A very important thing happened one week ago. International Tabletop day was a worldwide celebration of boardgames that is celebrated in the best possible way: by playing!

It was also the day I published Agent Decker online.

First I thought of simply sharing a dropbox link but ended up hosting it on itch.io because it’s quick to put together, gives me a nice landing page and allows me to track views, downloads, and where they come from. Behold!

First I spread the link on Twitter, Facebook and BGG, and got a moderate response. The next day I was out so I just let it spread naturally. See that massive spike on the next day? That’s Reddit.

Given the fact it’s a game for one player only, I wondered how many people would care to download it. It’s been downloaded 496 times so far!

It was fun to take part in a mini-interview, which you can read here. BGG user Morten Pedersen is interviewing all the designers in the competition who have released the components online, and the posts are well worth reading!

What’s next? Now I’m gathering feedback about the game, especially about the rulebook! This is the first time I’m really doing a blind playtest, which means I can’t be there to teach the players how to play and answer any questions they might have. I’ve made some quick sneaky changes to make it more clear, but it can be hard to reach the people who have already downloaded it.

There’s still a lot to do, but the motivation that came from seeing the player’s reactions and suggestions can’t be overstated.

Releasing games for free is a lot of fun!