Hack/Slash Card Game and my Role as a Developer

Cassie Hack from HACK/SLASH by Tim SeeleyHi everyone,

I am excited to announce that I am one of the developers of a card game based on the horror comic HACK/SLASH by Tim Seeley!

Produced by Eden Studios, the game was designed by Matt Papa and the development team includes M. Alexander Jurkat, James Lowder, who is also the current editor for the HACK/SLASH comics series, and yours truly!

Currently, the comic is published through Image Comics. You can read a really good interview with Tim Seeley conducted by Newsarama.com about the move from DDP to Image.

Both the HACK/SLASH card game and the RPG will be published through Eden Studios, who published the BUFFY: the VAMPIRE SLAYER, ARMY OF DARKNESS and ANGEL RPGs.

Here’s a quote from the press release:

HACK/SLASH creator Tim Seeley will take an active role in the development of the games. “I grew up reading comics and playing RPGs,” Seeley explains, “so I’m thrilled that a company as great as Eden Studios is giving people a chance to play around in the world of HACK/SLASH. And it’s fantastic to see Cassie and Vlad on a roster alongside such stellar horror licenses as Buffy and Army of Darkness!”

A prototype version of the HACK/SLASH card game will be available for demo play at the Eden Studios booth (#209), at the upcoming Gen Con Game Fair, August 5th through 8th, at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. — SOURCE: Eden Studios To Bring Fan Favorite Comic HACK/SLASH To The Gaming World

I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this for many reasons on so many different levels. As a fan of HACK/SLASH and horror, well, everything, I can tell you that this card game really targets the mood and theme of the comic. Matt Papa did an exceptional job as the primary designer and the collaboration that we’ve done on this game has made it even better.

Don’t take my word for it, though, because you know I’m going to rave about it. So, if you’re going to GenCon: Indy, stop by the Eden Studios booth and play the game for yourself. Or… as Cassie would say… “Suck it.”

August 2, 2010
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Three Non-Fiction Releases about Gaming

Hi everyone,

I am pleased to announce that I’ve got three, non-fiction releases related to hobby gaming available for you to check out.

Family Games: the 100 BestFirst, if you haven’t had the chance to check out FAMILY GAMES: the 100 BEST, I’d recommend that you consider getting your copy signed if you’re heading to GenCon in Indianapolis. Several of the essayists, including yours truly, will be at the convention. Also, you might want to head over to the Green Ronin booth and track down James Lowder for his signature. Not only did he edit the book, he’s also an outstanding author in his own right.

This year, you can find me at the GenCon Writer’s Symposium which is managed by author Jean Rabe. I’ll be writing a post about what panels I’ll be on later.

My second release is a very “heady” essay about dice and divination for THE BONES, which was edited by Will Hindmarch and published through Gameplaywright. What is this book about?

The Bones gathers writing about fandom and family—about gamers, camaraderie, and memories— and ties them together where they meet: our dice. These are essays and anecdotes about the ways dice make us crazy, about the stakes we play for and the thrill we get from not knowing what the next roll will bring. –SOURCE: THE BONES at Gameplaywright.net.

My contribution to THE BONES took on a more intellectual, esoteric approach. I talked about how the act of rolling dice draws upon a form of divination that employs the use of dice; I also mentioned how players like us often take on the role of the divine, because we typically determine what happens to our characters through a simple roll of the die.

After reading through our limited edition copy, I have to say that I feel Will did an absolutely outstanding job as editor. He provided a healthy potpourri of entertaining anecdotes and intellectual discourse that offers something for everyone to read. If you like to game, you can order a copy now or buy one in the dealer’s room at GenCon this upcoming August. Similar to FAMILY GAMES: the 100 BEST, several of the essayists and contributors will be floating around to sign your copy of THE BONES.

Last, but not least, I also wrote an essay about how powerful convention demos can be to attract new players for this year’s release of the RPGirl Zine. RPGirl is a project led by Emily Care Boss that highlights women in the gaming industry. In addition to this essay and my bio, Emily was kind enough to promote THE QUEEN OF CROWS e-book. I’m not one-hundred percent sure if she’ll have her own booth presence this year or not, but I do know that the RPGirl Zine will be available, along with THE BONES, at the Indie Press Revolution booth.

June 28, 2010
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Family Games 100: Essay List Announced

Hey folks, FAMILY GAMES: THE 100 BEST just left the printer and I’m pleased to share with you the full list of authors, games and essays. The game that I talked about was GLOOM, which is one of my favorite card games. How many of these games have you played or can recognize?

