Must… keep… plates… spinning…
At the close of Gen Con last year in August, our Roaches had wandered off on their first adventure.
We had been thinking to possibly Kickstarter them; but instead we let them see a bit of the world. They would finally return several months later.
Blind Alley turned out to be a very interesting… blind alley. The game is totally functional, but a bit fussy and the back-stabbing hidden information mechanics were tough to swallow for some folks. If you didn’t trust your memory, you were doomed.
Which left us momentarily with a blank production slate. New designs began featuring fleas and poisonous food. There are good elements there, but they are not quite the scope/scale for a Kickstarter.
Near the end of the year there was another 18-card contest on The Game Crafter… we couldn’t resist. GalaxyTooSmall squeezed a 4X game into a very tiny box. 18-card games generally take about 3 to 4 weeks to do and then you have this cute little finished package. But there was no video… Most of the top entries have a reasonably good how-to-play video that helps to convey the intriguing aspects of a game. Some videos are really quite slick.
Gem Set Match, a bidding game, developed very quickly featuring triangular cards with three suits on each card. It’s actually an abstract set collecting game. But is it interesting…
Then there was the inspiration for another abstract: Omega Base. The parts/components need to be revised to something more cost efficient.
There are another couple early prototypes and a stack of other possibilities… Now there is a pile of games that need sell sheets and how-to-play videos.
…The Roaches want to head back out into the world, and now they have improved and more engaging movement mechanics.
It would be foolish to try and stop them.
Steve #3