Should I Build It Should I Build It
07 Jun 2025
Developer Tools Games

A hex crawler builder for tabletop roleplaying games. Design the workd ...

...with hexes and have the party travel through it.

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Minimal Signal

There’s barely any market activity - either because the problem is very niche or not important enough. You’ll need to prove real demand exists before investing significant time.

Should You Build It?

Not yet, validate more.

Your are here

Your idea for a hex crawler builder for tabletop roleplaying games falls into a 'Minimal Signal' category, meaning it's a niche market where proving demand is crucial before investing significant resources. The fact that we only found one similar product, Tabletop Creator, indicates limited activity, but also limited competition. That product garnered very few comments. There's neither positive nor negative signals to use or buy your product (all values are neutral). Based on this neutral signal, it's tough to gauge whether there's a real need or desire for such a tool. The lack of clear signals, despite the potential, underscores the need for thorough validation before heavy investment. Be careful before investing time and money into this idea.

Recommendations

  1. Start by actively participating in online tabletop RPG communities. Share mockups or early designs of your hex crawler builder and ask for direct feedback. Understanding the specific pain points of game masters regarding world design and exploration will be essential.
  2. Offer to manually create hex maps and campaign settings for a small group of game masters in exchange for detailed feedback. This hands-on approach will give you invaluable insights into their needs and workflows, and also will allow you to build a relationship.
  3. Develop a compelling explainer video showcasing the unique features and benefits of your hex crawler builder. Focus on how it simplifies world creation, enhances gameplay, and saves time for game masters. Track viewership and engagement to gauge initial interest.
  4. Consider creating a waiting list with a small, non-refundable deposit for early access to your tool. This will help you identify serious potential customers and generate initial funding for development. Make sure to explain to the customers the risks of early access!
  5. The similar product, Tabletop Creator, was lauded for its ease of use. Your hex crawler must be intuitive. Focus on usability early. Given that existing tools are limited and cumbersome, highlight how your tool simplifies the hex-based worldbuilding process, making it more accessible and enjoyable.
  6. If, after three weeks of focused effort, you can't find at least five genuinely interested individuals who are willing to commit with a small deposit, seriously reconsider the viability of your idea in its current form. It may be necessary to pivot to a different approach or problem within the tabletop RPG space.

Questions

  1. Given the minimal existing solutions, what specific unmet needs of tabletop RPG game masters will your hex crawler builder address that other tools overlook?
  2. How will you differentiate your tool from existing map-making software or general worldbuilding tools to specifically cater to the needs of hex-crawl campaigns?
  3. What is your plan to engage and grow a community around your hex crawler builder, fostering user feedback and iterative development?

Your are here

Your idea for a hex crawler builder for tabletop roleplaying games falls into a 'Minimal Signal' category, meaning it's a niche market where proving demand is crucial before investing significant resources. The fact that we only found one similar product, Tabletop Creator, indicates limited activity, but also limited competition. That product garnered very few comments. There's neither positive nor negative signals to use or buy your product (all values are neutral). Based on this neutral signal, it's tough to gauge whether there's a real need or desire for such a tool. The lack of clear signals, despite the potential, underscores the need for thorough validation before heavy investment. Be careful before investing time and money into this idea.

Recommendations

  1. Start by actively participating in online tabletop RPG communities. Share mockups or early designs of your hex crawler builder and ask for direct feedback. Understanding the specific pain points of game masters regarding world design and exploration will be essential.
  2. Offer to manually create hex maps and campaign settings for a small group of game masters in exchange for detailed feedback. This hands-on approach will give you invaluable insights into their needs and workflows, and also will allow you to build a relationship.
  3. Develop a compelling explainer video showcasing the unique features and benefits of your hex crawler builder. Focus on how it simplifies world creation, enhances gameplay, and saves time for game masters. Track viewership and engagement to gauge initial interest.
  4. Consider creating a waiting list with a small, non-refundable deposit for early access to your tool. This will help you identify serious potential customers and generate initial funding for development. Make sure to explain to the customers the risks of early access!
  5. The similar product, Tabletop Creator, was lauded for its ease of use. Your hex crawler must be intuitive. Focus on usability early. Given that existing tools are limited and cumbersome, highlight how your tool simplifies the hex-based worldbuilding process, making it more accessible and enjoyable.
  6. If, after three weeks of focused effort, you can't find at least five genuinely interested individuals who are willing to commit with a small deposit, seriously reconsider the viability of your idea in its current form. It may be necessary to pivot to a different approach or problem within the tabletop RPG space.

Questions

  1. Given the minimal existing solutions, what specific unmet needs of tabletop RPG game masters will your hex crawler builder address that other tools overlook?
  2. How will you differentiate your tool from existing map-making software or general worldbuilding tools to specifically cater to the needs of hex-crawl campaigns?
  3. What is your plan to engage and grow a community around your hex crawler builder, fostering user feedback and iterative development?

  • Confidence: Low
    • Number of similar products: 1
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 53.3%
    • Positive use signal: 53.3%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 26.7%
    • Positive buy signal: 26.7%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Tabletop Creator - Create, design, customize, and playtest your own board game

08 Nov 2024 Design Tools Tabletop Games Games

Tabletop Creator is a tool designed to make board game creation easy and accessible for everyone—from hobbyists to professional designers. With an intuitive interface, Tabletop Creator enables you to bring your game ideas to life quickly.

Tabletop Creator, stemming from Reventure Orbtale's issues, is being lauded as impressive, satisfying, and constantly evolving software. Users are creating commercial-quality products with it. One user is even releasing a board game on Kickstarter, praising the tool's functionality and ease of use.

The primary criticism is that existing tools available for game designers are limited and cumbersome to use.

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