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Chris McMillion

@pickitupgames

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Tabletop publisher with ska-punk spunk
🥷Hidden Village is a 1v1 tactical card game
Capture your foe's village with clever positioning & Shinobi powers

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Bloom into Battle! 🌸

The Hidden Village Kickstarter Pre-Launch page is live! The plan is to launch Spring 2027.

Click that big "Notify Me On Launch" button to make sure you don't miss out! Link in bio, or go to

www.kickstarter.com/projects/pickitupgames/hidden-village

Thanks for all the support up so far 🤘

#HiddenVillage #kickstarterboardgame #indieboardgamedesigner #2playergames #tabletopkickstarter by @pickitupgames

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3 months ago

The Hidden Village Kickstarter Pre-Launch page is live! The plan is to launch Spring 2027.

Click that big "Notify Me On Launch" button to make sure you don't miss out! Link in bio, or go to

www.kickstarter.com/projects/pickitupgames/hidden-village

Thanks for all the support up so far 🤘

#HiddenVillage #kickstarterboardgame #indieboardgamedesigner #2playergames #tabletopkickstarter by @pickitupgames

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3 months ago

Blaze into Battle! 🔥

The Hidden Village Kickstarter Pre-Launch page is live! The plan is to launch Spring 2027.

Click that big "Notify Me On Launch" button to make sure you don't miss out! Link in bio, or go to

www.kickstarter.com/projects/pickitupgames/hidden-village

Thanks for all the support up so far 🤘

#HiddenVillage #kickstarterboardgame #indieboardgamedesigner #2playergames #tabletopkickstarter by @pickitupgames

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3 months ago

I learned a lot of my game design expertise from the board game community. Specifically, from two podcasts that I think all designers should listen to:

The Board Game Design Lab by Game Barrett

Think Like A Game Designer by Justin Gary

The former gets into specific topics each episode as Gabe interviews a designer with some expertise on the subject.

The latter dives deep into the lives of various types of creative people (usually designers) and their approach on not just game design but sometimes life, work, and everything in between.

If you haven't already given these a shot, you're in for a treat!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame #gamedesignpodcast by @pickitupgames

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2 days ago

This week’s #boardgameprotohype is Drafting. I designed Hidden Village specifically to avoid deckbuilding elements, but there is still a draft at the beginning of the game.

Each player takes turns drafting a clan until they have 2, and then they combine their clans to form their deck. Whoever drafts first gets their preferred clan, but the second player gets to draft a clan that may counter their opponent.

If you’re interested in trying Hidden Village for yourself, join the Discord server (link in bio), and we’ll set up a playtest!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame by @pickitupgames

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4 days ago

Curious how I designed the font for Hidden Village? In this reel I quickly break down my process, from the initial marker sketches to uploading to Calligraphr.

Want to learn more about how I designed Hidden Village? Subscribe to the newsletter (link in bio) and get the monthly updates.

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame #tabletopgames by @pickitupgames

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7 days ago

Meet the Jōnin of the Kageno clan: Kageno Yozora. He manipulates the shadows around the battlefield to smother his clan in darkness. This both protects them and allows them to take their foes by surprise!

Used to living in the darkness, he tries to stay out of the spotlight in battle. He's a reluctant leader that tends to do what's best for his clan even at the expense of his own comfort.

If you want to try the Kageno clan, join the Hidden Village Discord (link in bio), and we'll set up a playtest online!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame #tabletopgames by @pickitupgames

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9 days ago

This week’s #boardgameprotohype is Miniature, so I thought I'd ask you guys about the mini-comic I made for the Kasai clan.

With all the other work I'm trying to get done for Hidden Village, I decided to push this mini-comic to the backburner. The idea was to do one for each clan to highlight each character, but with 6 clans it was becoming a challenge to fit it into my schedule. But if you really, really want it, I do have each mini comic’s script drafted (just not drawn). So, is this something worth pursuing? Or should I keep it on hold?

If you’re interested in reading the Kasai mini-comic for yourself, join the Hidden Village newsletter (link in bio)!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame by @pickitupgames

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10 days ago

Check out the new Hidden Village overview video on Youtube. Or just watch it shrunk down here on the ‘Gram, it’s all good.

If you’re interested in trying Hidden Village for yourself, join the Discord server (link in bio), and we’ll set up a playtest!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame #tabletopgames by @pickitupgames

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14 days ago

This week’s #boardgameprotohype is Elimination, so let’s talk win conditions. The first is the most straightforward: If you capture your opponent’s Hidden Village, you win the game. And in advance play, there’s an additional condition: If you defeat (or eliminate, to try and tie this back to the theme) both of your opponent’s Jōnin, you win the game.

If you’re interested in trying Hidden Village for yourself, join the Discord server (link in bio), and we’ll set up a playtest!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame by @pickitupgames

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18 days ago

My last post shared some great quotes highlighting Hidden Village’s better attributes. The quotes I’m sharing today are a little different. They specifically helped me make a change that improved the game.

I’m careful when I gather feedback from playtesters. I try to just listen, to avoid getting defensive, and to really root out the core of what they’re saying. It’s a fun challenge for me to sift through the noise and various suggestions, and just figure out what they’re trying to feel when playing Hidden Village. Some of the playtesters don’t play dueling games, others play a ton. I have to take both with a grain of salt. I don’t want to cater too much to someone outside of my core audience, and I also don’t want to make a game that feels like other games that already exist.

Ultimately, I consider if the feeling they want to have is the same one I’m trying to capture. And if their feedback is that they’re not feeling it, then I need to make some changes.

If you’re interested in trying Hidden Village for yourself, join the Discord server (link in bio), and we’ll set up a playtest!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame #tabletopgames by @pickitupgames

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19 days ago

At Protospiel Rochester last weekend, I got the chance to fully playtest Hidden Village rather than run some demos. The feedback was all super valuable and actually led to some great improvements. As usual, the art and design got their fair share of compliments, but I was really interested in gameplay feedback. Here’s a quick round-up of some great quotes.

Subscribe to the Hidden Village newsletter to get updates on the progress of Hidden Village leading up to the Kickstarter next Spring!

#HiddenVillage #twoplayergames #indieboardgamedesigner #kickstarterboardgame #tabletopgames by @pickitupgames

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23 days ago