It’s been a little while since my last update. The run up to Christmas was bonkers (in a good way) and then I decided to have a proper couple of weeks off. Now I’m firmly back in the driving seat, relaxed and recuperated and able to update you on Dark Imp news from the last month or so. So sit back and catch up… it’s a bumper post!
FOUR new ‘Print & Play’ games
Over the last few weeks we’ve added four new downloadable ‘print & play’ games to the Dark Imp shop.
Bank or Bust is a American West themed push-your-luck game where you’re competing to get the most gold.
Lingo Land is a tricky word game where your aim is to create words around a theme without making any gobbledygook.
In Restaurantrepreneur you can create your own cafe from scratch – planning your menu, hiring staff and even choosing fixtures and fittings …. And then in The Grand Opening – your cafe is finally open for business!
All of our print & play games are available for instant download for £3.99 or £4.99. Have a look at the full range.
Uranus! is heading to Kickstarter
Our new cooperative ‘draw and erase’ network builder …. Uranus! … is coming to Kickstarter on 2nd March 2021.
You can sign up for notifications so that you don’t miss out when the campaign goes live.
The review copies are out with reviewers and they are already getting excited! There have been tweets and emails and lots of excitement flying around.
Uranus! is in the final of the Board Game Workshop’s annual design contest. The announcement of the winner has been delayed due to covid restrictions causing issues with getting the games played by judges. I’ll keep you posted.
B is for Board Games
Just before Christmas, Woman’s Own published their A-Z of Christmas health… and B was for Board Games.
I was pleased to be contacted by the journalist to give a comment about why playing games is good for you. My full comments are below, though they were edited for space!
“Game playing has proven health benefits as it induces laughter and reduces stress, boosting the immune system and lowering blood pressure. Taking time to play together brings families closer. Good board games evoke all sorts of emotions; delight, tension, intrigue, surprise… Our emotional reactions connect us to the game, the experience and the people we’re playing with. Board games spark conversations. Tabletop chatter spills over into post-game analysis. Great experiences act as bookmarks in our mind, giving us memories to chat about time and time again.”
Doughnut Dash for Channukah
In December, Doughnut Dash was featured in the Channukah gift guide in The Jewish News Life Magazine.
Doughnuts are a Channukah staple, so it’s a perfect game to play when celebrating!
I didn’t manage to share this news at the time, because it took me a while to get my hands on a copy, which is now safely installed in The Dark Imp archive.
Tabletop Gaming Best Games of 2020
While flicking through the Tabletop Gaming Best Games of 2020 I was stunned and delighted to find Top Cake and Don’t Count Your Chickens listed.
What a great end to a strange year. I’ll be doing my best to get into the Best Games of 2021 too!
Cardboard Edison Best Practices 2021
Cardboard Edison, a blog run by board game designers, has published their Best Practices 2021 guide and I’m interviewed inside.
You can get the guide here. It contains:
-
advice from past winners of the Cardboard Edison Award
-
how to make the most of online tools for playtesting and pitching
-
pointers for putting player experience at the core of your design
-
tips for managing the challenges of self-publishing
-
a board game design checklist
PuzzleNation Interview
PuzzleNation, the world leader in puzzle-based digital games, run a series called 5 Questions – in which they interview people working in the games and puzzles hobbies. In December, PuzzleNation asked me to answer their five questions. You can read the interview here. Here’s a snippet:
What’s the key to a great family-friendly game?
Getting something that the kids and the adults will all want to play. Family games aren’t children’s games. Family games have to hook in and hold the interest of everyone. For me – complexity isn’t always an issue. Kids can cope with all sorts of levels of complexity. But making sure the game is fairly fast-paced is important. I don’t mean short, necessarily, but minimising downtime is crucial. Games with simultaneous play, actions for passive players or very quick turns work well. The theme has to hook the family in too!
Micro Biz Interview
Micro Biz Mag is a digital publication covering news, opinion, advice, tips and profiles relating to the UK’s huge freelance and micro business community. During advent, Micro Biz published 24 interviews with 24 different micro business owners. I was excited to be one of the interviewees.
We cover what makes The Dark Imp different from our competitors, the toughest challenges, what I love most about running the business… and more. Here’s a short section:
“I love the whole design process – from the initial concept of an idea, to fleshing it out in a notebook, to creating basic prototypes, to first ‘crash & burn’ playtests, through various iterations where small or large things change and all the way to the finished article. There’s nothing like holding a game in your hands that you’ve designed from scratch. Though getting great feedback from families comes really close.”
The Potato of Darkness
The Dark Imp has a new friend… The Potato of Darkness – or Patate des Ténèbres – as the potato is indeed French. David Abadie, the man behind the potato is a board game reviewer with a popular French board game review YouTube channel.
David got his hands on a pile of Dark Imp games and has been telling everyone about them ever since – which is absolutely marvellous. If you’re a French speaker, you may like to watch the video review.