Jon Perry

Jon Perry

@perryjon.bsky.social

Game designer on UFO 50, Hot Streak, Air Land & Sea, Spots, Scape Goat, Time Barons. Comic author on Let Go. Website at jonperry.com

2.3K followers564 following664 posts

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

First, it captures the feel & humor of the videogame but lets you play up to 4 players and away from any screens. Second, there's enough differences in rules & content that it can almost function like a sequel. If you've "exhausted" the videogame, then here's a bunch of new toys to play with it.

Decision Space@decisionspace.bsky.social

What’s the party house board game pitch for people who know and love the UFO50 game?

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Hard at work on development for Party House: the Deckbuilding game & getting very excited about all the fun new characters I'm adding! Our joint Kickstarter campaign with the Baba is You Board Game has less than 3 days left. Go check it out now & back 1 or both games!

kickstarter.comBaba Is You: The Board Game & Party House: Deckbuilding GameTwo sensational award-winning video games — Baba is You and Party House (UFO 50) — leap off the screen and onto your table!

Jon Perry reposted

phubans
@phubans.bsky.social

To celebrate one year of launching into Early Access on Steam, I've released a big update for MADHOUSE today! It's official spooky season and you can play this build live on Steam right now!

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

The game here is clearly in the first half, but for me it's the "weirdly intense" second half that really makes this one. There's no bluffing, no real strategy, and yet somehow it captures the feel of a high stakes Liars Dice game in a seedy backroom somewhere. Such a cool trick!

CMYK@cmyk.games

Our new game GRABBLE is out today. It's a 5-minute frenzy of grabbing mismatched game pieces out of a box, then having a weirdly intense showdown with them. www.cmyk.games/products/gra...

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

If I had to analyze what's going on designwise here, I think it's that the feeling of player elimination, even in a super short short game, is an extraordinarily potent flavor. Love Letter and Red 7 get some similar mileage out of this as well.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

I always feel like an outsider in these games difficulty discussions, because I don't finish most games & never have. Growing up playing NES, I never internalized that games are even meant to be finished. I get as far as you can, eventually I stop playing, maybe I come back, maybe I don't.

loren schmidt@lorenschmidt.bsky.social

the idea of games with a single difficulty level is so weird. it just doesn't make sense. how are devs supposed to magically target you, perfectly, sight unseen? people have all kinds of individual strengths and habits and weaknesses and accessibility needs? that's just not how it works.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

And that process of trying & giving up usually generates as much or more value to me as media that I do finish, and often encompasses a number of hours/$ that compares favorably to most other things I might spend money on. Some of my favorite game experiences involve games I never got that far into.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Forgot to mention that if you play Party House the physical game solo (how most people play the videogame) the shop actually is fairly static! Since the only turnover that happens is what you yourself create.

Jon Perry@perryjon.bsky.social

Why does the physical version of Party House have a dynamic shop instead of a static shop? I've gotten this question occasionally since the Kickstarter launched (I thought I'd get it more tbh). See my answer below.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

If you imagine a sliding scale with "tactics" on the left , and "strategy" on the right, it's often true in games that the fewer players you have the more you shift towards the right end of that spectrum & I think that's all well & good & generally true of Party House as well.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

It's not quite available for purchase yet, but here's a sneak peak at box art for the next Air Land & Sea (including both a classic and a Critters at War version).

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

As with the last expansion, this one will be fully standalone but also include ways that it can be mixed with other Air Land & Sea games.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

The way to have maximum variety in a deck is not to have every card be unique but to have exactly 2 copies of every card. That way every card can also combo with itself.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Why does the physical version of Party House have a dynamic shop instead of a static shop? I've gotten this question occasionally since the Kickstarter launched (I thought I'd get it more tbh). See my answer below.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Just to be clear, I'm all in favor of simplistic, low agency games of chance. The problem with this game is not its concept but its execution. It promises an experience it can not deliver on.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

I think almost everyone understands that "3+" means "3 or more" but how widely is it understood that "3-" means "3 or less"? That latter version seems more likely to confuse non-nerds, but that's just a guess.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Consensus seems to be the minus notation is weird. For context, here's an example from the extremely popular game Harmonies (h/t @mweepigeon.gay for reminding me). The case for it is consistency with the plus notation. But consistency is often overrated. I agree with many that 1-2 or 0-2 is better.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Anyway, thanks for all the responses! Definitely seems to be a very niche notation known to very few folks, so it does seem like a bad choice for wide accessibility.

Jon Perry reposted

Tom Francis
@pentadact.com

Replying to @pentadact.com

Continuing to quietly beat the drum of "Designing without testing is like painting with your eyes shut."

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Probably should have made this clear earlier -- but if you've been testing the alpha version of Time Barons on BGA, and you find any bugs or weird UI glitches, there's a bug report feature built right into BGA that you can use to report those. Thanks!

Jon Perry@perryjon.bsky.social

If you would like an invite to alpha test Time Barons on Board Game Arena, reply with your BGA username (or DM me if you prefer). 🕐

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

I cut the tip off of my finger last weekend... Fortunately, it was only my non-dominant ring, which my codesigner Christian Kudahl accurately characterized as a "D-Tier" finger.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

I was traveling this weekend so I've got a lot of catching up to do via the VODS but I can't wait to binge it all. Cherry Rush is the best!

__eirik@strotchy.bsky.social

Had a heck of a good time watching Cherry Rush over the weekend. 🍒 The UFO 50 community is the wackiest and best one out there! Feeling very humbled and grateful that people are still excited about playing our game(s), and feeling refueled to keep making new ones for you. 🛸

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Thanks for all the responses, everyone! I've gotten a lot of volunteers already, so I'm going to temporarily stop adding new testers, just so I can save some people for a later testing wave (perhaps after we get the expansion and multiplayer modes added).

Jon Perry@perryjon.bsky.social

If you would like an invite to alpha test Time Barons on Board Game Arena, reply with your BGA username (or DM me if you prefer). 🕐

Jon Perry reposted

Nick Suttner
@nsuttner.bsky.social

Help test one of the best board games of all time, that you likely haven't played

Jon Perry@perryjon.bsky.social

If you would like an invite to alpha test Time Barons on Board Game Arena, reply with your BGA username (or DM me if you prefer). 🕐

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

I now have a mailing list for all of my game design announcements. I intend to use it very sparingly. I'll continue to post on Bluesky, of course, but as we all know, these sorts of platforms come & go, and email is the most reliable way to stay in touch over the long term! eepurl.com/9YF-vryui9

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Oh, and naturally, if you have specific friends you want to play with, can provide their usernames, too! But assume I'm willing to play against you as well.

Jon Perry
@perryjon.bsky.social

Perhaps the biggest difference between video game and board game design is that a successful video game designer will work on a single project for 7 years, while a successful board game designer will have 7 games published in a single year.

Jon Perry reposted

Ojiro Fumoto
@moppin.bsky.social

POINPY IS BACK! 🎉 And now it's FREE! No ads, no paid unlocks, just the full game. There's a tip option if you feel like it 😉 Available NOW on iOS and Android!