A few months of lacklustre progress on anything except my German language Windows Phone app seems finally to be coming to a close. A few of you will remember my ill-fated days running Reiver Games (read the history of this blog for a lesson in how not to run a board games publishing company). Now I'm at it again.
At the beginning of the year I announced my intention to get back into board game publishing (but not via KickStarter!) but I've made next to bot-all progress on that so far. The recent re-imagining of Zombology into a true semi co-op game and the resulting good feedback that has elicited has got me fired up once again and ready to kick off Games Publisher II (a working title!).
I've chosen a company name (which will remain secret until I've claimed the web domain!) and need to start the process of starting another company (does this make me a serial entrepreneur?).
I also need to start work on the art of Zombology more seriously. I'm intending to do it myself, since a very small print run has almost no room for an art budget. I've got some skills, but they are pretty limited so I need to work out what I can do to an acceptable level and temper my vision accordingly.
I'm going to ask my dad (an artist and the cover artist for Border Reivers) to help me come up with a logo for my company, and at the same time I need to get a company bank account set up so that I've got an account with which to start paying for things. I'll need this in place before registering the web domain and getting some hosting organised. I'll be doing it all properly again, which means more hours of bookkeeping and tax returns: joy.
It's all getting very exciting. The current plan is a 50-100 copy print run of Zombology depending on the cost of the printing. I want a number that I'm fairly sure I can sell out in around a year. I've got 8 pre-orders already (before I'd even chosen a game to publish - they're keen!), and I hope to get a few more under my belt before I get the printing done.
I'll be doing some rudimentary marketing as time goes on via a combination of Twitter, Google+ and BoardGameGeek, which started with a poll on Google+ this week to choose the last two suits. I'm happy with Healing Crystals, Homeopathy, Vegan Diet and Psychotherapy, but was less pleased with Reiki and Acupuncture. I asked for suggestions here last week and got several good ideas and then put them up to the vote on Wednesday. Magnets was a clear winner with Aromatherapy a strong second. The suits are locked!
Monday, April 27
Monday, April 20
Crowdsourcing / Market Research
It's been a good week. I've had my first Games Night for four weeks (and sadly last Games Night for another three due to work travel) and a few more good playtests of Zombology.
I'm now ready to call my first game that I hope to self-publish in my second innings as a board games publisher: It's Zombology.
Last week I made some changes to the scoring of Zombology, making it a true semi-co-op game along with tweaking the way the gurus work to make them more useful/interesting.
We played four games back-to-back at Newcastle Playtest. These guys have played it a lot. Over the last year and a half we've played it at the beginning of almost every session, often a couple of times. It's been through a lot of changes and incarnations, and people are still willing to play it, which is nice. This time the feedback seemed much more positive, Paul who usually doesn't enjoy it said he'd enjoyed it and finally 'got' this version and later Alex described it on twitter as "straight up 'published game'-level fun".
We played a few more games on Thursday, a couple of three player games at lunchtime, and then a couple of seven player games at the beginning of Games Night. DJ and Mal (both of whom have tens of plays of various versions under their respective belts) had good things to say: DJ said it was the best game of it he'd played and Mal (who had said the last version felt further from ready than the one before it) said: 'Don't make too many more changes, it's ready to publish'. Gav's feedback email was entirely positive too.
So I'm ready to start the process of publishing a game again. At least, almost ready. I've got my checklist to work through and there are a few other things I need to sort out, including getting a few playtest copies out to other groups. Before I do that, I need some help - which is where the title of this post comes in.
I need an exposition. A paragraph or so that explains the game and makes it sound so fantastic that your only option on reading it is to wire me vast sums of money to sate your powerful need to play this game immediately. Currently I have:
Zombology
Unlikely cures vs. the zombie apocalypse
Zombitis is sweeping the globe: it's already killed millions and billions more are at risk. There's no government stockpiled vaccines and pharmaceutical companies have nothing. You and your peers are mankind's last hope. Just a couple of months ago they were ridiculing your 'advanced projects agency' for its crackpot ideas, now they're praying that it might just work. You've got eight weeks to try to cure the zombie plague, will you be heralded as one of the heroes of mankind, or will you back the wrong method and remain a crackpot to the end of your days? Work together to achieve a cure or try to trip up cures that you don't support. Time's running out...
Which, let's be honest is weak. This is not my strong suit. So I'm appealing to you my loyal readership for some advice/improvements.
Also, I need six things that are unlikely to cure Zombitis. Currently I have:
I'm now ready to call my first game that I hope to self-publish in my second innings as a board games publisher: It's Zombology.
Last week I made some changes to the scoring of Zombology, making it a true semi-co-op game along with tweaking the way the gurus work to make them more useful/interesting.
We played four games back-to-back at Newcastle Playtest. These guys have played it a lot. Over the last year and a half we've played it at the beginning of almost every session, often a couple of times. It's been through a lot of changes and incarnations, and people are still willing to play it, which is nice. This time the feedback seemed much more positive, Paul who usually doesn't enjoy it said he'd enjoyed it and finally 'got' this version and later Alex described it on twitter as "straight up 'published game'-level fun".
