Why the blog has been quiet
The more beady-eyed Imp followers may have noticed that The Dark Imp blog hasn’t been updated for some time. In early September, my lovely brother Anthony died, very unexpectedly when he had travelled to the US to speak at a conference. The shock and sadness has been profound. Since then, I’ve let many things slide, including the blog. I’m starting to see through the fog of my grief and I’m picking up the things I miss – like this.
I’m spending 90% of my time on game design, development and pitching, so much of the blog content will be centred around these things. Though there will still be content for families – including more games to play with cards, dice and pen/paper.

Dad’s 80th birthday in Gouda. Dad, Anthony, my three fabulous sisters and me.

Spare Strike Steal by Ginger Fox Games.
Conceived in March, pitched in May, signed in July.
Available in North America from Spring 2023.
2022 in Numbers
- 31 new games conceived and prototyped
- 27 sizzle reels and sell sheets created
- 3 games signed by publishers (and 2 more very close)
- 6 games self-published (Greetings Card Games)
- 1 game published (The Shakespeare Game)
- 318 game submissions/pitches to publishers (48 different games, 62 different publishers)… including
- 86 games pitched in a single day (Mojo Pitch – exhausting)
- 35 Fridays playtesting in London
- 3 co-designers (Mandela Fernandez-Grandon, Jeffrey D. Allers, Fagner da Silva).
- 5 board game conventions attended
- 1 board game design conference attended
- 1 scholarship won (New Voices in Gaming)
Next time…
One game design technique that encourages inspiration to strike.
So sorry for your loss Ellie, it’s lovely to see you back, I always love reading your blog. Your enthusiasm for families playing games is so inspiring.
Thanks Katie. Much appreciated. I’m so pleased you like the blog.