Those brilliant folk from Wellycon are at it again, with a single day boardgame gathering in Lower Hutt this weekend.
Sam and I will be there... come on over for some gaming fun!
All the details after the jump...
Feb 012012
Boardgame News
Dec 162011
We've been featured in the latest Carterton Street Scene! Ian came out and had a chat and took some great photos, and we're chuffed to be smiling away on the cover and in the centre spread.
The article covers our recent exploits in boardgame development along with some our website adventures, and rounded out with a little bit of bio.
So if you're in the area having a coffee, keep an eye out for a copy because what more could anyone want than a piece of our astonishing fame? Carterton today, Clareville tomorrow, Masterton by 2027!
Another pic and the full text of the article follow the jump...
Sep 132011
This Saturday 17th of September, from 10.30 am to 1pm, I'll be at the fabulous Featherston game store All Aboard doing demos of Five Men Standing and other games in our range.
Do drop by and say hi- it's great meeting fellow gamers! And even if the astonishing prospect of meeting me in person somehow fails to inspire you, be assured that All Aboard is well worth a visit.
Owners Robyn and Graham are fantastic: knowledgeable, friendly and with a captivating passion for games. They're also great supporters of the local community, running the South Wairarapa Chess Tournament each year and having gaming afternoons and evenings amongst their many other activities.
So get your skates on, grab your wallet, purse or piggy bank, and come and down to see if you can beat me at Five Men Standing. There's a jelly baby in it for you if you do!
Aug 152011
I've written before about what an interesting place the small town of Carterton is. It's full of lovely treats like the amazing French cuisine of Mirabelle, the joys of stone-oven pizza in the hills at Bolle and Gerlinda's rustic Swiss lodge, and a proliferation of artists whose work is wondrous.
Living right on Carrington Park in the middle of town has transformed our first-floor office windows into a giant TV: we get all sorts of sports events happening right on our doorstep, and even the occasional hovercraft.
May 202011
Wellycon, the astonishing weekend of boardgame fun, is back again for 2011. With a new venue and an expanded program, it's going to be amazing! If you love games, you need to be there. Here's the spiel, directly from the Wellcon folk themselves:
This year we are located at:
Feb 222011
Some of the cards for the Webstock 2011 racing game.
Whew. Last week was madness!
There was the frantic rush to complete all elements of the Webstock racing card game, which included writing up all the rules and flavour text for the 43 cards, checking it all to make sure it went to the printers without error, and sorting out Twitter for the rolling release of further rules and tips. I was very glad to be working with the fab Kai and Diane again; we do really seem to complement each other in ideas and skills.
Feb 152011
Rugby News, the world's highest circulating rugby magazine, has a complete Five Men Standing game set (1 boxed game plus each of the 20 Country Team packs- retail value of $350!) and another 4 box sets to give away!
For more info, check the Five Men Standing website. Good luck!
That link will also lead you to the online version of their latest magazine, and it's a cracker. 79 pages chock full of Super Rugby 2011 info and pics. Warning: it's a time sink!
Dec 142010
Five Men Standing, the official game of Rugby World Cup 2011 that’s a collaboration between us and IQIdeas, has been getting a bit of coverage lately.
Andrew Baker spoke to Murray Deaker on Newstalk ZB last night about the game, there’s an upcoming Otago Daily Times article and we chatted to Kerri Bowling of the Wairarapa Midweek and scored front-page coverage! Woot! World famous in Carterton (and, well, the rest of the Wairarapa).
Hey, is Oprah's still visiting the big west isle? Is it too late to score an interview there? I'm happy to jump up and down on a couch...
As the world counts down to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, a Carterton couple is hoping to bring some of the action into homes. Kerri Bowling reports.
Dec 062010
It seems that Chinese company Magic Bird has taken a shine to some of the games we've worked on, including The Amazing Mammoth Hunt and Toppletree. They're currently translating them and preparing for a release in the Chinese market.
It's always fabulous seeing your work gain a wider foothold and expand into other languages. And we'd obviously be thrilled if even 2% of the Chinese population bought one of the games; heck, we'd probably settle for 1%!
