Kabal Lands on Board Game Arena

Kabal Lands on Board Game Arena

It's been a while since the last update, and a lot has happened. The biggest news: Kabal has been ported to Board Game Arena (BGA).

After months of digital playtesting using the Python/AI simulation and Tabletop Simulator, the natural next step was to get the game onto a platform where real players from around the world could pick it up and play. BGA was the obvious choice. Development has been happening on BGA Studio, and we now have a private alpha running on the main BGA site. It's a milestone moment — seeing all the mechanics that have lived in spreadsheets, simulations and TTS finally come together in a clean, web-based interface.

An Artwork Revamp

Alongside the port, the visual identity of the game has had a significant overhaul. The artwork has been rebuilt from the ground up using Midjourney, giving the cards, board, heroes and artifacts a much more cohesive and atmospheric look. The contrast between the Black Hat and White Hat factions now reads instantly, and the missions, crystals, stargates and portals each have their own distinct visual language. Bringing AI-generated art into the design pipeline has been one of the more enjoyable parts of this stage — it's let a small project punch well above its weight visually.

Where We Are Now

The alpha is nearing completion. The remaining work is mostly around the tutorial, tooltips and onboarding flow — making sure that a player who has never touched Kabal before can sit down and learn it without needing me on a video call. Given how much the game has grown, this is no small task. Kabal is now a properly meaty design: semi-cooperative play against the Nemesis AI, stargates and portals connecting the map, crystals and artifacts that empower your operatives, missions on both the Black and White sides, hero activations and battles, the Alpha and Omega tracks, faction-flipping, fallen angels and Titans… it's a lot. The tooltips need to do real work.

Once that's locked in, Kabal will open up for public playtesting on BGA. That's the next big step — getting it in front of strangers, without me explaining the rules, and seeing what they make of it.

Reflections

Building this game has genuinely been a lot of fun. What started as a fairly tight design about world domination has grown into something far more layered — semi-coop tension with the Nemesis, the moral pull between black and white, the ever-shifting Alpha/Omega tracks, and the sheer number of meaningful decisions every turn. It's complex, yes, but I think the complexity earns its place.

I'll post again when public playtesting opens. If you'd like to be part of that round, keep an eye on the Playtesting page — I'll share BGA links and joining instructions there as soon as we're ready.

More soon.