Initially, you’ll mostly use free or stock art in this stage, and although different implementations both prettier physical prototypes along with digital prototypes (I prefer Tabletop Simulator) will allow you to playtest more broadly with other gamers and designers.
This stage of prototype can cover a long period and involves most of the playtesting polishing your game system and mechanisms. This is when you’ll balance your game, make sure the complexity is right, trim the fat, and learn how to onboard players to a smooth experience.
Stage 3: Custom Components
The third stage of prototyping involves sourcing custom components for your game. For many designers this is the final stage before a crowdfunding event and includes assembling review copies. That said, we skipped this stage of prototyping on our most recent project (Sigil), and I expect us to skip this stage altogether going forward.
Since we know we are making manufacture prototypes for reviewers (see Stage 4), it’s more economical for us to source our custom components directly from our manufacturer.
There are a lot of great options for sourcing custom components including print on demand solutions if your goal is to have a modest print run and are willing to accept the high per unit cost.
Some that I’ve used in the past and have had a good experience with are:
Keep in mind that there are some limitations to sourcing custom components – for instance, I found it extremely difficult to source custom wooden meeples in the US.
Stage 4: Manufacturer Prototype
More indie designers should be taking advantage of this option for prototyping. Once your print files are done, you can send them to your manufacturer (see How to Find a Manufacturer) and commission them to print some copies offline (they won’t shut down a full inline printing press).
You can have copies of your game made to your actual specifications – with all of your custom components, and all of the finishes you can expect in your final production run.
I was learning Star Wars The Clone Wars Board Game | A Pandemic System, and while setting up, I ended up reading the back side of the villain card just to understand the mechanics of the game. Is the back side supposed to be hidden information or just another phase of the game?
In the current update of Dead Rails, the developers introduced a liquid system that lets players mix different liquids to create Potions. You can then drink these Potions to gain various buffs and perks that will help you on your journey. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to get all Potions in Dead Rails, where to find the ingredients, and what each potion does. Whether you’re looking for healing, fire damage, or full-on necromancy, this is your starting point.
All Potion Effects and Recipes in Dead Rails
Few, but very strong.
The table below lists all the potion recipes in Dead Rails, along with the ingredients you’ll need to make them. Crafting is simple: combine the right substances on the ground, then use an empty Glass Bottle to scoop up the mixture. Be quick, as they evaporate fast once exposed to the air.
Potion
Potion Recipes
Effect
Unicorn Blood + Blood
Angel Tears can heal all injuries almost immediately.
Unicorn Blood + Kerosene
Once ignited, it rapidly engulfs the entire area in flames. Best used by the Arsonist class.
Unicorn Blood + Water
It very quickly kills all enemies around you with green flames, while allied players remain unaffected.
Unicorn Blood + Milk
Corpses soaked in Primordial Soup will come back to life and fight on behalf of the player.
As we can see here, all Potions in Dead Rails require you to have Unicorn Blood. Once you have Unicorn Blood, you will have to combine it with different liquids to produce different Potions. We will explain in detail how to acquire all of these materials and liquids in the section below.
How to Make Potions in Dead Rails
There are four potions you can find in Dead Rails: Angel Tears, Devil Tears, Holy Water, and Primordial Soup. To make them, you’ll need to mix different ingredients and store the result in Glass Bottles, which you can collect while exploring.
Some key ingredients you’ll need are Water, Milk, Blood, Kerosene, Zombie Blood, and Unicorn Blood. Most of these can be found while scavenging, though Zombie Blood and Unicorn Blood must be collected from the bodies of the undead or unicorns. Here is a list of all ingredients:
Ingredient
How to Get
Water
Obtained in a bottle during Rainy Weather.
Milk
You can get it by searching houses in the Urban Town Areas or by choosing the Milkman Class at the start.
Blood
You can collect it by killing non-zombie NPCs and drawing their blood.
Kerosene
You can extract Kerosene by carefully draining it from a Molotov.
Zombie Blood
Obtained by killing any zombie and draining its blood.
Unicorn Blood
You can get it by either striking a liquid puddle with lightning or by collecting blood from a dead unicorn.
