Howdy!
I’m returning to PAX Unplugged in a little over a month with 4 game designs ready to pitch. One is a co-design with my buddy Gabe Godoi. We became design buddies last year, and we are excited to unleash our latest concoction on Philadelphia. Gabe and I are both signed with Skybound with as-yet-unannounced titles, and this year we’ve arranged meetings with almost a dozen publishers.
Suffice to say my preparations for this con began while the last one ended. All year long I’ve had my eyes on the first weekend in December. If I think about it too hard, the prospect of con pitching is a bit ridiculous. Months (or years) of creative work poured into one exhausted publisher’s aching ears for 30 seconds. It’s exhilarating in the moment, and I’m 100x more confident this year, especially knowing Gabe is my wingman. Psychologically, I’m better prepared for the over-stimulation, and for navigating Philly. This is the year of good impressions.
The designs I’m bringing this year are:
What’s The Tea? – with Gabe Godoi, a party game for 3-10 players, an adaptation of the improv classic ‘Questions Only’. An uproarious time and a good communication challenge that any player can win, regardless of their performance abilities or comfort level.
A Real Artist Goes to Poughkeepsie – a drawing party game for 3-10 players, in which professional artists participating in the world’s slummiest art auction try to enter their work anonymously, then sell their correctly-identified peers’ art on the internet for profit. It’s a light satire with a neat arc, good laughs, and enough strategy to hang on your wall.
??? – this one’s top secret. A medium-weight strategy game, a complete left turn from my usual fare. I’ll be demoing this with a very special publisher on Friday.
The Duck AKA QuackJack – Wow. A big surprise here. This design is only a month old…but technically it’s almost 2 years old, because it’s a doubly-stripped down version of an earlier game I brought last year. The response at playtests has been incredible. This is the most simple, streamlined game I’ve made yet. Even if it doesn’t fly, I am enthralled by The Duck.
That’s it for me! If we met at PAXU, please say Hi. I’m pretty sure the contact form still works on this site. Pretty sure.
Peace.
Phil Gross, Game Designer 