Luke Wolyncewicz
@bumblepie-games.bsky.social
The final entry: Jigokudani!
In this dev diary I go over how I've used the lessons from the last five years to shape my latest (and IMO best) game 🐒🛁
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
In this dev diary I go over how I've used the lessons from the last five years to shape my latest (and IMO best) game 🐒🛁
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
Jigokudani
Created for the Button Shy Cozy Challenge
Based on the famous area in Japan, Jigokudani is a 15min solo game about helping snow monkeys relax in the hot springs before the sun sets. Through...
boardgamegeek.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:18 PM
The final entry: Jigokudani!
In this dev diary I go over how I've used the lessons from the last five years to shape my latest (and IMO best) game 🐒🛁
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
In this dev diary I go over how I've used the lessons from the last five years to shape my latest (and IMO best) game 🐒🛁
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 10: RPS Galaxy
Today's takeaway: There's no guaranteed formula for game design, no amount of theory replaces actually getting it to the table and playtesting!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: There's no guaranteed formula for game design, no amount of theory replaces actually getting it to the table and playtesting!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
RPS Galaxy
Created for the Button Shy 9 of 18 challenge
In a galaxy that has evolved beyond the need for war, disputes are resolved in a more elegant form: rock, paper, scissors! Use your allies’ powe...
boardgamegeek.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Day 10: RPS Galaxy
Today's takeaway: There's no guaranteed formula for game design, no amount of theory replaces actually getting it to the table and playtesting!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: There's no guaranteed formula for game design, no amount of theory replaces actually getting it to the table and playtesting!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 9: Island Delivery
Today's takeaway: Hook-first design ensures the game you end up with is much easier to communicate to potential publishers! It also minimises time spent on ideas that don't have the "special sauce" needed to stand out in a crowded market.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Hook-first design ensures the game you end up with is much easier to communicate to potential publishers! It also minimises time spent on ideas that don't have the "special sauce" needed to stand out in a crowded market.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
Island Delivery
Created just for fun/to pitch
The race is on! Whale Postal Service and Heron Deliveries are locked in a battle to become the most trusted mail service in the Seven Islands. To come out...
boardgamegeek.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Day 9: Island Delivery
Today's takeaway: Hook-first design ensures the game you end up with is much easier to communicate to potential publishers! It also minimises time spent on ideas that don't have the "special sauce" needed to stand out in a crowded market.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Hook-first design ensures the game you end up with is much easier to communicate to potential publishers! It also minimises time spent on ideas that don't have the "special sauce" needed to stand out in a crowded market.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 8: Lest We Forget
Today's takeaway: It's easy to fall into the trap of creating something because it's interesting to design rather than interesting to play, especially if you've come up with a really clever mechanic
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: It's easy to fall into the trap of creating something because it's interesting to design rather than interesting to play, especially if you've come up with a really clever mechanic
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
Lest We Forget
Created for the Button Shy Holiday Challenge
Lest We Forget is a deduction puzzle in which you piece together the tale of five unlikely friends who fought at Gallipoli. Using clues from...
boardgamegeek.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Day 8: Lest We Forget
Today's takeaway: It's easy to fall into the trap of creating something because it's interesting to design rather than interesting to play, especially if you've come up with a really clever mechanic
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: It's easy to fall into the trap of creating something because it's interesting to design rather than interesting to play, especially if you've come up with a really clever mechanic
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 7: The Viscount's Curse
Today's takeaway: If players consistently misinterpret a rule or play incorrectly in the same way, change the rules of your game to match their instincts. It's really hard to overcome genre conventions and pre-learned behaviours!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: If players consistently misinterpret a rule or play incorrectly in the same way, change the rules of your game to match their instincts. It's really hard to overcome genre conventions and pre-learned behaviours!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
The Viscount's Curse
Created for the BGG 54-card contest
The Viscount has cast a terrible curse upon the town of Grimmsport! Hunted by enemies, you'll need your wits about you to survive and dispel th...
boardgamegeek.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Day 7: The Viscount's Curse
Today's takeaway: If players consistently misinterpret a rule or play incorrectly in the same way, change the rules of your game to match their instincts. It's really hard to overcome genre conventions and pre-learned behaviours!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: If players consistently misinterpret a rule or play incorrectly in the same way, change the rules of your game to match their instincts. It's really hard to overcome genre conventions and pre-learned behaviours!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 6: Carbon Dating
Today's takeaway: Being intentional about the experience you want to create is crucial in guiding the development process. It gives you the freedom to "kill your darlings", pivot, and rework without getting too invested in specific mechanics.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Being intentional about the experience you want to create is crucial in guiding the development process. It gives you the freedom to "kill your darlings", pivot, and rework without getting too invested in specific mechanics.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
Carbon Dating
Created for the Button Shy 18-card Dinosaurs (but no fighting or Jurassic Park) challenge
Ever since that whole asteroid business last week, the dating pool has been really strained for ...
boardgamegeek.com
December 26, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Day 6: Carbon Dating
Today's takeaway: Being intentional about the experience you want to create is crucial in guiding the development process. It gives you the freedom to "kill your darlings", pivot, and rework without getting too invested in specific mechanics.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Being intentional about the experience you want to create is crucial in guiding the development process. It gives you the freedom to "kill your darlings", pivot, and rework without getting too invested in specific mechanics.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
We're at the midway point in the dev diary series, and it's a good place to pause for a day. This point in my design journey marks a significant shift in my thinking: from focusing purely on the craft of game design to viewing games as products - you'll see this play out over the rest of the series!
