Hey, everyone. In May, our Kickstarter campaign for Angels - Michael's War ended, and we successfully funded! In somewhat a celebration, and to help spread the word, we are going to Gen Con 2014 and hosting some Learn 'n' Tourneys about the game.

What is a Learn 'n' Tourney? Basically, we are hosting 3 chances for people to learn the game and then play in a tournament for fabulous prizes. Alan, our main artist, is putting together some prints for prizes of some of our favorite Angels in the game. We may have other things, too... because we can.

So, if you are going to Gen Con this year, please, get tickets to one of the tournaments or just stop by and say "hi!"

• Thursday 10:00 am - http://gencon.com/events/53285 (11 spots left)
• Thursday 3:00 pm - http://gencon.com/events/53286 (5 spots left)
• Friday 10:00 am - http://gencon.com/events/53287 (only 2 spots left)

We Did It! I am pleased to announce that Angels - Michael's War successfully funded on Kickstarter.com tonight. 

We thank all of our backers, family, friends (both old and new), and reviewers for your help in making our first Kickstarter a success. 

For those of you that missed out on getting the game via Kickstarter, the game will be available in September for everyone or buy on places like TheGameCrafter.com.

More to come about this game and maybe more Angels games in the near future. For now, though... Thank you!

Hi all. Aaron here. My wife Stephanie (the "S" in A'n'SR) is the mother of a beautiful 4-year old boy. While working on our card game, Angels - Michael's War, Alan (our artist and effectively her brother), drew this great picture of Steph as an Angel. I put it into a card and gave it this special ability called "Single-handed". 

When I showed our son this card for the first time, he instantly called it the "Mommy Angel". In fact, any time he plays the card, he says "I play the Mommy Angel card." 

He doesn't get the strategy of the card, can't really read (yet) all about the ability, or even cares that she only gives you 1 Victory Point at the end of the game. He sees the wings on her back, the royal purple background she deserves to be encompassed in, and the fact that she uses Love to defeat the bad things in the world.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, including the one I married. May your children, at least once, know an Angel when they see one.

Now on Kickstarter: Angels - Michael's War. If you want a light, casual game about Angels defeating Demons, then go check out our Kickstarter campaign and get a copy of the game. 

• $20 gets you the basic game. 
• $52 gets you the deluxe version of the game which includes an entire year's worth of expansions.
  

Try our free Print 'n' Play version of the game for the full rules and a "greyscale" version of he game.

The coolest buildings on all of Mars are its Pyramids. In our latest game, you get to be a great Pyramid builder! You want to make the biggest, best, most spectacular Pyramid of them all. Problem is supply is short. Send your Couriers to one of the 3 Depots in town, then use your great influence to make sure the supplies go to the depot you send your Courier to.

Check out Pyramids of Mars today, and get to building!

In May, we are launching a Kickstarter for our game Angels - Michael's War. Check out our Kickstarter preview page, share it, and (most importantly) click on the Notify Me link to get an e-mail on day 1. 

In the meantime, here's one of the cards we have for one of the stretch goals.

So, we (A'n'SR -entertainments) like to play games and make games. Along the way, there are some pretty cool experiences you can have in the process of making your masterpiece. Below are a list of the top 5 feelings (in no particular order) you get during the game-making process.

1. Getting your near-finished prototype of your game. 
   After having paper cut-outs of cards, markered-up tiles, random cubes for resources, and some notes on the back of various papers in the house, little compares to seeing it all come together in a near-final version. The one with the art you asked for, has the right components, and even has a box of some kind to keep it in. Man what a site to behold this in your hands. Ours comes from TheGameCrafter.com, and our whole family gets excited when we see a package from them in the mail.
   
   
2. Your first sale. 
   The first game we made and sold was an on-line PDF role-playing game. We wanted to give that first person a copy of every game we did for life, we were so thrilled. The fact that someone wanted to play our game outside of us "selling" them on the idea... wow. Nothing like that first sale.
   
   
3. "I want to play this again". 
   What words are sweeter to someone who likes to make games than an unabashed, vocal desire to play the game one more time. We recently had this experience when we broke out our game in front of a bunch of 4th graders. We only had time to play about 2 rounds of the game, and almost all of them said "I want to play more. Can we play this later on? This is so cool!" Hearing those words soothes every worry you had about the game in playtest, every non-positive comment you heard from a reviewer, and every comment a troll ever made.
   
   
4. The moment when it clicks. 
   At some point in making the game, you start seeing the flaws, the things that need to be fixed, the parts that you hate. Then, something happens, and you find the solution to all that ales the game. Maybe it is more cards, less actions in a turn, more resources, a twist on that old die-rolling mechanic. Whatever it is, it makes the game click, and you want to foist your new-found revelation onto anyone that is willing to play it. 
   
   
5. Seeing someone else play your game months from now.
   Once, at a convention, a game designer told this story that he was at an airport and he saw this group of kids playing one of his games on the airport floor to pass the time. It was one of his worst games from years ago, and he even asked them about it. He never told them he invented it, or that they were playing it all wrong (and better than he designed), or anything. He just enjoyed/watched. He said it was awesome to see them enjoy his game, even years after he made it. In a way it is Beowulf-like immortality, and, as that game designer put it "It was awesome and humbling".

Here's hoping all of us who make games get to experience all of these at one point or another.

In May, we are Kickstarting our best game ever, Angels - Michael's War. Before we do, though, wanted to release the first game we ever made: Faith Hope Love (the card game). 

Faith Hope Love was made before there was an A'n'SR -entertainments. It was one of 3 Angels games we made when we thought we wanted to make a game company. We shelved it for a few years, but now it is back. 

Faith Hope Love has been updated, had some scratch art drawn, and generally made a better game. If you want to see the DNA of Angels - Michael's War before it comes out, then get Faith Hope Love (the card game).

In May, we are launching our first game on Kickstarter.com: Angels - Michael's War. Go check out our Kickstarter page, leave us a note, and subscribe to it, so that you can be there on day one when we launch!

We just released a new product on TheGamCrafter.com. It is our Card Game Inspired By... game kit. Basically, for $9.99, you get:

• 1 fully customizable PSD file with 4 poker card backgrounds.
• 4 unique "suit" symbols for any card game.
• 12 original pieces of stock art drawn by Aaron Richardson

The goal is for folks to be able to use this kit to help them get their next card game off the ground quicker. We're hoping to do more great "Games Inspired By..." in the future.