Pandante: Light & Dark (and Flash Duel) Kickstarter launch!

The Pandante kickstarter is now live.

The Light & Dark expansion for Pandante is unusual in a few ways. Usually expansions make a game more complicated. This one actually makes Pandante simpler, easier to explain, and faster to play. The core rules have been streamlined, many exceptions have been removed, and the flow of play has fewer steps so you can get through a gambit faster.

Here's a list of the changes to the core game. (And here's other rulebook stuff.)

The Pandante: Light & Dark expansion also adds lots of new content. Here's the four types of new content:

• Use the Light abilities (fun!) or an all-new set of Dark (miserable!) abilities
• Casino cards that change a rule about the game each gambit
• Panda Champions that give each player a special power
• Diamond Dreams mode that makes the blue chips into powerups rather than just money

And here's the punchline: you can mix and match that content however you want. Dark abilities with Casino cards? Yes. Panda Champions in Diamond Dreams mode? Yes. All of it at once? Yes, if you want that level of insanity. It's up to you, and you can start with streamlined core game that's simpler than ever.

If you have never played Pandante before, the new base sets INCLUDE the expansion content built right in. The standard version now comes with plastic chips, and the deluxe version is nicer than ever. If you already have a Pandante deck and chips, you can just get the expansion. All three versions (standard, deluxe, and expansion) now come with a large centralized betting board rather than separate boards for each player. This makes it much easier to tell who has the highest claimed hand at any given time, which is important for computing the cost of "snacks".

Another one of my games, Flash Duel, has been out of print for many months. This kickstarter also offers a reprint of that game, and it's better than ever too. There have been two core rule changes that both simplify and streamline the game, while also putting more emphasis on bluffing and improv, rather than on mathy calculations to create 100% guaranteed checkmate situations at the end of a round.

Now, all game modes use a 40 card deck (rather than 25 in 1v1 before) and you remove a random 5 cards before playing. So rounds last slightly longer (they ended uncomfortably early before) and you can't be entirely sure how many of a certain card are present each round. Also, the "last hits" mechanic is removed. It was the most complicated part of the game, and actually ended up having the opposite as its intended effect anyway. In addition to all this, there are dozens of balance and wording changes, including all text being written in a gender-neutral way now.

This is a great time to jump into both of these new games if you haven't tried them before. They're both better than ever, and it's been a blast developing them and playing all the new content. It's your turn now! Head on over to the kickstarter.

Yomi Menelker and Persephone decks now available

The Menelker & Persephone decks are now available, both the physical and print-and-play version. You can get them here.

Menelker and Persephone are both very powerful-feeling characters, which is consistent with their lore. Menelker can force the opponent to discard, like no one else. He can destroy cards in the opponent’s discard pile too, which no one else can do. He has truly embraced whatever “taboo tactics” he needs to in order to win. His AAAA super is also one of the best in the game.

Persephone’s dominant personality shines through in her gameplay as well. She can keep opponents on their knees with repeated knockdowns while she draws more and more cards. She can somewhat control which cards opponents draw, and she can outright control their combat choices too with Mistress’s Command. Even though she’s fair and balanced in the end, her wins feel like a fantasy when they are happening because she can be so domineering when she gets going.

You can also play these characters in the web version at www.fantasystrike.com and the iOS version too, which is now on both iPad and iPhone. The physical versions ship worldwide from www.sirlingames.com.

Pandante (and Flash Duel) Kickstarter Next Week

Next week, two of my games are about to get better. Pandante will get an expansion (and revised base sets for those new to the game) and Flash Duel will be reprinted with updated rules and balance. If you're excited when good things get better, I hope you check it out on kickstarter on March 10th.

The print-and-play version of the Pandante expansion is available already here, for $8. You can use your existing deck with it and treat it like an expansion, or use the updated deck graphics it contains if you don't have Pandante yet. Either way, keep in mind you'll need to provide your own chips for betting. By the way, the updated rules will be free, it's the new content (which has new artwork too) that's for sale.

I hope you all are excited for this kickstarter. I like both of these games more now than ever after the last few months of testing rules updates. Stay tuned!

Sirlin on Game Design, Ep8: Morality in Stories

We discuss the drama created by stories that pose moral questions. Stories set outside the law make us think even more about these questions, so that could explain why so many popular stories have settings that take us outside of our familiar system of laws. We tie this into games with examples from The Walking Dead game and A Tale in the Desert.

Hosts: David Sirlin & Sean "MrGPhantome" Washington

Sirlin on Game Design, Ep7: Sequels

We discuss sequels to movies and games. Sequel can mean a lot of different kinds of things, so we sort out the different kinds of sequels. This leads up to a discussion about how to handle sequels in highly replayable games. 

