iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you’ve never played the solo online version of Toppa, you’ll never have an easier game of it than today! TOPPA DAILY - 10/4/2026 - Turns: 4 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Got to play test a couple of the new games tonight. Pretty successful I think. Stick Four ended up being the most challenging game play. I think it's almost there, just need to clarify a few rules.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

This game came together really fast. Started by thinking on a Vermont centered game with 2-sided maple leaves and a few days later here we are. Will update if it’s fun to play after a few play tests, lol. #tabletop #boardgamedesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Got some copies of the new Gravity Well graphics. This is how the cover art for all 5 of my games look together & I’m very happy with them. Time to think more on a 6th game. I’d like it to be specific to Vermont so Fall themed seems most likely. #tabletop #graphicdesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

3. Not as dramatic but reduces the time and cost of printing the game still further. I did up the mines per player to 3. If 3 is too many I’ll try to think of a totally different token for players to play that does something unique. Maybe a once a game warp drive extra move boost or something?

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

2. Increases the danger of ship damage because now 4 damage points will lock you out completely of 1 of your chip options and if that happens to be the heal damage chip you’re kind of screwed!

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Tweaked the control board. Reduced turns per round from 5 to 4 which does a few interesting things: 1. Players now have a choice of which 4 out of 5 actions they want to use each round instead of automatically using all 5 and just decided their order, adding to the strategy. #gamedesign #tabletop

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Ok, now we’re talking. Love these colors for Gravity Well. Now to dial in the new rules. #tabletop #gamedesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Still not sure of the player colors. Might try the board in darker blue so the player board can be the lighter blue. 3 shades of blue would be good too.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Reworked the Gravity Well program board a bit. Needed to make more room in the box for 2 of these, a game board and all the bits. Had “Tie Breaker” text because it’s an important part of the game but looked too much like the games name so swapped it for the actual game name. #tabletopgamedesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Thanks! I’m pretty happy with the new version. Made enough tweaks that I’ll have to play test again but I have high hopes!

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New version (left pic) of my Gravity Well game. I changed quite a bit to bring this game closer to the complexity and gameplay of my other games. It also feels much more substantial than the original (right pic) option. #tabletopgames #gamedesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

The differences are the 2 part board and the cover chips being non-interlocking. They just sit on top of each other. So it’s definitely more… finicky? Less kid friendly at the very least. I could really see this as a higher end option made of quality wood or nicely stained.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Any thoughts on this option for a wood version of Toppa? I’m trying to think of a way to make the wood Toppa without the need of using a CNC machine. I can make this one myself with a scroll saw and drill press (once I get those, lol). This first one was with a hand held drill so it’s VERY rough.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

New hex components im making for a potential game. Not sure what the game is yet at all but I’m loving the hexes. The colors represent Water, Rocks, Forest, Desert, Brick/roads, and Burnt forest or Wasteland and i have 4 different heights for each. #tabletop #games #3dprinting

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Originally I designed a 2 tone stackable checker for my Toppa game. Just made a 1 color checker. I like it but something about the 2 tone feels more... classy? Maybe it's just the darker color? At the very least I'm sure I'll put the new file up on my digital file Etsy shop. #tabletop #games

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Saw Disclosure Day yesterday. A few years ago for fun I was doing my own movie poster design of every movie I saw in theaters (giving myself only as much time to complete as length of the movie). Here's the one I did this morning for Disclosure Day. #disclosureday #movieposters #graphicdesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

The intent of these tweaks is to reduce the time it takes for a game. We'll see if I've gone too far into "luck of the draw" or if there's still an opportunity for strategy. Stay tuned. : )

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Based on the play testing last weekend these are the new updated rules. - Changed the wild cards from 2 colors to 3. - Added two 5 color wild cards. - I had increased the single color cards from 40 to 50 for the 4 player game but I'm reducing it again back to 40.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Play tested the 4 player Pigeon game rules the other night and it played ok but most games took way too long. None were under a 1/2 hour & 1 was close to a full hour. For a game this minimal I feel like it’s got to stay in that 20-30 min. If not shorter. #cardgames #gamedesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Added this text to the rules as well. Not sure it makes sense yet but I'll work on that too. "A Player can only capture a combo when they have exactly 3 cards on their side, either before drawing a card or after placing a card."

