Delay And Expand

The Delay:
Got the first two games back from the printer. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Dungeon and Inept Evil Genius. There are issues with the cards in color, layout, and clarity. The cards look out of focus. (How can a physical card be out of focus? Can I just squint to fix it?) I know what the issues are and how to fix them. But they will need to be fixed before I can release the games. With that in mind, it's now looking like late February before the games are available instead of early February. Sorry for delay, but quality is more important than speed.

And to be clear, the issues with the cards are all in the way I put them together. These are the first games I have taken to print, so in a very real sense these were like a rough draft. Game design I know. Printing...well...I'm learning as I go. As for the printer, The Game Crafter web site has been fantastic. The quality of the cards, rules, and boxes they printed was superb. Once I fix the issue of the layouts, which was purely on my side, they will print a high-quality product.

The Expansion:
On the plus side, while I was waiting for the games to come from the printer I had an expansion.

"How does one have an expansion?" you ask, as well you should, because that is an excellent question.

This particular one happened while I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth. Which is surprising because you figure if a guy has an idea in the bathroom it's probably while he's on the Throne of Pondering. While that can happen, it wasn't the case this time. But I digress. Anyway, I was brushing my teeth and I was thinking of the slogan for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Dungeon which is, "It's quick. It's chaotic. It's almost entirely dungeon-free!"

And my next thought was, "If all the crazy stuff in this game happens on the way to the dungeon, what happens IN the dungeon?"

And just like that. *POOF* An expansion is born.

A Funny Thing Happened in the Dungeon has been designed and is working its way through play testing. This 54-card expansion adds a dungeon to the base game. You can delve into the dungeon to get Loot cards. Loot cards are much better than normal cards, but you have to brave the dangers of the dungeon to get them.

You can view details about the expansion in the Game List page to the right.

So...now there's an expansion for a game that you've never seen because it hasn't been released yet. Guess it's kinda hard for you to get excited about that just yet, having never seen the game. But soon you'll be able to play the game and you'll say to yourself, "Self, this game is a blast. I can't wait for the dungeon expansion to come out!" And yourself will agree with you, which is much better than when it argues with you in dark, grumbly voices.

Am I the only one that hears the dark, grumbly voices?

Hmm.

Two Games

Our first two games are coming along nicely (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Dungeon and Inept Evil Genius). I'm not going to discuss the games in detail here. You can see details in the Game List page to the right.

Today I'm going to talk about where we are in the production process.

Both games have been tested, revised, and retested (as is the way with games). And now the concept is ready for you, the Intrepid Game Explorer.

So the next step is to get everything ready to print. Most of that is doing the artwork. Yeah, I know Art-Free Games means we don't do art. But that's not what "artwork" means in this case. Each individual card must be turned into a picture file in order to go to the printer. 108 cards in the deck means 108 picture files. That's what I mean by artwork: converting the cards I have into PNG files.

Then there's all the text: Art-Free Games' page about the game, The Game Crafters' page (they're the printer), and the box. Lots of text on the box. And the box has to be converted to a picture file too.

Gotta get a UPC code. You know, that scannable bar-code thingie.

None of these steps is horribly difficult, mind you. It just takes some time to get it all together.

And that's where both games are right now. All of that has been done and sent to The Game Crafter. The game is basically ready to go. But it's not really ready until the final step: The Review. I have ordered my own copies from The Game Crafter. Once I review the copies and I know they are good to sell, then the games will be available to the public. Right now that's looking like it will be early February, unless I find issues in the prints.

So all you gamers just keep on gamin'.  You'll have some new things to play soon.

New Game Company, Old Game Designer

Hiya.  My name is Mark Parish and I've been designing games for decades.  I design hobby-shop style games.  Not the ones you find in Toy-R-Us or Walmart.  No.  I make the types of games you find in hobby shops and comic book stores.  You know.  Gamer Geek Fodder.  If you are a Gamer Geek, you know what I'm talkin' about.  If you're not, it's okay...we forgive you.

And what have I been doing with all these games I've created?  Well...nothing.  I just do it as a hobby and play them with friends.  It's not that I'm not interested in getting my games out there.  I am.  But two things have always kept me from publishing: large print runs and artwork.

In order to print games at a low enough price to make a profit, you have to do a large print run. Usually 1,000 copies.  Even at a low price per copy, 1,000 copies still costs about the same a semester of college tuition.  Ouch.

But in recent years there has been a surge of companies that do print on demand (POD), meaning the game is printed to order rather than printed in bulk ahead of time.  POD games costs more, since you're not getting the drastic 1,000-copy discount of a bulk print.  But it's a great way for designers to get their games out there and see what people like.  Doing it this way I can get dozens of games out to you, rather than just one.


The other obstacle has always been artwork.  I am a game designer, not an artist.  The best I can do is crayon stick figures, and they all have scoliosis.  For some reason no one wants a card game featuring deformed stick figures.  (I say that sarcastically, but a game featuring deformed stick figures would probably be hilarious.  If you wanna use the idea, go for it.)

But then I realized that some of the best games I've played recently have no artwork.  Artwork is pretty, and it makes us happy when it's there.  But ultimately whether or not you like a game is based on how fun it is to play.  In the end, it's not the artwork that matters.  It's the game.

And so I created ArtFreeGames.com today.  The goal is to make enjoyable games that prove you don't need art to have fun.