In the past, when I discovered a game, my journey with it began the moment I printed it, read the rulebook, or watched a playthrough video. I imagine the same is true for many of you.

But over the years, as I got to know more game designers, I started asking them about everything that happened behind the scenes. Like where did the first idea come from? How many prototypes were made? What changed, failed, survived, and eventually found its way into the finished game?

Knowing these stories helps me see games from a fresh perspective. That’s exactly why I publish these BTS issues, so you guys can be a part of them too. So much happens while creating a game, yet most of it remains unseen or unheard of.

And then there are times when life gives you the rare chance to watch that entire journey unfold, like ALL of it. To see a game begin as rough prototypes and scattered ideas, then slowly break out of its cocoon and emerge as something beautiful.

That is exactly what I got to experience with Alec Hoptroff’s Echoes of Tomorrow, the first-ever winner of the PnP Bundle contest.

I first came across the game through the contest seven months ago and even voted for it based on the concept alone. Since then, I’ve watched Alec’s idea take shape, with gifted designers like Chris Backe and Florian Fiedler supporting its development, while Vittoria Pompolani pulled off yet another stunner with the artwork.

After following the game from so early on, I had to reach out to Alec and hear his side of the story.

So here’s Alec, sharing how Echoes of Tomorrow came to life:

Echoes of Tomorrow started out with the aim to make a solo game involving some sort of time loop. My initial ideas involved a dungeon crawler where your played cards remain on the board after failing the run, and then on your next run, you use those cards to build more combos to support you in getting further through the dungeon. Eventually this concept of permanent boosts remaining from previous turns morphed into the 'memory' element of the game, inspired by my job as a psychology teacher. As for the Loop Area element of the game, this was inspired by the simple yet elegant gameplay loop of Flip Toons, which is a particular favorite in the staffroom at work (shout out to the lunchtime board gaming crew).

Additionally, the size of the game reduced to 18 cards, partially to make the game design tighter, and partially to create an intentional limitation to test my creativity. As a big fan of Button Shy Games, I'm fascinated by how designers can create replayable and engaging games despite this heavy restriction. My favorites of these games involve multi-use cards, so I like to incorporate this within my own micro games. In Echoes of Tomorrow, each card has 3 distinct sections - creature requirement, Loop effect, and Memory effect - each of which change the way the player interacts with the cards depending on where the card appears on the board.

Then I saw the advert for the PnP Bundle contest from Chris Backe & Florian Fiedler, which gave me the impetus to finalise & refine the many ideas that I had for the game to the point where I was happy to submit it to the contest. Much to my surprise, I reached the top 5, and then even more to my surprise, I won!

I really didn't know what to expect at this point, having never published a game before. However, Chris & Florian were incredibly helpful from start to finish - going above and beyond in not only helping me throughout this process, but also in giving me the space to ultimately still make decisions for myself.

It first started with weekly playtest and development sessions with Chris, who provided much insight and support in how I could refine the game into something that does even more with less. His main contributions involved workshopping different ways to make the game 2-player as well as solo, de-cluttering the cards by replacing the text with icons, and the introduction of keywords (such as 'block' & 'move'), inspired by the simplicity of the cards in Slay the Spire.

Then it was Florian's turn. Florian joined in on some of the playtesting towards the end of development, and then worked his magic, alongside artist Vittoria Pompolani, to create the look of the cards. This turned my blocky, fit-for-purpose Dextrous designs into a vibrant, eye-catching design that stands out on the table and really captures the nightmarish theme. However, once again, this was not a case of Florian just doing his own thing - he involved me in every step of his designs, and allowed me to have the final say.

I can truly say that this has been one of those bucket list experiences to get my own game into other people's hands, and I cannot thank Chris, Florian, and Vittoria enough for what they have done to bring Echoes of Tomorrow to life. I would strongly advise any aspiring designers to sign up to any future PnP Bundle contests that Chris & Florian offer!

I may sound like a broken record, but I’ve been designing games for a decent while now. Eight years, to be exact. And truth be told, all I ever wanted was to create games and write about them, so folks could see them through a different lens.

But watching Chris and Florian support indie designers through the PnP Bundle initiative has broadened my horizons. It’s a pleasure seeing two of my favorite game designers build a platform that brings new designers into the arena and helps their games reach more folks.

So, if you’re an indie designer waiting to take that leap of faith, well... this is only the first PnP Bundle.

Who knows? Maybe your game will be featured in the next one ;)

PnP Bundle #1 launches in just 18 hours, so follow the campaign and be there when it goes live!

- Tas.

Robert Kirkman partnered with Skybound CEO David Alpert “DA” to build The Walking Dead and Invincible comics into franchises. The Walking Dead generated $10B in revenue and market cap gains. Invincible’s one of the longest-running streaming animated series.

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