Twas a few days before Christmas when all through the net, game companies were silent, their announcement quota had been met. But Darryl poked and prodded and found a few news tidbits like contest winners, business tips, and marketplace characteristics. So sit tight, boys and girls, and cast away your holiday blues as I tell you all of this week's tabletop gaming news
Hasbro announced the winner of their Next Great Game contest, The Plot Thickens. It’s a collaborative storytelling game where each player has cards with elements on them (people, places, things) and you score a point every time you’re able to play one of your cards while telling the story as well as for interweaving your story with that of the other players. The prize for the Next Great Game is a $25,000 cash prize and a trip to Hasbro headquarters to complete development of the game, which should be arriving in retail stores next year. The annual contest takes game proposals from the public and selects five finalists. These finalists receive $2000 to complete development and launch an IndieGoGo campaign (who are a co-sponsor of the contest). A panel of judges selects the grand prize winner after the crowdfunding campaigns are completed, and it’s not just about who funds the most. A family-themed version of the contest is ongoing now, with crowdfunding campaigns set to launch in January with a winner announced in March.
Wizards of the Coast still haven’t done much promotion for the new print-on-demand reprint books for classic Dungeons & Dragons books, but people are slowly starting to notice. The biggest question most people have is how print on demand stands up in terms of quality compared to traditional print runs. EN World’s own Christopher Helton has a long piece going into detail examining how Print on Demand is changing the landscape of gaming, and how the quality has advanced over the years. If you’re thinking about picking up one of these hard to find treasures, or are reluctant about backing a game from a smaller publisher due to print quality issues, Chris will give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Five years doesn’t seem like very long (at least to us old folks), but it can mean huge changes in an industry like tabletop gaming. Black Diamond Games took a look back at the top companies in gaming from the end of 2016 and the end of 2011. The top companies of 2011 were Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, Konami, Fantasy Flight Games, and Privateer Press. The top companies of 2016 are Wizards of the Coast, Asmodee, Games Workshop, Pokemon USA, and Privateer Press. Which, when you think about it, isn’t that much of a change. Asmodee now owns previous top 5 company Fantasy Flight, plus several other companies in the top 20 list, including licensing the cash cow Settlers of Catan from Mayfair Games. So this means the top five companies are Wizards of the Coast (with Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons dominating the hobby games market), Games Workshop and Privateer Press (proving that miniature gaming will always have a place in the industry), the largest board game company in the industry, and a mainstream company creating games for children (Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh vs. Pokemon USA’s Pokemon). It is worth noting, however, that the top 20 companies in 2011 consisted of 75% of the hobby gaming market, while in 2016 only consist of 66%, meaning that a larger piece of the gaming industry market is held by smaller, independent companies than five years ago. While these numbers aren’t a perfect sample (the numbers come from Black Diamond Games’s own sales numbers and thus are influenced by regional market issues and don’t reflect mainstream or online outlets such as big box stores and Amazon), it does give us an interesting window with which to view the state of the industry the past few years.
With this revolution cycle of the planet coming to an end, the tradition of New Years Resolutions comes up frequently. One I hear a lot is “finally getting into game design”, but that’s because almost everyone I know is a gamer and works in a creative capacity of some sort. Chris Pramas, founder of Green Ronin Publishing, wrote a column discussing the different ways to break into the industry and how things have changed over the years. If you’re wanting to go the independent route and start your own company, Indie Mega Booth published an article from Zachary Strebeck, game designer and licensed attorney, on the legal precautions you should take before jumping into the business world. He breaks down the different types of legal entities that exist for businesses between sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and LLC. More importantly, he gives specific information as to what each one does and doesn’t do, and caps it all off with the best advice on any legal matter – consult a lawyer.
Harlem Unbound takes a look at the Cthulhu mythos through a perspective I don’t recall having seen before – the black culture of New York City in the 1920s. Set during the Harlem Renaissance, this sourcebook contains all the information you need to bring the era of Duke Ellington and Fats Waller into your Call of Cthulhu or Gumshoe game. Chris Spivey, the writer of the book, has worked with Pelgrane Press, Chaosium, Arc Dream, 7th Sea, and others and, most importantly, is an African American himself with a strong interest in black history and culture, ensuring an accurate representation in the game. You can get a copy of the book at the “Countee Cullen” pledge level of $20, but if you want stretch goals and add-ons, you’ll have to go to the $40 “Chick Webb” level for digital or the $50 “Langston Hughes” level for a physical copy. This project is fully funded and runs until Thursday, January 17, 2017.
