Early assets
In the early stage of the development, the game was minimalist :
With only 3 pyramids, 10 cards and a 3*3 board, this tactical game can be played with the same rules with 2, 3 or 4 players.
Move or rotate to 90° one of the pyramid to have the correct position and facing numbers to achieve your goal. Powers are here to make you think about strategy
First prototype
First concept map
Current concept map
Importance of point of view
Pyramid design test 1
Pyramid design test 2
Example of a power card
Example of a power card
Exemple of a goal card
After many playtests, I noticed that the game was not fun at all. I still wanted to take the gist of it : you use the same board, but not in the same way.
As a MagicTG fan, I decided to add creature cards to my game ! And this is how the real Pyramire was born : in this game, you play around the pyramids to gather resources and play creatures. These creatures can activate their abilities if the "geometric position" is respected. The goal for each player is to gain more points, and there is no combat system, it is more of an engine and combo type game.
At first, creatures could be purchased from a river that everyone had access to, but in the end this system was too slow and players spent too much time thinking of their next move and their opponents next move. So I decided to make decks for each of them. This way, every one had their hands to think of and only that : the game was more dynamic.
The pyramids also posed a problem : how to move them ? My original solution was to have an "enter the battlefield" (ETB) effect on the creatures, but again, players were thinking too much on how and when to play their creatures. I ended up removing all the ETB effects and giving one of the 3 ressources I had the power to move one pyramid. The game was faster because players had fewer options.
Nonetheless, it was still quite profound : players learn over time how to move pyramids to use geometric powers and to hinder other players' powers.
Cleopatra had an ETB effect at first, and used pyramid resources.
Pyramid resources then were used only to move pyramids, and ETB effects were deleted.
First board with a central river...
... super simplified as the development goes on.
The pyramid resource is limited.
The Logo I did for the game
Oh, is that a game of Pyramire ?
Let's zoom in.
The game is about to start again...
All the stuff you need to play !
How the game looks like in real life.
One of many tables I did for the game
Right now, in early 2024, the game is still in development and my team and I are self-publishing it. Self-publish was a choice, I want to keep control of certain decisions and discover the world of publishing that way. Nevertheless, a publisher friend is helping me on the project to give it every chance.
