The Gristmill - Tactical Strategy Card Game

The Gristmill: August 2018 - Present

Active Team - Several People

  • Robert Bailey - Game Design and Team Lead

  • Ashwin Ganapathiraju - Gameplay and Database programming

  • Tetyana Kolomiyets - Environmental and Card Art

  • Sam Levey - AI Programmer

  • Jason Rose - Card Art

  • Trevor Walden - Gameplay and Graphics Programmer

Additional Work

  • Porter Withers - Audio Design

  • Jingyu Cao - UI Designer

  • Herman McElveen - Animations and Additional Effects

  • Carter Blalack - Card 3D Model

  • Olivia Leuttazi - Voicework

  • Katarina Weis - Voicework

Special Thanks

  • Jiahua Li - Early UI Development

  • Zhuoyi Zhou - Early UI Development

  • Chris Cascioli - Capstone Committee Member

  • Sten McKinzie - Capstone Committee Member

  • Elouise Oyzon - Capstone Committee Member

  • David Simkins - Capstone Committee Member

Designer on monsters, encounters, maps, cards, mechanics, and narrative structure. In addition, I am the sole writer for this independent project.

The Gristmill is a tactical strategy card game where players take on the role of a commander managing their fort’s resources as they are beset upon by the creatures living in the unmapped forest they border. Players gain rewards, supplies, and tools by embarking on expeditions, where they engage in a series of battles. These fights combine hand management and deck building strategy with a node-based tactical map where players use a limited number of actions to protect their encampment from the encroaching monsters. The deeper they go the more powerful cards they may find, but at the risk of facing stronger opposition and challenges.

Developed since August 2018, Gristmill originally formed as the thesis project for the active team, and has since had continued independent part-time development since graduating. The game spins off from my prior world building work within the universe of The Breach. 

I work on creating art requests and guidelines for cards, as well as the mechanics and text that features upon them. I also work closely with the programmers to balance creature actions and systems while reinforcing the progression loops of the experience.

The Several People team is still working on The Gristmill, and the current build can be downloaded at Itch.Io as we continue to add cards, enemies, and encounters.

The combined Game Design Document and Thesis Submission from the end of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Game Design and Development Master’s Program is readable here.

Features (as of March 2021)

  • 30+ Unique Encounters

  • 6 Distinct Maps

  • 5 Enemies

  • 40+ Cards

Technical Details

  • Uses Unity 18.2.1f1

  • Programmed in C#