2024 is coming to an end and it’s a rewarding mental exercise to look back at the year that passed and learn from what happened. This post is about 2024 in games. For me games are tabletop boardgames and roleplaying games played face to face with other people. Last week I wrote a post about 2024 in photography.
Gaming wise 2024 has been a great year.
Creating games
2024 has been a fun and creative year for me personally. Don’t quit your day job they say. It’s probably true that few can make a living by creating games. But if you have the privilege to not live from pay cheque to pay cheque, quitting your day job is a great way to release the creative spirits.
Gotlandia
Back in February I channeled out Gotlandia in a 2 week creative frenzy. Very rewarding to create something from thin air. I’ve honed the design through countless hours over the year to a point where it is a solid design that I am very satisfied with.
What has also been great is that I have let the design and development process flow from my own motivation. I’ve used external events to set milestones, such as LinCon, Viking Con and Smash Con, but I’ve deliberately not had a big publication deadline or rush to completion. The motivation for this project is purely intrinsic, I create therefore I am. I do not rule out publishing a commercial version of the game at some point, but that is not the reason why I created Gotlandia. I have fun along the way and let the project evolve from milestone to milestone. Let’s see where it will end up.
Status end of year is that I have ordered five new set of cards from Printer Studio. This latest version of the cards use symbols. Together with an updated board, Gotlandia will then be ready for external testing without me playing or standing nearby. The next big milestone is to present Gotlandia at LinCon 2025 in May.
I’ve spent a lot of time on Gotlandia. But other games have also seen the light in 2024.
Churches of Gotland
Churches of Gotland is a card game in the family genre that came out over a weekend. Reflecting that Gotlandia has a narrow target audience, I decided to create a lighter game, a fun game that is also a great souvenir. A game with greater commercial potential. It was fun to take it from idea to playtest to prototype over a very short time.
Status end of year is that I’ve sent copies of the game to selected parties on Gotland without getting a response. I still think the idea is great and commercially feasible. I just don’t like selling games, I prefer for someone else to do that. Maybe more will happen in 2025. Time will tell.
Mediterranean Metro
Mediterranean Metro is another family card game that I created in the autumn when my mind freed up and started wandering again. Inspired by the building of the metro in Thessaloniki, Mediterranean Metro uses a tableau of two layers of cards to represent the city. A hidden underground layer with a revealed city layer on top. Players race to build tunnels and stations and draw cards to gather engineers, workers and archaeologists to complete sections.
Status end of year is that I iterated on the design and played with family and friends. The design works and the game is ready to be pitched to a publisher. I could create an illustrated prototype and go kicking in some doors, but I don’t think I will do it. For now it sits in my portfolio of games.
The City
I created the steampunk drama The City over one week in October after returning from Viking Con.
Back in the spring I signed up for creating a scenario for Viking Con. I wanted to do a sequel to last year’s Rollespilsweekend i Tranås. But while I had the characters and the game mechanics and an outline of a story, I didn’t find the spark to realise the game as the deadline approached. Rather than forcing me into creating something just to deliver on my commitment, I decided to pull the game from the schedule. I’m happy that I came to that decision, I have matured as a person and learned to say no.
Instead, The City happened. Years ago I researched Ancient Athens for an ensemble drama. Back then I got stuck or distracted by going into too many details. I decided that I needed to visit Athens before I could create a game about it. I did that in 2023.
Ensemble drama is a great format for a story game. Players have a main character each with their own story lines, but are also supporting characters in the other stories of the other players. Together these stories then answers a common theme. I used this format successfully for Montsegur 1244, of course.
I had freed up my head and my calendar, so when I connected ‘Steampunk’ with my notes from back then, the game fell in place within a week.
Status end of year: I created the game, uploaded a first version, played it at Tekniska and enjoyed it very much. Another session planned in January and sessions pencilled in for LinCon and Viking Con 2025. I published The City straight away as a free pdf. Not because I don’t think it is great, but to not bother with creating an illustrated print-on-demand version and later try to sell it. The City is a great basis for fun roleplaying experiences next year.
Learning new games
I’ve learned that a day has only 24 hours. Which means that if you want to do more of one thing, there are other things you do less of. For me that means playing fewer games designed by others. I did get to try out games I hadn’t played before and I also got to study games that I was curious about. Two inspiring highlights: Dune Imperium Uprising (which inspired Gotlandia) and Undaunted North Africa (my first encounter with the undaunted series).
Playing games
I don’t have a regular gaming group. Which means I rarely play roleplaying games these days. I have given up on playing online, it doesn’t give that same intensity that makes roleplaying games truly special. But 2024 did deliver a few opportunities to play face to face.
At Viking Con I had a great time running a scenario by Troels Ken Pedersen. Playing in Danish with four people I did not know with a low stakes game just for fun. Nothing fancy or complex, it just delivered a fun experience at the table. Later, I ran ‘The City’ at Tekniska. In spite of this being the premiere and I played it with total strangers, I had a great time and enjoyed myself, confident that the game would work.
Boardgames are easier to get to the table. I joined play nights at a nearby boardgame club. I played with my kids and with their friends. I played with friends when they visited or I visited them. And I played a whole lot of my own games. No complaints here!
Helping other creators
2024 also saw opportunities to help other game creators with their projects. In the spring I did an interview with Johan Eriksson about Oceania 2084 for his crowdfunding campaign. When the campaign funded, I gave detailed feedback on the game text. In the autumn I did interviews with John Nephew and David Chart about the Ars Magica Definitive Edition, a crowdfunding campaign that hit the roof. Both good experiences that I will repeat if the right opportunity comes up.
2025
So what are takeaways to bring into 2025?
Keep designing and playing games for fun. I wouldn’t mind if my games were available for sale out in the world, but it’s not a priority. Especially if it means going down the path of self publishing and crowd funding. I have heard plenty of stories about how stressful that can be. Don’t replace a fun hobby of something I enjoy (creating games) with a horrible chore that I don’t enjoy (selling games). I might go to Spiel in Essen. I might pitch a couple of games while there. But only if I think it will be fun.
Don’t overcommit. Leave plenty of free time in the calendar, especially after a convention or playtest to recharge and process. That’s when the creative juices flow most freely.
I will start a new job in February. This most likely means less time for designing and developing my own games. Time will tell. I have often been very productive on hobby projects even while having a full time job. Maybe ideas for new games will pop up and want to get out. It all depends on what type of busy you are. But first I need to get into the new role and hopefully get to a point where I enjoy that as much as creating my own games. Or almost. Let’s see what 2025 brings!