Just a quick update that By Iron and Steam, formerly my unnamed train themed card game, is available for playtesting if you're up for it.  Simply email me and I'll be more than happy to give you a set of PDF files that feature the cards and rules.  Cards are about 8 cards to a sheet of letter paper and the rules are about 6 pages long.  The only thing you have to supply in return is the promise that you'll assemble it, give it a go and provide feedback.  

Artwork is nonexistant, however, there may be some fancy stuff from the guy that made Open Origins Rails (not my version of the art - the really good stuff.  For those who don't know, Sampo Sikio.  He's done a lot of great artwork and I'm hoping beyond hope he can make this game extra pretty.  I'm guessing he probably can.

Once artwork is decided and playtesting is flushed out, it will be added to BGG and given a spot on the side of this website where it will exist and live on its own.

Playtest #5 went along pretty well; enough in fact that the game may be available for private party print and play(test) within the next week or so.  The threshold for that determination is simple - don't create something that would waste someone's time and money to put together.

The going title I have in my mind at the moment is "By Iron And Steam."  It sounds manly and has enough veiled references to the name of a railroad game without using the word "rail" in the title - which is a first for me.  We'll see if that sticks.

Anyhow, rules and cards will be available for print and play fairly soon after a few more sessions this weekend. The only informal request I have is that you send me feedback on what works, doesn't work, etc.  Assuming the playtests go well, the next order of business will be coming up with some solitaire rules.

The other plans I have involve getting some rudimentary art together an initial release.  I am also trying to come up with a more pleasant way to layout the cards.  As it is, there's 17 sheets of letter paper to print out, cut and God forbid corner-cut.  Anyhow, there will be three releases, two of them immediate - a plain Winsome-style B&W and a color deck.  The remaining deck will be done by someone else, I hope.  I haven't asked him about it yet.

The only other major sticking point, still, in my eyes, is the sheer number of cards that are required to play the game.  That's a major downpoint to me but if I remove parts of the deck, I kill the route building, some of the effects and the major currency used in the game.  It would also probably force the use of counters, etc, and I am trying to keep this a card-only game at the moment.  So, more thought will go into it.  I have decided in the short term to release this version of the game as a "full" version and a "travel" version that will attempt to shoehorn the mechanics into 54 cards.  It's more of a design goal at the moment.

One other piece of news.  Once the fancy version of the game is available, I intend to release it on The Game Crafter as a purchasable game.  My target for all my games is to profit $10 at cost per unit which not only is pretty reasonable but also a round number.  The allure of designing a card game is somewhat based on what I could do through a third party publisher.  Producing Bindle Rails was a ton of fun but it was a huge undertaking and my time (and space) is increasingly limited.  The thought of off-shoring this for other people to try out and grab on their own is a big selling point for me and BIaS would be a great project to try it out on.

Thanks for following and drop me an email if you're interested in the rules and cards beforehand!

Edit:  One card was changed.  "Invention" allows a player to go through the discard deck.  Seemed like another fun effect to throw in.