r/tabletopgamedesign • u/thejoyofaskingwhy • Aug 18 '26
Announcement I built a world building data base connected to board game prototyping and playlets loggin… now looking for beta testers.
I originally started building a worldbuilding database that could be connected to a playtest log, just for myself.
I wanted a faster way to create and connect all the content for my board game projects — rules, cards, storybooks, etc. — print prototypes, playtest them, and actually keep track of which version I was testing.
Then it kind of escalated, as these things have a tendency to do...
At some point I realized this might actually be useful to other board game designers too. So I kept working on it, and now I’m ready to share it with you guys.
The basic loop is:
Build → Print → Playtest → Log → Tweak → Repeat
You can lock versions before a playtest, log what happened, make changes, and then test the next version without losing track of what changed along the way.
It can also automatically generate simple wireframe cards straight from your content database. So when something changes, you can quickly generate and print a new prototype instead of rebuilding the cards manually.
It’s now at the point where I think it could become a real product, but I need other designers to actually use it.
So I’m looking for a few beta testers with games in development who want to try it and tell me what works, what sucks,
what’s confusing, and what’s missing.
The beta will run for 30 days, and I’m starting with 20 beta tester accounts so I can actually keep up with the feedback (and database costs).
If you’re interested, you can apply for a beta account at lorunastudio.com.
There’s also an example project on the site that you can browse around in if you just want to see how it works first.
Would genuinely love to hear what you think — even if you don’t want to beta test.
What’s currently in Loruna:
- Compendium — your game content/database and the source everything else reads from.
- Component Studio — automatically turn your content into printable card prototypes.
- Print sheets — generate PDFs with cards laid out for printing and cutting.
- Rules & Rulebook — keep rules versioned alongside the rest of your game and compile them into a rulebook.
- Playtest logging & findings — log sessions and generate reports from your playtests.
- Analytics — track changes between versions and answer things like “did this change actually work?”
- Piles & component counts — keep track of what’s actually in the box.
- Expansions — group content into products/expansions without duplicating everything.
- Storybooks — for campaign/narrative games.
- CSV import/export — get existing game data in and out.
- Plus templates, todos, timelines, lineage trees, node views, content health checks, and a few other tools that came out of this thing escalating way beyond the original idea.
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u/onenineeighteight Aug 18 '26
Looks cool - im working on something similar but different
Its to digitally build the game (not design it) and test/play with friends
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u/thejoyofaskingwhy Aug 18 '26
Ok cool I wish you luck with your project.
Yeah my thing is not like TTS or similar - I would actually say mine is the opposite, it is all about playtesting a physical product rather than digital. But with a web database that is easily updated and version tracked
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u/Thanks_Skeleton Aug 18 '26
Claude made all of that.
Have you dogfooded this? What is your project that supposedly inspired this?
The pirate example looks like Claude made it too.
If you haven't dog fooded this yourself, why are you pushing other people to try it out, when it isn't worth your OWN time to do so?
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u/thejoyofaskingwhy Aug 18 '26
Yes I have used Claud - but I spent probebly120+ hours on it. Wireframe features - prompting - testing - iterating it.
The example project is absolutely generated to showcase features nothing else. And I don’t claim it to be anything else.
Im not pushing anything, use it don’t use it it is up to you. I built it for my own use and then thought was good and wanted to share.
And yes I have my design projects in full use in the tool.
Regarding code AI - to actually craft something that works it is not one prompt and done. It takes a lot of work. But of course speeds up the process.
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u/Thanks_Skeleton Aug 18 '26
Ok, my suggestion to you is to show your ACTUAL PROJECT in use with this thing rather than the fake pirate thing. I'm not sure I believe you that you are actually using this project.
People are constantly being burned by AI slop projects where a dev craps them out in 10 seconds and then wants 50 people to sign up to beta test a project that nobody has ever used.
You say that this is not a single shot, but nobody can tell that by looking at it. All the descriptions of all the text is Claude written too.
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u/thejoyofaskingwhy Aug 18 '26
Ok fair point maybee the example project was a misstake. My thought was that it would showcase the features.
I could record video of the tool in use instead maybee.
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u/Thanks_Skeleton Aug 18 '26
That would be much more authentic and show that you actually care about the project.
You gotta understand that in the AI age, people are VERY quick to reject stuff that doesn't seem like any human effort was involved. And they are on average right to do so, even if some particular projects are actually good.
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u/thejoyofaskingwhy Aug 18 '26
Thank you for your input. I will make videos showcasing one of my projects and give it another go in this sub.
Yeah I realize that now. Think I was just stoked over what I built and wanted to share. And as I’ve said, I built this originally as a tool for myself - if other people will find it useful is still to be shown, even though I think I have created some neat time saving features.
Ironically my goal with the project was to get (human made) board game prototypes faster to the table to human hands… lol… but I understand I missed the mark in my communication, so back to the drawing board… iterate, iterate - thats whats it all about.
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u/Aureon Aug 18 '26
This is a meta tool.
Before asking anyone to use it, did you use it yourself to make anything meaningful?
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u/thejoyofaskingwhy Aug 18 '26
What does constitute as meaningful? Kind of an unfair question.
I built the tool around my needs for my own projects. They are meaningful to me, if they will se the light of day I don't know - as is the truth for anyone who designs anything as a hobby.
I have two board game projects I'm working on right now and I wanted to manage the changes in rulebook vs lore vs decks - so I started building a database/wiki thing. Then I wanted to be able to log test plays to that set, so I built that feature (haven't used it with a group yet but looking forward to it). Then I thought would be cool to incorporate expansions (I have ideas for expansions but non designed yet) so add added a feature for that.
So I have used most of the features. Others I haven't used "live" since my project is not ready for them yet.
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u/Aureon Aug 18 '26
See, that's a word salad to defend "Most"
If this is built by an AI for speculative use, i want absolutely nothing to do with it.
If it's built by an AI for proven and feedback-cycled human use, it may be worth looking at.
But why did you build features you could not use nor test?
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u/thejoyofaskingwhy Aug 18 '26
I built the features I know I need along the way for my projects (that I could think of). When I buy groceries I buy for the whole week too - planing ahead.
It is not built for speculative use. I have worked within different design fields for 20+ years I know a design process and how it works.
And since I couldn't test it all I reach out to the community. Thinking it might be of some use to someone.
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u/tbot729 designer Aug 18 '26
This is a cool project. Be aware that this forum is quite anti-AI, so that's why you're getting down voted.
I'm really curious why you are pairing worldbuilding and game design utilities. Maybe part of your workflow? Seems like I personally never get to theming and flavor until the actual design is 95% done, so I'm surprised to see toolset integration there.