We played a few more games on Thursday, a couple of three player games at lunchtime, and then a couple of seven player games at the beginning of Games Night. DJ and Mal (both of whom have tens of plays of various versions under their respective belts) had good things to say: DJ said it was the best game of it he'd played and Mal (who had said the last version felt further from ready than the one before it) said: 'Don't make too many more changes, it's ready to publish'. Gav's feedback email was entirely positive too.
So I'm ready to start the process of publishing a game again. At least, almost ready. I've got my checklist to work through and there are a few other things I need to sort out, including getting a few playtest copies out to other groups. Before I do that, I need some help - which is where the title of this post comes in.
I need an exposition. A paragraph or so that explains the game and makes it sound so fantastic that your only option on reading it is to wire me vast sums of money to sate your powerful need to play this game immediately. Currently I have:
Zombology
Unlikely cures vs. the zombie apocalypse
Zombitis is sweeping the globe: it's already killed millions and billions more are at risk. There's no government stockpiled vaccines and pharmaceutical companies have nothing. You and your peers are mankind's last hope. Just a couple of months ago they were ridiculing your 'advanced projects agency' for its crackpot ideas, now they're praying that it might just work. You've got eight weeks to try to cure the zombie plague, will you be heralded as one of the heroes of mankind, or will you back the wrong method and remain a crackpot to the end of your days? Work together to achieve a cure or try to trip up cures that you don't support. Time's running out...
Which, let's be honest is weak. This is not my strong suit. So I'm appealing to you my loyal readership for some advice/improvements.
Also, I need six things that are unlikely to cure Zombitis. Currently I have:
- Healing crystals
- Vegan diet
- Psychotherapy
- Homeopathy
- Reiki
- Acupuncture
Monday, April 13
Zombology: The Final Straight?
It's been yet another very busy week, despite the Bank Holiday. The builders finished our new bathroom on Friday, so the house is slowly returning to normal and I can wash at home (which is awesome!).
Tuesday night was Newcastle Playtest, which again was fantastic. I've said before what a great bunch they are, but they've really had a transformative effect on Zombology and Vacuum and I'm sure the same will be true of the other games I work on in the future.
I took Zombology, Dragon Dance and Border Reivers on Tuesday, but I didn't really feel like playing any of them. Zombology was in a bit of a rut, I'd not really had time to properly update Border Reivers, and Dragon Dance hadn't changed since the end of last year. We all got a drink in (did I mention it's held in a pub? Genius!) and then started chatting about games. Alex had an idea he wanted to try out of a semi co-op game. Paul said that a semi co-op should be winnable by more than one player, unlike Zombology, where either someone won or everyone lost.
That's when the lightbulb above my head lit up.
Zombology has been in a weird place for a month or two. I came up with a new version a month or so back that fixed some problems with the previous version but the newer version was worst than the one it 'fixed'. I had no idea how to move on, and I didn't really want to roll back to the previous version, because bits of it were clearly broken.
The idea of more than one winner struck me as really interesting, so we discussed some things we could do and then sat down to try them out. Despite the changes being incredibly minor (just the scoring changed) the game felt completely different. People played co-operatively (and also aggressively!), there was table talk and strategising, some of the weaker cards were suddenly much more important and everyone seemed to enjoy it - even those people who previously had definitely not been fans. We played four games back to back and I was really happy with how it played.
For most of this year I've been thinking that Zombology would probably be the game that I would self-publish this year, but I wasn't happy with the game as it stood. Now I'm much happier. I need to play it a bunch more times (with different numbers of players and different people) but I've got a much better feeling about this version. I'm excited again.
I'll have to print a new version to tweak a couple of things, but we're definitely getting there!
In other news, with five plays this year I've managed to cross Galaxy Trucker off my list of games I own but that I've yet to play ten times. Four of the five plays have been on the excellent iPad app with my boss on the way to or from Manchester on the train. But they count in my book!
Tuesday night was Newcastle Playtest, which again was fantastic. I've said before what a great bunch they are, but they've really had a transformative effect on Zombology and Vacuum and I'm sure the same will be true of the other games I work on in the future.
I took Zombology, Dragon Dance and Border Reivers on Tuesday, but I didn't really feel like playing any of them. Zombology was in a bit of a rut, I'd not really had time to properly update Border Reivers, and Dragon Dance hadn't changed since the end of last year. We all got a drink in (did I mention it's held in a pub? Genius!) and then started chatting about games. Alex had an idea he wanted to try out of a semi co-op game. Paul said that a semi co-op should be winnable by more than one player, unlike Zombology, where either someone won or everyone lost.
That's when the lightbulb above my head lit up.
Zombology has been in a weird place for a month or two. I came up with a new version a month or so back that fixed some problems with the previous version but the newer version was worst than the one it 'fixed'. I had no idea how to move on, and I didn't really want to roll back to the previous version, because bits of it were clearly broken.