To collect liquids in Dead Rails during draining or other specific events, you’ll need a Glass Bottle. This new item lets you store liquids in the game. You can find Glass Bottles all over the map, either empty or already filled with something. Just pick them up and toss them in your sack, then use them whenever you need. Once you’ve got empty bottles, just head over to any liquid puddles like Unicorn Blood, Normal Blood, or Rain, and press the LMB to fill them up. When you want to pour the liquid out, simply press F to spill it onto the ground as puddles.
Dead Rails Potion Tier List
Below is a Tier List of all Potions in Dead Rails, ranked by usefulness and split into the best for solo runs and the best for group gameplay. It goes well with our DR class tier list.
Best with a Group
Best when Alone
Angel Tears are, sadly, just a big Heal. They do not offer much more than that, and you can already heal with bandages. Holy Water is good, but its effect is just a worse Devil Tears, so it is near the bottom. The Primordial Soup is amazing for dealing with hordes of mutated and non-regular zombies, alone or with a group. And lastly, the Devil Tears are amazing for destroying large groups of zombies fast, and the Potion itself is not hard to craft.
And that is all for my Dead Rails Potions Guide. Check out our Dead Rails Codes for goodies that can help you get potions faster.Lastly, check out our challenge guide for DR.
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I think an approach that is more useful to most designers is to get pen to paper as soon as possible and start playing, and tweaking, and iterating.
Either way, eventually I get my components out in front of me and I get to ask myself the most important question: is it fun?
And, if you haven’t realized it by the fact that I am writing an entire series on publishing this game, Froggy Bazaar is fun, it is a lot of fun.
It also works, right out of the bat the gameplay was smooth. There is still a lot of work to do, but I’m already confident that we have something on our hands that people like (although we’ll eventually need blind playtesting to really solidify that assumption).
Quick Overview
Within the next few weeks I’ll have a Tabletop Simulator version of Froggy Bazaar up for general playtesting, but for now I think it’s worth giving a brief overview of what this game is mechanically.
Froggy Bazaar is a tableau building and movement game, where you play a frog hopping from lily pad to lily pad collecting bugs (dice) to add to your rucksack. End of game scoring is based on secret and public bugjectives based on the pattern of dice (numbers and color) in your rucksack.
On a player’s turn they have three optional actions
Hop to an adjacent lily pad – collect the die on the tile to add to the top row of your tableau. Then replace the die with a random die from the bag.
BIG hop – re-roll all dice on the top row of your tableau and re-distribute them (get one bonus froggy buck).
Go to market – trade dice the top row of your tableau with the communal market.
The game ends at the end of the round when a player fills their rucksack (12 slots). Whoever has the most points wins.
Early Playtesting
In early playtesting with my closest circle, I’ve answered two of the most important questions about Froggy Bazaar – 1. is it fun? and 2. does it work?
I am in the process of making a basic Tabletop Simulator version so that I can test the game with a broader group of people – like our Pine Island community, and a broader group of friends and colleagues.
May 23, 2025: We looked for WWE 2K25 codes and verified our list.
What are the new WWE 2K25 locker codes? It’s all heating up in the ring in WWE 2K25 as players prepare for another fiery year of MyFaction. Assemble your roster of legendary wrestlers throughout the ages as you travel the globe, searching for worthy competitors.
These WWE 2K25 codes provide you with helpful rewards for MyFaction, ensuring you have everything needed to create an all-star lineup of wrestlers. MyFaction can be quite the slog if you’re relying entirely on in-game rewards, so it’s always nice to get an instant upgrade to your squad by redeeming codes in the sports game. You can find the latest WWE 2K25 codes below, along with instructions on how to redeem them.
Active WWE 2K25 codes
Here are the active WWE 2K25 codes:
WMANIA41PACKS – 2x WrestleMania 41 Vol 2 Packs
CHACHING12500 – 12,500 VC
Expired WWE 2K25 codes
SINCITY41WM
DIRTYDOMMASKED
GETREADY4WM
ROADTOWM41EU
ELITEROCK2K25
WELCOMEWWE25
How to redeem WWE 2K25 codes
Once you’ve got your WWE 2K25 codes ready, here’s what you need to do to redeem them:
Launch the game and head to the MyFaction menu from the home screen.
