Daily Illuminator Archive for January 2019

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January 1, 2019:
Phil will tell about some of the particular struggles SJ Games dealt with in his Stakeholders' Report, coming soon. We have a lot to look forward to in 2019 and a lot of work to get done to make it all happen . . . read article

January 2, 2019:
This is a fantastic series by Artemis Entreri. Not only did they design rations (or in some cases, full meals) for fantasy races, they cooked them, laid them out in nice presentations. took photos, and at least tried to eat them* on game night . . . read article

January 3, 2019:
The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition is set to leave the factory in the next few weeks, which means that it's time we turn our attention to the game's future. Over the last few months, we released two different PDF adventures for the game on Warehouse 23 . . . read article

January 4, 2019:
The games we create are built on the work and passion of those who came before us. When I joined Mayfair Games in 2005, I joined a team that had already established their names and legacies in the game industry – and they, in turn, were building on the legacy of the Bromleys as the founders of Mayfair Games . . . read article

January 5, 2019:
This is me, gloating in a most unseemly fashion over my hardcover copy of In The Labyrinth. But those haven't even been printed yet! . . . read article

January 6, 2019:
I love reading, especially when I'm stuck in a line or otherwise have unexpected time to kill. But I don't always have a book with me and I don't like getting into the habit of pulling my phone out as soon as there's a slight delay, because I inevitably end up playing some time-wasting game or (worse) checking my email . . . read article

January 7, 2019:
I'm in Hong Kong at the moment, visiting factories and checking on several projects, including the final assembly of The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition that is set to ship from China later this month. We are happy to report that the game looks incredible and everything is on schedule! . . . read article

January 8, 2019:
As the new year begins, another year ends . . . and with the end of 2018 came another ending: the final issue of Pyramid. Pyramid #3/122: All Good Things celebrates the weird and wonderful ideas that the magazine has brought to GURPS, with new options for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, GURPS Monster Hunters, and GURPS Infinite Worlds. This installment includes new threats for spacefaring heroes, new possibilities for weird-science practitioners, and more . . . read article

January 9, 2019:
Five years ago, we created the steel tool for a 19mm six-sided die where we replaced the "ones" face with a Cthulhu icon. We sold these dice online and handed them out at shows . . . read article

January 10, 2019:
Are you following our Twitter account? If not, you may have missed out on the first pics of our Car Wars Sixth Edition dice . . . read article

January 11, 2019:
Fans of The Fantasy Trip have had a lot to celebrate recently, thanks to an incredibly successful Kickstarter last August. One of the coolest offers from that Kickstarter was the "I Want It All" shipping carton of ultimate coolness . . . read article

January 12, 2019:
We're happy to report that The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition game is set to ship from the factory next week and is on schedule to mail out to Kickstarter backers starting in March. This over-sized, over-loaded, and over-hauled new edition of the classic TFT roleplaying game is a gorgeous and incredible work of art, improved dramatically thanks to all of your support for the game's Kickstarter project last year . . . read article

January 13, 2019:
I'd be willing to bet that many of you reading this are old enough to remember the soft-rock hits of the 1970s, the last bastion of gentility before disco and punk blighted the musical landscape forever.* (Disclaimer: The musical opinions expressed in this Illuminator do not represent the opinions of Steve Jackson, Steve Jackson Games, Phil Reed  especially not Phil – or anyone else, including Andrew. Don't @ us . . . read article

January 14, 2019:
This is it! Later today, The Fantasy Trip Adventures campaign comes to a close . . . then we dig deep and start the serious work of completing the project and preparing the new book (and counters, can't forget the counters) for print . . . read article

January 15, 2019:
How do you follow an Ogre-sized 40th Anniversary celebration? With an even bigger 41st year bash! Ogre had a fantastic year in 2018, completing a number of projects and many great Kickstarter campaigns . . . read article

January 16, 2019:
Happy New Year! We hope all of you made it through the holidays safely and with at least a little time to enjoy friends and family . . . read article

January 17, 2019:
CodeMash is an annual convention held at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio. Several thousand people descend on the show for a few days of coding, seminars, and visits to the outdoor hot-tub bar . . . read article

