I can’t speak for the dozens of lonely exhibitors who spent days gazing across vast plains of empty carpet in the exhibit hall, desperate for a retailer to talk to, but for me, Games Expo was a rousing success.
The panel on game design and prototypting was well-attended: probably 30, maybe 40 folks showed up. Since we were figuring a dozen would be a good turn-out, it was a pleasant surprise.
Thanks to the low publisher:buyer ratio, I was able to chat up pretty much everyone there. Depending on the publisher, I switched hats between Inner Workings Production Manager (“I’d like to quote a game for you”) and independent writer/game designer (“I’d like to make a game for you.”) It’s the trade show equivalent of door-to-door sales, but it worked. And it was cool to see a whole new batch of publishers in whose circles I don’t normally move.
I’ll be attending Games Expo this week. Specifically, I’m flying in Monday morning and out again Wednesday afternoon, but since for the first time in years I don’t have a booth, that’s probably all the time I’ll need.
On Tuesday at 10:00, I’ll be on a panel with emissaries from TableStar and Paizo discussing “Game Designs and Prototypes.” I think Rob from TS has the “how to make a prototype” angle covered, so I’ll be describing the process from the side of the publisher. It should be a good time.
If you’re at the show, stop by and say hi. I’ll be the tall guy with glasses, probably sporting my spiffy new “darrellhardy.com” sweater I scored for Christmas. On Tuesday, I may even be wearing a tie.
I wasn’t happy with my website. Still not, truth be told, but I have to say that this is a significant improvement. Thanks to the mystical powers of WordPress, I can edit not only text, but the overall look and organization of the site without jamming my arms up to the elbows in HTML.*
I’ll be adding and tweaking for weeks to come, so be sure to stop back and see what’s new. In the meantime, here’s a quick overview of what’s up with your humble narrator:
- I’ve been pouring a lot of words recently into New Gods of Mankind, an upcoming fantasy RPG. Keep an eye out for it this summer. You know, around August.
- The preview for Rusty Gulch, my new comic, is still where I left it. Check it out if you haven’t already.
- I’ve been invited to speak on a game design panel at Games Expo next week. I’ll be wandering around the show, possibly lost, Monday through Wednesday. If you’re at the show and see a tall, geeky-looking guy in glasses, say hi. It probably won’t be me, but it might be, and that would be cool.
- On the production side of things, I’ve been up to my stained, laser-etched eyebrows in wooden games. Here I thought printing was cool. Printing on wood with lasers… now that’s cool. If you want to know anything about making wooden games, just ask.
* Not that I’m afraid of HTML. I’ve done my share, and could do it still if the traditional gun were to my head. But it’s 2007, not 1997. We might not have jet packs and rocket cars, but we do have templates and WYSIWYG editors, and I’m not opening my text-editor to do web page if don’t have to.