We’ve all seen the classic Will McLean comic strip from the Dungeon Master’s Guide of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons where the typical fantasy party sits around playing a roleplaying game about “workers and students in an industrialized and technological society”. Ever wondered what that game might look like? Papers & Paychecks answers that question by putting you in a world where every copier and stapler is secretly out to get you as you just try to get through your day. Actually, it sounds like my last several day jobs, only more fun because at least I know it’s not all in my head. A pledge of $5 Australian (about US$4) gets you a PDF of the game, while AU$10 (about US$8) gets a physical copy and AU$20 (about US$15) also gets you “Cow-Orkers in the Scary Devil Monastery”, a book of NPCs and scenarios. This project is fully funded and only runs until Saturday, December 24 so hurry if you want in!
World of Myrr is a collection of tools for running a game ostensibly in Myrr, a campaign setting from Cawood Publishing, but contains some really useful things for anyone running a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition game. The book includes three modules of differing levels (one for 4-6, one for 7-9, and one for 10-12) and a section called “Between Dungeons Handbook”. This is the one that piques my interest as it includes tables for inns and taverns, tavern menus, stores, and random “events” that may or may not prompt some interesting encounters. There’s even a table for random horses. A digital copy of just “Between Dungeons” is available for $5 Canadian (about US$4), or you can add on two adventures for CA$10 (about US$7), four adventures for CA$20 (about US$15), six adventures for CA$30 (about US$22), or a physical copy with all the digital content for CA$60 (about US$44). This project is just barely short of its funding goal but has until Tuesday, December 27 to pick up those last few backers to put them over the edge.
That’s all for this week. Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I will probably be complaining about glitches in recording equipment as I finally set up my studio after moving, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast.
And so I say to all enduring this season's blitz - Happy Holidays to all, and may all your hits be crits!
Hasbro announced the winner of their Next Great Game contest, The Plot Thickens. It’s a collaborative storytelling game where each player has cards with elements on them (people, places, things) and you score a point every time you’re able to play one of your cards while telling the story as well as for interweaving your story with that of the other players. The prize for the Next Great Game is a $25,000 cash prize and a trip to Hasbro headquarters to complete development of the game, which should be arriving in retail stores next year. The annual contest takes game proposals from the public and selects five finalists. These finalists receive $2000 to complete development and launch an IndieGoGo campaign (who are a co-sponsor of the contest). A panel of judges selects the grand prize winner after the crowdfunding campaigns are completed, and it’s not just about who funds the most. A family-themed version of the contest is ongoing now, with crowdfunding campaigns set to launch in January with a winner announced in March.
Wizards of the Coast still haven’t done much promotion for the new print-on-demand reprint books for classic Dungeons & Dragons books, but people are slowly starting to notice. The biggest question most people have is how print on demand stands up in terms of quality compared to traditional print runs. EN World’s own Christopher Helton has a long piece going into detail examining how Print on Demand is changing the landscape of gaming, and how the quality has advanced over the years. If you’re thinking about picking up one of these hard to find treasures, or are reluctant about backing a game from a smaller publisher due to print quality issues, Chris will give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.
