So, a first blog post. I am hoping that a few find their way here after Gen Con, interested in Wizard Miners and what the progress is on finally getting the game published. So, let’s start there with some stress-relieving whining…
Let me tell you, new board game designers! The learning curve is HUGE! I have learned more about manufacturing, freight, logistics, fulfillment, file types, bleed lines, vector graphics, etc. etc. than I thought I ever would! I just wanted to make a game!!
My hope? Is that once I learn all about manufacturing, freight, logi…you get it – that I can make a second game and enjoy the ride knowing that I now KNOW how to get it published. Such is my hope. In reading other blogs, most notably Jamey Stonemeier’s, I have good reason to believe that a relatively smart guy like me can learn what he needs to learn, lean on others’ expertise, and get lots of help along the way to get to a point where I can publish my passion project and move on to create more.
This is the hope of a game designer who is an educator by trade, has little digital art ability, but loves loves loves board games. I think (and give me some leeway to change my mind later) that I will approach my blog like one of those TV shows that jumps back and forth showing the past, the present, and the future. I want to relive and share the road I have traveled to get to this point, discuss my dreams of where I am hoping to go, and keep you posted of what is happening along the way. To kick us off, let’s travel back to 2018 and my feeble attempt to provide some art for my game so playtesting would be more enjoyable. Wizard Miners has a “Mine Deck” that represents the depth of your mine (more on game play as we travel down this blogging path). So, everyone has a mine deck that they have to dig into. Here is my art that ran in playtesting from 2018-2020…
Can you just feel the MS Publisher shapes button being overused here? Triangles, stars, a couple of circles and a rectangle. I was so
impressed with myself. Speaking of impressed with myself, wait until I figure out how to have text next to the picture instead of under it!! It worked great for playtesting! So much fun with real cards – thank you The Game Crafter. Of course, this couldn’t stay the face of Wizard Miners. So, I begged around and found that a great friend’s daughter’s husband (I’d insert a chart so you could follow that, but I don’t know how yet) could digitally draw. So, I gave him my vision of my Wizard Miner and he came up with this for me…
Now we got us a Wizard Miner we can be proud of! Talk to you soon…I’ll share some more original art from me and how someone else dramatically improved it!