Hello,

So I saw all of you posting here, figured I'd join too. I just joined the Christian game community and  look forward to the upcoming conference.  I saw the contest and thought it would be fun to try. I don't make computer games though. I've made a few table top games in the past, but nothing has been published at this point. I'm still learning so if you want to give feedback/ comments I'd be happy to listen.  I saw some of you post work logs so I'll try that too. Best of luck in the contest. :)

Day 1

6-26-23 rough game ideas

1 cards:

Focus verse: Proverbs 21:22

2 Follow a path style map of Isreal 

Focus verse: Psalms 27:1-2

Focus life of a Bible Chracter?

3) Focus verse Proverbs 21:22

Solo writing disposable game - Focus history Archmedes vs the Roman army

5) Focus verse Psalms 27:1-2

Card game with dice and count down support, player mat may be needed

Partial list made: players try to collect life goals for their person, but can place obstacles in others paths. Event cards will also be drawn that all players must interact with on that round. 

faith cards will increase and decrease a slide bar. Higher faith gives more chances for a positive outcome, lower faith gives higher chances for a negitive outcome on die rolls.

Not sure which one I want to develop further yet. I'll be thinking about it and praying on it.  

Lots of great ideas from what I can see! Also, it's cool to see someone try to make a tabletop card game for the jam, I'd love to see more people join and try to do boardgame/tabletop games for the Speedgame Classic.

Looking forward to seeing what you do!

Day 3

So while waiting for my nephews to get ready in the morning and over a movie :)  I got some planning done and started talking to my digital artist friend. 

I decided to go with a board game walk through of David's path to the throne. Maybe if time I'll double side it and do Jesus' life on the other side. 

Character cards may be David and some of his mighty men??? Still brainstorming

I selected 11 locations from David's life to showcase on the map. 

Bible.ca was super helpful!

I drew up a fast sketch to guide board building. 

So I started the cards. The game board is going to have 12 spaces between each feature. The cards will consist of 3 kinds currently - helpers like faith or weapons'/food, obstacles- things you pass on to another player to trip up their plans and fights- people to combat in order t stay where you are - failure requires you to move back to the last landmark you passed.  All cards will have a verse reference/ a summary/verse and an action/instruction. 

A few examples:

1 Samuel 16: 11a

“Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.”

Forgotten and out with the sheep - Presented player either  loses a turn or goes back 10 spaces. 

-----------

1 Samuel 16: 22

Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”

David plays the harp for Saul - use this to chase a “bad card” away from you

______________________

Goliath of Gath stands before you at 9 ft 9 inches. 1 Samuel 17: 4

Roll the die to fight him. If you roll a 1 you win. 2-6 you lose, and return to the last landmark on the board.  

______________________

1 Samuel 17: 8

(Goliath)  stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? 

Fear fills the recipient of this card, they must discard any helper cards in play during a battle, or they must roll 3 times in a row the winning number.

______________________

1 Samuel 17: 26

David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Faith in the battle is yours! Pick 2 numbers to add to the die as winners.

__________________

1 Samuel 17:28

Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”

David’s brother tries to stop David - you may play rock paper scissors with another player of your choice, the loser must go back 10 spaces.

__________

1 Samuel 17: 38 - 39a

Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. David strapped his sword on his clothing and he tried to move, for he had not tested it. 

Walking in other’s calling slows your progress- each space you move is now with two dots on the die for the next 2 turns.

Update

So I've been still working on the cards 1Samuel 16-25 I'm getting there! 

Yesterday I went the Anime Expo in LA, it was so fun! but exhausting. So no work done yesterday.  My aim is to finish the cards today!

Day - I lost track LOL 3 days until submission

I plan 65 cards

                 32 faith cards

                 15 Fight cards

                  3 Lose a turn

                  3 loss of faith cards

                  12 other - reject bad cards, slow a person's progress, steal progress, regain used cards etc

Wow I got some things done today! I checked in with my artist, she should get something for me to see tomorrow. All 65 cards are ready to put on the card art when it arrives. A rough copy of the rule book is complete (awaiting art to show examples, and needs a proof read on another day as I'm too close to it to catch all typos right now)

Here is the rough rule book text:

Journey to the Throne Room 

A Biblical Odyssey of a Boy Named David to King 

Rules

Set Up

All players start at Bethlehem.

Each player starts with 2 cards - if any of them require a dice roll to proceed to a landmark, please draw again and shuffle those cards back into the deck.  (see cards for more details)

The player that last took a trip goes first.

To Play

Roll the die then move the number of spaces shown on the board towards the end of the road Jerusalem.

The player draws a card and decides if they wish to play it now or hold onto it. (Some cards must be played at once see cards section) 

The player may play as many cards as they desire on their turn. (With one exception- You may only give one negative card to each opposing player per turn)

Discard any used cards and settle any rewards/ penalties your card may have given you.

Cards

All cards have instructions on the bottom of them to make it easy to recall in game play.

Play Now Cards 

These cards are fights, or objectives that David had to complete/ overcome to get to the throne. It will state, “ Roll the die to ____. If you roll a 1 you (positive outcome). 2-6 you lose, and return to the last landmark on the board.”

If you have a card that allows you to pick additional dice numbers you may use these here. You may stack these and use as many cards as you wish to help you.

Example:

 Play Whenever (on your turn) 

Faith/ Favor Cards

Cards that build up faith/ God’s favor can be stacked to aid in fights/ obstacle cards. 

They read something similar to this: “Faith in the battle is yours! Pick 2 numbers to add to the die as winners.“

These cards allow you to pick 1-3 additional numbers on the die to be victorious. (The higher your favor with God the better your odds of a good outcome) See the example 1-1 above

There are 3 special cards that allow you to pick 3 extra numbers if you share a testimony (story of something God did in your life) or something you are grateful to God for. (It can be as simple as “I’m glad God got me up this morning!” Whatever your comfort zone is. 

