Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Promotions/Press
[Chaosium] Horror on the Orient Express The Board Game - Design Diary #1: Where our journey begins
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Michael O'Brien" data-source="post: 9096149" data-attributes="member: 6807727"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/hotoe-design-diary.png" alt="Design Diary HotOE" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><em>Call of Cthulhu's <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/horror-on-the-orient-express-2-volume-set/" target="_blank">Horror on the Orient Express</a> has long been revered as one of the most iconic and acclaimed horror campaigns in tabletop roleplaying — so we're very excited that a <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/blogannouncing-horror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game/" target="_blank">new board game adaption is coming!</a> In this design journal series, co-designer </em><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/61569/adam-kwapinski" target="_blank">Adam Kwapiński</a><em> shares insights on the development of the new game, which is to be launched on Kickstarter in 2024, and released in early 2025.</em></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://www.chaosium.com/bloghorror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game-design-diary-1-where-our-journey-begins/" target="_blank">Call of Cthulhu: The Board Game Design Diary #1</a> – Where Our Journey Begins</li> </ul><p>In the first Design Journal I <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/bloghorror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game-design-diary-1-where-our-journey-begins/" target="_blank">described</a> how, one week before a scheduled meeting with Chaosium to talk about <em>Horror on the Orient Express</em> (HotOE) as a board game, I had a lot of interesting notes and ideas with great potential… but what I didn't have was a prototype. And then a chance to work with <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/94184/michal-golab-golebiowski" target="_blank">Michał Gołąb Gołębiowsk</a>i arose, and I jumped on a train to Warsaw to meet him.</p><p></p><p>I had no expectations before that meeting. I knew we had very little time and there was a big chance that Michał might simply have other plans or commitments. But sometimes the stars are truly right! And this is what happened here.</p><p></p><p>With some coffee we went straight into talking about the game itself. After 15 minutes I already knew Michał was the right person to do this project with. He immediately put forward his own thoughts and ideas for the game, and suggested some very simple solutions to problems I thought were going to be very tricky to solve. After chatting for several hours about what we wanted to create we came up with our vision for the game. We were ready to start creating the first prototype. But I knew this couldn’t be done properly in the few days we had left until the scheduled meeting with Chaosium. So I told Michał I would ask for one month more and if they agreed we’d have to work quickly.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately Chaosium did agree, and we’re grateful for their trust. And then we started working like hell: 14-16 hours a day creating a Tabletop Simulator (online) version of the prototype. Unlike the previous year, where I had struggled, this time the work went really fast. It was exhausting, but fun!</p><p></p><p>After a week Michał and I had our first prototype and were ready to give it a go. We felt we had something special – but before that first test you always feel like that as a designer (and quite often, after the first test the only thing you can do is to put your work into the trash, because the game doesn't meet your own expectations.)</p><p></p><p>I’m not sure which of us spoke first after that first play. I only remember that there was a long moment of silence because neither of us wanted to start first. It’s a weird thing co-designing a game: you might like the game after the first play but what does the other person think? “It’s quite good isn’t it?” I asked, trying to hide my rising excitement. “It’s better than good, it will be a blast”, said Michał, who, I learned, is always more prone to show his emotions. But he was right: after that first play we both knew that we had something special. Of course, still needing tons of work. A lot of things didn't work perfectly, but the prototype was as close to our vision as it could have been!</p><p></p><p>From that point everything immediately accelerated! We showed the prototype to our friend Kuba, who liked it a lot. He then set up a meeting with his Chaosium colleagues, well before the extra month’s deadline. We played a full game with the Chaosium team on Tabletop Simulator, and during that playtest we realized our game was indeed working! During this online meeting we could see our Chaosium friends forgetting this was about making a business decision – they became players having fun trying to stop the cultists on the Orient Express, fighting all the horrors of that doomed train. </p><p></p><p>And so it was a couple of days later we signed the contract and started working on our unpolished game to make it as great as possible!