AMA (Tuesday noon, April 28): Mike Selinker, your 2015 ENnie Awards host, ex-D&D creative director, and creator of the RPG/card game hybrid Apocrypha

[Mike Selinker]

Hi and thanks for doing another ask me anything.

I'm currently backing the Apocrypha kickstarter and looking forward to the time flying by and it arriving.
I'm backing the Master's Edition and was wondering if there were any further enhancements or additions that were going to be added to that edition of the game to (a) encourage more backers to support at that level, and (b) to differentiate it from the regular edition so it feels like a true difference from what could be gotten at the Revelation Box level.

Congrats on the successful kickstarter and looking forward to it continuing to do well.

I think the Master's Edition is very likely to have some differences by the end of the campaign. We're still seeing what options are available.

And thanks! We are also looking forward to the time flying by.

 

[Mike Selinker]

Do you have any "guilty pleasure" games? Games that may not be critically acclaimed or well-liked, but that you can't get enough of?

The board game I insist everyone play at least once is Snifty Snakes.

 

[TheMoreYouNerd]

Hi Mike,

Wondering if you can give us some cryptic hints (no spoilers) about the upcoming stretch goals for the Apocrypha game kickstarter.

Also, as a question, you have horror as a theme in a few of your games, and I was wondering what Horror books/movies you might recommend to someone looking to get into them. Any 'must read/sees'?

Patrick from TMYN

 

[Mike Selinker]

Hey Mike, just want to thank you for your part in delivering the Marvel game to my door.It was my introduction to DM-ing supers games and I've never really looked back - I was addicted to it, I think I converted something like 800 marvel characters to the game for use as PC/NPCs and ended up statting characters as I read the comics, so my question really is: why do you think it didn't have a long run? There was only ever a few books and products and it seemed to dissappear after 3rd hit the shelves despite having much to do with it apart from distributor. What made them shelve it?

I love everything about that game. It certainly had a huge impact on the games I did thereafter, such as Pathfinder. And The Reed Richard Guide to Everything was the best book I ever wrote, at least until recently. Pretending to be Mr. Fantastic answering kids' questions in the Daily Bugle was one of the best ideas I ever had. My favorite question was:
Dear Dr. Richards: Why does my baby brother look like a hairy little monkey?—Cassie Fluornoy, age 10
Basically because ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, Cassie.

The line blew out of the gate strong, but each successive release sold fewer and fewer copies. Plus, our team released Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, and that put a damper on our other systems. I'm sad we never got to put out The Green Goblin Guide to Crime, because that would have been excelsior-level amazing.

 

[Mike Selinker]

Wondering if you can give us some cryptic hints (no spoilers) about the upcoming stretch goals for the Apocrypha game kickstarter.

Now that we've blown through all the goals we had, we are meeting tomorrow about some more ideas the team has proposed. So you'll know when I do.

Also, as a question, you have horror as a theme in a few of your games, and I was wondering what Horror books/movies you might recommend to someone looking to get into them. Any 'must read/sees'?

<rolls up sleeves>
I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's The Stand. You simply must read House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. In fact, it might matter which edition you read. But I don't want to spoil anything for you. Go get it.
You also should read Kij Johnson's "Ponies," if you can handle it.

Filmwise, you can't go wrong with classics like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. But the more modern 28 Days Later and Pan's Labyrinth have taken the place of those films for me. The splatter movie Feast is shockingly great.

 

[Mike Selinker]

Hey Mike! I just picked up your "Puzzle Craft" book yesterday and am very excited to get started on creating word puzzles. I have had an idea of wanting to create puzzles for a while, but not sure where to start, so I am looking forward to working my way through the book.

Neat!

Questions for you:
What tools are best to have, to set up to create puzzles? (For Example - Computer with Excel, Notebook, Pens, etc.)
Besides Excel/Word, do you use any other programs to assist with the work?
I can see where Excel would be great to make a word search, but how do you create the answer key with the circling?

