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.

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.

For those curious, I’ll be in Vienna Austria, pretty much out of reach. I’ll be back in contact on Saturday, the 23rd. Looking forward to hearing about all the GDC wackiness that will ensue in my absence.

I was concerned that the content of the piece would be lost on a lot of non-traveling gamers, but it seems a surprising number of people have been in my exact same situation. The comments I’ve received on the piece are extremely helpful, and I’ll definitely be taking their input into consideration while I write next week’s thrilling conclusion. I look forward to sharing my crazy, ass-backward solution with the world.

In travel news, we’re headed to Italy tomorrow. By train. We can take a train to Italy. How cool is that?

I passed my flight to France watching Dexter with Bonnie, replaying Metroid: Zero Mission, replaying Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and playing the same three or four Neutral Milk Hotel songs on Jam Sessions over and over again. I was going to do some design work, but… yeah right.

Next week is a very special Off the Grid. It’s special because it’s about video games.

I’ve very nearly caught up with everything, so hopefully things will get back to normal soon (well, normal in the sense that I’m living in France, but posting here regularly like a good little blogger).

In Scott news, both Officeball and Arrowgamé have been published at the Escapist. Check them out. What’s coming out at the end of this month? I’m not telling (because I’m not sure yet, but I’m also not telling).

My American cellphone will be disconnected for the six months I’m in France, but those wanting to contact me can still do so via e-mail. (scott¹numberless²net).

We’ll have regular internet access in our apartment, and we’ll be posting plenty of photos to our joint Flickr account, as well as updating our brand new travel blog with stories and more.

Okay. Back to packing.

I’ve been interning at area/code: They recently launched a unique online game for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, called Sharkrunners. I did a lot of playtesting and bug-testing for Sharkrunners, but I also wrote a sizable amount of the in-game creative copy. It still makes me giggle whenever I receive an “important message” from The Dreyfus Foundation or FIN (Friends of the Ichthyological Nation). The game is also incredibly fun. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you haven’t done so already.

area/code has a few other projects in the works right now, but nothing I can really talk about. It’s all pretty exciting stuff, though. a/c has become a serious think-tank for game design and general tech know-how.

I’ve been designing games for The Escapist: I’m pretty excited about this latest venture. I’m working with Escapist Magazine to deliver monthly non-digital game designs for their website. My first design is a dice game called Magic Numbers, and I’m really happy with how it came out. I’m currently working on future designs, but in general I’m psyched to be pioneering a unique venture between online publications and games.

I’m going to France! It’s true! I’m headed to the French city of Grasse for six months, starting in late September. What will I be doing there? Well, not much. I’ll be doing a lot of online writing, hopefully teaching myself a few Flash skills, and designing a whole lot of games. Mostly, I’ll be relaxing in our beautiful apartment, enjoying the ocean view and sipping sirop. I’m currently embroiled in visa nonsense, but with any luck I’ll have it all resolved by the time I get on the plane.

So, yay! Busy! Back to work!

It’s not exactly a runaway feedback loop, but it’s close. As I explain in my Off the Grid review, players earn points in Cheapass Games’ Enemy Chocolatier by owning neighborhoods. Once a player is earning points, he does so every round, with no guaranteed way for other players to stop him. The points end up snowballing (especially as that player continues to purchase new properties as his points steadily increase), and often the game’s outcome is apparent two-to-three rounds before it actually ends. As much as I like the game, I have to admit that it’s not fun to know you’re going to lose. There are definitely ways to hack and tweak the gameplay, but I’ve been a bit too busy to think them up myself.

I’m in Georgia this week, no doubt lying out on a floating dock, dreaming about Scottypedia (which is now technically possible thanks to my awesome hosts!). In recent news, Bonnie was on national television, and I’m starting as a full-time Joystiq blogger next Monday. We’re also moving to the city, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.

Obviously, I didn’t keep up numberless while I was GDC’ing, so I plan on late-blogging^TM my highlights of the conference over the next week or so, including favorite sessions and cool things that occurred to me (like the fact that Clint Hocking is amazing).

By the way, I attended The Metagame session, run by Frank Lantz and Eric Zimmerman. I mean, sure I attended lots of sessions, but The Metagame was the only one I wrote up for Joystiq, as part of my Off the Grid column.

Okay, that’s it for now. More later.