I just wanted to share a quick recap of our whirlwind Origins experience this year. Isabel and I got to attend on Saturday. We got to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones. Here's how it went:
7:15 - left Cincinnati for Origins.
9:15 - picked up badges and headed to the open board gaming area to kill time until 10:00 (when the exhibit hall opened).
9:30 - ran into Tom Vasel and a big group of his well-know buddies, so I got to show off my Skyway Robbery prototype to them. They seemed to be intrigued by it.
9:45 - happened by the AEG area and ended up showing off my one new design I brought and chatting with John Goodenough for a surprisingly long time.
11:00 - finally got to the exhibit hall
11:30 - met Jason Kotarski to see our new version of Fidelitas. We also got to do a bit of podcasting. This game should be on Kickstarter around August.
12:15 - picked up my copies of Family Vacation from the Jolly Roger Games booth. The final version looks pretty good, but there are a few minor printing/editing errors. Lugged the six copies back to the car.
1:00 - ate lunch at the North Market. I had a nice Reuben and a fantastic chocolate eclair.
2:00 - headed into the board room area (ribbon not really needed this year) to do demos of Skyway Robbery. We got one started with a nice couple. They seemed to enjoy it.
4:00 - got Dan Patriss and another friend to play Skyway Robbery. Another good demo session.
6:00 - stood around chatting and eating pizza, trying to get another demo in. The guys at the next table were doing the same thing, as was Ryan Metzler a few tables over. However, things really slowed down at this point.
8:00 - headed home. We would probably have gotten another demo in if we had waited until 9:00 or 10:00, but I didn't want to be out so late. It was nice getting home in time to unwind a bit.
All in all, a good day at Origins 2014! I almost bought several games, but ended up not pulling the trigger on anything. I am already getting excited about GenCon. This year, I'll be there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It will be nice having all the extra time.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Skyway Robbery Final Prototype
Just thought I'd share a few pictures of the final Skyway Robbery prototype. I got everything printed last week and finally got it all cut and glued together. I am incredibly pleased with how it all looks and how it plays!
This is going to be one big, heavy box. There are lots of nice components.
The board is a massive 33" x 22". And there are fairly large player boards too. You're going to need a very large table.
Giant-sized location boards fit right on the board. They are just oozing with fantastic art!
The action cards for each player are made to look like passports. Dann May at Game Salute is a genius!
Playing this game with such amazing art is just the most wonderful feeling. After all the years of hard work, my game has finally come to life. And it's so much better than I even dared to hope!
Here's a pic of our first game. Don't be fooled--it's more for the 13+ crowd, but when your dad is a game designer, you get roped into playing just about everything.
I am eagerly looking forward to Origins this week. Isabel and I will be there Saturday only. I will be demoing this game and a few others at the Unpub area that night (unless the Unpub folks are in the Board Room again--in which case, I'll be in open gaming). Look for the Blue Noodle!
Saturday, May 17, 2014
A Busy Summer
Time for my monthly blog post . . . just know that when I'm not sharing news and writing articles on this site, I'm working on really cool games that will be unveiled at a later date. Right now it's time to post a quick update about my INCREDIBLY BUSY SUMMER plans.
In June I'll be attending Origins again, but (just like last year) only on the Saturday. I'll also be bringing Isabel again. I only have a few new prototypes to show around. Otherwise, I'll have several soon-to-be-kickstarted games with me (see below for more details). Oh, and Family Vacation will be available for purchase at the con!
July will be jam-packed with, not one, but TWO Kickstarters! Isn't that a little crazy? Yes. But with five kids, I live in crazytown every day! Each Kickstarter will be with a different company, so that will help a bit. Plus, each game has a slightly different target audience.
Skyway Robbery, a steam-punk, card-driven heist game, just drips with awesome. The art is magnificent (you would not believe the $$$ that cost!), and I'm very happy with where the gameplay is. I'm very jazzed! Check out the BGG page to see more.
