Well, I did it. I finished the prototype of what I’m now calling Ape City Escape, that board game I’ve been yammering on about the past week, and playtested it with people who are not technically related to me. We found the game has issues, but it’s actually pretty fun — fun enough, I decided late last night, to release as my June entry for One Game a Month.
I’ve uploaded PDFs of the rules and most of the components (you’ll have to supply your own pawns and gold tokens) so you can print and play the game. I should point out that the game, while definitely playable, is still a work in progress. If it were a video game, I’d call it an early beta. An early OPEN beta at that, since I’m throwing out there for anyone to play and give feedback on.
The game plays about the same as I described it last week, but with one major addition: The ape can now use “secret passages” to get around the board. That makes a huge difference. Now, no matter where you are on the board, there’s a chance a man-eating ape can sneak up behind you and bash your skull.
I’ll say this for One Game a Month: it’s making me release stuff. Under different circumstances, I’d probably sit on this game for months, tinkering with it every few weeks, until it was perfect (unlikely) or I got sick of it (more likely). But with a monthly deadline spurring me on, I figure it’s better to release early and often, even if the game isn’t quite there yet.
