Design Diary Entry – 17th August 2025

(Dictated by the designer and transcribed by the AI while the designer was out picking raspberries!)

This weekend has been all about refining the card designs for Hack-a-Pad. I already had the basic card types sketched out, but I used my limited time to really nail down the actual card content: what kinds of applications, hack actions, and protective actions we’d have. The good news is that I’ve got a printable PDF ready to go, and I’m planning to start some prototype testing with my family early next week.

I did simplify the mechanics a bit. Originally, I wanted a hidden “backdoor” hack mechanic, but I realized I just don’t have enough cards in a 54-card design to make that work smoothly. So now it’s a little more straightforward: players will install and uninstall applications and then choose from different hacking or defensive actions during their turn.

Right now, I’ve got about 24 application cards covering roughly 17 different applications, and about 26 hack action cards, each with two possible actions to pick from. Some cards might give you more or fewer action points—starting at a base of four per turn, up to a max of seven. I also decided that applications can trigger effects when installed, at the start of each turn, or when uninstalled, which should add a little strategic depth.

Whats next?

I’m hoping to kick off testing next week. Since this is for a contest, I also want to make time to check out other contestants’ games and offer them feedback, even though it’s going to be a busy week at work. Plus, I need to update my Jewel eXchange rulebook for the Lautapelaamaan event in September. But we’ll see how it all goes!

And that’s where we are right now. Let’s see what the playtests reveal!

Design Diary – August 14th 2025

(Note: This entry was dictated by the designer and transcribed by ChatGPT while the designer was fixing a wall in an outbuilding.)

Today, I left my day job a bit earlier than usual—just about 45 minutes early—because I know I’ll be working late tomorrow and over the weekend. I’m a bit worried that I won’t have much time for game design during the next couple of days, since family time is my priority when I’m off work and this is just a hobby. But I still wanted to squeeze in a bit of progress today.

I’m not an artist so I use stock images

With that extra time, I managed to create the rest of the card drafts for the game. I used some stock images from Freepik with the right licenses so I could make the cards look at least decent, even though I’m no artist. I worked on the hacking cards, improved the app cards, and designed the card backs. I also did some first tests for the action point and privacy tracking cards and even put together a simple logo using those stock images, just so I have something for now.

Next, I’m going to dig up my old notes with card ideas and start adding them into a spreadsheet so I can create the first prototype cards.