When is a game done? and an impromptu summer sale
Monthly Musings from LunarShadow Designs
Summer Sale
Before I dive into the musings it’s time for an impromptu sale! I’ve got too many boxes of stock filling my office so I’m running a 50% off sale on Etsy until the end of July! Head over to lunarshadowdesigns.etsy.com to grab a deal.
Monthly Musings
When is a game done? That's the question that has been stuck in my head since UK Games Expo. (Hello btw, I skipped June's newsletter because of Expo, or rather the inevitable post-con crash but rest assured I had an awesome weekend).
I've been thinking about this all month for a trio of reasons. At Expo I got the chance to try the upcoming 2nd edition of Star Trek Adventures, alongside running a 2 hour session of my own Project Cassandra. I've also been working on an annotated edition of Signal to Noise, which has had me revisiting my goals for the game.
The new edition of Star Trek Adventures is very much a revision of the game that streamlines the mechanics and (reportedly) shifts the focus away from Starfleet. I hope it also addresses the layout and organisation, which wasn't fantastic in the original release.
But what about closer to home? When is an indie game finished? As a small designer I don't have the resources or audience to rework and re-release my existing games. Or do I?
It's been 3 years since I released Project Cassandra and over 10 since I first started work on it. I've learned a lot about game design since then and I've also changed the way that I run it. I designed the game for mini-campaigns with 2-3 players but regularly find myself running it in 2-4 hour convention one shots with 5-6 players. And you know what? That breaks it. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of the game I released but it doesn't work well under those conditions. The characters are too powerful and able to reroll their way out of pretty much every situation.
So what do I do? I can't afford to rewrite the game and replace the current stock I have of it. I also don't know if the time investment would even be worth it given the current sales numbers. On the other hand I love the game and continue to run it.
In the short term the answer is likely to be a set of updates for convention play. A personal errata, built on the experience of play. While I'll upload the file to itch/DTRPG it'll be as a standalone file rather than a change to the core release.
Going back to the original question I guess my answer is, ultimately, that a game is done when the creator draws a line and moves on. Up until last month I'd considered Project Cassandra to be completed so clearly that line is one that can be erased as easily as it is drawn.
Will I ever release a proper second edition? Probably not, but I'm not sure I'm going to rule it out completely anymore.
With Expo out of the way my thoughts turn towards Tabletop Scotland, which I will be attending as part of The Indie Connection. I started my journey into TTRPGs while a student in Glasgow so to be exhibiting in Scotland for the first time is something I’m really looking forward to. Tabletop Scotland runs from the 6th to the 8th September at The Royal Highland Centre, next to Edinburgh Airport. I'll be splitting my time between working the stand, Games on Demand and browsing the trade hall. If you’re attending please come by and say hello!
Design Diary
Work on The Words We Leave Behind is picking up pace, with major rewrites of the main text and addition of new sections such as principles of play. I've decided that I want to try and release an ashcan by the end of the month. Why? So I can print a handful of copies to sell at Tabletop Scotland. I want to start building awareness of the game ahead of a possible Kickstarter and this is a perfect opportunity to do so. Long term I'm thinking of taking the step up from zine to a small, perfect bound booklet for this project so getting the word out is important.
As always I'll be announcing updates here in the newsletter, including a link to the ashcan next month.
Interview Alert: What Am I Rolling podcast
I recently sat down with Fiona from What Am I Rolling podcast to discuss my games, life as a hobbyist publisher and what’s coming next. The episode hasn't released yet but I’d really recommend checking out the show. Fiona was a great and welcoming host and the show features a mix of short actual plays and relaxed, informal interviews with a range of creators. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with Sam Leigh on Death of the Author, and Chris Bisette talking about The Wretched and A Dungeon Game.
Links Roundup
Against Time and Death - I’m a big fan of Nick’s work and he’s just released a beta for his latest game, a duet game inspired by This is How You Lose The Time War. I saw the first draft of this last year and it inspired me to finally read the novella. A reread a few months later (yes, I enjoyed the book that much) led me to start work on The Words We Leave Behind.
The UK Tabletop Industry Network exists to support creatives at all levels, from hobbyists to those working full time in the industry. Its latest newsletter looks back at UK Games Expo and introduces plans to increase the support available to creatives of colour in the UK.
By Odin’s Beard, the publisher of Runecairn, has written up a UK Games Expo 2024 report and it includes sales numbers. I always appreciate these sort of posts as they provide important insight into the realities of working in the industry.
Issue 6 of Wyrd Science is now available to pre-order and to celebrate there’s a special bundle deal on issues 3-5. If you’ve somehow missed out on (imo) the best gaming magazine available at the moment then this is a fantastic chance to give it a try.
It's that time, once again, for “let's use D&D for fucking everything,” with the announcement of a new Warhammer 40k AP using the worlds most blah system. If you can't tell this is a topic that winds me up and it's sad to see that even the massively popular setting that is the grim, dark future isn't immune to D&Dification.
The Wrap Up
If you’ve made it this far then thank you for reading and for joining me on this journey. 2024 continues to be one of highs and lows so it feels good to have had a month where I was in the right head space to make solid progress on my games. As this goes out I should be sitting down for my first game as a player (rather than GM) this year in Free League’s excellent Alien RPG at the Liverpool branch of the RP Haven. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my PC can survive at least the first session!