Asgard Rises!

Only days ago I was left bereft with the news that Vince and the wonderful community of gamers that is Asgard were to depart our Town Centre, and their future was deeply uncertain.

Tonight, wonderful news!

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Ragnarok

I was very unhappy today to hear that local stalwart and all-round good egg Vince is shutting up shop. Truly, Ragnarok has come to Asgard.

I’m sad to see this day dawn. Asgard and Vince in particular gave me the confidence to launch two successful Kickstarter campaigns and to explore the joy of creating games. My latest game is in development and even has a dwarven theme in honour of the Asgard mascot.

In the outpouring of emotion and support for Asgard, its communities of gamers and wider customer base, it’s important to note a couple of key things.

Giant Dwarves and other minor errors

A couple of weeks ago I ordered pieces for a game I have recently invented in conjunction with Vince Connolly at Asgard Games in Walsall.

New Game, UKGE, catching up and half an idea

Were I even halfway concerned about my audience (rather than this entire blog being largely a vanity exercise) I would open with a meaningful apology for my recent absence. The only issue with such an opening gambit is that I’m really not sorry at all. I’ve been rather busy. However, I have few things to share with you.

Recognition for getting in early

Kickstarter loves an early adopter. From early bird pledge levels in projects through to those who are first to contribute to their special campaigns.

It’s Games Hack time.

I love creating games from scratch. It’s fun and cool. More to the point, it’s exercising creative urges.

Since April Fools Day falls on a Saturday this year I have secured permission from Vince at Asgard Games to use his shop for a few hours to undertake a Games Hack. Working from a brief or inspiration, teams and individuals can compete on the day to create the best basic game in two hours.

You can find out more and sign up here.

Do come down and join us for some fun. It’s 8 quid ont he door but you have to sign up via the Kickstarter to confirm your place, otherwise we don’t have any cash to pay for the venue and materials.

Hurrah!

PS: Any suggestion that we might have to retire to a local public house to play test the games afterwards is going to get nothing but support from me.

The rise and rise of self publishing

OK, I’ll admit to a little self interest here, but bear with me.

I’m involved with publishing. You’re reading it. Blogs have unequivocally levelled the playing field when it comes to getting one’s thoughts out there for others to see at little or no cost. There is something unspeakably cool, however, about seeing your words printed and bound, and self publishing is on the rise.

White Hermione and Straight Biggles

When I first read Harry Potter, Hermione was white. Well, she was in my head because I’m not particularly inventive and I was much more interested in the story than painting a picture of every character in the book.

Now, she isn’t. Or rather, she doesn’t have to be. Likewise, Biggles the pilot of Sopwith Camels in the Great War didn’t strike me as being either particularly gay or straight and yet apparently his orientation has been the subject of speculation.

Steampunk Dreams and Future Proofing

Imagine a world where technology is very different to ours.

And so begins a premise which the average person has probably only glimpsed in silly season news stories about trends in costume wearing comic convention attendees, references to local bookshop Southcart Books or maybe the world of Wild Wild West that terrible star vehicle which nearly ran over Will Smith in 1999 or even The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (more diesel punk than steampunk apparently, but I’m no judge) that saw Sean Connery’s last screen appearance before retirement. I’ll just leave this here and you can roll your eyes at your leisure.

Defining Success

This is not an inspirational post. Or at least, not intended to be. I’m hardly disadvantaged by my own estimation.

But I wanted to acknowledge and celebrate a little milestone. I had an e-mail from Kickstarter this week congratulating me because exactly a year ago I’d successfully concluded the campaign for No Dice, and it was fully funded.

Bear in mind the average Kickstarter project might take months or years to set up, run for a month and then take another few months to even get off the ground properly let alone send out all the rewards and so forth.