Once you’re in the ‘Live’ tab, select the ‘Locker Codes’ icon.
Type out your code into the redeem box and hit ‘Enter’ to claim the rewards.
If your code contains any packs, go to the ‘Store’ tab and select ‘Unopened Packs’ to view them.
Where to find WWE 2K25 codes
When it comes to finding WWE 2K25 codes, much like 2K’s other popular sports series, codes are usually given out on social media platforms. If you want to seek them for yourself, you should check the WWE Games accounts on X and Facebook. That being said, it’s easier to keep your eyes peeled on this page, so do yourself a favor and keep it bookmarked to stay up to date.
That’s everything you need to upgrade your MyFaction squad using WWE 2K25 codes. Take a break from fighting in the squared circle by checking out our list of the best simulation games. If that doesn’t cut it for you, why not utilize the skills that you’ve earned by sparring against wrestlers in the ring and use them in the best fighting games.
As dealer, I would be afraid to open 1NT with 12-14 for fear that one of my two opponents might clobber me with a strong (15-17) 1NT hand.
If all pass to me in later positions, at least one of my opponents does not have an opening hand, and in fourth position neither has such. With a balanced 13 in last position, I figure that the other three hands each have 7-11 points, and even if partner has the weakest of the three remaining hands, we’re no worse off than even (13+7=20).
If I had a good five card major, I’d open one of the major. But suppose by distribution is 2-3-4-4, that is skewed to the minors. A bid of a minor would invite opposing overcalls in the majors, while 1NT forces the next bid to come at the 2 level.
Does anyone (of note in the bridge world) bid a weak 1Nt in late position and a strong 1NT in early position?
Here at The Treehouse we’re lucky enough to have staff who enjoy what they do. Our front-of-house team all share a love for games and a desire to share this with the world, not to mention a massive amount of expert knowledge on the subject, which is only building and developing as time goes on.
As we approach our first birthday, some of our staff have decided that recommending and teaching games to customers in the cafe just isn’t enough of an outlet for their enthusiasm. So, they’ve decided to create both a brand new blog and a Treehouse podcast to share their thoughts on all things games-related with the world.
Introducing Patrick Lickman and Matt Turner, the instigators behind what you’re about to read/ hear. They’ll no doubt be familiar to many of you who’ve visited the cafe, as they’ve been with us from the start and are here rather a lot! Patrick is the main author behind the blog, while they’re very much co-conspirators on the podcast.
If you find the results suspiciously professional for a first-time effort, that’s because Matt is something of a podcast veteran, with 185+ episodes of his excellent Life’s a Pitch podcast already under his belt. The Treehouse podcast will also be featuring other members of our team, starting with lovely games guru Jenny episode one.
We hope you enjoy their efforts! If you like what you hear, please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. If you have any feedback for us on the content, we’d love to hear from you via Facebook or Twitter, or by email at contact@treehousesheffield.com.
Parks was a monumental hit for Keymaster Games when it was released in 2019. We backed the original printing while on Kickstarter and it quickly became a game night staple. Parks is still one of my wife’s favorite games of all time.
The second edition of Parks was released this Spring and this box contains more than a minor facelift for this modern classic. In this review, I’ll cover some of the changes to the game and hopefully help you decide if this new edition should hike its way into your collection.
A Hike in the Woods
Throughout a game of Parks, players are hiking trails, collecting tokens that can be turned in to experience National Parks that roll out during the game. There are gear cards that help you along the way. Players can take photos that are worth victory points at the end of the game. In the original game, you would hike the trail a total of four times, with each trail being slightly longer than the last.
In Parks Second Edition, you can tell that time and experience has led to a tighter and more refined game. First off, the rulebook has been tweaked, refined and structured in a way that is easy to digest. Instead of taking four hikes on trails that grow throughout the game, players now hike three times on a trail that has a set number of spaces. The overall playtime doesn’t seem to be impacted and we never felt like we were missing out on the fourth hike of the game.
The trail is now built into the central board and the perks at each trail site are tied to tokens that are distributed before each round. You still get the variability, it just happens differently. Players are still given two hikers to walk the trail, with the ability to extinguish their campfire if you want to share a space with another hiker. Landing on a trail site lets you take the action on the token and collect any weather tokens that are available from the trails setup at the start of the round.
