Around The Internets!

Last weekend Matt and I spent some time brainstorming and coming with the "what's next" for sizzlemoth. We're putting some finishing touches on the rulebook with the help of Doug from Meltdown Games (Thanks, Boss!) and than it's setting up some pitches and submitting to publishers around the con season.

In the mean time, we've narrowed down the field to a couple concepts we like and are going to start hashing them out. Once we've locked in on something and have exited the exploratory phase, we'll give some more details.

Anyway, it's time for some AROUND THE NETZ! Or, in other words, things I've been following/reading/looking at online.

The Bone Wars Project
BWP is a project I'm working on here at Ball State. It's an educational video game based around the Bone Wars of Marsh and Cope, arguably the fathers of paleontology. I'm running the external communication and social media for the project, coordinating play tests, and all that jazz. The first version of the game is also a table top prototype, so I've been able to use my skills there. Once we hand it over to the programmers to digitize it though, I'll be escorting myself away from it. Programming is not for me! Either way, we have some really talented people working on the project. The programmers are quick and very good, the artists are amazing, and we have a talented musician working on the sounds of the game. It should shape up nicely! The goal is to have a fully functional game done by the end of the semester.

Daniel Solis
I asked a question about assigning values in games on Twitter earlier today and had some quick discussions about the different methods. Daniel linked me to a blog he wrote about linear, triangular, and square numbers in game. It was a nice read and really easy to follow, which is great for those non-math types (me).

Gameritis
Again, I just came across the blog today and I like it. The discussion that roped me in was the one on digital board games (linked). Give it a chance, the guy's got something to say and you should hear it.

Reviews
I write reviews for Today in Board Games. It's a great gig. I like it. Here are a couple of my more recent reviews, as well as a good one on oddball Aeronauts from Andrew at iSlaytheDragon.
Dubious Alliance
Airlock
oddball Aeronauts

Kickstarters
I love Kickstarter. A lot. I kinda want to start looking at more indiegogo stuff too, but it just slips my mind to check and see what's going on over there. Here's some of the stuff I've backed/am following on Kickstarter that I think is worth checking out.

Mobtown - 31 days to go, $6,853 of $10,000
I'm actually a reviewer for Mobtown (coming this weekend!) and have had the chance to play Mobtown. I like. A lot. I'll save the rest for the upcoming review.

Tiny Epic Kingdom  - ~40 hours to go, FUNDED
Michael Coe and Scott Almes blew it out of the water with this one. It's at $224,000!!! There are two stretch goals left, which I have a feeling we're going to hit. The game looks great and Gamelyn really knows how to put together a Kickstarter campaign.

Make Your Thing - 19 days to go, $19,410 of $120,000
Make Your Thing is a convention that is trying to get funded. It seems like a really great premise. I think that this could have a pretty good impact on the attendees and become a pretty cool event. Hopefully funding picks up for them over the next couple week, it's looking rough though :(

That's all I got for today. Til next time.

-Charlie