Board Game Arena

Tumbleweed is a noncommercial abstract strategy game recently implemented on several websites: most notably on iggamecenter.com, where it has developped a small but commited community. Since its implementation in mid-November 2020 until today, 288 games have been played by 73 different people, amounting to some 265 hours of playtesting. This has revealed the game to be well-balanced, with 142 wins for player 1 and 134 wins for player 2. The missing 12 games are either quits or draws by agreement: generally, a game of Tumbleweed cannot naturally end in a draw.

Tumbleweed is a territorial game, where one wins by controlling more territory. In this regard, the game is similar to Go, and evokes similar considerations of life and death: indeed, many Tumbleweed players are Go players, including several dan-titled ones. But Tumbleweed shouldn't be considered just one more Go wannabe: it has its own unique architecture that results in a very different tactical landscape. In particular, Tumbleweed uses stackable pieces and relies on lines of sight for placement and capture. The rules have been explained very well in this 3-minute video. Famous designer Christian Freeling has called it "a very organic game based on a very original concept".

Tumbleweed has been getting more attention lately: more than a dozen players have joined just this week, and it was recently described in Yorktown This Week. But igGameCenter can only get it so far, and we firmly believe it deserves a wider audience: hence we'd love to see it implemented on BGA.

If you have any questions or would like to try the game out, feel free to join our Discord or our Facebook group!

I agree: Tumbleweed is my pick for best abstract game of 2020. I would love to see it here on BGA.

I've had tumbleweed on my radar for a little while - had the chance to try it last week and really liked it! I think it would be a nice addition here.

I did think that it would be something I'd be interested in adapting it to BGA, and think it should be within reach of my current skill-set. However I'm still finishing off my first game here (though not a million miles off now), and as such wouldn't be able to start development for a little while, so certainly don't want to stand in the way if anyone else is interested in getting on with it.

If no-one else takes this on though I might make a start once I have the time.

I agree, it's a great game!

Btw, is there a specific place to submit abstract games to developer? I don't want to make them overwork but maybe it would be interesting to see which one are most requested and could find their way on BGA in future.

mandrel wrote: ↑03 February 2021, 17:33 I've had tumbleweed on my radar for a little while - had the chance to try it last week and really liked it! I think it would be a nice addition here.

I did think that it would be something I'd be interested in adapting it to BGA, and think it should be within reach of my current skill-set. However I'm still finishing off my first game here (though not a million miles off now), and as such wouldn't be able to start development for a little while, so certainly don't want to stand in the way if anyone else is interested in getting on with it.

If no-one else takes this on though I might make a start once I have the time.

Sweet, added you to a friends list. Let's be in touch about this.

Shobu wrote: ↑03 February 2021, 22:32 I agree, it's a great game!

Btw, is there a specific place to submit abstract games to developer? I don't want to make them overwork but maybe it would be interesting to see which one are most requested and could find their way on BGA in future.

No such list that I'm aware of. I'm guessing the plebiscite "Best Combinatorial Game of the Year", ran by Markus Hagenauer @BGG, would be a decent approximation of what games are in demand. In 2018 the winner was Blooms, in 2019 it was Shobu, and in the 2020 contest Tumbleweed seems to be the frontrunner, though the qualifications are far from over.

yes that list is great, i already added some entries
I post it here if it may interest someone..
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/2818 ... ominations

This looks like a really interesting game. It's not often you see a new abstract game which is so elegant and unique.

I'd be interested in helping bring the game to BGA. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but if mandrel, you find you want a hand, I'd be happy to lend one (or two, I suppose!).

Either way, I'll be following keenly, I'd like to play it!

Archduke wrote: ↑04 February 2021, 11:50 I'd be interested in helping bring the game to BGA. I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but if mandrel, you find you want a hand, I'd be happy to lend one (or two, I suppose!).

Either way, I'll be following keenly, I'd like to play it!

Well I'm more than happy if you want to go ahead with development - I wasn't trying to stake a claim to it, more just expressing an interest in case no-one else was keen.

As I say I'm at the tail-end of another project, and am also not super experienced, so imagine I wouldn't be the quickest to bring this to fruition, so if you have the time and are keen I'm more than happy for you to press ahead with this, and if you do I'd be more than happy to to lend a hand when I can if wanted - honestly, no sweat . If not though I'd hope (perhaps optimistically) to make a start by the end of the month, in which case would keep posted.

Ok, so sadly Mandrel hasn't been responding to my messages since mid July, and has been offline for the last 24 days. It seems like they were actually able to make some decent headway before vanishing, but at this point I'm willing to find another developper.

Tumbleweed has seen some nice growth in the recent months. It has been played during the Mind Sports Olympiad, it was published as a pen-and-paer game by Studio Supernova, and it got a lot of fan contributions including many articles and videos. I'm convinced that it would make a fine addition to BGA.

I'm willing to pay, within reason. We can also provide a very comprehensive graphics package.

Bump! This game deserves to be on BGA for sure!