Tied romance progress now blocks winning a lady’s favour.

If several players are equally close to her, no one wins her favour yet. One player may be courting her, two may be charming her, three may be merely flirting — but a tie means unresolved competition.
Very inconvenient. Very social. Very Vienna.

#BoardGameDesign #IndieBoardGames #HistoricalBoardGames #History #CongressOfVienna #GameDev #WanderingPine

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀… 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀.

The Congress of Vienna was meant to be a diplomatic gathering: meetings, negotiations, and restoring order to Europe.
It became months of politics, receptions, rumours, salons — and, apparently, some very serious wardrobe planning.

#CongressOfVienna #Vienna1814 #HistoryMeme #HistoricalGames #BoardGameDesign

Small devlog from 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟰: 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘇 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 🎲
Loyalty 🤝 in the entertainment phase now has two paths: gain support, or spend your own effort to discredit someone else’s influence.

The goal is controlled interaction — conflict without permanently destroying anyone’s resources.
Because at a polite evening, a whisper can still be a political weapon.

#BoardGameDesign #GameDesign #TabletopGames #HistoricalGames #Vienna1814

A small confession: beyond designing a board game about the Congress of Vienna, I also have a day job. Mostly remote, but today I came into the new office. View from the 31st floor.

I am not focused on the game today — though it never really leaves my head. And from up here, that forest reminds me of the Wienerwald (the Vienna Woods).

#BoardGameDesign #DevDiary

One design issue I’m working on in 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟰: 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘇 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, my board game about the Congress of Vienna:
If an action is always worth taking, it stops being a meaningful choice.
So the entertainment 🍷💃 phase is changing — less repetitive token placement, more tension, more interaction 😳, and a stronger reason to quit early.

#BoardGameDesign #GameDesign #TabletopGames #HistoricalGames

I decided to freeze the action phase changes for iteration 3.5.

The structure is cleaner now: unified locations, fewer exceptions, and up to 3 actions per move.

I’m currently solo-testing it as five players, while shifting design work to the entertainment phase.
Goal: more tactical competition for characters, more player interaction, and better tempo.

#BoardGameDesign #GameDesign #TabletopGames #HistoricalGames #WIP

Small Congress scandal: at the opening ball of the Congress of Vienna, rumour had it that a quarter of the 10,000 silver teaspoons bearing the imperial crest quietly disappeared into the crowd.

I would treat this more as a perfect Congress anecdote than a precise inventory report — but honestly, that makes it even better.
Diplomacy, spectacle, gossip… and apparently a few unofficial souvenirs.

#History #CongressOfVienna #Vienna1814 #HistoricalGames #BoardGameDesign #WanderingPine

Everybody, please stop naming European countries. I beg you. The magic die list is finally complete 🎲
Number 6 is Romania — specifically Transylvania 🧛‍♂️

Tomorrow the die decides which country gets the next deep dive into a real person connected to the Congress of Vienna.

Final list:
1 — Andorra
2 — Finland
3 — Austria
4 — Serbia
5 — Greece
6 — Romania / Transylvania

#BoardGames #BoardGameDesign #History #CongressOfVienna #HistoricalGames

One thing I learned from more experienced board game designers that I really wish I knew sooner:

You can — and probably should — work on multiple games at the same time. Apparently most designers do. 😅
Sometimes the best way to fix a mechanic is to stop staring at it for two weeks and work on something completely different.

#BoardGames #BoardGameDesign #GameDev #TabletopGames #IndieDev

Most recent change in gossip mechanics: this time you don’t always control gossip directly.
It moves whenever you engage in public social actions. You don’t have to do it publicly, though — you can use the post office and send a letter, but only if you prepared one earlier.
And if you feel particularly cunning, you can still spread your own rumours. Because Vienna, obviously.

#BoardGameDesign #IndieBoardGames #TabletopGames #HistoricalGames #CongressOfVienna #GameDev #WanderingPine