Microsoft Excel is the greatest consumer software product of all time. It'll do everything except fold your laundry, and it'll do all that while only taking up half your hard drive's memory. We also use Crossfire (because we're Mac users -- Gaby uses Crossword Compiler too).

What are some of the most helpful websites you use to assist in creating the actual puzzle, assisting with word lists, etc.?

I have xwordinfo, rhymezone, the Internet Anagram Server, and the National Puzzlers' League site bookmarked on my Safari bar.

Do you carry a journal around to be able to write down puzzle ideas (types of puzzles, word list themes, starting to compile word lists)? How do you organize your journal?

No, I have a Gaby for that.

Do you keep a log on the computer to assist on when a new puzzle was created, if/when it was used in a publication? Do you keep a separate file for each puzzle created?

Yes, but I didn't in my first 10 years or so, and so my files are a mess.

Any general tips for someone wanting to start creating puzzles?

My number one piece of advice: It's always harder than you think it is.

Thank you very much!

You're welcome!

 

[Mike Selinker]

What was the most difficult part of leaving Wizards of the Coast?
Did you already have another job lined up at the time or had you simply gotten to the point where you needed to move on and there were no other choices?

I love this question. Thanks for asking it.

When I left Wizards, I immediately was certain I would miss two things: the best coworkers I'd ever had and the best games I'd ever worked on. I quickly discovered that the first one was ridiculous: I kept all of those friends, and since I still lived five minutes from WotC, I saw them all the time. If you have real friends at work, nothing about your work life will change whether they're still your friends.

But the games thing… That was harder. I loved Magic and D&D, as well as the great stuff my team was making for Avalon Hill (Axis & Allies, Godstorm, Betrayal). Working on those things every day was addictive, and leaving them behind was really difficult. It put me into withdrawal on CCGs and RPGs; I stopped playing RPG campaigns (other than a yearly game with Andy Collins) for about five years, and I stopped playing Magic in favor of deckbuilders. While I was helping Paizo with games around the time they launched Pathfinder, I kept far out of Jason Bulmahn's way, unless he really needed advice on something. I didn't want to be the guy who was hanging onto the past. But I definitely missed it.

That said, I loved working on new styles of board games with James Ernest, and then with my other teammates. What got me back into D&D wasn't working on the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, though that helped. It has hanging around Rodney Thompson and Trevor Kidd and Greg Bilsland and a new generation of D&D writers that I really liked. So now I'm in Rodney's regular campaign, and in Greg Bilsland's charity campaign for Extra Life. Those guys really inspired me with their vision.

Oh, one more big regret: I left Wizards before making sure that the Underground Lake wasn't on the top floor.

 

[keterys]

I haven't played Axis and Allies in twenty years; I used to play it regularly with my brother (his copy). Some friends brought up playing it again. I then noticed you'd worked on a revision of it, and read about your many changes. I also noticed there were a few revisions done afterwards.

So, if I want to buy a new version of Axis and Allies today, what version should I get? Can you recommend a good group strategy game alternative?

 

[Mike Selinker]

I haven't played Axis and Allies in twenty years; I used to play it regularly with my brother (his copy). Some friends brought up playing it again. I then noticed you'd worked on a revision of it, and read about your many changes. I also noticed there were a few revisions done afterwards.

So, if I want to buy a new version of Axis and Allies today, what version should I get? Can you recommend a good group strategy game alternative?

Well, I worked on the 2004 version, and I like it very much. But I'm sure the later editions had improvements too.

Other WWII games that you might like: Memoir '44, Dust Tactics, and Attack Deluxe (which I helped design).

 

[Alphastream]

Hi Mike,

You have some awesome people at Lone Shark Games. That makes me want to see you all succeed, which in turn makes me wonder what success is... in an interesting industry.

What kinds of measuring sticks and goals does your company set for itself? Is it something like number of games or something related to employee compensation/hires? Is it types of games and impact on the industry? Are there any ceilings or industry underpinnings you want to break/change?

Thanks!