Attending WordCamp seems like as good a time as any to start posting here again. I fell off the wagon a bit recently — new jobs tend to have that effect — but I hope to get back in the habit of musing about game design. Starting… later.

I’m still publishing over at the Escapist. This past month’s game is Turfy, a Risk/DiceWars-inspired game about jungle gym warfare. It’s not the game I originally intended on publishing. I’m hoping to polish that one and get it up end of this month. It’s called “omg hire me,” and it’s semi-autobiographical.

On the topic of WordCamp, it’s always nice working in an environment of like-minded individuals. Yes, I came to a conference to get work done. I’m weird like that.

Busy month. It feels like I just returned from France, and in two days I’m moving to San Francisco (that’s right, potential employers, moving to San Francisco). In between those major transitions, I completed two non-digital games and a pretty nifty Off the Grid. It’s probably why I haven’t started packing yet.

First up is Gygaxian, developed in response to Brenda Brathwaite’s challenge to design a game in memory of the late Gary Gygax. It’s an inverted game of Dungeons & Dragons, with multiple Dungeon Masters (here called GGs) battling for narratorial control.

May’s Escapist game (which actually went up a week early) is myNo, a fun, fast-paced dice game I promised myself I’d work on as a break from headier designs like Gygaxian and Petrol Panic. I’ve been using a lot of dice in my designs lately. Maybe next month I’ll do something a bit different.

Over at Joystiq, my latest Off the Grid column deals with Hasbro’s limited-edition Risk: Black Ops, which is ten times hotter than the commercial re-release of the title coming this Fall. As I write this, only five copies of the game are up for auction on eBay, and each is going for over $400. That has to send a pretty strong message to Hasbro re: the demand for the game.

It’s time to get your vote on, because area/code’s Sharkrunners has been nominated for a Webby Award in the Games category!

Sharkrunners is a real-time, browser-based game developed for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. Players take on the roles of daring shark researchers, and take their crews out on the open seas to risk life and life in the pursuit of great white sharks. In their browsers, players set their courses across the water, and are alerted via text message when their crew has spotted a shark. It’s cross-media in a very area/code way, and the game has a tension to it that makes the time-sensitive experience of tracking and observing sharks surprisingly potent.

I worked on Sharkrunners last summer while interning at area/code, composing a lot of the in-game copy, as well as QA-testing the title. The area/code crew deserves a lot of props for the work they did on this game. Show them some love by casting your vote.

As if that wasn’t cool enough on its own, The Escapist was also nominated for a Webby, in the “Games-Related” category. Congrats go out to all the nominees (but especially the ones I work/have worked for).

I’ve been publishing non-digital games over at The Escapist since July of last year, and I thought it might be time to address the republication rights of those games.

My contract with The Escapist is not tailored to games, but rather is the same general contract offered to other freelance writers on the site. Because of this, The Escapist publishes my work under a 90-day, exclusive first-publication agreement, after which point the republication rights revert to me, the author/designer.

In other words, my Escapist games can be formally re-published as proper games, provided the actual publication occurs outside of the 90-day exclusivity period. Game publishers interested in working with any of my titles should feel free to contact me at my whole name with no spaces ÄT gmail DØT com.

Not all the features are conducive to proper publication, but games like Petrol Panic and 9am class definitely have that “star” potential.

I’m a bit behind on blogging these days, for a variety of good reasons. Most of them excuses.

Last month over at the Escapist I published Petrol Panic, a board game that I consider one of my best works to date. It took two full months of testing, balancing, and hair-pulling to get right. I’m still not convinced it’s perfect, but I’m utterly satisfied with the end product as is.

Interestingly, Petrol Panic taught me the importance of economic theory in game design, particularly in game balancing. A few design problems I encountered were solved with the help of a friendly economics major, who was able to approach certain number issues methodically, rather than chaotically. I tip my hat to him.

I return to the United States two weeks from tomorrow. I’ve been living in France for the past six months, so I expect some degree of reverse culture-shock, as well as a bit of sadness. In April I’ll be moving out to San Francisco. More on that when I know more about that.

This month’s Escapist game is called Petrol Panic, and it’s not finished.

The trouble is, designing board games is a difficult process, and designing good ones is even harder. For this month’s game to work, a number of variables, constants, and formulas need to be balanced. How much should gas cost? How much money do players start with? How big is the game board? There’s a right formula to be found; I just need some help finding it.

It’s my hope that readers, designers, and good samaritans will join in the discussion, and help me figure out the finer points of gameplay. A big reason for my attempting this method of design is the potential to create a board game built from user-contributed content. It’s a lofty goal, though, and I might not have the clout to pull it off. Still, I’m definitely open to even the smallest suggestions.

As long as you’re checking out Petrol Panic, you may as well take a gander at Fictionless, last month’s Escapist game. Petrol Panic is actually an attempt to make a fiction-full version of this game. Clearly, that’s easier said than done.