Never Ending Realm

Sometimes I post my Substack posts I'm happiest with here. (My Substack actually kind of makes money now!) Find it at the source here ... bottomfeeder.substack.com/ I'm doing all this in part to shill our new RPG, which I'm sure breaks plenty of our own rules. Oh well. store.steampowered.com/app/3…

Four Ways To Make Your Turn-Based Game More Interesting (Or Ruin It) The dose makes the poison. (An Xwitter blog 🧵) Some times I envy designers who make action games. Suppose you want to make your action game harder. Sure, you can take the numbers-go-up route. More health, more damage. But you can also make the target smaller. Or faster. Or move in an unpredictable way. Or take cover. So many levers to pull. But I write turn-based RPGs. In these games, you and your opponent control blobs of numbers. I throw my numbers at your numbers, and you throw your numbers back at me. Eventually one of us runs out of numbers and loses. Since it’s all math with no reflexes, there are fewer levers I can pull to make fights harder or more suspenseful. But there are a few reliable ways to make your turn-based game more interesting. I use all of these in varying amounts in every game, and I have made pretty much every possible mistake several times. The key is to do these things the right amount. The dose makes the poison. Some helps a lot, but lean too much into one, and your game will be worse. Where is the balance? Well, that’s where the art is, isn’t it?

I had a really fun livestream of our new indie RPG Avernum 4: Greed and glory on release day. A lot of great questions. The second part is here ... Avernum 4: Greed and Glory Release Livestream, 10-22-25, Part 2 youtu.be/j_fVjHRhxV8?si=nVUT… via @YouTube

Avernum 4: Greed and Glory is out! The 31 year old cult classic Avernum series is back as a unique indie RPG set in a vast underworld nation. Fight a monster plague. Explore the depths. Be loyal or treacherous. Get rich and famous! Huge & full of fun. store.steampowered.com/app/3…