Random Encounter is a hex tile system for board gaming that uses magnetic switch LED's to completely randomize your gaming experience.

I came up with this idea because this is what I would personally love to see in future versions of games like Gloomhaven. This wasn't designed for profit, and I don't expect this model will get many downloads, but hopefully it inspires game designers to add a version of the mechanic to their next game. 

This isn't a game itself, just a way to either help you add a random element to an existing game or to use in a game you create yourself. For example, you could apply it to Gloomhaven by recreating the game board shapes using the included Single Board Piece stl. When you're setting up the game, just put LED's in tiles to represent enemies rather than physical tokens on the board with a different colour LED for each different type of enemy. Or, you could use it in your own game creation like this cat burglar game that I'm working on. In my game, if you land on a tile that lights up, then you've ‘triggered’ an alarm and must complete a task or mini game to move on.

My game is still very much a work in progress, as that building is missing a lot of it's details.
 

The idea is pretty simple. Each tile consists of two parts, the translucent base and the terrain tile. Each translucent base has a cavity that is just large enough to hold a magnetic switch LED

You then embed a magnet (I used the magnet that comes with each LED) into the base of your game mini. I have included the player base I use, which has a 22mm diameter that fits nice and snug into my minis, but you could easily make your own magnet holding base whatever size you need.


 

Before you set up your game, you determine how many tiles you will need and how many enemies you will need. Add an LED to a tile for each enemy. You then take those enemy tiles, mix them together with all of the empty tiles, and then fill out your playing area/board, ensuring that your encounters will be completely random.

Background

I started researching single player board games during the covid lockdown in an attempt to stave off boredom, and the internet kept telling me to buy a game called Gloomhaven. I was hesitant because my RPG experience for the first 40 years of my life had been limited to video games, and I was used to 'regular' board games like Monopoly, Risk, or Stock Ticker. There were too many great reviews though, so I bought Gloomhaven, and I'm glad I did, It's a great game. My only issue with the game was that every time that I set up a room, I knew exactly where every enemy in the room was located, I knew what level they were, strengths, weaknesses, etc.

The mechanic I hated the most about video game RPGs growing up, was also the mechanic I loved the most. I grew up on early console RPGs. Final Fantasy 1 - 10 got the most play, but I remember an NES by the name of Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest) being the game that introduced me to the genre. All of those games share a common game mechanic, the ability to get pulled into battle at any moment (unless you're in a town). Sometimes you're just roaming around the world map looking to grind a few levels and can't wait to throw down, and other times you just want get from point A to point B and curse the gang of Imps that jumped you along the way.

When Bambu added Magnetic Switch LED's to their store, I instantly knew that is how we add random encounters to our board games. There was a board game contest coming up on MakerWorld, so I came up with this quick, early version of the mechanic and that ended up being Are you Chicken?. I was happy enough with the way that turned out, but it wasn't quite usable in a tabletop RPG setting, so I refined the idea into what it is now. It would be great if the LED's stayed on only while the magnet was in proximity, and shut off as soon as the magnet is taken away, but unfortunately that's not the case with these LED's. I'm not sure if the type of LED I'm suggesting even exists, but if it does, it would be great to see it in the Bambu store.