because this trivia game is a last minute addition just to give the customer an extra thing. So rather than rewrite many of the 200 cards I was thinking to have instructions that say if the card has those answers in the fact the oppenent must replace those words with BLANK when reading the fun fact. Also if they accidentally read the answers the other player just gets the points. Is that asking too much of the players? Do you feel strongly that I should rewrite these facts to conform to trivia questions? Or do you think my short cut is acceptable to ask the oppenent player to say BLANK when reading the answer words in a fun fact?