Hosts: David Sirlin & Sean "MrGPhantome" Washington

Yomi on WatchItPlayed

Rodney at WatchItPlayed has a series of videos explaining how to play Yomi, and showing it in action. Check out his fancy intros!

You can buy the tabletop version here.
You can play the online web version here.
You can also get the game on iPad and iPhone from Apple's App Store.

Sirlin Games announces complete Yomi release schedule

@SirlinGames
www.facebook.com/SirlinGames

New and revised characters for the popular fighting card game round out cast to 20 available characters throughout 2015

San Francisco, CA; January 16 — Today Sirlin Games announced that, having fulfilled all Kickstarter pledges, the entire roster of 20 characters for its fighting-game themed card game Yomi will be made available to the general public in a phased release beginning now through the end of July.

Yomi simulates the mind games and other strategic choices found in video fighting games without requiring that players have the dexterity required to master those games. In keeping with that theme, Yomi allows players to pick a character, represented by a unique deck of cards. Each deck includes different abilities and special moves, providing for a deep, asymmetric game with varied play as each match-up between characters has its own specific flavor and strategy.

Unlike customizable or collectible card games, however, each Yomi deck is complete and balanced, meaning once players have acquired a particular deck there is no need for them to buy more cards to improve their deck.

The total set of 20 characters includes 10 characters who were previously available in the first version of Yomi (published in 2011) and have been re-balanced and artistically polished for the new release. Currently, eight characters are available for purchase. These are sold in 4-character packs (called Yomi: Round 1 and Round 2) for a suggested retail price of $39.99.

Both Round 1 and 2 offer a great way to new players to begin playing, as they include everything needed for at least 4 people to play. Round 1 features returning characters Grave, Jaina, Midori, and Setsuki while Round 2 includes the new characters Quince, Onimaru, Bal-Bas-Beta, and Troq.

“I originally developed Yomi so that everyone could experience the kind of dynamics that happen in fighting games,” said Sirlin. “I’m thrilled that it’s appealed to the tournament crowd as well as casual players. This latest version has years of polish and testing behind it, so it’s a great time to dive in.” 

Players looking to expand their options can purchase more characters according to the following schedule:

• March 6 (PAX East): Menelker & Persephone
• April 3: Rook & DeGrey
• May 1: Valerie & Geiger
• June 5 (Origins): Gloria & Gwen
• July 3: Lum & Argagarg
• July 31 (GenCon): Vendetta & Zane

Menelker, Persephone, Gloria, Gwen, Vendetta and Zane are all new Yomi characters. Individual decks will be sold for $9.99 each. All cards are printed on high-quality card stock with reinforced core and protective coating, making them very resistant to wear-and-tear.

Sirlin Games raised more than $217,000 — greatly exceeding its $30,000 goal — for the new and updated characters in a Kickstarter project which finished July 17, 2014. As the company has with both of its previous Kickstarters, all rewards were shipped on time by the end of December 2014. Backers who pledged for them have already received the new and improved character decks and other items; the above schedule applies only for general retail availability.

Also available as a result of the Kickstarter is the Yomi EX Powerup, an expansion for Yomi that comes with extra-powerful special moves and character cards for each of the 20 characters. These cards are not intended for serious competitive play but provide a “just for fun” alternative style. The EX Powerup expansion also includes a box designed to hold and display all 20 character decks for $39.99. It is currently available for purchase.

Finally, limited quantities exist of a special two-character package called Yomi Panda vs. G. Panda. Originally designed as a Kickstarter reward, it features a version of the Yomi panda character Lum rendered the same minimal art style found in Sirlin’s previous game Pandante, along with an all new “Gambling Panda” or “G. Panda” character.

Yomi can be purchased online from sirlingames.com (worldwide) and Amazon.com (US only) or from local game stores around the world. To find a game store that carries Yomi, see www.gamestorelocator.com. To try Yomi for free, visit fantasystrike.com to play online. It is also available through the App Store on both iPad and iPhone.

About Sirlin Games

Sirlin Games creates premium, designer games, specializing in asymmetric games—the kind where players control different characters, each with different abilities and personalities. Years of care go into these game designs to make sure they strike the right balance of depth and elegance and to make sure the characters are balanced against each other.

Sirlin on Game Design, Ep6: Character Bans

In this episode, we discuss the many problems with games where players ban each other's characters. We touch on League of Legends, DOTA2, and Heroes of the Storm, though this discussion is applicable to any form of in-game banning in any game.

An unusual guest talks about the worst clock in the world.

Hosts: David Sirlin & Matt "Aphotix" DeMasi