I survived UKGE and all I got was a haul of amazing games
Post-UKGE musings, Tail-end Charlie and vampires
Bleurgh.
That’s not how I expected to start off the newsletter this month but it feels appropriate. It’s a couple of weeks after UK Games Expo, the biggest gaming convention on my calendar each year and I’m only just getting over the crash that comes from attending (I didn't get con crud, I'm just tired).
The kicker? I spent less than a day actually working the event and the rest just getting to enjoy it. As much as I plan to have my own stall one day I don’t know how I’d manage it. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First up, a big hello to all of the new subscribers since last time - I don’t know why but there was a massive influx of you mid-May so thank you for subscribing and I hope you stick around. If you’re not overly familiar with me or my work I’m Craig, a hobbyist game designer from the UK. I design, write and publish games under the banner of LunarShadow Designs with a focus on sci-fi and spies. You may know me from Signal to Noise, a bittersweet duet game about distance and loss of Numb3r Stations, a solo espionage game that incorporates real world transmissions into the mechanics. This newsletter tracks my work on new games, life as a hobbyist publisher and anything else that grabs my attention. I send it out on a monthly basis. Mostly. Sometimes I skip a month but I promise never to spam your inboxes. If you want to know more check out
My site and blog: www.lunarshadow.net
Etsy for print products (currently UK only while I rework international postage)
LunarShadow Designs on itch.io
LunarShadow Designs on drivethruRPG
So back to Expo…
It was hectic, it was exhausting, it was great. This was my 7th (?) year and it just keeps growing. I split my time fairly evenly between working the UK TIN stand, exploring the gigantic trade halls and attending scheduled events. It felt like a good balance and prevented any one facet from becoming overwhelming. My con haul was relatively modest by many accounts - on the RPG front I picked up CBR+PNK and Nights Black Agents, two games that have been on my radar for a while. Having just returned to the world of minis and painting I expected to spend a small fortune on those but came away with only a cyber-capybara from the fabulous Bad Squiddo Games and a couple of brushes. Honestly, I’m surprised but I just couldn’t find any spaceships I wanted to invest time into.
Working on the UK TIN stand was an amazing experience. The stall looked fantastic, featured contributions from a massive lineup of creators and was busy all weekend. I had 2 games available (Project Cassandra and Numb3r Stations) but they were just a small portion of the ~35 different items for sale from ~20 creators. It was a great testament to how much UK TIN has grown and is able to support smaller creators who either can’t or don’t want to have their own stand. During the course of the weekend both of my games sold out - so that’s 20 copies of Numb3r Stations and 10 copies of Project Cassandra gone to new homes. That’s a fantastic number and far better than I’d hoped for going into the weekend. As an added bonus so far I’ve only seen a single ‘con haul’ photo that included either of them, which means that they were sold to people outside of my usual circles. As an indie, broadening my reach is really important and it’s a major reason that I attend conventions.
Putting that into numbers my costs and income look like this:
UKGE 3 day pass: £54.00
Accomodation (3 nights in the easyHotel, so cheap!): £178.40
Liverpool to Birmingham trains: £39.90
Birmingham to NEC trains (3 days worth): £22.20
Sales income (after fees and table contribution): £210.15
Total: -£84.35
Given I only had 2 games on sale that’s fantastic. Unlike other conventions I’m not aiming to make a profit or significant income from expo; it’s an opportunity to network and be visible. There are a lot of people I only see at conventions and while I’m firmly in the hobbyist camp I’ve also made a point to be seen. Of course, there’s the question of if my games sold that well should you expect to see me run my own stall next year?
I’d love to say yes but I think the answer is still no.
I’ve got enough products and experience that I could make it work but there are still a few pieces that need to fall into place. First up, I couldn’t exhibit and travel by train, which is my preferred mode of transport. I’d need to hire a car for the weekend and that added cost tips the scales a little too much in the wrong direction, especially as I’d also end up paying more for a hotel than I did this year. Secondly, I’m a solo creator and I don’t think I could handle a stall on my own for a full 3 day weekend, let alone an event the size of expo. Finally, I’m only just starting to add some non-zine products to my lineup. I love zines but I want a couple of larger, premium products before I aim for expo.
