Want to make your own DIY Adventure Game? It’s an incredibly fun and free format to work with, and is especially well suited for people who are writers and doodlers.
Join in the DIY Adventure Games Discord! Although very tiny right now, over time we would love to turn it into a community for making new DIY Adventure Games, where we talk about design, share and test games, and collaborate.
Publishing
Working on a DIY Adventure game, and want to get it out into the world? You’re free to do exactly what you wish with it – sell it, give it away – but if you think your game would make a good fit for the AndHeGames audience, then send me a message, even if you’re in the early stages of designing a game. I’m always on the lookout for new designers to work with, and will be publishing new DIY Adventure Games in the future. All you need is creative ideas, a willingness to work hard, test and listen to feedback. Maybe your name could be on the cover of the next DIY Adventure Game!
Font
It’s important before you get started that you install the DIY Adventure Games font, AndHeFont2. It will give you the characteristic DIY Adventure Games look, and give you access to a bunch of icons/glyphs used in DIY Adventure Games. They’re set up as ligatures, which means when you type a certain combination of characters, they’ll be automatically converted into the icon. I go through all of the possibilities on the AndHeFont Reference Page.
Download and install both:
Editing Templates
I’ve included three different file types for each template below, which you will find useful depending on what software you choose to use:
Editing JPGs
These are flat images which you can edit in any image editing program. Just draw or copy/paste your images on top. A few free options for image editing:
GIMP – Free “Photoshop-like” image editing program
Krita – Free Painting Program
JSPaint – Free MSPaint on the web.
Editing AFDESIGN files
Vector files. To edit these files, you’ll need to use Affinity Designer, a vector program that you can gain access to for a one-time payment. No subscription makes it much more attractive to a hobbyist. I’ve used it for years.
Editing PSD files
These files have layers and are easier to edit than JPGs. You’ll be able to open these in GIMP or similar graphics editing software, or Photoshop if you have it.
Character Cards (back and front)
Standee
The small, foldable standee, normally printed on the back cover.
Battle Flowcharts
The flowcharts designed to make navigating the rules of battle easy and straightforward.
Boards/grids for Standee games
Hexagon
Square
Decision Card
Track the decisions the players make
Enemy card
Gold
Gold Piece: JPG
A bunch of gold pieces: JPG
Item Card
Quirk Table
Printable Patterns
Printer-friendly patterns for blank pages or “Results” pages. Not strictly necessary, but adds some nice structure.
Pet Card
Default Instructional Pages
Put these at the beginning of your book, and they’ll introduce the basics.
Happy creating!
(and join the Discord to share what you’re working on)