So it’s been a few weeks since our last post because we’ve been working on a panoply of things. I want to get all of it down, because it seems impossible to be doing so much. Also, there are some exciting things in the works.
1. CONlorado
Our trip to Gen Con was fulfilling, full of people, and one of the year’s highlights. However, towards the end of the convention it came to light that we hadn’t actually gamed enough. (We spend most of the time socializing.) So we’ve figured out a way to get our friends from distant lands together for a weekend in early November. It’s sparked a lot of discussion about community building, logisitics, and favorite alcohols. If things go well, it may become an ongoing event.
2. Piece of Work external playtesting
Having run about thirty games of Piece of Work with over a dozen people we’re now entering the home stretch. I’m putting together an external playtest for interested parties. If you want to be involved, let us know and we’ll hook you up with enough stuff to get running. This will be happening in early to mid-November.
3. Demand Mechanics
Since we’re going to be making a video anyway, and because we’re insufferable populists, we’re going to be starting a video program that seeks to put together various designers with the goal of shedding light on the creative process for making crunch in . The first few will probably be Kit, Austin, and myself, but after that we’re hoping to involve people who actually know what they’re doing. This will probably start happening in late November.
4. Piece of Work Kickstarter
Once we’re sure the system is locked down tight, we’re planning on doing a Kickstarter. This means a lot of planning, as we try to suss out reward levels, stretch goals, and logistics around that whole process. Also, all of that is going to get documented and put up here as posts. We’re working with the awesome Stras Acimovic who has some pretty deep insights into how to make a Kickstarter successful. Likely, this is going to start around January.
5. Arcadia
I’m getting excited about how Arcadia is shaping up. We’ve got two core mechanics that really have an interesting feel, and the picture about the final story the game will tell is getting clearer. What I can say at this point is that it will definitely involve fairies, magic, and favors owed. Oh, and cards. The system’s card-based. It is going to be our next game after Piece of Work is finished. No dates yet, but expect a while.
6. Game With Us
A long standing project, Game With Us is our software to help support the Games On Demand projects that have been sprouting up. Basically, it’s a web-app that can be used to run your own Games on Demand room at a con. It’s actually been a lot of fun to work on, though it’s still really rough. No dates on this one either, but look for it next year.
There’s a lot going on! Making posts for the blog has sort of dropped to a lower priority, but I have a few ideas that are waiting to get written up.