So what’s coming up? Or, more accurately, what’s in the plan today? I say that as things changed last year between plan and execution and there’s no guarantee for 2014 either.
Gaming As Work
The first and only really solid project in terms of a 2014 start is DreadBall Xtreme. We’ve already kicked about a bunch of ideas and some sculpting has been done. At least, they’ve made a start. This should be first out of the gate with a Kickstarter sometime early in the year. More blood, more mayhem, more DreadBall!
There is bound to be more Deadzone too, though quite what that would be I’m not sure. There is all the KS stuff to release before I do anything else.
Most importantly for me as a designer is Eternal Battle. I’ve not got a date for this yet, but it will be 2014. Part of the uncertainty is because I’m using a tech platform that I’ve not used before and which offers some exciting possibilities as well as a big challenge in changing my workflow (always a bit alarming). Either way, it’s conceptually a massive project and has been going on for years. Partly a culmination of my recent design thinking and partly new directions. It will be nice to be able to share it with everyone 🙂
There are several other projects, though none have solid dates yet so may all happen in the next few months or slide into 2015. Hard to say. I’ll revisit things as they firm up rather than promise things that may not happen.
Gaming As Play
The goal here has to be to try and fit more in, between work. Luckily for my sanity I’m very much enjoying the Eternal Battle stuff I’m working on and so that almost counts as play (even though it is actually work). That plus God of Battles are intended to be a core for my own gaming anyway, and so the lines are rather blurred.
I also need to make this the year I get back into painting properly rather than faffing about the edges as I have been doing. There are work reasons for this as well as play, so again it’s blurred. The perils of work and hobby being the same thing. Again.
Stuff in the Ebay piles really needs to get Ebayed rather than sitting about in the way. I asked at my local club but got no bites, so it’s off to the great jumble sale in the sky. It’s a pity that the whole Ebay process is so dull.
Quirkworthy
The biggest task here is to keep posting new stuff while I try to catch up with the old. This is a massive time sink, which I shouldn’t really do. However, I am going to so will just have to make it work. You can expect more of the same, plus (fingers crossed) some more Gaming As Play stuff as well. Once Eternal Battle gets closer there will be a lot on that, plus support for it when it comes out.
Watch This Space
Probably the biggest thing to do in order to achieve any of these things is reorganise my schedule. I can’t make more time, but I can make better use of what I’ve got.
All told, my crystal ball predicts another very busy year in the offing, with all sorts of fun gaming projects. If you’re not already a subscriber I recommend you click to sign up (top right) so you get all the posts hot off the press and can join in the discussions while they’re fresh.
All the best!
Quirkworthy 
Why not post your list of stuff to be ebayed? You might get some bites here.
Not a bad idea.
You had me at “Dreadball Xtreme”
I have never played dreadball (or seen it played). I hear alot of good stuff about it. I hope that this dreadball xtreme kickstarter will let new people join in without having to buy season1/2/3 and whatnot to fully enjoy the game.
I wouldn’t say that you needed to get all the Seasons to enjoy the game anyway. DBX will be another way into the game though, if that’s what you’re after. It is a bit different though.
Hi Jake- I hope you get to play more often. I am really enjoying Deadzone even as my buddy and i do our best to break the game with abusive builds! Any possibility of providing that “why you shouldn’t worry about high-points-cost armies” announcement for DZ? Are we moving to a 100-point game?
Working on that.
Nothing yet about DKH? I’m very eager to hear what the plans are for that game, especially since I understand it may fill a WHQ/ HQ type niche. Although I am very much enjoying following the rather lively HQ discussions over at boardgamegeek.com, I just can’t bring myself to get behind that project. It just sounds too fishy!!!
I’ve written about DKH4 a couple of times, and nothing much has changed in terms of my overall plan. It’s a co-op adventuring party vs Bad Guy in charge of dungeon rather than the earlier 2 player iterations, so it’s a bit like WHQ/HQ. However, rather than the current fashion for co-op games where everyone is on the same side, I’ve plumped for having someone play the baddy as well (as I think that’s the most fun anyway).
Thanks Jake! That’s largely what I’d gleaned from the previous discussions. I understand it may not be first in the queue for 2014, but I do hope it gets KS’d this year. I would love to see Mantic take on a game like this, and give it the same treatment that Deadzone got with a deluxe board, box and bits.
What I haven’t seen yet is if there would be any level progression planned for players in DKH4. Given that there might be a “twist” with a “hero” character potentially playing a bad guy too, I’m guessing that’s not in the cards for this one. Or it sounds like it would be hard to incorporate.
Experience and progression is in the plans, yes. I tend to try and do stuff that I think will make the game good, whether that’s difficult or not 😉
Sounds like a busy time ahead Jake and I’m particularly interested in what Eternal Battle will be like.
I am going to buck the trend a little here and say I’m not sure I want a daily post, no offence, I’m just a believer in less being more. Also given that you’ve got a fair old schedule of work already I’d be happy to read a couple of articles a week that include some FAQ’s, errata, general updates or your musings whilst knowing you’re not struggling to honour a commitment for several updates a week.
Maybe the main resolution for 2014 should be to play more and enjoy the fruits of your labours? 😉
I agree with OldNick.
No point in overworking yourself when a few posts a week are more than enough.
+1
Thanks folks. I’m being my own taskmaster here as I have a great many things I want to post and I get very behind even posting at the rate I’ve been doing. The only way of keeping up with myself is to post more!
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