Hollandazed: Thoughts, Ideas, and Miscellany — game publishing
FROM THE ARCHIVES: THREE WAYS TO EVALUATE A DESIGN
When we evaluate a design submission, the first thing we do is take a look at the rules to get a sense of the thing. If it captures our interest, we then proceed to getting the game on the table. I don't have hard numbers on this, but I'd hazard a guess that only about a third of the submissions that we turn down get to that second step. If we've taken the time to print up a copy of the game, or to ask the designer to go to the expense of sending us a playtest kit, then we...
JELLYFISH (by Tom Russell)
Probably the thing I'm most terrified of is jellyfish. Mary found this out when we were watching a movie in the theater - I don't recall which one, but there was a shark who was a bad guy - and suddenly there were jellyfish on the screen and my whole body seized up. I was holding her hand at the time because that's the kind of mushy stuff we're into, and as a result, I squeezed her hand too hard. After the movie, I tried to explain it to her - their monstrous appearance, their vicious sting, and above all...
HINDSIGHT, AND 2020 (by Tom Russell)
Every year right at the end I like to write a blog-thing talking up all the games we plan to release the following year. But I'm not doing that this year. That's because when I did it last year, I rattled off over twenty-plus titles that we had scheduled for 2019 and early 2020, and only about half of those actually made it out the door despite our best efforts. Medical issues and familial obligations stretched us thin, and frankly, releasing fewer games made it a thin year financially as well. But we've muddled through and are looking forward to...
ON PUBLISHING COLE WEHRLE'S AN INFAMOUS TRAFFIC (by Tom Russell)
My acquaintance with Cole Wehrle began when I asked him for a favor. I was editing a wargames magazine and the publisher had asked me to run a review of Mark Simonitch's The US Civil War. I didn't have the game and didn't know anyone who did, so I went on BGG and started looking at the ratings and comments, hoping to find someone who thought highly of the game and might be interested in writing an article about it. I came across Cole's name, and had always enjoyed his writing, which included a very nice piece he wrote about...
FROM THE ARCHIVES: ABSTRACTS (by Tom Russell)
Throughout my life, from my childhood until the present day, I've had brief, intense periods in which I became obsessed with chess. It's an irresistible compulsion, the gaming equivalent of pon farr. After a few days or weeks, the fever passes. This waning of my sudden affection is helped along by the fact that I've always been pretty rubbish at chess. I've no head for playing competitively nor competently. I'm a much better fit for backgammon, a game I came to late in life, but deliberately and by choice. That is to say, at an early age, someone decided I...