Booksmack
party 20 minutes 2-7 players competitive kids-can-playBe the first to tap the highest letter of the alphabet … or sneakily take away victory by spelling a word.
Smackshapes
numbers simultaneous-turns board-game fast-paced partyHave the sharpest mind of all and quickly count how often all shapes appear, so you can smash the winning card first!
Cookie Smasher
simple competitive numbers fast-paced actionA fast party game about quick thinking and deduction, finding the poisoned food, then smashing it before anyone else.
Racesmack
fast-paced simple numbers simultaneous-turns 30 minutesTap the acceleration or the brakes at the right times to complete a perilous race first.
Point-a-Pile
high-score simple board-game abstract competitivePoint at the pile of juicy cards that you want. Live with the consequences.
A series of (party) games about thinking on your feet and swiftly smashing the right card before anyone else.
Swiftsmash Saga
This is the overview page of this game collection. Click any of the links to visit a specific game. They are usually sorted based on simplicity (easy → hard).
These games all have the same core mechanic (the “Swiftsmash Mechanic”). First, players simultaneously reveal cards. You must quickly read them, follow ever-changing rules and think ahead to find the one card you must smash. Beat the others and you win. Be too slow, or smash the wrong one, and you’ll regret it.
Besides that shared mechanic, these games are completely different. They don’t even share fonts, visual styles or any other mechanics.
Background
This series started with Cookie Smasher. As explained in that game’s credits, the idea occurred to me as I wrote one of my Wildebyte Arcades books. It has a character called Cookie Clicker, who obviously originates from the video game of the same name. And my brain thought: could you make a boardgame like Cookie Clicker?
This slowly evolved into an expanded version that worked much better: “it’s not about tapping something (often), it’s about tapping the right thing before anyone else.”
This automatically led to all sorts of rules that change what is good and what is bad during the game. Simple rules and cards that force you to think on your feet and quickly deduce what you actually want to smash. As usual with me, once I’ve found a simple core mechanic, I find 5 completely different ways to execute it. (This goes to show just how little it matters if you have the same idea as someone else, because it’s all in the execution.)
Also as usual, I could only find the simpler versions after making the more complicated ones. You have to actually make something and see all its pitfalls and opportunities to realize “wait, if we just change X and Y, we don’t even need these 5 rules or text on the cards!”
Hopefully these party games entertain people around the world, no matter which one you choose.
Credits
Because all games are completely unique in their gameplay, there are no shared images or fonts. For detailed credits, you’ll have to check out the page for a specific game.
Some minor graphics were generated using image AI. (Mostly background textures that you hardly notice are there, but really help things look more polished.) Everything else—code, assets, ideas, illustrations, general design—is all mine.
Support
You can hire me! Maybe you need a special board game or video game for a birthday or educational purpose? I'm also open to inquiries about physically publishing my games. I am a registered freelance artist from the Netherlands and you can contact me professionally through my portfolio.
If unsure, visit my Online Store. It contains everything I ever made. Though it focuses on playful education and activities for children/family, first and foremost.
Another great way to support me is to simply let me know what you think! Mail me at harmonize@pandaqi.com with any feedback.
Alternatives would be to buy my paid work (a win-win situation!) or to donate through the most popular channels (see buttons below).
