Tag: board game

“How to Play” Video: The RallyBird Baseball Board Game

I hope you enjoy this and it makes sense. The rules book requires only 2 pages to teach the basic rules. There’s also a page that explains the components, a page that shows an example of play plus variant rules, and a few more pages of help for beginners plus a F.A.Q section. So while I try to cover all the bases (get it?), I want to repeat that the basic rules require only 2 illustrated pages.

Guess what, this baseball board game is available for purchase! Today, May 8, 2018, you may purchase it here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/rallybird-baseball

Play ball!

What’s in the Box? Unboxing The RallyBird Baseball Board Game

Yes, what I hope is the final prototype arrived. We’re moving along quickly now! In this video I open up a new RallyBird Baseball Board Game and explain its components. Along the way I discuss my purpose with the game and how the pieces fit in, what they do, and where they go on the board. I also discuss the rules booklet and what it offers. Stay tuned–I will soon make a “How To Play” Video. This game will be available for purchase as soon as I can complete proofreading the latest prototype.

As I try to emphasize in the video, I designed the game for what I searched for and could not find in other baseball board games: playability, short game time, and meaningful decisions for both offense and defense. All too many of the easier baseball boardgames seem to imply that defense has no decisions (and that offense’s decision is nothing more than a die roll).

Technical note: I tried to improve the sound on this video compared to my earlier ones. There’s a slight fluttering sound… I’m hoping it will go away as YouTube processes it. This is probably magical thinking. I have a lot to do before opening this game for purchase, and finessing video sound technology is not first on my list. Thanks for your patience.

 

Video 2: Baseball Has Dynamic Topography

 

This video describes my theory of the baseball diamond’s dynamic topography. The 4 bases have different altitudes of value in the landscape of imagination where baseball resides. I hope my analysis shares a way of looking at baseball’s structure as a game that increases its appreciation. It’s a way to understand and enjoy each base as bringing its own set of attributes in an offensive-defensive struggle.

***Please overlook my migrating use of “topography” (the shape of the landscape) and “topology” (usually about abstract or geometry shapes, but also can mean the “topographic study of a given place, especially the history of a region as indicated by its topography. ” [definition.org]). I think either word can work for this discussion but I shouldn’t mix them up as I did accidentally here. *** 

This theory impacts my baseball boardgame, RallyBird Baseball, in small ways but for the most part I think is intrinsic to the basic rules of baseball. My next theory video will be on baseball’s dramatic structure. Play Ball!

Update: The manufacturer has put what I hope is the final prototype in the mail to me.

Project Update: RallyBird Baseball Board Game Publication Date

I’m back from my baseball research trip at Dodger Stadium. What’s left for me to do before the RallyBird Baseball Board Game is ready for sale?

  1. I’m waiting for the updated prototype to arrive in maybe two weeks (early May). This is the 4th and, I intend, final prototype.
  2. I’ll check the rules booklet and cards for typos, make sure the box illustration margins are symmetrical. It should be ready to go, with no more than minor adjustments. Or so I hope.
  3. I’ll use this updated prototype for commercial photos that help consumers understand what it is and the fun it offers.
  4. I’ll use it for a How to Play video. I’ve been promising this and think it’s a good idea. The game is simple, but probably easiest to understand through this method. Now, making a video entails a lot of things. A place to shoot, image and sound quality, light, framing, memory space in the camera, editing. I don’t want it to become a complicated task. If people unconsciously expect professional quality, well I hope I don’t completely disappoint them. I haven’t done this before and need to get it right. I was hoping to use my phone, but my tests suggest this won’t work. So I may need to buy a video camera. While I could offer the game for sale before I finish this video, I do mention this video as complete in the rules booklet. So I’m hoping to complete this first and do it quickly.
  5. Then the game is ready for sale! I want this to happen before the end of May, 2018.