Tabletop Games

I recently started inventing tabletop games. And you know what? They're really, really fun. You may disagree. For one, not many people actually take the time to play games anymore. Also, I enjoy strategy games, which some find tedious. But they're games I love playing myself, and they've already taken off among my friends.

The first game I invented, and still my favorite, is Tidal Wars! It's full of little twists and cool graphics created by my friend Julie. Plus: PIRATES. Need I say more? Finding the basic premise was easy, but working out the kinks was tough. I have created a prototype with The Game Crafter, and am pretty damn proud of it. The picture on the box needs to be enlarged, and the instructions are difficult to read, but it's already fully playable. Woot!

After Tidal Wars! (and the soon-to-follow Wizard Wars!, the same game, but with wizards instead of pirates), I turned my attention to educational games for children. The result was Genius and Genius jr., the most fun you can have with math. Kids love these card games. Once again I turned to The Game Crafter for manufacture, and the results are fantastic. Both card games are now fully finished.

Julie and I are currently working on Genius Wordbuilder (plus the Junior version), a card game for little (and big) spellers.

The most surprising thing? The Genius series came about when, excited about Tidal Wars!, a friend of my mother's asked me to invent a game for kids -- and my mother loved the idea, too. But I love playing the games as much as the little ones do. I never expected that.

The key to my games is simplicity, replayability and attention to detail.

Have I given up on writing? Never. Games are merely one more way to express my creativity. If anything, writing opened up the possibility to simply give it a go. I can't draw to save my life, my singing has been likened to night-time screeches by fighting cats, and my neighbors don't like it when I whip out my clarinet, but inventing games is a wonderful way to create something tangible, something of practical use.


Tidal Wars!: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/tidal-wars-
Genius: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/genius
Genius jr. : https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/genius-jr.