2026!

Happy New Year all!

I hope those of you who celebrate it had a great Christmas, and I wish all of you a happy, healthy and game-filled 2026.

I feel like 2026 has started today, since we've been away visiting family.

I back now.

It's my first Monday off in a while, which gives me a chance to sort many things out.

I'll be doing some work on the Gal4Xeon campaign.

It's off to a great start with nearing as many followers as Exodus had at launch already.

With 3.5 months to go before launch.

Could this be our most successful roll and write campaign?

We'd really appreciate any follows or shares if you know people who might like a 30 minute 4X game.

I'll also be working on the Italian translation of the Exodus rules.

And planning the local convention I've taken over with a few other local gamers.

Progress.

Feels great after a decent break.

I even managed to maintain my daily game design habit over the break :)

Fauxmas

This weekend was the first of our four(!) Christmas celebrations.

Fauxmas.

Paul and his family came up for the weekend.

We had an early Christmas with them.

Complete with presents.

They got me River Valley Glassworks, which is a very full box!

Christmas dinner.

Drinks.

And games.

It was glorious.

We didn't get much time to talk business, or playtest new ideas.

But we've got a weekend in Leicester together at the end of January.

For To Boldly Game at the National Space Centre again.

It's also the start of my just over 2 week Christmas holiday from the day job.

Which I need.

It's been a crazy few weeks there.

Excited

I've had a new idea.

Inspired by For All Mankind.

I've been watching it in my spare time.

I.e. while washing up.

It's very much my jam.

Sci-fi.

Politicking.

Some alt-history.

Someone on Bluesky said in their mind it's in the same universe as The Expanse.

Which is a personal favourite.

NASA / Neil Armstrong (Public Domain)

So now I'm working on a moonbase game.

My second.

The first one didn't go anywhere.

Hopefully this one will.

I've a neat mechanism idea.

I'll see if I can knock up half a prototype to take away over Christmas.

And develop.

I'm excited to have a new project underway!

Limited

It's been a nightmare week or so in the day job.

As a result I've not made much progress on anything.

I have at least done the VAT return.

And created a Gamefound page for Gal4Xeon.

It's empty at the moment.

In draft so no one can see it.

But I'd like to get it up before Christmas if I can.

I doubt I'll have much time though, so it'll be a very early preview, with limited content to begin with.

Still, it's all progress.

Rules

For a long time the rules of my games live in the Apple Notes app.

I can read them whenever I want.

Tweak them easily.

Edit them easily.

Check them on my phone, when I'm pulling out a prototype I've not played in a while.

At some point they have to become official though.

Graphic design.

Diagrams.

That takes time and effort.

So I tend to leave it until near the end.

When I'm not expecting many more changes.

I'm doing the Gal4Xeon rules now.

In InDesign.

With diagrams.

And graphic design.

It's slow going.

But an important step.

Habits

I have a list of daily tasks I do.

To protect my health.

My mind.

My body.

But also to hone my craft.

Games design is one of them.

I do a bit every day.

Building my skills.

Making my games better.

I have a broad definition of games design.

Title ideas. Theme ideas. Mechanism ideas. Writing rules. Creating prototypes. Playtesting. Graphic design on a prototype or final version.

But a bit every day.

Sometimes a tiny bit.

Sometimes several big bits.

But each day I am practising.

Getting better.

And my games are moving forward.

Yesterday it was helping Daughter the Second with a game idea she had.

The first page of the Gal4Xeon rules taking shape in InDesign

Then a bit more work on the Gal4Xeon rules.

Today is my day off.

I'll make more progress.

Onwards! 

Gal4Xeon

I've been working on a fifth roll and write game for a few months now.

It's been coming together nicely.

It got great feedback at my last playtest.

And now it's got a name.

You have ten eons to expand across the galaxy. Explore new sectors. Develop new technologies. Exploit resources. Conquer or trade with the aliens you encounter. Will you make it to the precursor ruins at the edge of the galaxy, or focus on claiming the galactic core?

Still putting the finishing touches on it, but it feels like it's getting there.

The Wife is away this week, so I have the evenings to myself.

I hope to make some decent progress.