And then, Spirits of the Rice Paddy is probably the most complex game I've ever designed. Kevin Brusky and the APE Games team have done an amazing job fine-tuning this heavy-hitter into a sleek, elegant experience. The artwork and layout is currently underway, but things are happening quickly. I'm hoping the true eurogamers will end up loving this game as much as we do!
NOTE: Podcasters and Reviewers - we are currently scheduling media opportunities for both of these games for June and mid-July. Please contact me if you are interested in getting a copy to review and/or doing a short interview with me. Thanks!
August brings GenCon. I plan to attend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this year. I'll be demoing for Game Salute (mostly the new Princess Bride games) Fri and Sat 10:00-1:00. I'll also be demoing SotRP and a few other games at various other times. Let me know if you are interested in trying out one of my games, and we'll work out a time!
August will also be bringing . . . yet another Kickstarter! This project is in conjunction with designer Jason Kotarski (of Heartland Hauling fame). More about this later . . .
Add to all this a few major church activities (a week of Bible School and a week of Junior Camp), and I'm in for a crazy busy time. Sorry to dump all that at one time, but, well, I've got to get back to work!
In June I'll be attending Origins again, but (just like last year) only on the Saturday. I'll also be bringing Isabel again. I only have a few new prototypes to show around. Otherwise, I'll have several soon-to-be-kickstarted games with me (see below for more details). Oh, and Family Vacation will be available for purchase at the con!July will be jam-packed with, not one, but TWO Kickstarters! Isn't that a little crazy? Yes. But with five kids, I live in crazytown every day! Each Kickstarter will be with a different company, so that will help a bit. Plus, each game has a slightly different target audience.Skyway Robbery, a steam-punk, card-driven heist game, just drips with awesome. The art is magnificent (you would not believe the $$$ that cost!), and I'm very happy with where the gameplay is. I'm very jazzed! Check out the BGG page to see more.
And then, Spirits of the Rice Paddy is probably the most complex game I've ever designed. Kevin Brusky and the APE Games team have done an amazing job fine-tuning this heavy-hitter into a sleek, elegant experience. The artwork and layout is currently underway, but things are happening quickly. I'm hoping the true eurogamers will end up loving this game as much as we do!NOTE: Podcasters and Reviewers - we are currently scheduling media opportunities for both of these games for June and mid-July. Please contact me if you are interested in getting a copy to review and/or doing a short interview with me. Thanks!
August brings GenCon. I plan to attend Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this year. I'll be demoing for Game Salute (mostly the new Princess Bride games) Fri and Sat 10:00-1:00. I'll also be demoing SotRP and a few other games at various other times. Let me know if you are interested in trying out one of my games, and we'll work out a time!
August will also be bringing . . . yet another Kickstarter! This project is in conjunction with designer Jason Kotarski (of Heartland Hauling fame). More about this later . . .
Add to all this a few major church activities (a week of Bible School and a week of Junior Camp), and I'm in for a crazy busy time. Sorry to dump all that at one time, but, well, I've got to get back to work!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Success!
With your help, we made our funding goal for Tiger Stripes! Woo-hoo! Thank you so much for all the support. Whether you shared, retweeted, backed or prayed, Isabel and I want to express our gratitude. We'll be making a little "Thanks" video tonight as part of the celebrations!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Final Hours
Thanks to everyone who has posted, shared, retweeted and backed Tiger Stripes! We are ridiculously close to making our goal. But we aren't there yet. Currently, we have 32 hours to raise another $525. You can help us during our final push to the finish line. Please continue to share our Kickstarter link throughout the day. Some of you might also be able to increase your pledge amount--Christmas is December 25th this year! Again, thanks so much for your help. Isabel really appreciates it!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamesalute/tiger-stripes
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamesalute/tiger-stripes
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Tiger Stripes: Crunch Time
As I'm writing this, we have only 68 hours to fund Isabel's Tiger Stripes game on Kickstarter. We need just a handful of backers to make it over the top. Please consider backing this project or sharing the KS link in this final stage of our campaign. Thanks!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Game Design: Dice Probability Graph
As a sometimes substitute teacher, I often face long stretches of sitting at a desk with not much to do (that is, if the kids are all behaving reasonably well). Usually I read. However, the other day I took some time looking into a game design problem.
