AnSR Games - 2018 in Review

Each year we set goals to accomplish for AnSR Games. Each year, we report on how we did before we release our next goals. We had a lot of plans for 2018. So... how did we do? Read on.

1. ​Make enough money from game sales to pay for the web site services we have (~$20).
2. Release the following games
   1. ConEx RPG: Controlled Experiments (U3 edition)
   2. ConEx RPG: Quick Start Game (U3 edition)
   3. The Siege of Tyler City
   4. [possibly] Birthday Fairy Wish Race
   5. New untitled game in Drop Racers "line" of games
   6. [optional] Angels RPG: City of Angels (U3 edition)
   7. [optional] untitled fantasy RPG game (U3 edition)
3. Retire the following games and all expansions:
   1. Emperor of the World
   2. ZipWarz: Elves vs Orcs
   3. Authorials
   4. Roll5s RPG: Charter of Chance
   5. -U- The Game of Stories (editor note: this is a big one)
   6. [possibly] Pyramids of Mars
4. Make quick, how to play videos for all remaining and upcoming games
   1. Angels - Michael's War
   2. Angels - Michael's War Expansion
   3. The Siege of Tyler City
   4. Faith Hope Love The Card Game
   5. Drop Racers
   6. ConEx RPG
   7. [possibly] Pyramids of Mars, Birthday Fairy Wish Race, and any new games made
5. Enter at least 1 Game Design Contest in 2018.

Goal 1: Make enough money to pay for the site

Result: Successful! It costs about $20 a year to keep the site going. We did that. That is always the first goal we have, and it has been accomplished each year.

Goal 2: Release a Lot of Games

Result: Mostly Successful! We had a full slate of games that we wanted to release in 2018. They included a new version of ConEx (in 2 formats), The Siege of Tyler City, a new game in the same line as Drop Racers, and optionally 2 new RPGs. We released ConEx and the Siege of Tyler City. We did not release any other RPGs or the other Drop Racers-like game. Why? Timing. The Drop game we want to try something different for launch. The RPGs? Well... we want more content done before we go live with them. They are really fun, and we think people will want more content, so we want to be ready.

Goal 3: Retire a Lot of Games

Result: Deferred to 2019. Since we did not release the games we wanted to, we decided to wait one more year before retiring the others. Don't worry, the old games will be retired as we go deeper into 2019. we like the look of the new games we have, and really are looking forward to seeing that part of our streamlining take place.

Goal 4: Do Videos for all the Games We're Keeping

Result: Very Unsuccessful. We started, we tried, we stopped. We realized we don't have great equipment, and we are terrible at making videos. We did, however, learn a few things and will try to make something in 2019 about each game. We still think it is important to do, we just need to find an easier way to do it.

Goal 5: Enter a Game Design Contest

Result: Successful! We totally did this. We entered a contest at TheGameCrafter, and made a really fun game. It did not do too well in the contest, but we have a good game we're proud of. It will be released in 2019.

Other Things That Happened

In addition to the things we did well and the things we failed at, we also had some side-projects that took time and attention.

• We jumped into wargaming in a big way. In fact, Aaron won two local tournaments at our Friendly Local Game Store, and has learned some about painting miniatures.
  
• Because we are all now wargamers, we of course started working heavily on a small war game that fits in a small box. It is in its 5th iteration, and looking really good.
  
• We accidentally created a new party card game that has some legs on it from initial playtests.
  
• We have been busy reworking the PRGs into a better format for release.
  

2018 Summary

So, how did we do? Eh... I'd give us a C. Not great. Not terrible. We got sidelined and distracted from things, but the goal of being more streamlined and focused is still with us. We just have to work on the focused part.

Stay tuned for our 2019 plans and more. It will be a little more of the same, with maybe a new war game, some fan-made expansions for other people's games, and a party game we never intended on making. Who knows... 2019 is our 10th Anniversary. We may do some special things for that, too.