The main problem with Barbarian Vince is, in my opinion, it has 3 quest you have to beat to win the game. But these quests are always be the same. No variation. So you can play through this game and you have seen “everything”. My intentional design was to include some replayability. Over the time more and more stuff was put into my game, which makes it so crazy huge.
But 52 cards is not so much and the game is also B/W. I recommend to print it in cheap paper, but it in sleeves and play it. It makes a lot of fun, in my opinion and it is worth the time.
There is a TTS mod and I am happy about that. But, and it is a big But, it unfortunately does not play well there. To get a feeling how it plays, use the TTS, perfect. But in Grimm World you have to stack cards on each other and you must slide them that way, that you see parts of the card below. And this is something which is not working well in the TTS, because it creates automatically a deck (so each card is stacked together). Sorry for my lousy explanation, but I do not know how the express it in English. So you can play it and I have done 1 playthrough back in the days with “Grim(m) World - First Steps”, but it plays much faster and easier on the table.
So I would still say, try Barbarian Vince or say “F*ck off” and print the whole damn thing and play it
Did you own a printer? If not, I really recommend to invest into a Epson oder Canon Inktank printer. Here in Germany they cost around 150€ (~170$). You can print there around 2000-3000 full color pages for 30€ of ink. This is so crazy cheap. I already printed nearly 8000 pages the last 4 years. Most of the time Print and Play games and always full color. I think I bought 2-3 times new ink.
Even with my laser printer, which I owned before, the printing was much more expensive.
Based on your votes, my donation from the proceeds of Grimm World went to the Jürgen Ponto Foundation again this year. This foundation supports young artists. Thank you for purchasing my game, which made this donation possible.
I do own a printer but not an inkwell. I have debated getting one for a while (since at least as far back as Daniel recommended one for printing up ttrpg zines). It is an investment, and when I think ahead I can’t project how well it will pay off for me.. but it probably would.
Another issue (for me) is that I really prefer to craft proper cards using linen paper and a cardstock core. That’s more work than printing up paper slips, and I can’t do it year-round because it has to happen outdoors, for ventilation. (Also I prefer getting the cards laid out with fronts and backs on a single sheet for a “gutter fold” – not many PNP files come that way, so that’s even more work). So I am picky.
The printer Daniel showed would be to expensive for me. I own the Epson ET-2850 and I paid 4 years ago around 330€. Now he costs around 170€ and this is a steal. I would say this will pay off for you, if you find it for around the same money in your country.
unfortunately my games doesn’t come in gutter fold format, but last week or so someone post a method to transform my files into gutter fold format:
but I have to say, gutter fold is a very elaborate method to create cards. To do this for 540 cards is crazy. I do normally the laminating technique for games I craft. But for Grimm World, I only do printing single side and sleeve front and back in a sleeve. Even for me it is too much to do it in a better way. But I use thicker paper and premium sleeves and I round the corners and I am happy with the result.
Well I got an Epson inkwell (refurbished, direct from the manufacturer) for a very reasonable price. So thanks for the review/encouragement! Still not ready for 540 cards but I am going to try to get make a copy of Barbarian Vince soon – as well as The Promise!
Finally I managed to release the final version of the Grimm World Mini-Expansion 02 - Jakob and the giants. The corrections of the proofreader are finally integrated and I also updated the illustrations.
I also created a small tool to create the PDF files, this is why they look maybe minimal different than the old files and I now also offer Gutterfold. I will update also all old files into the new format in the upcoming weeks. Here is the tool, if you are curious: https://raoulschaupp.itch.io/pnp-pdf-creator
And finally, if you don’t still own Grimm World or The Promise, today is your day. I have birthday and is there any better reason to start a sale? https://itch.io/s/180328/-birthday-sale-
Step deeper into the world of Grimm World with a haunting 9 track music journey that expands the lore, reveals untold backstories, and breathes new life into the world beyond the cards.
This unique album collection—spread across five editions—captures the darkness, tragedy, hope, and myth of the Cauldron through powerful vocals, atmospheric soundscapes, and emotional storytelling.