    Foreword by Mike Gray
    Introduction by James Lowder
    Afterword by Wil Wheaton
    Appendix A: Games and Education by David Millians
    Appendix B: Family Games in Hobby Games: The 100 Best by James Lowder

List of Family Games and Essayists

    Carrie Bebris on 10 Days in the USA
    Steven E. Schend on 1960: The Making of the President
    Dominic Crapuchettes on Apples to Apples
    Mike Breault on The Awful Green Things from Outer Space
    Jeff Tidball on Balderdash
    Keith Baker on Bang!
    Bruce Harlick on Battleship
    James Wallis on Bausack
    Paul Jaquays on Black Box
    Lewis Pulsipher on Blokus
    Teeuwynn Woodruff on Boggle
    Fred Hicks on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    James Ernest on Candy Land
    Ian Livingstone on Can’t Stop
    Bruce Whitehill on Careers
    Jared Sorensen on Cat
    Wolfgang Baur on Cathedral
    John Scott Tynes on Clue
    Alessio Cavatore on Condottiere
    Elaine Cunningham on Connect Four
    Will Hindmarch on Cranium
    Erik Mona on Crossbows and Catapults
    William W. Connors on Dark Tower
    John D. Rateliff on Dogfight
    Robert J. Schwalb on Dungeon!
    jim pinto on Dvonn
    Gav Thorpe on Easter Island
    Jeff Grubb on Eurorails
    Kenneth Hite on Faery’s Tale Deluxe
    Richard Dansky on Family Business
    Warren Spector on Focus
    Corey Konieczka on For Sale
    James M. Ward on Fortress America
    Stan! on Frank’s Zoo
    Bruce C. Shelley on The Game of Life
    Phil Orbanes on A Gamut of Games
    Monica Valentinelli on Gloom
    Matt Leacock on Go Away Monster!
    Steve Jackson on The Great Dalmuti
    David “Zeb” Cook on Guillotine
    Jason Matthews on Gulo Gulo
    Joshua Howard on Halli Galli
    Bruce Nesmith on Hare & Tortoise
    Mike Pondsmith on HeroClix
    Anthony J. Gallela on HeroQuest
    Chris Pramas on HeroScape
    Ed Greenwood on Hey! That’s My Fish!
    Colin McComb on Hive
    Alan R. Moon on Hoity Toity
    Jon Leitheusser on Ingenious
    Uli Blennemann on Java
    Luke Crane on Jungle Speed
    Monte Cook on Kill Doctor Lucky
    Emiliano Sciarra on Knightmare Chess
    Todd A. Breitenstein on Liar’s Dice
    Marc Gascoigne on Loopin’ Louie
    Andrew Parks on Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation
    Seth Johnson on Lost Cities
    John Yianni on Magi-Nation
    Bill Bodden on Master Labyrinth
    Andrew Greenberg on Mastermind
    Ken Levine on Memoir ’44
    Scott Haring on Mille Bornes
    Steve Jackson on Monopoly
    Sheri Graner Ray on Mouse Trap
    Kevin G. Nunn on Mystery Rummy: Murders in the Rue Morgue
    Dale Donovan on The Omega Virus
    Darren Watts on Othello
    Charles Ryan on Pandemic
    Michelle Lyons on Pente
    Thomas M. Reid on Pictionary
    Nicole Lindroos on Pieces of Eight
    John Wick on Pit
    Matt Forbeck on Pokémon
    Robin D. Laws on Prince Valiant
    Stephen Glenn on Qwirkle
    Sébastien Pauchon on Ricochet Robots
    Peter Olotka on Risk
    Richard Breese on Rummikub
    Jesse Scoble on Scotland Yard
    Richard Garfield on Scrabble
    Mike Selinker on Set
    Rob Heinsoo on Small World
    Hal Mangold on Sorry!
    Jess Lebow on Stratego
    Eric Goldberg on Strat-O-Matic Baseball
    Andrea Angiolino on Survive!
    Karl Deckard on Thebes
    Dan Tibbles on Time’s Up!
    Tom Wham on Trade Winds
    Susan McKinley Ross on TransAmerica
    Ray Winninger on Trivial Pursuit
    Leo Colovini on Twixt
    Matthew Kirby on Uno
    David Parlett on Upwords
    Lester Smith on Werewolf
    John Kovalic on Wits & Wagers
    Philip Reed on Yahtzee
    Kevin Wilson on Zendo
    Jess Hartley on Zooloretto
March 14, 2010
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Life in Crazytown, New Releases and a Favor

First? I need to offer all of you an apology. I haven’t been blogging lately, because things have been a “bit” busy on this end. After my appearance in Indianapolis for GenCon, things slowed down a bit in September, but quickly picked back up. Why? Can’t talk about all of it, but I can talk about some of it. Blasted Non-Disclosure Agreements!

