Archive for Stefano Castelli
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Stefano Castelli
Italy
Rome
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Ok, after the very general introduction of Gnominia which I wrote last week i can show you the very first picture of the game.
Or... err... of the prototype of the game.
Being played in Turin (Italy) at IdeaG, a game design meeting held (among the others) by Paolo Mori (Vasco da Gama, UR, Pocket Battles among his games) and Walter Obert (author of Ugg-Tect and Tokyo Train).
Here is the picture:
Ok, I told you it was the prototype and I've got to admit that the picture does not show that much about the game. Yet, for your convenience, I'm providing an in-depth analysis of this photo (which, by the way, was provided by Obert himself - thanks a lot, Walter!).
So, have a look at the picture below (click on it to enlarge it):
Now, step by step, follow the numbering.
1: that's me! Not in my best shape, I have to say. I was missing an entire night of sleep and drove for about 9 hours, so I was a LITTLE bit tired. Yet, here I am, explaining the game to authors and publishers. That's real madness passion!
2: and this is Gnominia being played! A deck of cards, player mats, a rondel and a bunch of colored 6-sided dice. Oh, and five pawns too. And, last, a mysterious 4-sided die. The game has a dynamic setup, allowing players to experience different strategies and situations game by game. Game setup is quite fast too: one minute and you are ready to play.
3: that's the IdeaG portfolio. My portfolio, actually. Just to say that IdeaG is a very nice game design meeting which happens every year in Turin. Lots of italian publishers and designers participate and some international guests attend too. This year the special guest has been Stefan Stadler, author of The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End.
4: coming back to Gnominia... the player mat is the most important part of the game and it is the one which, in pair with the dice, "generates" the pool-building mechanism. Can't provide more information on how this works... yet it works quite lovely and allows for very different strategies during the game. Provided you grab the right cards...
5: the rondel is another important part of the game, as it allows players to trigger special effects in their turn. Currently the game includes a two-sided rondel, one to be used for games with lots of player interaction and the other one designed for less competitive games (and for solitaire sessions - more about this in a next update).
6: err... I shared the table with another designer from Rome, so the other components you see on the other half of the board are NOT part of Gnominia. He designer a very nice fantasy party game and... who knows, maybe you'll hear about it too in the next months.
Well... that's all I can say about the game using this single picture. I hope that next week I can provide more information and... who knows? Maybe a little glimpse of an artwork mockup for the game.
Thanks a lot for reading. 
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Stefano Castelli
Italy
Rome
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Well, i guess that before starting to talk about my new game, Gnominia, I have to introduce myself. You may find some information about me on my game designer page here on BGG. Basically, I'm an italian game designer living in Rome, and I've published so far two games: the print & play horror abstract Nocturno and the family card game Turandot.
I have several other designs ready, some of the currently in the hands of publishers. And this is why I'm here talking about my new game, Gnominia. I'm doing this because maybe you'll be able to find it on store shelves in a not-so-distant future. Which would be absolutely lovely. 
Long story short, Gnominia is "some kind of Dominion played with dice". No, not some kind of Quarriors clone: it uses no custom dice (HEY! Come back here!) and works just with regular 6-sided dice. The good old dice. It contains fifteen of them, in several colors, as you will se as soon as I'll be "able" to publish some pictures of the game.
It was born as a very quick 2-4 players game, then I noticed that it worked very nice in solitaire and thus I developed slightly different rules for single player. The result seems quite good, so Gnominia will ship as a 1-4 players game.
As I stated before, Gnominia shares some similarities with deck-building games such as:
- dynamic setup
- "pool building" mechanics
- short playing time (you can actually play a 4 players game in about 20 minutes, with the proper setup)
Currently, as you may guess by the title, it is based on a fantasy setting filled with gnomes. Who knows, maybe the finalized version of the game will have a totally different setting, like sci-fi, or horror, or soap opera (don't bet on the last one...).
I will use this blog to share with you the various stages of the development of Gnominia, during the weeks required to transform it from its current state of unpublished prototype to the magical moment in which it will come out from the factory, shining and finalized.
Right now I can't provide information such as release date, pricing, name of the publisher or ruleset: i'll unveil them step by step every time I'll be able to do so (I.E. when I'm sure the publisher won't shoot at me...).
Of course, feel free to ask questions about the game, such as "Why are you telling us this uninteresting things only you care about?" or "How in the hell did you choose such an horrible title for the game?" (hint: neither the title is finalized! ). I'll be here all day!
Regards!
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