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Ignore the design of the rules page. I'll work on it. More important that all the rules are there first and foremost. lol.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

- We played the forty 1-color cards and ten 2-color "wild cards" version. - Winning by collecting 5 "combos". - Each game took about 15-25 minutes and both players won a fairly equal number of games. - Will need to up the card count a bit for 3 and 4 players rules. Maybe 2 more of each color?

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Got to play test the 2-player Pigeonhole Principle rules last night. It went pretty good actually. It's an interesting game with a bit of strategy. I think it could use a couple specially cards maybe for that extra bit of strategy but overall feels good so far. #tabletopgame #cardgames

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Actually ok with this score today. Could have been much worse! TOPPA DAILY - 5/29/2026 - Turns: 15 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

TOPPA DAILY - 5/24/2026 - Turns: 4 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This one was so easy today and I totally blew it, lol! TOPPA DAILY - 5/18/2026 - Turns: 78 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

TOPPA DAILY - 5/13/2026 - Turns: 19 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Tweaked the rules a bit. - Added 10 more color cards. 4-player game wouldn't really have enough cards left for effective gameplay if all 4 players had 2 sets before someone getting a 3rd. - Made Wild cards 1-time use. Can't wait to play test to see if it actually works or not!

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Looking at the rules again I’ll definitely have to either remove the wild cards or make them one time use only cards.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

If you've got 2 sets of regular cards you could try it out using eight cards each of 2-6's and four A's being the wild cards.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I think I finally figured out the Pigeonhole Principle game rules after only about 30 different iterations and rule sets. Haven't play tested this version yet. It may be fine with fewer cards or I might need more to make it work for 4 players. Or it may not work at all, lol.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

I won't tell you what my highest/worst score on the 6x6 has been. Ok I will, 244! lol.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Nice! 29 is great for the 6x6. There are so many red chips it gets reset a lot for me, lol.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Have you tried the 6x6 grid? I'm thinking of switching the Daily to this because it's more challenging. : ) markgonyea.com/toppa6x6

markgonyea.com

Toppa 6x6 — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

TOPPA DAILY - 5/4/2026 - Turns: 46 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

A look at the set up for the Toppa tournaments I ran this past weekend. The calm before the storm.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

TOPPA DAILY - 4/30/2026 - Turns: 11 Play here: markgonyea.com/toppadaily

markgonyea.com

ToppaDaily — Mark Gonyea

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Time is moving too fast these days, lol. This weekend I'll be at a VT con running 5 TOPPA tournaments a day w/8 Players per tourney. It's tough to get people to sit down for a bit in the middle of a show but hopefully I can fill the tables a few times at least. There'll be prizes! #tabletopgames

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Finished staining the Medieval Toppa & reduced the board to from 8x8 (top) to 7.5x7.5 (bottom). Not a huge difference but feels more proportional to me. I want to add some grooves to the board for accurate chip placement but overall not bad. #gamedesign #tabletopgame

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Thanks! It’ll definitely be the premium option once all the pieces are made from walnut etc, and not stained pine.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

The actual boards and stacking pieces would be walnut? Maybe Cherry for the chips? I wouldn’t be staining everything.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

The pieces all seem large and heavy enough not to fly off the board when rotating. Still need to stamp some circles in a 3x3 grid for accurate chip placement and thinking about having the rules printed on fabric.

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

I finally figured out how to do a “Medieval” version of Toppa. I’ve wanted to table at some Renn fairies in the future but bringing 3d and modern box printing didn’t seem appropriate. Rules stay the same, runes replacing the different color chips. #tabletopgames #gamedesign

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

This game has already gone through some quick iterations! From blocks to cards to 3d printed runes. Will most likely make the runes 2 color when and if it works out as a playable game. #gamedesign #tabletopgames

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Mark G @markgonyea.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

I think this is a board for a potential new take on the Pigeonhole game. I’m really good at making boards first without knowing any of the game rules, lol. #tabletopgame #gamedesign

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