Inducted Into The Game Crafter Hall of Fame!

In light of the recent publication of Roll'n Bump, I've been given a prestigious spot in the Game Crafter Hall of Fame!

The Hall of Fame was created to recognize designers form the Game Crafter community who have achieved great levels of success with their games or have been picked up by traditional publishers.

I am honoured to join the ranks of such Hall of Fame alumni as Jason Glover (Plague:The Card Game), Matt Worden (Jump Gate/Space Mission) and Kevin Lanzing (Flash Point: Fire Rescue). Truely, I'm in great company.

I did an email interview with The Game Crafter to talk about the transition from Shake Out! to Roll'n Bump which you can check it out here.

Pro's and Con's Review: Terra Mystica

Format: Board Game
Designers: Jens Drögemüller and Helge Ostertag
Publisher: Z-Man Games

I recently attended the Ludo Outaouais event in nearby Gatineau where I got to play Terra Mystica, a brand new game from Z-Man Games that's been getting a fair bit of buzz.

Terra Mystica is a city building and resource management game with a hint of terraforming that combines elements seen in multiple other games into something unique but ultimately more complex than it needs to be.

Read on for a short review of my experience with the game from a professional and consumer point of view.

Marvin's Mittens Available Now!

"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." 

― C.S. Lewis

I'm friends with a few of the guys from Breakfall and wanted to let you all know that their first big release, Marvin's Mittens is now available to purchase on Desura. I was lucky enough to be given a press copy of the game, so you can read on for my thoughts on what the game has to offer.

In Québec? Pick Up Roll n' Bump!

I just got a list of all retailers that currently carry Roll n' Bump in Québec and it's a doozie! Some 90 or so stores all over the province are selling copies of Roll n' Bump right now! How crazy is that!? You can hit the jump for the full list of stores. If you can't get to one of these but would like to get yourself a copy, book store chain Renaud Bray also has the game for sale on their website.

Come Check Out Roll N' Bump This Weekend.

I arrived home to an awesome surprise today! As part of my publishing contract, I'm allowed some boxes of Roll n' Bump to do with as I please. With the first print run all good and done, my boxes were waiting for me when I got home from work! I knew I would be getting them soon, but I didn't expect it to be so fast. I'm so psyched! Can't you tell from my exuberant thumb?

So, you want to check out the game for yourself? Going to be in the Ottawa/Gatineau area this weekend (November 23-25, 2012)? Then come look for me at the annual Ludo Outaouais open gaming gathering.

Eggies Available Now on Facebook and iOS!

As some of you may know, though I moonlight as a board game designer and amazing(ly infrequent) blog writer, my day job entails making eyeball pleasing artwork for Ottawa based game company Playbrains.

So, what's the latest from Playbrains? Well, I'm so glad you asked, because I can now tell all of you that Eggies is now available on Facebook, iPhone and iPad!

A Little Inspiration, Video Style!

I wanted to share a couple of inspirational videos I watched recently with all of you. The first is from professor Scott Nicholson, best known for his, sadly retired, Board Games With Scott web series talking about meaningful gamification on his weekly video blog and the second is a TEDx Talk by Ryan and Cassie Henson of Sissy's Magical Ponycorn Adventure fame that, mostly, involves Ryan talking about how tech education should focus on empowering kids to become creators rather than consumers. I've linked them both after the jump.