June 2019: UKGE, moving around, and diving deeper into fewer games

So it turns out I missed a couple of update posts in April and May... eep! Yes, I'm still alive and well, just forgot about it is all... Been busy traveling since UKGE, what with the dragon almost eating me and all: Where is Chris now? I'm currently in Tallinn,...

Destination: UKGE 2019 – some thoughts about it and some tips for next time

As the largest convention in the United Kingdom and one of the biggest across Europe, the UK Gaming Expo (UKGE) has earned its spot as a world-class board game convention. If you're anywhere in Europe, UKGE and Essen are the two biggies alongside any number of...

March 2019: pitching and designing behind the scenes

Today on 'monthly check-ins'... It's been a busy March, but I'm in just under the wire here... Where is Chris now? I started the month in Istanbul, Turkey and moved to Tbilisi, Georgia in the middle of the month. What games are you playtesting? Playtesting's been a...

Game design: Can your game pass these five design tests?

Design is one of those things that can get overlooked when playing games in ideal circumstances. Nice bright lights, nice big table, everyone can see and understand everything perfectly... Except you know that's not reality. About 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are...

Kickstarter Preview: ‘Fail Faster’ playtesting journal

Part of good playtesting means taking notes, and for better or worse that means a paper notebook. (No way my laptop leaves my house unless it has to, and typing notes into a tablet or smartphone is too slow.) For most of the last two years, I've used small (A5-ish)...