Here's an image of the new board as it shapes up, compared to the original Mammoth board. Love those crazy new characters!
Mammoth Hunt- Chinese version by Magic Bird
Mammoth Hunt - original English version by Bek Farr and Romina Marinkovich
Nov 302010
As I write this, Five Men Standing stock is arriving in Whitcoulls stores around the nation, and it's also available via online retailer Fishpond.
And not forgetting our cousins in the great western island*, it should also be turning up in Angus & Robertson stores around Australia.
So if you've got a rugby-mad relative that you're struggling to find a Christmas pressie for, I humbly suggest you grab a copy, if only for the esteem that will be bestowed upon you as a wise and canny giver of gifts. Undoubtedly people will write sonnets and sagas praising your perspicacity and benevolence, and these words will echo down the ages.
But of course, the joy is in the giving, not the eternal fame. So grab your readies and get cracking!
* Hmmm. It's only been a little under six years since I departed the shores of Oz, and already my homeland has been relegated to a Kiwi territory. Still, when the All Blacks crush the Wallabies next year into so much as a fine patina of yellow, I too will revel in the glory as they raise the Webb Ellis cup in triumph. When in Rome...
Oct 152010
We've been very busy inventing, designing and otherwise beavering away at a new game, and we're very excited about it! It's called Five Men Standing, and it's the official game of Rugby World Cup 2011. Roll on Rugby madness- New Zealand is going to be a vibrant, pulsing party-land next year!
This game is a big step for us, because it's a true 50/50 collaboration with IQ Ideas- we're co-inventors and are contributing half the manufacturing and licensing costs. It's quite a commitment, but we know we've created, a fun, frantic game that also looks amazing, so we believe it'll do very well and has the potential to be huge.
I'll post more details once I've finished creating the official website, but here's a teaser shot of the box front and back to get rugby fans salivating!
** UPDATE ** : There's been demand for the site, so even though I have plans to put much more content online, you can visit what's there now at fivemenstanding.com ; in particular, the How To Play animation seems quite popular!
Sep 022010
August 14 and 15 was WellyCon Weekend, the fantastic annual gaming tournament organised by Andy Rae (of the recent "Your Weekend" article fame) and his right-hand men, Ian Anderson and Peter Freer.
Sam and I headed down, taking a swag of games, including some I'd worked on in various capacities. Here's us deep in a game of Small World:
Minty and Sam at Wellycon 2010, playing Small World
Sam and I helped out with a Family Session organised by Andrew Rae, which attracted about 14 kids. Andy's looking to increase the family quotient at Wellycon, something I'm happy to support.
We played three games of Halli Galli (with lots of bruised fingers!), one game of Happy Sheep, three of The Adventurers and lots of Toppletree. I'm sure there were other games going on too.
Kids playing Toppletree at Wellycon 2010
The session went on an hour and a half longer than planned, so I figure that's a success! I saw two young kids that I taught The Adventurers and go on to teach it to some adults: brilliant. I also noticed one adult sit down alone with Toppletree obviously thinking "Hah, how hard can it be to build a tree?". A few seconds later he was picking up pieces off the floor. The noise of happy children and sound of Toppletree pieces falling... ah, music to my ears!
Wellycon keeps going from strength to strength, and I like the focus of making it as inclusive as possible. They're a very friendly and fun crowd. I'm also keen to see it as a venue for supporting and raising the profile of NZ game inventors and developers, and look forward to doing even more towards those ends at Wellycon 2011!
If you want to read more about the weekend of gaming madness, here are some links:
wellycon.blogspot.com
Great times at WellyCon 2010
Games played at WellyCon 2010
Aug 092010
We've finished the design on Happy Sheep and it's off to the printers for final samples!
Bek and I are very excited about this game; not only does it look fantastic and play hilariously, we're so keen on it that we're investing in the production rather than just doing graphics.
We've uploaded the box imagery and rules if you'd like a sneak peek.
Happy Sheep's a fast, fun game of memory, deduction and bluffing. It's a fabulous family game, but it's also got enough calculation and deception to make it a great light filler for serious gamers.
For 2-4 players and aimed at 6 to adult, it also comes with rules for a very basic game for 3 and ups.