Cubix - Looking for a developer

[Six_faces]

Hello !

I’m the author of Cubix, an abstract 2-player strategy game, and I’m looking for a developer interested in adapting it for BGA.

Each player had 6 cubes on a 6×6 board. Each cube has 6 different faces, and cubes move by rolling on one or two squares in any direction.

Goal: Bring one of your cubes to the opposite row with its red square face upward.
Capture rule: When two cubes show the same face on top, the opponent’s cube is captured.

Cubix is quick to learn but offers deep tactical and spatial challenges. Over the past two years, I’ve tested it with many players who appreciated its mechanism and strategic depth. I believe it has strong potential for online play.

You can try a web demo (in French) here:
https://vbreut.github.io/cubix/

BoardGameGeek page:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/454962/cubix

Discord server:
https://discord.com/invite/RX7EEY7d2K

I've already submitted the licence. If you’re interested or have any questions, feel free to reach out!
I’d be happy to provide the rules in English or French and discuss how we could bring Cubix to life on BGA.

Vincent Breut

[RicardoRix]

Hi Vincent.

I tried your website. A very nice little game.

Can I ask if the game is available to buy anywhere? This might be a limitation for getting published on BGA.

The hard part of the game development would be the 3D dice moving. Given you have something like that on your website game, would you perhaps be interested in doing/trying coding the UI part here on BGA ?

[Six_faces]

Hi RicardoRix,

Thanks for trying my game !

The wooden version is a prototype, and I'm looking for a publisher. So you can't buy it yet.
Before submitting it here I asked to publishers@boardgamearena.com if it was possible for a prototype to make it to BGA. They told me that it would be available to players on invitation only, not public. I'm ok with it

I could try to make the UI part, but I'm not a professional developer. I have the following questions :

- How much can I reuse from what I've done ?
- What should I know beside JavaScript and html to adapt it to BGA framework ?
- If I only do the UI part, and someone else is doing the rest, should I use BGA studio ?

Sorry for the silly questions...

I surely can provide the code of my website to a developer, if he is interested. But my code is probably awful...

[RicardoRix]

- How much can I reuse from what I've done ?

Short answer: Most probably, with some adaption. My guess without seeing the code would be that, even if you can't use the code directly, it will still be very valuable information. BGA does mainly use javascript for the UI. Unless you're using some kind of special library... There are some previous games that use 3D, lIke Santorini.

- What should I know beside JavaScript and html to adapt it to BGA framework ?

PHP is used for the server side. On the whole it's a steep learning curve. But your game is an ideal small game for a first-time project. As I said before, I think the UI provides the biggest challenge with the 3D nature.

- If I only do the UI part, and someone else is doing the rest, should I use BGA studio ?

In general, you cannot get away from using BGA Studio. Maybe you could protoype some of the javascript. But on the whole, BGA Studio works really well, there is not much reason not to use it. The final game will have to be on it. It would be really helpful for you and your potential collaborator.

The wooden version is a prototype, and I'm looking for a publisher. So you can't buy it yet.
Before submitting it here I asked to publishers@boardgamearena.com if it was possible for a prototype to make it to BGA. They told me that it would be available to players on invitation only, not public. I'm ok with it

I don't really want to be the voice of a nah-sayer, but you may have a very difficult time trying to find someone wanting to do this work if it's not published at the end. I have worked on a previous abstract like game - Finity, it is fully published on BGA, but no-body plays that game.
I was hinting at perhaps doing the backend while you do the UI. But I would only do this if the game was going to end up being published on BGA.
I hope I'm not deterring you too much, if so please ignore my advice. I also think it's very possible to get the game published at a place similar to a small publisher like this: https://nestorgames.com/ That way you can have the best of both worlds: a real-life game and a public game on BGA.

[Six_faces]

I completely understand your point. I was thinking about developing it here to help me find a publisher but it does not seem to be a good idea. I heard that Bruno Cathala did it for insert/Donuts but it is probably the only exception. Thanks for all your advice, I will probably get back to you when the time comes

[ric1950]

I am interested. I have just about finished my third BGA game and would be interested in helping/collaborating with you.
I enjoy the challenge and don't really care where the game ends up.
DM me if you are interested - I will DM you as well.