</p><h4 style="text-align: center">Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about the game:</h4> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://mailchi.mp/805d007763f2/horror-on-the-orient-express-board-game" target="_blank">Horror on the Orient Express Board Game</a></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://www.chaosium.com/horror-on-the-orient-express-2-volume-set/" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/screen-shot-2023-07-26-at-1.00.16-pm.png" alt="Horror on the Orient Express Vol 1" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Michael O'Brien, post: 9096149, member: 6807727"] [CENTER][IMG alt="Design Diary HotOE"]https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/hotoe-design-diary.png[/IMG][/CENTER] [I]Call of Cthulhu's [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/horror-on-the-orient-express-2-volume-set/']Horror on the Orient Express[/URL] has long been revered as one of the most iconic and acclaimed horror campaigns in tabletop roleplaying — so we're very excited that a [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/blogannouncing-horror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game/']new board game adaption is coming![/URL] In this design journal series, co-designer [/I][URL='https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/61569/adam-kwapinski']Adam Kwapiński[/URL][I] shares insights on the development of the new game, which is to be launched on Kickstarter in 2024, and released in early 2025.[/I] [LIST] [*][URL='https://www.chaosium.com/bloghorror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game-design-diary-1-where-our-journey-begins/']Call of Cthulhu: The Board Game Design Diary #1[/URL] – Where Our Journey Begins [/LIST] In the first Design Journal I [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/bloghorror-on-the-orient-express-the-board-game-design-diary-1-where-our-journey-begins/']described[/URL] how, one week before a scheduled meeting with Chaosium to talk about [I]Horror on the Orient Express[/I] (HotOE) as a board game, I had a lot of interesting notes and ideas with great potential… but what I didn't have was a prototype. And then a chance to work with [URL='https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/94184/michal-golab-golebiowski']Michał Gołąb Gołębiowsk[/URL]i arose, and I jumped on a train to Warsaw to meet him. I had no expectations before that meeting. I knew we had very little time and there was a big chance that Michał might simply have other plans or commitments. But sometimes the stars are truly right! And this is what happened here. With some coffee we went straight into talking about the game itself. After 15 minutes I already knew Michał was the right person to do this project with. He immediately put forward his own thoughts and ideas for the game, and suggested some very simple solutions to problems I thought were going to be very tricky to solve. After chatting for several hours about what we wanted to create we came up with our vision for the game. We were ready to start creating the first prototype. But I knew this couldn’t be done properly in the few days we had left until the scheduled meeting with Chaosium. So I told Michał I would ask for one month more and if they agreed we’d have to work quickly. Fortunately Chaosium did agree, and we’re grateful for their trust. And then we started working like hell: 14-16 hours a day creating a Tabletop Simulator (online) version of the prototype. Unlike the previous year, where I had struggled, this time the work went really fast. It was exhausting, but fun! After a week Michał and I had our first prototype and were ready to give it a go. We felt we had something special – but before that first test you always feel like that as a designer (and quite often, after the first test the only thing you can do is to put your work into the trash, because the game doesn't meet your own expectations.) I’m not sure which of us spoke first after that first play. I only remember that there was a long moment of silence because neither of us wanted to start first. It’s a weird thing co-designing a game: you might like the game after the first play but what does the other person think? “It’s quite good isn’t it?” I asked, trying to hide my rising excitement. “It’s better than good, it will be a blast”, said Michał, who, I learned, is always more prone to show his emotions. But he was right: after that first play we both knew that we had something special. Of course, still needing tons of work. A lot of things didn't work perfectly, but the prototype was as close to our vision as it could have been! From that point everything immediately accelerated! We showed the prototype to our friend Kuba, who liked it a lot. He then set up a meeting with his Chaosium colleagues, well before the extra month’s deadline. We played a full game with the Chaosium team on Tabletop Simulator, and during that playtest we realized our game was indeed working! During this online meeting we could see our Chaosium friends forgetting this was about making a business decision – they became players having fun trying to stop the cultists on the Orient Express, fighting all the horrors of that doomed train. And so it was a couple of days later we signed the contract and started working on our unpolished game to make it as great as possible! [HEADING=3][CENTER]Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about the game:[/CENTER][/HEADING] [CENTER][URL="https://mailchi.mp/805d007763f2/horror-on-the-orient-express-board-game"]Horror on the Orient Express Board Game[/URL] [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/horror-on-the-orient-express-2-volume-set/'][IMG alt="Horror on the Orient Express Vol 1"]https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/screen-shot-2023-07-26-at-1.00.16-pm.png[/IMG][/URL][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
Promotions/Press
[Chaosium] Horror on the Orient Express The Board Game - Design Diary #1: Where our journey begins
Top