One of my upcoming games is called Hitler Must Die. It's a gritty cooperative game where players are German citizens, soldiers, and officials trying to assassinate the tyrannical leader of Nazi Germany. In the game, players collect cards and items (combined with location and timing) to setup a successful plot. The game ends with a single roll of the dice. There are many variables and modifiers going into this dice roll, but players just have to roll a high enough total to overcome the current threshold (determined by Hitler's security stance and military support). Rolling well will mean winning the game. Rolling badly doesn't necessary mean you lose, but it makes things much, much worse.
My game design problem is trying to figure out the probabilities for some of these dice rolls. We are used to dealing with the bell curve of the output of two six-sided dice, such as in games like Settlers of Catan. Rolling a 7 is much more likely than rolling a 2. However, what does it look like when you are trying to hit a threshold using the total of the dice? Here is my chart:
Please know that I'm not a mathematician by any means. It was quite a struggle to get this right--and there might still be a few inaccuracies. Nevertheless, I think I've gotten pretty close. I figured out the probability for each threshold and graphed the results. What you see here is the probability of getting at or above a certain total of the dice (both 2 and 3 are shown). The higher the total you are aiming for, the less chance you have of hitting it. This is not surprising. However, what I did find interesting was the shape of the curve. Your chances are greater than you might suspect at the top and bottom of the graph.
I've not spent much time applying this to game design, but you can quickly see some of the possibilities. For example, you can see the improvement of your odds by adding another dice. I imagine this would increase in a similar way for four dice (but I haven't checked yet). You can also see how changing the target threshold would make things easier or harder for players and by how much. I can imagine having players buy extra dice or buy an easier threshold in a game. I'd also like to graph something beside standard 6-sided dice. That could be interesting to play with. Feel free to use this information as you see fit. I'm sure there are other websites that lay this out in more detail, but I thought I'd pass this along anyway. Happy game designing!
One of my upcoming games is called Hitler Must Die. It's a gritty cooperative game where players are German citizens, soldiers, and officials trying to assassinate the tyrannical leader of Nazi Germany. In the game, players collect cards and items (combined with location and timing) to setup a successful plot. The game ends with a single roll of the dice. There are many variables and modifiers going into this dice roll, but players just have to roll a high enough total to overcome the current threshold (determined by Hitler's security stance and military support). Rolling well will mean winning the game. Rolling badly doesn't necessary mean you lose, but it makes things much, much worse.My game design problem is trying to figure out the probabilities for some of these dice rolls. We are used to dealing with the bell curve of the output of two six-sided dice, such as in games like Settlers of Catan. Rolling a 7 is much more likely than rolling a 2. However, what does it look like when you are trying to hit a threshold using the total of the dice? Here is my chart:
Please know that I'm not a mathematician by any means. It was quite a struggle to get this right--and there might still be a few inaccuracies. Nevertheless, I think I've gotten pretty close. I figured out the probability for each threshold and graphed the results. What you see here is the probability of getting at or above a certain total of the dice (both 2 and 3 are shown). The higher the total you are aiming for, the less chance you have of hitting it. This is not surprising. However, what I did find interesting was the shape of the curve. Your chances are greater than you might suspect at the top and bottom of the graph.
I've not spent much time applying this to game design, but you can quickly see some of the possibilities. For example, you can see the improvement of your odds by adding another dice. I imagine this would increase in a similar way for four dice (but I haven't checked yet). You can also see how changing the target threshold would make things easier or harder for players and by how much. I can imagine having players buy extra dice or buy an easier threshold in a game. I'd also like to graph something beside standard 6-sided dice. That could be interesting to play with. Feel free to use this information as you see fit. I'm sure there are other websites that lay this out in more detail, but I thought I'd pass this along anyway. Happy game designing!
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