Howdy all.
Sorry I haven’t been here for a wile, but I just got done hosting Protospiel South and The Inevitable Project just ended its funding drive at Kickstarter. It’s been very, very busy.
A little on Protospiel South: It went tremendously well. Everyone who attended seemed to have a good time. We had just as many attendees as we could handle. The crafting table was a success and got used (although I may have gone a little overboard on the quantity of colored paper). Each meal had just enough (or a little too much) food to feed all attendees. The Austin Chronicle ran the calendar entry that we submitted to them and even made some art to accompany it.
I’m certainly going to have it again next year. Same days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend), but in a different hotel. The Best Western Atrium North was fantastic and very nice, but we filled their largest room to capacity. Next year is certain to be larger.
A little on Inevitable: Donors pledged $9,435 (!!!) to see it get made. That’s absolutely incredible. Now we have to nail down final prices from printers, etc., get it all printed, assemble it, and ship it. This is tremendously exciting, and Jeremy is doing amazing work to see it completed. If you haven’t looked at the Inevitable Leaks Blog, you really ought to. The money is hi-larious.
On SJG:
I’ve been sending out new games for playtest. I’ve made an effort to contact designers with pending games to keep them appraised of what’s going on. (Note to self: Ask the MH guy to create the cheat sheet / play aid that you don’t have the time/skill/resources to create!) I need to remember that I’m good at deconstructing the game to fix the problem and apply that skill more often.
It’s nice to have a job again. This job is still awesome. Now that I’ve been there almost three months, I’m used to the typical flow and can start getting into more complex projects, like establishing procedures, etc..
I’ve readjusted to working. As I plunged into it, I dropped a lot of other stuff I was doing, like game design (ironically), reading, cleaning, cooking, shopping for food, etc.. I’m resuming those things, and that’s nice. For example, Sharon had a nice discussion with Steve Jackson at Protospiel South about dice games in theory and practice. Since then, Sharon’s been thinking a lot about dice games. Sharon and I made up two dice games this afternoon while waiting for our (incredibly awesomely fantastically delicious) doughnut at Gourdough’s. When we got home, I mocked up a board for the game that needed one and we played both of them. The board-based one which we made together is quite fun. The all-dice one I made was a little bland; it needs… something.
There’s not really a lot of “insider advice” here, I suppose. Okay. Here’s one tip: If you go to a game design convention (like any one of the Protospiels) and reps from a game publisher are there, present your game as if they were considering it for publication – even if their public policy is that they are not accepting outside submissions. Don’t get all in their face about it, but make your game(s) look as good as they can. Bring your “A” game. This may be the best and most relevant tip I gleaned from the past two weeks. A corollary: If you have a game that’s thoroughly playtested – a game that’s really done – that doesn’t really need playtesting, but you’re shopping it around… Bring that out and show it off.
A final note: Royce – It was fantastic to meet you and your friends. I wish I spent more time to sit and talk with you at Protospiel South. I genuinely regret not doing so.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: thought : gaming
Invisible City Productions is a collective of game designers, writers, and artists who provide this as a space for the creators of secret media to come together and touch antennae.
Jon- It was great to meet you too! We all had a great time and are glad we went. PS: I picked up a copy of Dr. Necreaux last week. What fun!
— Royce Jun 23, 11:27 PM #