Projects

Dice Miner

Producer and game developer of a three-dimensional dice drafting game

Contributions | Identified and championed the design from the Atlas Games slush pile. Built and led a veteran production team to address the challenges of physical production. Led playtest teams and iteratively developed gameplay. Prepared and produced a successful Kickstarter, and managed the mass production process.

“Dice Miner has become one of my favorite games. I’ve probably played it over 50 times!” —Alan R. Moon, designer of Ticket to Ride

“We had an amazing experience working with [Atlas Games] and in particular our producer and developer, Jeff Tidball. They extensively playtested the game, gave us incredibly useful feedback and game design decisions, and often challenged us to come up with creative solutions to issues they identified, yet trusted us in the few situations where we pushed back. —Josh DeBonis and Nikola Risteski, game designers

Cursed Court

Producer and game developer of critically acclaimed bidding and bluffing board game

Major Fun! Award | Dice Tower Seal of Excellence | Father Geek Approved

Contributions | Identified and negotiated with the designer to sign the title, led an extensive and long-term development effort to iterate and polish gameplay, oversaw graphic design and illustration, and spearheaded marketing and release efforts.

“I recently played a few games of Andrew Hanson’s Cursed Court, published by Atlas Games. I had not been that enthralled by a new game for years… [A]n unexpected masterwork. — Bruno Faidutti, designer of Citadels and Mission: Red Planet

“I thought there was a lot of cool stuff going on in this game, and it just ended up being a lot of fun. I can’t wait to play again and I can’t recommend it enough.” — Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games

“An excellent game.” — Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower

Eternal Lies

Co-writer of an epic Trail of Cthulhu campaign

ENnie Award for Best Adventure

Contributions | Along with Will Hindmarch, conceived an ambitious campaign storyline pitting player Investigators against monumental adversaries. Researched diverse global locations, outlined dramatic story arcs, and wove the two together for tabletop roleplaying. Drafted, tested, and revised a prodigious amount of text resulting in a published work more than a quarter-million words long.

“Eternal Lies is simply the most well developed and well designed adventure book I’ve ever seen!” —Steven Dawes, Flame Rising

“…not even in my wildest dreams would have I imagined such a masterpiece. This is total epic madness. This is Masks of Nyarlathotep meet Tatters of the King meet Beyond the Mountains of Madness. This is by far the best campaign ever written for a RPG.” —Tommy Misaysongkham, playtester

“…brilliantly presented, massive, and open to different paths of approach. Combine that with several unusual twists and you have a Cthulhu campaign on par with Masks of Nyarlathotep or Walker in the Wastes. For good reason it took home the ENnie Gold for Best Adventure.” —Lowell Francis, Age of Ravens

Horus Heresy

Producer and designer of a massive board game in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Contributions | Designed and developed deep, engaging game mechanics. Wrote and laid out comprehensive rulebook and scenario guide. Managed licensor’s approval process. Managed graphic design development and workflow. Quoted and assembled massive component roster including plastic models and printed, vacuum-formed terrain.

“I loved it. I can’t wait to play it again… Every game feels like a different story.… The mechanics work beautifully… they come together great… I love it.” —D6 Generation

“A beautifully balanced, fair, pretty complex, but fantastic game.” —Downtown Time

“It’s clever, tense, innovative, uses the theme like clay on a wheel.” —Shut Up & Sit Down

Sora

Lead designer of a mobile, social MMO.

Contributions | Designed system events. Designed equipment and outfits. Wrote event text and character dialogue. Managed system design tool improvements. Managed event designers.

“[Jeff] became responsible for all of the extensive writing, art creation, and game design elements of a massively multi-player role playing game, and our product improved significantly as a result.” —Jason MacDowell, CEO, Tomo Software

Pieces of Eight

Designer of an award-winning, genre-defying game played with minted metal coins.

Origins Vanguard Award for innovation in game design | Diana Jones Award nominee

Contributions | Conceived and designed unprecedented coin-in-hand combat game requiring no tabletop.

“[A] perfect example of a game that is simple to learn but fun to play for beginners and long-time gamers alike … offers layers of customization and strategy found in few games of any kind, as well as an elegance for which all great game designers strive.” —Diana Jones Award Nomination Press Release

Additional Selected Publications…

Rules Writer, Hoplomachus Remastered and Hoplomachus: Victorum (revised editions) | Editor and Publisher, Friendly Local Game Store | Editor and Publisher, Meeples Together | Producer and Developer, Three Cheers for Master | Producer and Developer, Never Bring a Knife | Contributor, The Escapist | Writer, “The Rituals of the Order” serial fiction | Essayist, Hobby Games 100 and Family Games 100 | Editor and Publisher, Hamlet’s Hit Points | Columnist, Games Quarterly Magazine | Designer, Cthulhu 500 | Developer, Beowulf: The Movie Board Game | Producer, Chaos in the Old World | Developer, Dragon Age Roleplaying Game (tabletop) | Developer, The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game

“Jeff is a top-flight game designer, in an industry where very few people fly that high. … I go to Jeff when I have projects that no one else can help envision. … [H]e came back with a far better version than my team could do by itself.” —Mike Selinker, President, Lone Shark Games

…And All the Rest

Writing, design, producing, development, editing, and layout on dozens of additional titles. Full CV and publication listing available on request.