Art & IT Management
Due to the rules changes, we had to change almost all of the Equipment Cards. The overall feel of them is similar, but now they are more balanced, and each of them matters. You may notice some of the cards have changed into different things, like the Drone.
In addition, we have introduced some new ideas and new equipment. You will now have even more tactical possibilities to overtake or disrupt your opponents. I promise you, this will be fun!
Just a quick entry to wrap up the week and start the weekend right! I brought the Sponsor Cards back to the workbench for a visual overhaul. While I was at it, I tweaked a few of their mechanics to align them with the new core rules.
Yesterday we ran a full playtest with all the latest changes and new rules—and it was a massive success across the board. The new initiative mechanics clicked perfectly. The drift rules hit the sweet spot: not too punishing, but still a genuine threat. Preemptive braking maneuvers were also spot on, and players used braking exactly as intended to avoid the consequences of reckless cornering. Even the minor quality-of-life improvements to the speeder dashboard played beautifully.
Next up? Test, test, and test some more. We need to break the system and see if there’s an unbeatable metagame strategy. If there is, we’ll crush it. Once the core loop is completely bulletproof, we’ll start rolling out some exciting new game modes!
This week’s ride was intense! Seriously, so many things have changed or updated that I can’t wait for playtests. Everything we’ve reimagined should make the game smooth and flexible, yet demanding and more tactical than ever before.
Initiative is now a major strategic decision, completely redefined. Speed management is effortless on the player side. Braking is a core gameplay mechanic, not just a static stat. Drifting is baked directly into the general rules, cutting out all the clutter. Ramming has been streamlined into a tactical choice with a side of high-stakes gambling. New visuals and our new track element are just the cherry on top.
Unfortunately, I’m offline next week, so testing is on hold. But if you’re down for an online TTS playtest when I’m back, drop me a line!
What you see is what’s left of the player’s dashboard. Yes, the analog speedometer is gone—but believe me, it was a bit of a mess. It looked fancy, but it took up too much space, caused production headaches, and made redesigning a nightmare. I won’t spoil the new rules just yet, but you can probably guess how it works now.
In addition to streamlining the gameplay loop, reducing these components means the game will be much easier to print and set up. Oh… and it will all fit in a smaller box!
Our new rules system has unlocked some amazing design flexibility, allowing us to overhaul the existing prebuilt tracks. We’ve gone through all 14 layouts to eliminate clunky bottlenecks and design flaws, replacing some of them with our new space type for a much more exciting ride.
We’ve spent the last few days in deep brainstorming sessions. We are stripping away the weight, simplifying or even removing outdated rules to make room for sleeker, more effective mechanics.
The best news? The core engine is solved. Acceleration, deceleration, cornering, and—of course—THE DRIFT. Drifting has always been the heart of Speedstream, but now it carries more weight, forcing you to plan ahead and take bigger risks. And guess what? You’ll actually need your brakes!
We’re still far from the finish line, but there’s much more to come.
This week was a blast! Speedstream Recharged is taking shape with streamlined mechanics that will revolutionize how the game is played. Expect intense action, simplified rules, and effortless tracking—we’ve stripped away the clutter to focus on the fun.
There’s plenty left to do, but the momentum is incredible!
Today’s focus was on probability charts. When designing or redesigning a game that balances randomness with player agency, the experience should remain fair and intuitive. We spent most of the day experimenting in Excel, and the results were incredible; it provided a significant breakthrough for our mechanics and helped simplify the game flow even further.
I’m really excited to see how this translates in playtests!
Today’s playtests focused on both 1-on-1 and 3-player sessions. Everything ran smoothly, which is a great sign, though I know that only continued, intensive testing will reveal the deeper balance issues. I’m staying vigilant.
In the 1-on-1 game, things ended early in round four: one player successfully escaped and delivered the aetherium load to the board edge. While this is a rare outcome, it’s worth monitoring. On one hand, given the maneuverability and the board size, it should be avoidable with good play—but since it actually happened, I need to investigate how “easy” this shortcut really is.
The 3-player battle, however, hit the sweet spot. It was intense, balancing combat, maneuvering, dice luck, and deck management perfectly. The aetherium worked exactly as intended; the prospect of a massive payoff at the board edge serves as a strong primary driver for the game, while remaining difficult enough to keep it a challenge rather than a guaranteed goal. I’m really happy with how this setup feels!
Speedstream was my first self-published title back in 2020. At the time, a full Kickstarter campaign was out of reach due to budget and timeline constraints, so I released it as a Print & Play.
Looking back, I’ve often thought about how to improve the player experience. While the game’s “mathematics” seemed fine during development, I now find them a bit cumbersome. There’s simply too much mental math and too many modifiers to track. At the time, my work on the Hardwar wargame definitely biased me toward stacking modifiers!
I’m going to revise Speedstream! I’m developing an “Arcade” version designed to eliminate numerical clutter in favor of a faster, more streamlined gameplay loop.