What awaits you
• CD 1 – English Edition: The original vocal experience of all 9 songs.
• CD 2 – German Edition: A haunting rendition in the world’s darkest fairy tale language.
• CD 3 – Weeping Wendy (EN): Emotional female vocals & piano—fragile, intimate, evocative.
• CD 4 – Weeping Wendy (DE): The same heart wrenching piano version, in German.
• CD 5 – EBM Edition (EN): A pulsing, electronic, energetic descent into Grimm World’s darker corners.
Whether you’re a fan of the card game or a traveler discovering the Cauldron for the first time, these songs will pull you into its mysteries like never before.
The final version of the Grimm World co‑op expansion is now available! You can now encounter Isegrim himself and raise this small cub all the way to a fully grown wolf. The expansion features now the final illustrations and all proofreading corrections.
Mini-Expansion 2 finally arrived from TheGameCrafter over the weekend and is now available for order there as well.
Of course, Manu from Woodentreegames is also offering the expansion. This makes sense for anyone based in Europe. It’s already available for pre-order there:
As I have briefly discussed elsewhere in the forum, a couple weeks ago the weather and other circumstances here let me craft my PNP copy of The Promise. As I have discussed in yet another elsewhere in the forum, I was able to sit down and play the game recently. I find its intricate design fascinating, and I enjoyed it quite a bit (even though I am not very good at it yet)!
The (English) rulebook has answered nearly all my questions so far, I just wanted to ask for a few clarifications.
Understanding one of the examples:
Rulebook §5.2.2.2.1: “Example: if the rat has 3 damage and you roll a 6 [during the enemy action selection phase] then the rat will perform a Grasp action.”
3+6=9. Why does the rat not perform the “Tear Apart” Action, since this is shown on the rat’s Behavior card as the action that is programmed for a roll of 8-9? (Am I misunderstanding a modification here that adds another +1 to the roll?)
Understanding LOS and Elevation with multiple ‘hills’:
Suppose four Combat map squares are arranged like so: [1][2][3][4].
Suppose squares [1] and [3] are elevated, while squares [2] and [4] are not.
Suppose Anna is on square [1] and a rat is on square [4].
Does Anna have LOS on the rat? The back of the Rule Summary allows that this is true when it says “No LOS through a space with elevation from a space without elevation.”
Understanding the Decision Compass:
This question is harder for me to explicitly formulate, but I feel like I may not be fully understanding rulebook §5.2.2.2.4.2’s description of how the Decision Compass is used to dictate enemy movement. I think I understand how movement is supposed to work, but I do not see how the Decision Compass is really helping to define movement systematically.
In the Example attached to Figure 21, the Crow makes a series of movements. It moves right to a square with Priority 1 according to the Decision Compass, then down to a square with priority 2, then right with priority 1…. and then it moves down twice so that the player character it is going to attack is positioned in a space with priority 1 (to the right of the crow).
Executing this process requires the player to interpret the decision compass in two distinct ways, first as a guide for which square the crow should ideally move into, then as a guide for which square the Player target should ideally stand in once all movement is completed. Those 2 interpretations create an ambiguity, and I have to “switch” my interpretation once I the crow gets close enough to a target. In other words, I have to make a decision about how to interpret the Decision Compass before the Compass can “define” how the enemy acts.
In the example attached to Figure 22, something similar occurs. The crow retreats twice to the left, into a space with priority 3. That is 2 movement decisions that do not appear to be defined by anything explicit in the Decision Compass.
Understanding Upgrade Availability:
If I have an Equipment equipped such that another version of that item is not visible to me (because it is tucked under another card or is face-down) do I still have the option to upgrade my gear to that non-visible option? Or can I only upgrade to gear that is visible on free/unused Equipment cards?
Can I craft multiple new pieces of Equipment with one or both characters in a single Crafting Phase, as long as I have the ingredients to cover the costs?
Clarification welcome! I had to work hard to pin down these fiddly cases, for the most part it does all seem very clear to me.
