6 Games I'm bringing to UnPub 6!

Unpub 6 is in just under a month! I'm bringing almost all of my self-published games to pitch and present, but here are 6 games I'd like to highlight in particular. You may have seen my last post on the subject of "sale sheets" or "summary sheets", but I've since expanded this to a whole series of at-a-glance summaries for handing out to publishers.

Curse You, Robin Hood!
You’re a merchant of Sherwood Forest trying to get rich while dodging those thieving Merry Men. Get as much treasure as possible, but not so much that Robin Hood notices you as a target!

Koi Pond
A zenlike, fast-flowing card game. Collect colorful koi fish and keep your pond as balanced as possible.

Monsoon Market
In 1405, a Chinese emissary sails the Indian Ocean, reporting the quality of each market along the way. It’s time to get busy! Earn a reputation for accurate orders or rush off any old goods in bulk. It’s a race to earn the fastest fortune in the Monsoon Market!

A La Kart
Food fighters, hit the road! Bump karts out of your way with Pasta Shells! Blast ahead with a Mushzoom! Baste the track with an Olive Oil Spill! Taste sweet victory while rivals eat your dust!

Tractor Pull (Co-design with Matt Everheart)
It’s time for the Tri-County Triple-Rope Tug-of-War! Lead your team of scrappy vehicles against your rival in three unique arenas! Beware the crooked refs! Pull the most ropes to win the match. Win two out of three matches to become champion!

Light Rail
A new age of rail empire dawns in the near future! Barons vie for ownership of a mega-city’s growing commuter network. Claim routes that connect as many different districts as possible and fulfill lucrative contracts.

You can find PDF versions of all these sheets in this dropbox folder. Hope to see you at UnPub!

Tabletop Simulator Mods of Smart Play Games

Last week Paul Dean published a really interesting article for Rock Paper Shotgun about board game publishers, Tabletop Simulator mods, and copyright. He asked for comment from several smart people in the board game industry, and also me for some reason. Go check it out then come back here.

When Paul interviewed me for his article, I admit that Tabletop Simulator wasn't really on my radar. I found the Steam interface rather opaque, so I never really explored that marketplace much. I knew Tabletop Simulator was out there, though, and this was as good a time as any to finally deep a toe into that pool.

As you might have seen from my rather permissive stance in the matter, I see TTS modding as something similar to print-on-demand. Both are emerging technologies with creators trying to get  tabletop games out faster and more affordably. Both are still very niche media channels, too, so I feel a bit of kinship there. After having been approached by many digital app studios that never really went anywhere, I'm impressed with the gumption of individual modders Getting It Done.


Eventually the Paid Mod program will return to Steam and I gotta be ready for it. I'm always up for trying out new technology that lets creators get their work out to people quickly, while still making some money from it. I felt that way about crowdfunding, print-on-demand, patronage, and now modding. I just want to make sure any modders out there know I'm cool with them tinkering with my self-published games freely... but when money starts becoming a part of it, we gotta work out a contract together.

It's under those terms that folks like Ryan Wilshere are developing a Light Rail mod for Tabletop Simulator. It's not live yet, but it looks pretty dang polished to me so far. (If you want more info, contact rwilshere at gmail dot com.) I'll keep you appraised of how this and other mods develop.