So what am I going to do? For exhibiting I’ll continue to work with TIN to sell my games and to offer my support where I can. That may be on the stall, at seminars or just promoting the group to people I chat to about design and publishing. On the personal front my plan is to run games. I’ve slowly let it slide as publishing has moved centre stage but it’s something I enjoy. It's also useful for testing and promoting my work. So next year I’m going to try and run sessions of a new game, my as yet untitled (and unwritten) spy drama. Think Slow Horses; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; or The Courier. I’m going for grounded* with occasional action, not the high octane adventures of James Bond or Mission: Impossible.
At least that’s the plan.
*Grounded meaning being informed by real world history but not realistic or historically accurate. Espionage in the real world tends to involve a lot more paperwork, tedium and time wasting than fiction would lead us to believe.
If you’d like to read more about the experience of trading at expo then I’d recommend checking out these blog posts from By Odin’s Beard, Peregrine Coast Press and Tacticsnchai.
This month I read… Tail-end Charlie by Alex White
Alex White is a UK based designer writing games that explore real world history, with a particular focus on the experiences of everyday people during the world wars. His latest, Tail-end Charlie, throws you into the role of a tail gunner in bomber command during World War 2. The game uses straightforward card prompts to drive the story with the depth and impact emerging from the contrast between home life and your job in the air.
A single bad draw in the air, even on the first turn, could end the game as your bomber and it's crew becomes one of the many that never made it home. Knowing the odds are against you from the start makes the scenes at home ever more important and, as a player, makes you ask if what you are fighting for is worth it. If you have an interest in World War 2 and the everyday lives of those that fought in it then I'd recommend checking out Tail-end Charlie's as well as Alex's other historically inspired games.
Building the Dyson Eclipse:
Shan Planetary Table 2
Between stints working on The Words We Leave Behind I continue to build up new tables for Shan as part of expanding the Dyson Eclipse. Table 2 features a new set of entries but in writing it I realised that it would be smarter to give each table a loose theme, so this will likely get rearranged in the final release. For now here’s the d6 table for you to flavour your sci-fi worlds with.
Location - Landing pad A5. A nondescript hexagonal pad that juts out from the canyon wall. It is connected to the nearby habitation domes by a short tunnel that has been cut into the rockface. Out of the way and with limited access it is favoured by members of the corporate boards that control the domes, who use it to land their private shuttles. Nobody has noticed the shallow handholds that have been cut into the rock underneath and that extend down to the floor of the canyon.
Individual - Mayst Wallis, bounty hunter. Wallis is looking for a friend you fell out with years ago and won't take no for an answer. Either you make the call you put off for too long and mend bridges or they'll draw them out of hiding with a funeral notice.
Job - Blockade run. Cruisers from Ireti Solas have blockaded Shan after a secret contract with a rival Hab was leaked. With their focus squarely on the commercial freighter convoys a growing number of independent blockade runners has sprung up to smuggle small, high value goods on and off the planet. A contact has asked you to make the run carrying an unusual cargo - a case of prototype seeds, engineered to survive in Shan's thin atmosphere.
Secret - The deep vaults. Deep beneath the chasm that cuts across Shan lies a pair of vast vaults, filled with dormant Array technology. One is empty and dead. The plating on the walls is warped and twisted, revealing the rock beneath. In the second stands a skeletal mechanoid body. The incomplete construct is 250m tall and dominates the vast space. Patches of hull plating and bundles of cabling provide glimpses of its final, armoured form.
Event - Brawl at VJs. You don't know how the brawl at VJs started but it ended with an unmissable crunch of bone and a body lying at your feet. As the only outsiders present it was clear that the locals would point the finger at you when security arrived. So now you're on the run and needing a place to lie low until the security lockdown is lifted and you can jump up the gravity well to safety. Oh, and you still need to deliver the data slate to the contact you were meant to meet, so overall it's not going great.
Organisation - Marine Force Jupiter. The garrison of marines at Fort Open Skies are on rotation from Hab 2 to undertake planetary defence training. Marine Force Jupiter's training company, led by Captain Beck, are green and overwhelmed by life under the open skies. Security at the fort is minimal and there is a thriving black market trade in 'damaged' equipment being run by Warrant Officer Altare. She's on the lookout for someone to help with a special shipment.
The Wrap Up
I’m off to rework (for the umpteenth time) a block of temporal text I’ve been working on for The Words We Leave Behind (late pledges remain open). Then I’m going to settle in to reading about vampires and secret agents, but more about that next time.
Stay safe,
Craig
LunarShadow Designs
Thanks for the shout-out!