Author | Lightnews

Artur Carvalho

@arturnottheking.bsky.social

430 followers 210 following 150 posts

Board game designer, Ph.D in modeling & simulation. Currently interested in exploring the frontier between historical/conflict simulation games and modern board games. From 🇧🇷, living in 🇫🇷.

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Nov 17

I'm happy to share that a week ago I was part of the San Diego Historical Games Convention @sdhistcon.bsky.social for the first time. My main objective was to show my game, Palmares, to players, publishers, and designers to help determine which direction I should pursue next. #sdhist2024

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · 3d

My honor! See you soon!

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · 3d

I am very proud to say I helped playtesting this game. I absolutely love how intricate the cat-and-mouse game can get, and yet the game always preserves a breezy, playful feeling. And it ended up gorgeous! I absolutely recommend it. Great job @volko.bsky.social and @fortcircle.bsky.social !

Volko @volko.bsky.social · 4d

Kevin @fortcircle.bsky.social yesterday brought by the latest beautiful advance copy of Hunt for Blackbeard for me to bring to SDHistCon in November. A couple pics at the link - I'll take some more to show in a bit! www.kickstarter.com/projects/for...

Update 15: Production · Hunt for Blackbeard

Hello folks! I just received the first copy from the production line (I had it airmailed to me) and it looks fantastic. I dropped it off with Volko and he will be taking it to SD Hist Con next week,...

www.kickstarter.com

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · 26d

Just filled in mine! If you have the time to help with Melissa's research, please do!

Melissa Rogerson @melissainau.bsky.social · 26d

Do you teach boardgames? We have just launched a survey asking about your experience! It takes about ten minutes to complete - please share!
Survey link: go.unimelb.edu.au/45qp

Image text reads:
Do you teach board games?
We invite you to complete a short survey for academic research into people’s experiences of teaching boardgames, at home and elsewhere.
The survey takes about ten minutes to complete.

To find out more, please use the QR code,
visit go.unimelb.edu.au/45qp
or email hybrid-games@unimelb.edu.au

(University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Approval 33778)

There is also a decorative image of game pawns and dice, with a magnifying glass on top, as well as a QR code which points to the given link.

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Reposted by Artur Carvalho

Mx. Tiffany Leigh @tiffanyleigh.bsky.social · Aug 20

Update: GMT's CROSS BRONX EXPRESSWAY game is shipping September 2025 👀

The designer (Non-Breaking Space) shared a photo of their game in front of the abandoned building (no longer there) & South Bronx street corner depicted on the box which was visited by Presidents Carter and Reagan 40+ years ago

Photo of GMT's Cross Bronx Expressway game taken by the designer, Non-Breaking Space (NB). The photo is of Charlotte Street in the South Bronx in 2025. The photo on the game's box is of this same street corner view, only at the time 40+ years ago there was an abandoned building there, which was a symbol of the blight and neglect the Bronx suffered as a result of the social and economic policies (negative) that New York City inflicted on the borough of the Bronx, and much of which still affects this borough today. This corner was visited by both Presidents Carter and Reagan, and Reagan remarked he hadn't seen such devastation since the Blitz.

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Aug 11

On my wishlist for the next commute! Thanks!!

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jul 31

Hope y'all have a great event!

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jul 10

Happy to help! I'm fascinated by component-oriented game design, how we can use physical pieces to improve the overall experience. Especially innovations with commonly used pieces. In this case it also looks great!

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 28

Follow-up if I may: Arcs or Cyclades?

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 28

Kemet or Cry Havoc?

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 28

Oh god. Hope you are able to get some well deserved rest and sort this through once you're safely at the final destination. Yes do keep everything and reach out to them, I don't know about legislation in the US but you should be able to get compensation. Sending good energy your way.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

If the intended audience is a core family with potentially kids, I don't think that decision is that critical, the world could be more sandboxy (the system would be more flexible as to allow some groups to play more interactively, some less so).

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

I too struggle with nuance in board game design. It seems like people expect responsiveness from the medium, i.e. I must immediately see the impacts of actions I just took. That said I think your game could definitely work with subtle interaction. You'll have to define how overt it can be though.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

Thanks for sharing your process! Always cool to see how other designers work.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

I like this! Thinking ahead, there could be a naturalist role that seeks to preserve the ecosystem as is (no buildings, more animals). Could sinergize with the gardener.
If you are comfortable sharing, I'd love to take a look at the ruleset someday! Very intriguing design.

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

Right, I guess then my question is, you as the designer *want* players to disrupt each other intentionally, or do you want it to happen more incidentally? Perhaps some roles are more deliberate here, others are more incidental? Feel free to treat this as a rhetorical question if you want.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

I also think the Hunter could be able to lay traps to try and predict (or influence) animals' movement, if that's a thing.

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

Yeah, for remembering stuff in general it may help if you make it actionable, either by will (someone at the table *wants* the effect to happen b/c it benefits them, so they are rewarded for not forgetting) or organically (cards seeded into a deck that when drawn prompt movement of all animals?)

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

Nice! And may I ask, is this more of a "isolated" ecosystem of a game (we all live in the same space and affect each other but don't really seek to interact necessarily), or something more interactive (either cooperative ou actively trying to bother/disrupt others).

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

But of course this assumes that any player's pieces wouldn't ever roam too far away from where they are seated which may be a completely different game.
I also hate memory components, so there with you.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

Interesting, did not think about the player height issue! As for players looking left/right, I thought the game board might be tilted so that you only ever have one neighbour looking at you can see (this could help policing cheating). Player A sees A&B, B sees B&C, C sees C&D, D sees D&A.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

As for the Hunter, you imply further below that it is possible to "follow" prey. It would be interesting if animals were somewhat intelligent in the game as to run away from the Hunter as they approach, this would create more impact on the board for others as the Hunter moves about.

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

What if the seeker is "fleeting" ? Meaning, pilgrims enter and exit the borders of the map at various places, as they continue along their journey. So the player playing them will have multiple different routes to fulfill, different starts and ends, perhaps different pieces at the same time.

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Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 18

Interesting! This may go against your idea of a more approachable game, but I've always wanted a game where intentionally we *cannot* physically see everything. Fog-of-war style. The main problem I run into is cheating (intentional or not). So I thought you were exploring this space with this game.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 16

Thanks a lot for letting us know! I am sure it will be a great success. Zurmat is an excellent game. Do let us know if you need playtesters.

Artur Carvalho @arturnottheking.bsky.social · Jun 16

Interesting! It's a sequel, expansion, or 2nd edition w/ more stuff? Thanks!