December 25, 2025 at 10:01 PM
We're at the midway point in the dev diary series, and it's a good place to pause for a day. This point in my design journey marks a significant shift in my thinking: from focusing purely on the craft of game design to viewing games as products - you'll see this play out over the rest of the series!
Day 5: Flip-5X
Today's takeaway: Managing complexity is super important! Could anything be streamlined? Does it match the form-factor of the game? Judging complexity can be hard when you've already internalized the systems, so playtest with new players often!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Managing complexity is super important! Could anything be streamlined? Does it match the form-factor of the game? Judging complexity can be hard when you've already internalized the systems, so playtest with new players often!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
Flip-5X
Created for the Button Shy Flip'n'Write Challenge
Flip 5-X is an epic 5X flip'n'write space game. Explore the galaxy, expand your empire and overcome a great challenge to determine if your civ...
boardgamegeek.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Day 5: Flip-5X
Today's takeaway: Managing complexity is super important! Could anything be streamlined? Does it match the form-factor of the game? Judging complexity can be hard when you've already internalized the systems, so playtest with new players often!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Managing complexity is super important! Could anything be streamlined? Does it match the form-factor of the game? Judging complexity can be hard when you've already internalized the systems, so playtest with new players often!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 4: The King's Feast
Today's takeaway: Every single point of friction or confusion is a chance for a player or publisher to give up on playing the game. The effort to perform unguided playtesting and streamline the first play pays off a million times over!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Every single point of friction or confusion is a chance for a player or publisher to give up on playing the game. The effort to perform unguided playtesting and streamline the first play pays off a million times over!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
The King's Feast
Created for the Button Shy Numbers on Cards Challenge
The King's Feast is a solo spatial/memory puzzle. An assassin has snuck into the King's Feast and caused a panic! You need to man...
boardgamegeek.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Day 4: The King's Feast
Today's takeaway: Every single point of friction or confusion is a chance for a player or publisher to give up on playing the game. The effort to perform unguided playtesting and streamline the first play pays off a million times over!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Every single point of friction or confusion is a chance for a player or publisher to give up on playing the game. The effort to perform unguided playtesting and streamline the first play pays off a million times over!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Even better, apply it to your own games: go through the same exercise and try to answer "What is key to the experience? What can I cut out? What can I condense?"
December 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Even better, apply it to your own games: go through the same exercise and try to answer "What is key to the experience? What can I cut out? What can I condense?"
Day 3: XCOM 1-Card (a nano adaptation of XCOM: The Board Game)
Today's takeaway: Nano adaptations of larger games are a great exercise to help build your toolbox: it forces you to identify the essence of the experience and distil it down to just the crucial parts.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Nano adaptations of larger games are a great exercise to help build your toolbox: it forces you to identify the essence of the experience and distil it down to just the crucial parts.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
XCOM 1-Card
Created just for fun!
XCOM 1-Card is a solo nano-adaptation of XCOM: The Board Game. It focuses on capturing the same intense strategic decision making and push-your-luck gameplay from th...
boardgamegeek.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Day 3: XCOM 1-Card (a nano adaptation of XCOM: The Board Game)
Today's takeaway: Nano adaptations of larger games are a great exercise to help build your toolbox: it forces you to identify the essence of the experience and distil it down to just the crucial parts.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Nano adaptations of larger games are a great exercise to help build your toolbox: it forces you to identify the essence of the experience and distil it down to just the crucial parts.
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 2: Grandma Theseus
Today's takeaway: Humour and emergent storytelling help a game stick in people's minds long after it's over, so lean into it whenever you can!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Humour and emergent storytelling help a game stick in people's minds long after it's over, so lean into it whenever you can!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
2 - Grandma Theseus
Created for the Button Shy 9-card "Ship of Theseus" challenge
Grandma Theseus is a quick, simple asymmetric bluffing game for two players. One player is the Werewolf's curse, tryi...
boardgamegeek.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Day 2: Grandma Theseus
Today's takeaway: Humour and emergent storytelling help a game stick in people's minds long after it's over, so lean into it whenever you can!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: Humour and emergent storytelling help a game stick in people's minds long after it's over, so lean into it whenever you can!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Day 1: Summoning Circle Scramble
Today's takeaway: The first game you design will probably suck and that's ok! Focus on making something small, with specific constraints in mind and a hard deadline to force you to finish something and start learning!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: The first game you design will probably suck and that's ok! Focus on making something small, with specific constraints in mind and a hard deadline to force you to finish something and start learning!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Dev Diary: The Road to Jigokudani | BGG
1 - Summoning Circle Scramble
Created for the Button Shy 18-Card worker placement challenge
Summoning Circle Scramble is a two player abstract puzzley duel. Play as two wizard apprentices, racing to ...
boardgamegeek.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Day 1: Summoning Circle Scramble
Today's takeaway: The first game you design will probably suck and that's ok! Focus on making something small, with specific constraints in mind and a hard deadline to force you to finish something and start learning!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...
Today's takeaway: The first game you design will probably suck and that's ok! Focus on making something small, with specific constraints in mind and a hard deadline to force you to finish something and start learning!
boardgamegeek.com/thread/36308...