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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️

@citysquarestudios.bsky.social

740 followers 440 following 1.1K posts

duo creating new original tabletop games every month from New Zealand 🇳🇿 Our games use stuff you already own! 31+ original games on Patreon part of the 52 Pickup zine series https://www.patreon.com/CitySquareStudios

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 1d

This month’s 52 Pickup release is Frontline Grind: a grimdark TTRPG of conscripts, villages, and a single weapon passed through the fallen.

Check out the designer notes for the game below.

#ttrpg #indiegames
patreon.com/posts/designer-notes-143080905

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 18h

Really like this angle from our most recent market stall

#boardgames #ttrpg #zines

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 23h

This is why I play more tabletop games with standard components now, compact, low consumption, anyone can do it

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 23h

went and saw this yesterday

Reposted by City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️

🦖RexBrews🦖 - The Curator @rexbrews.world · 1d

#SelfPromoSaturday!

Get in here and show off your stuff!

✅ New creations
✅ Work-In-Progress creations
✅ Future releases

Whether you're working on something new, polishing something old, or perfecting something already beloved, get in here and brag!

#D&D #TTRPG

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 1d

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 2d

Give me your tabletop game design videos and podcasts below, I've got some waiting time this weekend

🎲✂️ #ttrpgdesign

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Reposted by City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️

Sgt. Shivers @sgt-shivers.bsky.social · 4d

I'm opening commissions! If you're interested, send me a DM and you can tell me your cool idea!

Promotional image for my commissions. It costs $100 for a full scene commission in my usual Kill Sector style. There's a doodle of me emerging from a well on the right.

Promotional image showing off some of my pixel art, 3D and character designs. I am standing in a burning tower being struck by lightning on the left.

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 3d

Reading Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga (1938) at the moment, and I'm enjoying the first quarter! I remember it being quite dry when I've tried to read it before but it's clicking more now.

Interesting if you are into the philosophy and culture around play and games in societies

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 4d

Edge cases, they prove the 80 20 rule

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 5d

We've released a free example session for our newest TTRPG, Frontline Grind (which is also free for a limited time)!

The sound of the bell carries across the black plain pitted with a thousand thousand artillery-shell craters, your Task beckons.

#ttrpg
patreon.com/posts/example-session-142464021

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

Looks like it could! How good is the lore?

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

All I'm thinking about

20 sided dice with pips
Source https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-pipped-d20-v2-345896

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

Wasn't familiar with this game, will have to read up

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

I don't think 40k is what I'm looking for, I think Netrunner and Gloomhaven are closer.

I think Arkham and the games that adapt already existing media are out of scope, I want a board game first hidden deep lore game

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

yeah I'm talking about more board games that are board games in their own right, and also not relying on other media

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

You know how a YouTuber can make a 4+ hour video about the lore of a video game? Something like that in a board game

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

A novella or comic on the side is great. I had one sketched out for one of our earlier games, but we can't draw ourselves so it was put on the back burner due to resource

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

Is there a good example of a board game with the "deep lore" you see more in video games

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

Say what you will but few things are as satisfying as rolling fistfuls of dice

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

This is all super interesting though, these are just the thoughts off the top of my head, but I should have a think about it some more

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

At least personally most I know play all to varying degrees.

I think the biggest split is we do chess type games and chess variants, and the people interested in those seem much less interested in other kinds of games.

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

By "logical or strategic Tabletop Games" do you mean heavier weight, euro, or abstract style games?

I'm not sure I see the same relationship, I see more of the split with the TTRPG crowd (mostly), rather than the CCG and mini gamers.

CCG and mini gamers already interested in heavier mechanisms

City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 6d

There's a lot to unpack here!
It's super interesting what's included in creative fantasy vs tabletop games, it feels like there should be cross over like with narrative heavy games like Forgotten Waters, or miniatures heavy ones like Descent.

Reposted by City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️

Zosimos @zo51m05.bsky.social · 8d

I really appreciate how broad this rpg industry/hobby/community of ours is.

So much cool stuff going on.

So many awesome things being made.

So many niches being explored.

Perhaps most excitingly, so many niches yet to be explored.

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City Square Studios 🎲🃏♟️ @citysquarestudios.bsky.social · 8d

What has been your experience at markets vs online? Have you seen different preferences depending on the space?

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