Back in the before times I used to make an annual pilgrimage to Colorado for an informal Horror Writer’s Retreat at the Stanley Hotel. The last time we managed to make it happen was in 2018 (I think) and I subjected everyone to a storytelling game called Gloom. The basic idea is to play cards that a) score you points and b) describe a terrible disaster that befalls a member of one of the game’s quirky families. Players are encouraged to elaborate on the description on the card to create a story but don’t gain any points unless their family meets its demise. Gloom has a dark, Addams Family-esque feel so playing it with a bunch of horror writers was great fun. I have all the expansions (and a Cthulhu variant) of the game so when I saw that there is a new version being funded on Kickstarter I didn’t think twice. In the words of the team behind the game: Gloomier: A Night at Hemlock Hall is a darkly humorous stand-alone competitive storytelling card game for two to five players. To win, you make your characters suffer the greatest tragedies possible before passing on to the well-deserved respite of death. … Read More
Kickstarter of the (not every) Week – Coyote & Crow
I have a Kickstarter problem. According to my profile, I’ve backed 237 projects since February 2016 plus 22 that I either dropped out of or were unsuccessful. That’s a lot of projects. Most of the projects I back are book, role-playing game, board game, or video game related but I’ve backed whiskey glasses, wallets, and running gear, too. Most of the projects have been delivered although the very first project I backed just passed its five year anniversary with no sign of it actually being completed. I have cut down on the number of projects I back but there are a lot of cool creative things happening on Kickstarter so I thought I’d start highlighting some of the interesting ones here. Hopefully if you back them I don’t need to feel so bad when I succumb and back them as well. First up, Coyote & Crow. In the words of the team behind the project: Coyote and Crow is a tabletop role playing game set in an alternate future of the Americas where colonization never occurred. Instead, advanced civilizations arose over hundreds of years after a massive climate disaster changed the history of the planet. You’ll play as adventurers starting out … Read More
Cthulhu Has Risen
A while ago I backed the C is for Cthulhu kids alphabet book on Kickstarter Now they’re back with this… How can you resist? I know I couldn’t, just click here and this little fella could be all yours. For a limited time, I’m giving everyone who signs up to my mailing list 5 free books, including a copy of my science fiction novel, Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet when it’s released later this year. Click here to sign up and get your free books. [Cthulhu Has Risen by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 17th July 2015]
StoryStylus KickStarter
I’m a bit of a KickStarter addict. I’ve backed everything from children’s books to HP Lovecraft Blu-rays to card games about exploding kittens to photographs of librarians. I try to stay away from the site these days because it’s just too tempting and there’s only so much room in our apartment. That said, I’ve just backed my 97th project – StoryStylus from One More Story Games. My wife and I have known Blair and Jean, the founders of One More Story Games, for a long time and they’re two of our best friends. I worked with Blair when I first arrived in Canada, and we ended up hanging out with them, playing boardgames, going out for meals, watching illicit filming going on in the apartment across the street and just generally having a good time. I introduced Jean to Amanda Palmer at a New Year’s Eve gig in San Francisco, they introduced us to someone who bakes bacon-orange cookies. Seems like a pretty fair exchange. About 15 months or so ago, after spending some time working in the US, Blair and Jean returned to Canada and formed One More Story Games to create an online gaming platform for interactive fiction. The first “world” – Mystery World – lets players investigate crimes as … Read More
Exploding Kittens
My addiction to Kickstarter has been raging for quite some time now. I’m up to 97 projects backed, most of which have funded. I’ve backed three projects this week already, including this one: I suspect the video tells you everything you need to know about why I backed it. And I’m not alone, at the time of writing, the project has just passed the $3,000,000 mark. Obviously, the fact that the game’s being illustrated by The Oatmeal, and features his trademark bizarre humour is a big factor in the project’s success. This is someone who can sell out a marathon in twenty minutes, so it should come as no surprise that his fanbase have jumped on this game like a blerch on cake. But it also looks like a great game. Elan Lee and Shane Small clearly know their stuff. What appeals to me is that it seems like a game that’s simple enough that I could see myself playing it with my family, or at work without having to spend a lot of time setting it up or explaining the rules. And it only needs a couple of players so it’s a game I can play with my wife as well. I love The Oatmeal’s sense of … Read More
Five Things I Learned Last Week
I guess this should really be called He Learned Five Things Last Week and you won’t believe what they are! Pushing the Sky Away (Death of a Blasphemer) is a new story by Caitlin R Kiernan and it’s available for free on the Subterranean Press website. Yobi3D is a search engine that lets you find 3D models. I’m not late – Although I am late finding that article. The Kickstarter Potato Salad project raised $55,492 – It got “media mentions” in 54 countries and is the fourth most viewed Kickstarter page Slovakian artist, Tomáš Moravec, has created a ‘skateboard’ that runs on the tram tracks in Bratislava [Five Things I Learned Last Week by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 11th August 2014]