What I did for GenCon week
TL;DR
📦 Hidden Marks is finally back in stock
📹 Our animated tutorial is live on YouTube 🔗
🖨️ Free Print-and-Play version now available on our website 🔗 and itch.io 🔗
🏷️ New QR stickers make learning the game easier
🎲 GenCon recap and a new retail partner in Circleville, OH
🔜 Weekly goals: display box design, content production, and retail outreach
Games and Conventions and Videos, Oh My
Photo of Hidden Marks being played at a table at GenCon
After a week full of crazy updates, sent deliverables and nearly a day's worth of driving, I’ve caught my breath, and I’m ready to tell you all about it. We’ve had an exciting year so far here at Riffle Square Cut. Between restocking Hidden Marks, and attending the biggest board game convention in the midwest, we are quietly getting ready for a major push to close out the year. Given this is my first real blog post, hello and welcome! This is what’s been happening, and where we are heading next.
📦 Hidden Marks Is Back in Stock
At the end of Q4 2024, we ordered a small run of Hidden Marks to test all of our latest changes. Feedback was very positive, and after the last game was sold back in March, we began prepping for the next run. However, the tariff spike delayed our plans to reprint in mid-April (we manufacture in China), and we were forced to wait until the tariffs dropped, or we found some work-around.
That opportunity came with the 90-day pause, so we decided to jump on it. Production launched at the beginning of July, just in time for convention season. If you’ve been waiting to grab a copy, now is the time.
📹 Animated Tutorial Now Live
For the last 6 years, one of the biggest hurdles for us has been the lack of a professional tutorial. For years, we experimented with talking head videos, gameplay breakdowns, even narrated walkthroughs, but the quality always fell below our expectations.
So in early 2025, I decided to go all in on making it with 2D animation, which I had never done before. After 8 months of learning, animating, and editing, it is finally finished, and it is live on most of our platforms, including YouTube 🔗.
I am very pleased with the quality of the video and the reception from the community, but I do think that there is still room to improve. I would like to learn Blender for 3D animations for future works, but for now, I am just happy that we have gotten this far.
🖨️ Free Print-and-Play Released
With the tutorial completed, we also launched a free print-and-play (PnP) version of Hidden Marks, which I’ve wanted to offer for years. This was my first time creating a PnP card game, so after learning from communities like Martin's Print and Play Hideaway on Facebook, I came up with the following list of deliverables:
A4 and Letter versions
Gutter Fold and 3x3 card layouts
Full color with art
Printable box and rule booklet
Because our website has a file size limit, you can download:
Low-res files from our website 🔗
High-res files from our itch.io page 🔗
I’d love feedback from players and PnP reviewers, and I plan to keep these resources up to date going forward. Additionally, some additional files I would like to add are a 1-page rules sheet, build guides for each file, and maybe even a construction video.
🏷️ Improved Packaging with QR Stickers
Earlier this year at the GAMA convention, one of the recommendations we received was to include a quick way for customers to learn the game in the store. To do this, we attached it as a sticker to the cellophane, which would be visible on shelves and removable after purchase.
Also, for the first time, we produced the stickers needed for this change in-house. The final stickers turned out great, so moving forward, we will produce any stickers needed ourselves, including for merch and swag.
Photo of Hidden Marks decks on shelf, with new QR stickers
🎲 GenCon Recap
This year, I was fortunate to attend GenCon. I had a pleasant time connecting with many developers, artists, content creators, and players in the industry. I was also able to get the game into the hands of many reviewers, who I hope will enjoy the game.
🛍️ New Retailer: Puma’s Rest in Circleville
We are proud to offer Hidden Marks at a new retail location, Puma’s Rest. They are a newer store that just opened their doors in Circleville, Ohio, and it was lovely meeting the owner and talking about Hidden Marks. They now carry the game, and they also keep a demo of the game in their game library, free to be played by the public.
If you are in the area, consider dropping by and playing the demo, and buy a copy of the game to take home!
Photo of the front of Puma's Rest, a new retailer that carries Hidden Marks
🔧 Behind the Scenes: Office Panel Complete
This is not really a huge update, more just a step in a long journey of procrastination. I want to make a DIY cubicle out of industrial storage shelves and pegboard sheets, and I finally finished one side after ignoring it for months. I think it looks really good, and I can’t wait to use it to produce videos.
🔜 What’s Coming This Week
Here’s what I’m committing to deliver by the end of next week:
🧰 Design a new paper display box for retail shelves
📝 Post 1 blog, 🎥 1 vlog, 📱 2 short-form videos, and 🎬 1 long YouTube video
🗺️ Map GAMA-affiliated retailers in Ohio, and visit at least 7 in person