Once these cards are used, they must be discarded.

Loss of Faith Cards

These cards fill you with fear and can be played by an opposing player during another player's turn to make them either discard the used  faith/favor cards, or if none are available make it harder to achieve victory. (This hardship to to simulate how hard it is to be successful when we let fear rule us, there is a small chance we will perform ok, but it will be hard won). 

Lose a Turn Cards

If you pick up a “lose a turn card”, you may hold it and gift it to another player on a later turn of yours. 

Other Negative Cards

Like ”lose a turn cards”, you may hold onto these cards and present it on your turn to an opposing player when you choose. 

These cards will tell you what to do, examples are:

Note on Negative Card Use

You may not give any other negative card at the same time to the same player. However, if there are three players I may give each opposing player a single negative card on my turn.  

Protection cards

There are cards that can reject a negative card. These cards can be played anytime a card if given to you that will affect you negatively. 

This can apply to loss of faith, losing a turn etc. 

(There are a couple of cards that specify they ONLY protect you from a loss of turn).

This card must be discarded once used. 

To Win 

The first player to reach Jerusalem wins.

Works Used

All verses are copied from The World English Bible(, it)is in the Public Domain. That means that it is not copyrighted. However, "World English Bible" is a Trademark.

Art was completed by Janine Crosswhite

Timeline and dates were referenced from https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-maps-timeline-chronology-1samuel-21-31-saul-david-on-the-run-1012-1004bc.htm

Game board locations were referenced from:

https://www.bible.ca/maps/maps-master-archeological-bible-study-map-israel-promised-land-saul-hunts-david-1012-1004bc.jpg

Pros and cons

I'll start with pros:

So  today was exciting, I have a rough working copy of the game that I play tested.  The game works well, and I had enough cards to get through a 2 player game without shuffling.  

I flushed out the bios and the Character abilities

David

15 - 30 years old  born 1040 BC

 David was a shepherd boy, the youngest of eight boys in his home. At 15 years old David killed Goliath. He ran from King Saul for 15 years before taking the throne.

Special ability: Strengthen yourself in the Lord 1 Samuel 30: 6 - You can reroll once per turn. 

Jashobean 

He was chief of the “Three Mighty Warriors” under King David. He carried a spear and killed 800 men in one encounter. He went with the two other members of the Mighty Three and fought a garrison of Philistines to bring David a drink from the well. He had a division of 24,000 men. 2 Samuel 23:8, 14 -17,  1 Chronicles 27: 2

Special ability: 3 times in the game you can delegate another player to take the negative for you (ie lose a turn, move back, lose cards etc) 

Eleazar

He was a member of the “Three Mighty Warriors” under King David. He fought the Philistines so long after the troops retreated that his hand had clamped onto his sword. The rest of the army only returned to strip the dead. He went with the two other members of the Mighty Three and fought a garrison of Philistines to bring David a drink from the well.  2 Samuel 23: 9 - 10, 14 - 17

Special ability: You may take one less move to draw one extra card per turn

(ie if a 4 is rolled,  you may move 3 and take an extra card instead of the last move)

 Shamaya 

He was a member of the “Three Mighty Warriors” under King David. He stood and defended a field of lentils after the troops fled against the Philistines. He went with the two other members of the Mighty Three and fought a garrison of Philistines to bring David a drink from the well. 2 Samuel 23:11-12, 14-17

Special ability: If a player tries to move past your spot they must play rock paper scissors with you. If you win they stop behind you, if they win then they may pass. 

Prince Jonathan

Born 1067 BC age 42 -57. He is the  son of King Saul and the Prince of Israel. He is David’s best friend. Jonathan made a covenant of friendship three times with David. He also sounded out his father and found that he indeed was trying to kill David. Jpnathan then helped David escape. Jonathan died at age 57 on the battlefield.

Special ability: Once per turn you may look at the top 3 cards in the draw pile and rearrange them before returning them back to the top of the deck.  

 Benaiah

He was captain of David’s bodyguard.  His weapon was a club.He killed two Moabite heroes, an Egyptian giant and a lion. Benaiah also helped Solomon secure the throne after David died. 2 Samuel 23: 20- 23 

Special ability: When you reach a landmark, you can stop others from passing that landmark as long as you are on the landmark spot.

Cons:

I had to cut the card count down from 65 to 64 due to the format of the card pages.

scratch that- after a play through I need to add another 8 cards for fights as I was swimming in faith but few fights to use them in

My artist double checked that any clipart she used was copyright free and found out that its green lit for concept art but not final products! So we divided the icons up and it will be getting an over hall  before tomorrow. Below are the 3 pictures my artist asked if I could do of the 11, I split 1 in 2 so I could focus on my subjects and they will be added together later.

Abigail with the donkey for Carmel

David's Sling

Goliath for Ellah

David's field for sheep where he killed the lion and bear for Bethleham

Due to this I may need to  cut the character cards with special abilities 

So I had to catch my breath at the end hahaha. We revamped all the landmark art, got the files ready for print and play and I uploaded it like 5 different times as I edited files to polish them.  oh my goodness. This was a whirlwind, but it was fun!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was even able to get a rough copy of the character selection in at the last 10 min. No time to draw the characters, but I assigned them weapons for images off of canva clipart.  Good enough. ^^

For the Character cards this one cracks me up.  I didn't know what weapon to assign this one, but he defended a field of Lentils so I gave him a sword and some grain. LOL. ^_^ Wish I could have done better on these but at least I got them in there!

Thank you to my fellow competitors, it was fun reading what you all wrote and getting your feedback/ encouragement on mine.  I wish you all the best in this Jam.