Five years doesn’t seem like very long (at least to us old folks), but it can mean huge changes in an industry like tabletop gaming. Black Diamond Games took a look back at the top companies in gaming from the end of 2016 and the end of 2011. The top companies of 2011 were Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, Konami, Fantasy Flight Games, and Privateer Press. The top companies of 2016 are Wizards of the Coast, Asmodee, Games Workshop, Pokemon USA, and Privateer Press. Which, when you think about it, isn’t that much of a change. Asmodee now owns previous top 5 company Fantasy Flight, plus several other companies in the top 20 list, including licensing the cash cow Settlers of Catan from Mayfair Games. So this means the top five companies are Wizards of the Coast (with Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons dominating the hobby games market), Games Workshop and Privateer Press (proving that miniature gaming will always have a place in the industry), the largest board game company in the industry, and a mainstream company creating games for children (Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh vs. Pokemon USA’s Pokemon). It is worth noting, however, that the top 20 companies in 2011 consisted of 75% of the hobby gaming market, while in 2016 only consist of 66%, meaning that a larger piece of the gaming industry market is held by smaller, independent companies than five years ago. While these numbers aren’t a perfect sample (the numbers come from Black Diamond Games’s own sales numbers and thus are influenced by regional market issues and don’t reflect mainstream or online outlets such as big box stores and Amazon), it does give us an interesting window with which to view the state of the industry the past few years.
With this revolution cycle of the planet coming to an end, the tradition of New Years Resolutions comes up frequently. One I hear a lot is “finally getting into game design”, but that’s because almost everyone I know is a gamer and works in a creative capacity of some sort. Chris Pramas, founder of Green Ronin Publishing, wrote a column discussing the different ways to break into the industry and how things have changed over the years. If you’re wanting to go the independent route and start your own company, Indie Mega Booth published an article from Zachary Strebeck, game designer and licensed attorney, on the legal precautions you should take before jumping into the business world. He breaks down the different types of legal entities that exist for businesses between sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and LLC. More importantly, he gives specific information as to what each one does and doesn’t do, and caps it all off with the best advice on any legal matter – consult a lawyer.
Harlem Unbound takes a look at the Cthulhu mythos through a perspective I don’t recall having seen before – the black culture of New York City in the 1920s. Set during the Harlem Renaissance, this sourcebook contains all the information you need to bring the era of Duke Ellington and Fats Waller into your Call of Cthulhu or Gumshoe game. Chris Spivey, the writer of the book, has worked with Pelgrane Press, Chaosium, Arc Dream, 7th Sea, and others and, most importantly, is an African American himself with a strong interest in black history and culture, ensuring an accurate representation in the game. You can get a copy of the book at the “Countee Cullen” pledge level of $20, but if you want stretch goals and add-ons, you’ll have to go to the $40 “Chick Webb” level for digital or the $50 “Langston Hughes” level for a physical copy. This project is fully funded and runs until Thursday, January 17, 2017.
We’ve all seen the classic Will McLean comic strip from the Dungeon Master’s Guide of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons where the typical fantasy party sits around playing a roleplaying game about “workers and students in an industrialized and technological society”. Ever wondered what that game might look like? Papers & Paychecks answers that question by putting you in a world where every copier and stapler is secretly out to get you as you just try to get through your day. Actually, it sounds like my last several day jobs, only more fun because at least I know it’s not all in my head. A pledge of $5 Australian (about US$4) gets you a PDF of the game, while AU$10 (about US$8) gets a physical copy and AU$20 (about US$15) also gets you “Cow-Orkers in the Scary Devil Monastery”, a book of NPCs and scenarios. This project is fully funded and only runs until Saturday, December 24 so hurry if you want in!
World of Myrr is a collection of tools for running a game ostensibly in Myrr, a campaign setting from Cawood Publishing, but contains some really useful things for anyone running a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition game. The book includes three modules of differing levels (one for 4-6, one for 7-9, and one for 10-12) and a section called “Between Dungeons Handbook”. This is the one that piques my interest as it includes tables for inns and taverns, tavern menus, stores, and random “events” that may or may not prompt some interesting encounters. There’s even a table for random horses. A digital copy of just “Between Dungeons” is available for $5 Canadian (about US$4), or you can add on two adventures for CA$10 (about US$7), four adventures for CA$20 (about US$15), six adventures for CA$30 (about US$22), or a physical copy with all the digital content for CA$60 (about US$44). This project is just barely short of its funding goal but has until Tuesday, December 27 to pick up those last few backers to put them over the edge.
That’s all for this week. Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I will probably be complaining about glitches in recording equipment as I finally set up my studio after moving, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast.
And so I say to all enduring this season's blitz - Happy Holidays to all, and may all your hits be crits!