The idea of more than one winner struck me as really interesting, so we discussed some things we could do and then sat down to try them out. Despite the changes being incredibly minor (just the scoring changed) the game felt completely different. People played co-operatively (and also aggressively!), there was table talk and strategising, some of the weaker cards were suddenly much more important and everyone seemed to enjoy it - even those people who previously had definitely not been fans. We played four games back to back and I was really happy with how it played.
For most of this year I've been thinking that Zombology would probably be the game that I would self-publish this year, but I wasn't happy with the game as it stood. Now I'm much happier. I need to play it a bunch more times (with different numbers of players and different people) but I've got a much better feeling about this version. I'm excited again.
I'll have to print a new version to tweak a couple of things, but we're definitely getting there!
In other news, with five plays this year I've managed to cross Galaxy Trucker off my list of games I own but that I've yet to play ten times. Four of the five plays have been on the excellent iPad app with my boss on the way to or from Manchester on the train. But they count in my book!
Monday, April 6
A Friend Who Games
I'm notoriously bad at keeping in touch with people: I'm hopeless at keeping in touch with the friends I went to school with; I'm not in touch with anyone I went to university with; I've had many jobs over the years, and the only former colleagues I'm still in touch with are the guys I used to work with in Newcastle (and now work with again mostly).
There is an exception to this rule of rubbishness however. When I lived in York I met many friends through board gaming. Paul was one of my key Reiver Games playtesters and I used to attend his games night twice a week for many years. Despite leaving York in 2009, we've kept in touch and we see each other every couple of months either in York or Newcastle for hanging out with our families and late night gaming. We had planned to meet up for the Easter weekend in Newcastle, but then I was invited to a wedding in York.
It was Dave's wedding, another gaming friend from our time in York. Dave and I had got on famously after originally trying to arrange a game of Space Hulk together. After a year or two, Dave moved to Plymouth - which, as far as I can fathom, is about as far from York or Newcastle as is the moon. Dave and I have met up about four or five times in the eight years since he left York, but as a gaming buddy we stay in touch if only by occasional emails. Another gaming buddy who I've managed to stay in touch with.
When I pulled out of having Paul and his family up for Easter due to attending Dave's wedding, Paul invited us to stay with them in York instead. So instead, we had a long weekend of gaming (in an awesome confluence of events, the bathroom is being replaced at the moment, so instead of four days at home with no facilities to wash ourselves, we got to be at a friend's house - with a shower!).
We left Friday morning and we hung out with Paul's family on Friday afternoon, Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, and with Dave and his wife and friends all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Plus I got late night gaming in on Friday and Sunday with Paul and Saturday with Dave. It was an awesome weekend, and I start the month of April with eighteen games played in the first five days including three towards my ten plays goal!
Tomorrow is Newcastle Playtest, I'm hoping to take along Zombology, Dragon Dance and possibly some hand-scribbled cards for a new version of Border Reivers.
Coincidentally, Terry, Andrew and Graham, my gaming buddies from Bedford (which I left 3.5 years ago) and I are still in touch too. Via twitter, the occasional convention or games weekend. A gaming friend is a friend forever!
There is an exception to this rule of rubbishness however. When I lived in York I met many friends through board gaming. Paul was one of my key Reiver Games playtesters and I used to attend his games night twice a week for many years. Despite leaving York in 2009, we've kept in touch and we see each other every couple of months either in York or Newcastle for hanging out with our families and late night gaming. We had planned to meet up for the Easter weekend in Newcastle, but then I was invited to a wedding in York.
It was Dave's wedding, another gaming friend from our time in York. Dave and I had got on famously after originally trying to arrange a game of Space Hulk together. After a year or two, Dave moved to Plymouth - which, as far as I can fathom, is about as far from York or Newcastle as is the moon. Dave and I have met up about four or five times in the eight years since he left York, but as a gaming buddy we stay in touch if only by occasional emails. Another gaming buddy who I've managed to stay in touch with.
When I pulled out of having Paul and his family up for Easter due to attending Dave's wedding, Paul invited us to stay with them in York instead. So instead, we had a long weekend of gaming (in an awesome confluence of events, the bathroom is being replaced at the moment, so instead of four days at home with no facilities to wash ourselves, we got to be at a friend's house - with a shower!).
We left Friday morning and we hung out with Paul's family on Friday afternoon, Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, and with Dave and his wife and friends all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Plus I got late night gaming in on Friday and Sunday with Paul and Saturday with Dave. It was an awesome weekend, and I start the month of April with eighteen games played in the first five days including three towards my ten plays goal!
Tomorrow is Newcastle Playtest, I'm hoping to take along Zombology, Dragon Dance and possibly some hand-scribbled cards for a new version of Border Reivers.
Coincidentally, Terry, Andrew and Graham, my gaming buddies from Bedford (which I left 3.5 years ago) and I are still in touch too. Via twitter, the occasional convention or games weekend. A gaming friend is a friend forever!
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