Daily Illuminator

February 9, 2010: We've Looked, But Didn't Touch. Yet.

We're providing the retailers with point of purchase displays (commonly known as POP) for our new dice games, and we just got images from the printer. We posted them on our Flickr account for all to see. Here's the Zombie Dice POP series, and here's the Cthulhu Dice series.

You will, of course, notice that the packaging filling the POP is actually empty. Don't be alarmed -- when the samples arrive here, they'll be filled with genuine dice, cups, and rules. We expect them any day now.

Yes, by the time you read this we'll likely have the actual samples in our hands, and could have taken photos of those. But that would have taken time away from our playing with the dice, so we'll save those for later. I tell you, those dice cups are addicting -- shake, shake, rattle, rattle. And rolling big ol' twelve-siders across a conference room table? Can't stop!

If we can tear ourselves away from playing with these in the office, we'll be showing them off at the GAMA Trade Show (for retailers) and PAX East (for EVERYBODY) this March. You'll be able to get your own copies right around the same time.

-- Paul Chapman

(Postscript from SJ . . . Or you can come see me Thursday night in San Francisco, because through the miracle of FedEx, I expect to have actual samples of both games by then.)

Randy's Road Trip Update

Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Rifleman in Charleston, WV from 6-10pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.

February 8, 2010: The Future Was Cool Yesterday

I've mentioned once or twice in these little advertising tirades of mine that we all live in the future now. And while I do enjoy my personal hovercraft and my regular Pan Am flights to the moon, I feel that it's important to take a step back and remember the good things of days gone past.

Like Transhuman Space Classic, for example. See how it has the word "classic" in the title? That means its old and really good. It's also about the future, which dovetails nicely with my theme. If you're unfamiliar with it, Transhuman Space is basically what would happen if you took Future Shock, cranked it up to 11, and made an RPG out of it. Awesome, right? Well, now it's available as a PDF!

And it's not alone. It has a little friend titled Transhuman Space: Teralogos News - 2100, Fourth Quarter. It's a collection of news articles that give you a ground's eye view of the world. It's also free, and bereft of system-dependent content, so you don't even have to use it with Transhuman Space! (But, uh, we would still really appreciate it if you bought Transhuman Space Classic anyway. Just sayin'.)

-- Fox Barrett

Randy's Road Trip Update

Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Rusty Scabbard in Lexington, KY from 5-9pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.

February 7, 2010: Steve In San Francisco

This upcoming Wednesday, Feb. 10, I'll be at the EFF 20th Anniversary party at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. The MC will be Mythbuster Adam Savage. Come say hello!

The day after that, Thursday the 11th, I'll run an informal "play games and see the new stuff" session. I'll have Cthulhu Dice and Zombie Dice with me, and probably some other stuff. I figure I'll start at 8, and go on until it's time to quit. The venue will be the lobby of the Pickwick Hotel in downtown San Francisco . . . unless somebody comes up with a better idea nearby, so watch the Illuminator and our Twitter page for updates.

-- Steve Jackson

Randy's Road Trip Update

Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Game Keep in Hermitage, TN from 1-5pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.

February 6, 2010: Randy's On The Road Again!

Last June, Randy drove from Austin to Minneapolis, over to Columbus in time for Origins, then back to Austin. Along the way, he stopped at 17 game stores, where he taught our new games and talked about upcoming releases. He had a great time, so we decided to do it again!

This time, the Road Trip will take Randy over to the East Coast for the New York Toy Fair. His first stop will be today (Saturday, February 6) at Conway Gaming Center in Conway, Arkansas. He'll be there from 8pm to 12 midnight, showing off Zombie Dice, Cthulhu Dice, Frag Gold Edition, Revolution!, Nanuk, and a few ideas we haven't announced yet.

For a complete listing of Randy's appearances, check out our Where's Randy page.

-- Paul Chapman

February 5, 2010: Illuminated Site Of The Week: Look, On The Uptown Bus!

Been holding out for a hero? You and Bonnie Tyler both. The World Superhero Registry has a lot of promise, listing several heroes, active and retired. (If you're hoping to get help from one of them, you might want to enter them into your cell phone before you need them.) Several defenders of justice are recognized, but there are dozens of them pending or working their way up through the ranks (just in case you're a hero yourself and are in the market for a sidekick). No, we don't know anything about Doktor DiscorD, and there's no truth to the rumor that you never see him in the same room as SJ Games' staff. Honestly, how these things get started . . .

-- Andy

February 4, 2010: I Am Definitely Not Worthy

Geekosystem.com has posted a list of 30 Great Gaming Geeks. Not only am I on it - that's cool enough, right there - but I seem to be ranked at number 1.

