Guides and explainers for every Sixsmith Games product

Tabletop RPG

What Is Virtual Combat Simulator?

Virtual Combat Simulator is a browser-based combat simulator for tabletop RPG encounters, with battle maps, tokens, initiative, and encounter flow in one place.

Writing & Worldbuilding

What Is ContentCraft?

ContentCraft is a writing tool and worldbuilding workspace for projects that need lore organization, canon continuity, and a structured way to develop material over time.

WWII Strategy

What Is Four Star General?

Four Star General is a browser-based WWII tactical strategy game built around deterministic tactics, mission objectives, supply, and reserves.

Typing Practice

What Is MasterTyping?

MasterTyping is a browser-based typing practice app that combines assessments, drills, and game-like progression for real skill building.

How to Prep a Combat Encounter Quickly as a Game Master

Fast encounter prep comes from knowing what information you actually need at the table before combat starts.

Common Combat Tracking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Most combat tracking mistakes come from splitting state across too many places — initiative in one spot, HP in another, conditions somewhere else.

What Information Game Masters Need On-Screen During Combat

The game master needs five things visible during combat: initiative order, token positions, hit points, active conditions, and whose turn it is.

When to Use VCS Instead of Paper, Spreadsheets, or a Full VTT

Virtual Combat Simulator fits best when combat tracking is the bottleneck and you do not need a full campaign-management platform.

How to Build a Campaign Bible That Stays Usable

A campaign bible stays usable when it is built around the information you actually reach for during prep and play, not around completeness for its own sake.

Keeping Recurring Story Elements Consistent Across Drafts

Recurring characters, locations, and plot threads stay consistent when they are tracked in one place that new drafts are checked against.

How Game Masters Can Move From Notes to Usable Session Content

Moving from raw notes to session-ready content gets easier when the canon is organized and new material is drafted against it rather than from scratch.

Organizing Project Memory Without Drowning in Documents

Project memory becomes unmanageable when it is spread across too many documents with no shared structure. One organized workspace is faster than a well-labeled folder.

Why Deterministic Tactics Changes Player Responsibility

When outcomes follow from visible rules instead of hidden randomness, the player owns the result — and that changes how the game feels to play.

How Reserves Change Tactical Planning in a Strategy Game

Reserves force commitment questions that simple unit-trading games never create. When to hold, when to commit, and what to hold back changes the entire arc of a battle.

How Scenario Design Creates Replayable Tension in a WWII Strategy Game

Replayable scenarios are built around decisions with meaningful alternatives, not around a single optimal solution.

What Serious WWII Strategy Players Actually Want From a Browser Game

Serious WWII strategy players want a rules model they can study, command decisions that matter, and outcomes that follow from their choices — not spectacle.

How to Build a Consistent Typing Practice Habit

Consistent typing improvement comes from short, regular sessions with a clear target — not from occasional long practice runs.

How to Measure Typing Progress Without Obsessing Over Single Tests

Single typing speed tests are too noisy to track progress accurately. Trend lines over many sessions tell a more useful story.

Why Practice Variety Improves Typing Retention

Switching between focused drills, Pro mode, and game mode prevents the skill from becoming context-locked and makes improvement transfer to real typing situations.

Practical Typing Improvement for Adults

Adult typing improvement is most effective when it is grounded in real weak spots, practiced consistently, and not buried under a childish presentation.

What Is Virtual Combat Simulator?

Virtual Combat Simulator is a browser-based combat simulator for tabletop RPG encounters, with battle maps, tokens, initiative, and encounter flow in one place.

How to Run Faster D&D Combats Online

Online D&D combat speeds up when the battle map, initiative, tokens, and hit points live in one clear combat workflow.

Best Way to Track Initiative, Tokens, and HP in One Place

The best initiative workflow keeps token positions, turn order, hit points, and combat state in the same encounter view.

Combat Simulator vs Full VTT: What Is the Difference?

A combat simulator focuses on encounter flow, while a full VTT usually tries to cover more of the campaign and session stack.

How to Manage Hybrid In-Person and Remote Combats

Hybrid combats work better when local and remote players share the same battle state instead of relying on verbal correction.

What Is ContentCraft?

ContentCraft is a writing tool and worldbuilding workspace for projects that need lore organization, canon continuity, and a structured way to develop material over time.

How to Keep Lore Consistent in a Long Campaign or Novel

Lore stays consistent when characters, factions, locations, and timelines live in one organized place instead of scattered notes.

Worldbuilding Workflow for Writers and Game Masters

A strong worldbuilding workflow starts with the canon assets the project must remember, then expands through reviewable steps.

How to Organize NPCs, Factions, and Locations Clearly

NPCs, factions, and locations stay readable when they are connected through relationships, not stored as isolated entries.

How to Prevent Continuity Drift in Long-Form Creative Projects

Continuity drift slows long-form projects because creators stop trusting the project memory they already built.

What Is Four Star General?

Four Star General is a browser-based WWII tactical strategy game built around deterministic tactics, mission objectives, supply, and reserves.

What Deterministic Tactics Means in a WWII Strategy Game

Deterministic tactics means battlefield outcomes follow visible rules and command decisions instead of vague randomness.

Why Supply and Reserves Matter in Tactical War Games

Supply and reserves matter because they force commitment decisions and shape every turn of the battle.

How Mission Objectives Change Battlefield Decisions

Mission objectives make tactical decisions sharper because the player is fighting the clock, the board, and the goal at the same time.

What Is MasterTyping?

MasterTyping is a browser-based typing practice app that combines assessments, drills, and game-like progression for real skill building.

How Game Systems Improve Typing Practice Consistency

Game systems improve typing practice consistency by giving repetition a reason to continue from one session to the next.

Typing Practice for Adults That Does Not Feel Childish

Adult typing practice works better when the product respects practical improvement instead of treating the user like a kid.

How Progression and Challenge Improve Typing Retention

Progression and challenge improve typing retention because they make practice feel cumulative instead of disposable.