January 18, 2019:
On January 30, 2019, under the Steve Jackson Games Kickstarter account, we will launch the Pocket Box project and bring classic games of the '80s back to collections everywhere! This new campaign starts with reproductions of seven different Pocket Box games and, as stretch goals are unlocked, adds more games (and expansions!) to the mix.  Each of these games is as near-exact a reproduction of the original as we can manage, meaning that all of us will have a chance to replace our worn, beaten, and (in some cases) lost copies of: Car Wars Truck Stop Crash City Ogre  G.E.V . . . read article

January 19, 2019:
Thanks to the wonders of print-on-demand technology, we can now keep previously unavailable GURPS goodies accessible as print books like never before . . . read article

January 20, 2019:
Last month on Twitter, we shared a peek at the new Car Wars Sixth Edition custom dice. Just one marker of many on the road to Kickstarter for the new edition of Car Wars, those dice are being slightly refined, so we're a month or so away from being able to declare: Dice are 100% complete! . . . read article

January 21, 2019:
Phil posted last month about a couple of dozen Munchkin sets and expansions that we're letting go out of print. (This follows a similar list from November, 2017, and has some of the same titles on it . . . the fact that titles we thought were about to go out of print in 2017 were still around a year later should give you an idea of why we're willing to let them go.) . . . read article

January 22, 2019:
Our Munchkin Unicorns and Friends expansion is scheduled to reach game stores this month, and we're now happy to share this GTM Minute video overview of the set by Ani-Mia. Including cards illustrated by Katie Cook, Ian McGinty, and Len Peralta, Munchkin Unicorns and Friends is a perfect set to pair with the classic Munchkin game . . . or with the Munchkin Oz Guest Artist Edition, Moop's Monster Mashup, or any one of several other standard-backed Munchkin games . . . read article

January 23, 2019:
We're putting a lot of work into making the Legacy Edition of The Fantasy Trip a game that will be long remembered as a great thing. There's a lot of fun packed into the box, and one of the stretch goals met during the Kickstarter project was for the creation of a "Megahex Storage Box," which is what it sounds like: A custom box designed to hold the die-cut megahexes that are packed inside the game . . . read article

January 24, 2019:
Come play games with us! We're excited to pull back the curtains on FnordCon, our celebration of all things Steve Jackson Games, which will be held April 6-7 in Austin, TX . . . read article

January 25, 2019:
Now and then, a Munchkin expansion strikes a chord and demands a reprint . . . and then another reprint! Not surprisingly, Munchkin Kittens is one of those expansions . . . read article

January 26, 2019:
As we continue preparations for the upcoming Pocket Box crowdfunding project (coming to Kickstarter on January 30, so follow us today!), some energy is going into researching the history of the games and collecting as much info as possible on the line (to supplement what we already have in our company archives). There are a handful of online resources, one of which – The Maverick's Classic Microgame Museum – does an excellent job of summarizing microgames from a variety of publishers of the '70s and '80s.  As we see it, there are two groups who will find the Classic Microgames Museum useful: If you're a long-time fan of Steve Jackson Games and can remember the classic Pocket Box of the '80s, the Classic Microgame Museum is a trip down memory lane that will inevitably trigger fond memories of cutting out the bits, reading the rules, and then defeating your friends at one or more of these earlier titles . . . read article

January 27, 2019:
Munchkin Warhammer 40,000 -- available now for preorder at your friendly local game store or Warehouse 23 -- is set for release in March, and we're already hard at work on the reprint! This latest Munchkin game turned out far more incredible than any of us expected when we first started the project, and the response from our sales partners has been amazing! . . . read article

January 28, 2019:
As part of the upcoming Pocket Box project (follow us on Kickstarter for notification when the campaign launches on Wednesday!), the factory has been preparing files by scanning the original games. A part of that process captured old advertising materials, including a couple of Steve Jackson Games catalogs from the '80s . . . read article

January 29, 2019:
As often happens when a Kickstarter campaign comes to a close, we're receiving the same question over and over: "I missed out on the Kickstarter campaign! How can I get the Adventures book?" Nothing to worry about, gang, because there will be more chances for you to preorder this new book of adventures for The Fantasy Trip before we pull the trigger and place our print order.  Late this month, we will open Adventures for preorder on BackerKit . . . read article

January 30, 2019:
Everybody remember DragonQuest? It was SPI's answer to D&D, and it had a good run before it went out of print . . . read article

January 31, 2019:
The Kickstarter for Munchkin Dungeon is now live! Have you ever wanted minis of your favorite Munchkin characters? . . . read article

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