As you reach the trail’s end, you’ll get to determine what final action your hiker takes and gain a bonus if you’re the first to take that action. Once there is only a single player left on the trail, they proceed to the trail’s end to take their final action(s).
New Additions
In the six years since Parks original release, we’ve seen two different expansions that add new mechanics and depth to the game. Inside this second edition is a good chunk of the content from those two expansion. Some of the cards from the Wildlife expansion is present in the game as well as the camping mechanic from the Nightfall expansion. Keymaster Games has also included a specialty die that was part of the Trails game published in 2021.
Not every element from these expansions came over and I think this is a good thing. It feels like the best parts from each of these properties made the final cut. The Camping Mode is something that you can add into your game or leave out entirely. Your choice.
When your hiker lands on a trail site with a tent token, you can take the normal resources on the site or utilize the tent to take the resources on any open Campsite. Adding in this bonus content and rebalancing the game feels really good.
Players will notice a new Passions card in this new edition of the game. This replaces the goal cards from the previous edition and is given to players at the start of the game. Completing a Passions card allows the player to earn a gear effect or earn an end game bonus.
The Upgrades
Let’s talk about some of the upgrades that Parks Second Edition brings. First off, I really love the player boards that come with this new edition. These boards show a backpack representing the number of tokens you can carry along with your canteen on the left side of the board. Visually, these are excellent and the canteen mechanic has been revamped.
When gaining a canteen, players now add a token from the central board onto their player board. When you add water to your canteen, you can trigger the tokens in that row, earning those bonuses. This gives players more control and agency as they plan for future rounds. Each canteen has three rows, allowing for three different combinations of tokens that can be paired up.
The camera from the original Parks has been replaced with the Shutterbug token. This token gives the player holding it the ability to take a second photo each time they are given this opportunity.
Probably the most divisive change in this new edition has to be the art and illustrations on each of the sixty-three parks cards. The original game was built off of the Fifty-Nine Parks series. This series of art prints brought together some incredible artists that has raised more than $225,000 for National Parks since 2016. This artwork is beautiful, inspiring, and at times, inconsistent.
This artwork was part of a licensing deal that made Parks stand out within our hobby. While I loved the original art direction, I think that the artwork from Josh Emrich and Lisk Feng is stunning. As a package, the artwork and design works together so well. Each National Park card feels unique but there is a cohesiveness that wasn’t their in the original game.
Art is so subjective and every person will have an opinion on which version they prefer. I personally feel that this game is more consistent throughout because of the focused work of the two illustrators who worked on Parks Second Edition.
Final Thoughts
As a fan of the original Parks, this is an easy game to suggest for nature loving board gamers. I think the changes inside this box make sense as Keymaster Games moves away from licensing agreements that could challenge future printings and expansions of the Parks game line.
Parks Second Edition is a streamlined, well built, and cohesive game that improves on the original. The MSRP of $50 to $59 for this new edition may feel like a lot for a person who owns the original. The first edition of Parks is not broken and is still a fantastic game. More than anything, this new edition feels like an upgrade that is preparing for more Parks content in the future. That’s something I’m excited about.
To beat Roblox School Time Chapter 1 you’ll need to know all the mechanics for each level as well as the best items and kits to use. I’m also going to walk you through each level and the best strategies for all of them. Here’s my complete School Time walkthrough guide, item guide, and kit tier list.
School Time Beginner’s Guide
To beat Roblox School Time you’ll have to go through a series of levels collecting different items in each one and bringing them to the art room to progress. The teacher Mrs. Klock and the principal Mr. Jenkins (starting level 2) will chase you and instantly knock you down on contact. Other players can revive you and then you have to heal with consumable items you find. Let’s start with some basic tips and tricks:
Disable Mrs. Klock and Mr. Jenkins: You can find and buy items to disable the teacher and principle like the bear trap snare that will stun them on contact or the paper ball you can throw to stun them by clicking on them with it equipped. Check out the full list of items below.
Coins & Gems: You’ll find coins each level that you can spend at the end of the level to buy items for the next day. Also, there are Gems to pick up which are used in the Lobby to unlock kits which are item presets that refresh each run and they also give you permanent movement speed and health boosts. Check out the best kits below.
