Nika, MFA, and more!
It’s been a while, so I figured I’d update the world about my goings-on.
Nika (nee Othismos) has received a gorgeous visual overhaul courtesy of Chris Hernandez. I’ll upload some photos of the new board and pieces once they come in, which should be soon.
I’ve started my application for the MFA in Game Design at NYU. It’s an exciting opportunity to spend time with some of the best minds in the industry, students and teachers both.
Recently I attended Metatopia, a board/card/RPG con in New Jersey. Takeaways included: everyone likes Nika (except perhaps publishers); my analog games may need more bells and whistles; making a living in analog games is hard; self-publishing is hard, but potentially worth it; and Kickstarter is a great resource for games.
I also went to PRACTICE, NYU’s annual game design conference. Tons of interesting stuff there. A special shout-out to Richard Garfield for his fascinating and specific talk on game balance, and Stone Librande for bringing his ridiculously beautiful design documentation and top-secret SimCity demo (also for kicking ass with me in Hokra and being a cool guy all around).
I’ve been lax with Savor the Void, but I swear I have an outline written for my next one, about the “open toolbox” in Magicka. It’ll be out soon! And it’ll be interesting! I promise!