Regarding example in 5.2.2.2.1: This is an error. Change it to 4 damage. Both actions were switched before. This was a last minute change on the Enemy Behavior card, that Tear Apart and Grasp switched places and I missed fixing that example. My fault. Thank you for the finding.
LOS example: Yes, you are right. Based on my wording you will have LOS. I had a really hard time finding the sweat spot, how LOS and elevation should work. Normally I would say you have no LOS, because the target is hidden behind an elevation. But if we change your example to following:
[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Same situation, except target is now in space 6 instead of 4. Then it would make sense (for me) that you could hit him. I think I will never have the perfect ruling; except I make it very complicated. So, I will stay with this wording, even in some cases it makes not much sense, or it is an edge case.
Decision Compass: Don’t use him for the whole movement. For movement always use the shortest route towards the target or the direct route away. Only at point you have to decide something use him.
1. Example – Moving towards: You move the shortest route, and this is in a zigzag pattern. You could also move first down and then right, making most of the time no difference. The only important step is, did the enemy move in the space above Tom or on the left side. And here you check the compass, and the higher priority is to place the crow so that Tom is to his left.
2. Example – Moving away: Also here, don’t look at the compass, move him in a straight line away. If the enemy reaches the end of the map or for example, moves into the other character, then look at the compass and check in which direction he would move. If for example a character is in the way, he would move 1 space down (based on the compass in picture 22) and then further away from the initial character.
I hope this makes somehow more sense for you. Maybe I will adapt the rule text a bit here. I think it is confusing in the first example, that I start this example with “Based on the decision compass, it begins its movement to the right toward the 1.” This sentence makes it only confusing, and I should change to “The character moves the shortest way to the enemy using a zigzag patter” or something similar and this would not cause so much confusion.
Upgrade Availability:
You can upgrade to any kind of equipment, as long as you can pay the cost. It can even be on the backside of a used card. Only some equipment combinations are not possible, because both equipment is on the same card or use the same slot (for example, both use the left hand slot).
And yes, you can craft as much equipment as you can pay during the craft phase and not only one.
I hope this answers all your questions and thank you for playing my gam e.
For elevation and LOS, I will follow the letter of the rules as written, but I will also keep en eye out for odd cases and use some judgment.
For the Decision Compass, I think you are right that the sentence from the rulebook you highlighted (“Based on the decision compass, it begins its movement…”) is part of why I was confused. But I also think the title of “Decision Compass” lends to this same confusion. I was inclined to try to use the compass to guide all enemy movement because that is what a compass does – it is a navigation instrument. It would be a larger revision, but if the Decision Compass is not intended to guide each step of movement, you might consider re-naming it. It sounds like what it really does is define the enemy’s Preferred Positioning near enemies, and that in turn helps dictate some of the enemy’s movement (because an Enemy wants to get to move towards an Target in the most efficient path it can take to put itself in a position where the Target is at “1”, if it can).
That all makes sense to me. Maybe “Preferred Position” is not the right phrase either, but I think it may be closer to what you intend than “Decision Compass.”
Elevation rules are always tricky. I played during my time at the university a lot of cosim/wargames and also there, it was always a pain. In some situation they make sense in some not.
I took the wording Decision Compass from Grimm World. There it was used a bit more, because there the enemies where (most of the time) no huge monsters. So they have also pay attention regarding obstacles on the battlefield. In The Promise I throw aways the rule, that the enemies must follow the same rules regarding obstacles somewhere during the development. So the only real case where you need it, is by positioning adjecent to a character and by moving away. Maybe I miss 1 or 2 small other cases. I will check if I can make the examples a bit clearer, but I think I will still stay by the name.
Some new from my side. First of all, thanks to all of you, my game “The Promise” is nominated at the Golden Geek Awards in the category Print and Play.
Then I am nearly finished with the development of my roll and write game Grimm Delve. At the moment I translate and layout the English rules and wait of the final feedback from the playtester.
Even for me it is too much to do it in a better way. But I use thicker paper and premium sleeves and I round the corners and I am happy with the result.