Progression Items: In the first level you’ll need to pick up a certain number of planks and bring them to the art room to go to Day 2. This repeats for different items each day with Blueprints on Day 2 and so on. These items are randomly placed around the school and they even spawn during the level so keep looking. They’re hidden in various rooms on the floor and on the tables in classrooms but not in lockers which you need a key to open.
Red Arrows: Whenever you need to reach the art room go into any hallway and find the red arrows and then follow them. They’ll lead you to the art room which is helpful until you learn the level layout yourself.
Spread Out and Watch the Floor and Tables: The best strategy is to spread out into the cafeteria, gym field, and temple as well as the class rooms. Each day the level is the same so learn the layout and pay attention to the tables since the items can be on tables as well as the floor.
Certain Item Effects Persist: You can dig holes with Shovels to teleport around the level or place snares and these items persist throughout all levels so feel free to place them in earlier days so you can use them later as well. I recommend digging a Shovel hole near the art room so you can quickly come back to it.
Reviving Players: You can see a player who is downed through the walls so quickly rush to revive them before they run out of HP or else they’ll be eliminated and kicked from the game. You can drop healing items like Bandages and Medkits with Backspace to allow them to heal.
Max 10 Items: You can only carry 10 items at a time so use Bandages and drop Traps to free up space for better items.
All Items Guide in School Time
Image by The Escapist
You can find all of these items on the ground during each day in School Time or you can buy them at the end of a day. Below you’ll find a list of them all and a brief guide for each one on how best to use it or should you buy it.
All Days Walkthrough in School Time
Image by the Escapist
When it comes to Roblox horror games School Time is pretty simple since there are no puzzles. You just collect all items each day, bring them to the art room, and avoid getting downed by the teacher and principal. That said, there’s a special mechanic each day so let me give you some tips for all of them:
Day 1 Tips: This day is really easy once you get a Trap, Soda, or Ball to escape when the teacher starts chasing you. Look for planks and bring them back to the art room, the red arrows will guide you. The most important part of Day 1 and any day for that matter is to always go to downed players to revive them. The more players pass the easier the later days will be. At the end of Day 1 and all days after you’ll get a shopping phase where you can buy the items we mentioned above. Make sure to stock up.
Day 2 Tips: This where Principal Jenkins shows up so you’re basically twice as likely to get chased. Just make good use of retreating, hiding, and using the escape/stun items and you’ll be fine. Always have at least one escape/stun item on you. If you don’t, don’t risk going into open spaces without cover.
Day 3 Tips: This is where both the teacher and principal can drink Soda for a speed boost. It’s more crucial than before to keep to the at least one escape/stun item strategy since they’ll catch you fast if you don’t have an escape plan.
Day 4 Tips: This is where certain lockers will have tentacles coming out of them that will damage and stun you on contact. You can still pass them by just make sure to walk on the furthest opposite side of the tentacle locker in a hallway. Otherwise, strategy from days before apply. Make sure to buy the Lantern at the end of Day 4 for Day 5.
Image by The Escapist
Day 5 Tips: This is the last day where lights go out. Make sure you have a Lantern from one of the shopping phases before. Otherwise, strategies from Day 4 and before apply and nothing else changes.
Image by The Escapist
Once you beat Day 5 you’ve beaten School Time Chapter 1. Congratulations! Now we wait for Chapter 2.
School Time Kits Tier List
Image by The Escapist
You can buy all items from all kits eventually during the game so the best kits in School Time are the ones are that give you permanent bonuses or lots of coins. The permanent bonuses are useful for all days whereas the one-time items are a short term boost. Movement speed is much better than health as a stat boost so you’ll notice kits with it are ranked higher. Health isn’t that valuable since the teacher and principle one shot you anyway. Also, kits with coins are also powerful since you can establish a Shovel hole system earlier or be flexible in what you buy depending on how the game is going. You can check what all kits do in the lobby.
That’s it for my complete School Time walkthrough guide with an item guide and kit tier list. Check out our Roblox guides page for more walkthroughs like our PETAPETA and 7 Days to Live guides.
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