Halloween and White Wolf

As project manager for FlamesRising.com, every year we do something special for Halloween. Last year, we offered Halloween flash fiction from several authors including E.E. Knight, Matt Forbeck and Jess Hartley. This year, we decided to pitch a gaming-related idea to White Wolf Publishing. After some “tough” negotiations (*sarcastic*), I wrote and designed DEVIL’S NIGHT: a free Storytelling Adventure System Scene for the World of Darkness, which was released today. This type of release is “huge” for FlamesRising.com, because this is the first time we have partnered with a publisher to offer free gaming material on the site for fans. If you’re interested in reading more about the design process, check out this post entitled, “Devil’s Night: White Wolf, FlamesRising.com and your Free One-Scene.”

Today, Matt is going to be flying down to Atlanta for the International Camarilla Convention (ICC). This was a spur-of-the-moment trip that was made possible by White Wolf. With our trip to Las Vegas only a week away, we did some scrambling to ensure we had some great content for you on the site for Halloween. Special thanks to Jess Hartley who also pitched in this year. She wrote a great guest post entitled 13 Etiquette Tips for Halloween as part of her One Geek to Another series.

Upcoming Appearance at NeonCon in Las Vegas

Next week Thursday, I’ll be flying out to Las Vegas for NeonCon and…well…Vegas. I have been confirmed as a guest with Jess Hartley on the Women in Gaming panel. Even though I’m going to enjoy some time away from the computer, this will be a fun trip to reconnect with some of my friends in the industry.

Novel Revisions and Original Fiction

After I got back from GenCon, I had a panic moment. You see, I definitely want to continue writing for the gaming industry and pursue some media tie-in fiction opportunities, but I also want to leverage that with my original fiction. I have some breakthroughs on that front, and have gone back to start revising ARGENTUM. The novel isn’t coming along as well as I had hoped, and some last-minute projects have kind of taken over my brain. I know I need a vacation, which is why this trip to Vegas will be well-deserved.

Guest Posts on SFWA, Writing Groups and Crackle.com

I’ve started to expand my non-fiction guest blogging, so be sure to hop on over and read my guest posts by Monica Valentinelli on SFWA.org if you haven’t already. The folks over at SFWA.org are really doing some great things by keeping up on current events, so definitely bookmark the site and follow-up when you can. Also, I have a guest post going up on the Crackle.com site soon. I’m really excited about it, because it offered me the chance to get really detailed about a horror film, which is part of the reason why I started the Girls of Gore series on FlamesRising.com. If you enjoy that sort of detailed criticism, I recommend checking out some of Mary Robinette Kowal‘s or Ken Hite‘s non-fiction works.

In addition to guest blogging, I’ve been attending some local events for writers, too.

So That’s Life in Crazytown

So that’s what’s been going on in my neck of the woods. There’s a lot I can’t talk about, but let’s just say that I’m very excited about the next, few months for many reasons. First, “the day job” at my wonderful employer Musicnotes.com sheet music picks up as we head into the holiday season. It’s going to be frantic-but-fun as we ensure that we fulfill song requests for our customers and provide them with a great experience. Outside of work, I’m looking forward to the snow and cold weather. There are some long, wintry nights ahead and I’m definitely ready to sit in my writer’s cave and get some projects done.

The Favor I Need to Ask

Because I need to focus on paying gigs, I have to be more selective about my non-paying opportunities and time spent on social media. Please, please, please keep me updated with what you’re all up to. I enjoy reading about my fellow authors and game designers, and I hope that you have wonderful news to share as well.

Well, that’s it for me. Back to making brownies in the shape of ghosts and getting reading for another music-filled day. Take care!

October 28, 2009
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How Genre Affects Game Design

Like pulp? How about horror? Superheroes? Awesome. I bet that many of you who are reading my blog have had great ideas for stories or games based on a popular genre. With fiction, you probably already write using techniques to affect the pacing, mood and feel of your story to induce that air of mystery or feeling of awe. Shorter dialogue, use of fragments and punctuation can enhance the reader’s expectations for a story. Couple that with stunning visual descriptions and you have the makings of a spectacularly paced genre fiction story.

But what about games?

Writing games based on a particular genre is a bit trickier because the people playing the game have the ability to create their own mood based on the product you are creating. Unlike fiction where the environment is more controlled, a game’s environment can’t be controlled. Or can it?
Read More…

September 11, 2008
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