I hadn’t heard about STAPLE! until last year. Chris Nicholas, a guy I met in improv classes at The New Movement, created and organized it. It is basically a mini convention for indie comic creators, game designers, and artists in general. You can find out more at www.staple-austin.org .
I had never been a vendor at a convention, so I didn’t know what to expect. Chris warned me that STAPLE! kind of spoils vendors for other conventions because it is such a cool experience. He was not wrong. My vague plan was to roll in there with copies of House of Whack and The Stork and see what happened. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes I fall into that slough of self-examination where I feel as though I have accomplished nothing with my life. Or, when compared to Person X, I am found wanting. This often happens when I’m not currently working on a creative project, as they tend to define me and give me purpose.
So I think it might be helpful to recollect the things I have achieved. Not in a boastful, resting on my laurels sort of way. But to remind myself that I am the same person who did all of those things. Try it yourself when you are feeling somewhat less than. Read the rest of this entry »
Tonight I brought House of Whack to Boards ‘n Brews. It was good to see it on the table again. I hadn’t taught the game to new players in ages, but this was the smoothest explanation so far. There were four players, a really good size group for newcomers. We played the straight up “Inside the Box” version with nothing fancy. The Throne of Swift and Whimsical Judgment came into play and there was a pretty amusing trial as a result. Dan had a legitimate beef with Jeff, namely being forced to stand while playing and walk around in a circle. The jury was split and it came down to a roll off, which Jeff won. That’s how it goes down sometimes.
Jeff pulled ahead of everyone on the score track and took home a copy of the game. Good times!
Ah, here is an appropriate use of a blog: venting.
I received an email today that just sent me over the edge of bewilderment and anger. It was from someone I hadn’t heard from in over a year. The message simply said “Can you afford to begin paying for my contributions to our game yet?” And he’s talking about House of Whack. Read the rest of this entry »
It is an honor to have House of Whack distributed alongside some of the most innovative and important independent role-playing games ever conceived. House of Whack really is a gateway drug to story games and other out of the box gaming experiments, so it really seems like a good fit.
Support independent game design at Indie Press Revolution.
I’ve been learning how to create web sites using Joomla!, an open source content management system. This is primarily for work, but I can envision converting the DreamPunk site over to Joomla! at some point.
Additionally, I have upgraded the House of Whack forums to the latest version of phpBB, an open source forum.
What I need to do next is learn how to make custom templates for both of these packages. Give it that personal touch.
A few months ago I ordered some printable magnet material and today I used it to print out a set of rooms from House of Whack. Now I can play on the front of my refrigerator.
Last week my company graciously flew my back to Albuquerque to participate in the company Christmas party. I decided to stay a whole week so I would have time to visit my friends. Read the rest of this entry »
Last night I had some friends over to play House of Whack. Most of them had played the version that comes in the box, but I wanted to show them the version that comes *outside* the box. This was the version I had always wanted to play. It’s not something that can easily be explained in a manual as you really have to experience it firsthand due to its emergent, organic game play. Read the rest of this entry »
House of Whack was printed by BoardGameDesign.com and the project rep for the job was Lisa Marie. She had to deal with all my weird requests for the game, changes in mid-stream, the whole tri-fold fiasco, etc. So, now that the game is done, I thought the least I could do would be to thank her for putting up with me. I think I made her day.
Dear ANDRE,
OH MY GAWD!
As I sit at my desk taking the next call from a complaining customer, there arrived a HUGE box marked with the words FTD and GODIVA!!! I sat and tried to imagine who in the world could possibly be sending me such a wonderful surprise marked with FTD and Godiva…. hmmm….
YOU…it was from YOU! Andre Monserrat, I screamed so loudly that I think the windows shook! LOL
There inside was a beautiful bouquet of ONE DOZEN of the most beautiful roses that I have ever seen. Not to mention the GODIVA chocolates that I was able to savor slowly while opening the box! (who am I kidding…I gulped 2 right down!) This is a wonderful surprise! I’m so elated and so appreciative that I’m leaving work early so I can go place them inside of one of my nicest vases so I can then place them on my table so I can adore them all weekend…. this is sweet…..real sweet! They are all different colors and each one is a perfect rose shape. They are perfect and absolutely beautiful and they smell so yummy rose flower good!
You are thanked more than you could ever imagine…. thank you from the bottom of my heart. Glad I could do my job and help make your game a reality. Thank you, thank you, thank you.