Okay, that's just ridiculous. I am deeply honored blah blah blah, but I'm also abashed. Even though we had to buy an office with double doors so my ego could get in, I'm abashed. I mean, come on. CHECK OUT that list. There's not a person there I wouldn't love to listen to for an hour, with my own mouth firmly shut. Even the ones who are already friends, because I don't get to see them enough. I mean, Richard Garriott has been to space. Warren Spector is reinventing Mickey Mouse. And some of these guys I would just plain fanboy at. Will Wright made SimCity. Shigeru Miyamoto created Donkey Kong and Zelda, back in the day, and is still going strong with Wii games! He was knighted for his geekly achievements. I am not making that up. Reiner Knizia invented the Eurogame, sliced bread, and the horse. (Okay, I made some of that up.) And where the heck are Daniel James and Mike Stackpole? And OMG where is Charlie Stross, who not only writes SF that can literally disturb my sleep, but created the slaad?

This is an awe-inspiring list. It boggles the mind to realize how much scary raw talent we have in our little corner of geekdom. Revel in it!

-- Steve Jackson

February 3, 2010: Ninja Vs. Pirates Vs. Munchkin

Ninja vs. Pirates is a podcast of interviews with game creators. They talked to me about Munchkin. We discussed the challenge of designing games with many expansion sets, the inspiration and design of a silly game, and CHEATING. Want to hear what we said? You can listen here.

Arrrrr.

-- Steve Jackson

February 2, 2010: Want Babes? Yeah, Don't We All

When we announced the +6 Bag O' Munchkin Babes, we said that we planned to include them in a 2010 Munchkin Quest release. It now looks as though we're going to move that particular release off the 2010 schedule, unfortunately . . . which means that if you've been waiting to pick up the Munchkin Babe pawns, you may not want to wait much longer.

But just because this Munchkin Quest release is getting delayed doesn't mean we don't have evil plans for the game . . . in fact, we're planning an expansion this year that WILL have some new pawns in it. Watch for more details later in 2010!

-- Andrew Hackard

February 1, 2010: Death To Boring Spaceships!

That's right, it's time to take all those boring, unimaginative, normal spaceships of yours and throw them in the fire. Don't worry, it's a pretty big fire, so there's plenty of room for their abundant mediocrity. In their place we shall craft vessels the likes of which have never been seen! At least, not by anyone who hasn't read GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech.

This book is our key to the strangest, weirdest, and just plain wackiest starships ever to sail the seven galaxies. How weird? Well, page 24 has a section labeled "Zombie Spaceships." And page 7 contains rules marked "Digestive System." Oh, and page 35? There's this odd bit about a sort of time traveling box that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

Hmm. Maybe that last one is a bit too silly. Nobody would ever go for that. But hey, the rest of the book presents a pretty convincing argument for why the best ships are the ones that make their own kind of sense and nobody else's.

-- Fox Barrett

January 31, 2010: Fairy Dust And Waiting For Santa, Part Two

Actually, when I say "part," I mean "printing." And when I say "two," I mean "second." And I guess those words should switch places, too. But "Two Part" wouldn't make any sense, would it?

Where was I going with this? Oh, right! Fairy Dust and Waiting for Santa have been reprinted, and will soon be on their way to our warehouse, set to arrive in late March. The bad news: The new printing does not have the foil effects. The good news: They look great anyway, and won't curl like the Canadians at the Winter Olympics.

If you got one of these and the curling annoys you, you can exchange it. For all the details, see the Munchkin main page, or Warehouse 23's front page.

-- Paul Chapman

January 30, 2010: Sharing Widget

Below and to the right of each Illuminator, starting with this one, you'll now see a sharing widget.

You know what to do.

Or, if you don't, experiment. It's fairly unlikely that anything will explode, and if it does, you'll be famous.

-- Steve Jackson

January 29, 2010: How Did He Do That?

In the game design world, many words are spent on the topic of creating your first design. That's where, the assumption goes, the magic happens -- the flashes of inspiration and madness that coalesce into a blend of mechanics and theme. That's where the action is.

The problem with that assumption is the implication that once you've got an established line, the design process is mechanical, and devoid of those "Wow!" moments. Not true, not true at all!

As evidence, I submit the developer's notes for Chez Cthulhu (shipping next month!), detailing the chilling adventures and mind-cracking meetings necessary to bring Cthulhu into the world of roommates. The only thing more "established" than the Chez line are the developers -- SJ himself and John Kovalic. While the magic in creating Chez Cthulhu was strongly eldritch flavored, and perhaps the laughter was a bit more maniacal, putting this game together was genuine fun from start to finish.

-- Paul Chapman