In October of each year, A'n'SR -entertainments winds down releasing games for the year and takes stock of the goals we tried to reach. We do this for a couple reasons. 1. We have birthdays and holidays where we see lots of friends and family coming up. 2. We like to play games almost as much as we like making them, and this is the time of year to do just that for us. So, how did we do in 2012? Pretty well. We'll see in January if sales beat last year's but, overall, we've had a really solid year. Listed below are our 2012 goals and the accomplishments we had in 2012. How we did on our 2012 Goals
In the end, we did almost everything we wanted. Those that didn't get done were not done for good reason, and 2013, we're pretty sure will be our best year yet because of that. Be on the lookout for some year-end philosophical thinking, some other accomplishments, and our 2013 release schedule. When we were planning our 2012 releases, we were going to have 1 new game release, 1 supporting book for WyshMaykers, and 1 supporting book for Angels. We released Angels - the Game of Stories in April. It has gone over pretty well for us. So well, in fact, that we have had to revise our game schedule to give it more support. Sadly, this means that WyshMaykers will not get a book this year.
So, in September, be on the lookout for our next Angels supplement. The title? We'll be revealing it to our fans on Facebook soon, so go to http://www.facebook.com/AnSR.entertainments and Like us now to get in on the reveal. We have now entered the 21st Century... we have a Facebook Page for A'n'SR -entertainments. Feel free to friend us on Facebook. We'll be holding various contests and whatnot there. Go to http://www.facebook.com/AnSR.entertainments for all the frivolity.
Anytime A'n'SR -entertainments beats their best month in sales, we believe we should reward those who made it possible with a free book.
With the release of Angels - the Game of Divine Stories, April 2012 has been the best month ever for A'n'SR game sales. To celebrate, everyone who purchased something from us in April will get our June release for free. It's a little way to say thank you for the great month, we hope you enjoy it. For those of you who purchased something, be on the lookout for a coupon by e-mail. For those of you who didn't, there's still time... or May. Thank you again. -A'n'SR When A'n'SR -entertainments first started (in 2008), we made 3 games around a common theme. 1 game was a card game with character cards, ability cards, and dice made out of stickers and wood cubes. A second game was a customizable board game where characters progressed through stories via a series of events. The third game was a role-playing game about that world.
This was our beginnings. We had a lot of fun playing and making these games, but we made zero money producing them. The roleplaying game morphed over time, and what was once a single-Setting set of games became -U- the Game of Stories (our core RPG). We' have been using -U- to tell stories in this same Setting for well over 4 years now on a very consistant basis. In a weird way, this game and this Setting is what started A'n'SR -entertainments. It is the thing that we have been trying to do and get right and playtest more than any other game. Finally, we think we're ready to release it in 2012. In 2012, A'n'SR -entertainments is pleased to announce Angels - the Game of Divine Stories. Much like WyshMaykers, Angels will be released as a full game, with all of the rules (-U- the Game of Stories) and Setting information players and Story Referees need. We are in some of the final stages of art and content editing of the book now, and it should be on digital bookshelves by the end of March 2012. This is the game that started it all, and we hope you enjoy playing and reading this one as we have over the years. It has truly been a staple of the A'n'SR family for quite some time, and we couldn't be more excited about seeing it come to life after 4 years. P.S.: We might still do the card game and board game idea one day. After a little heartache and time, www.AnSR-entertainments.com is now back online and in its new home. This is a good thing. That's just one of the goals for 2012 crossed off the list. For those of you counting at home, here's the rest of what we have in store:
Here is a great little 2-player betting game that you can play with 12 coins and a twelve-sided die (a.k.a. a d12). We call it: d12 Coins.
Set-up: Have each player bring 6 coins of equal value to the table. Place all 12 coins tails-side up in a row and number them 1 through 12. Each player chooses "evens" or "odds" for the game. Choose a player to start. Playing the Game: On their turn each player rolls the d12 and turns over the coin of the corresponding number. If they roll their own number (i.e. the evens player rolls an even number), then they can opt to not turn over the coin. When a player has all of their coins heads-side up (all of the even-numbered coins for the evens player or all the odd-numbered coins for the odds player) the game is over. The winning player takes all of the heads-side up coins as their winnings. The other player takes the tails-side up coins. Enjoy this little game, and be on the lookout for a very expanded version of this game using twelve-sided dice, coins, and more. -A'n'SR One of the big things we've been working on this year is our new role-playing game. We're going to release it in March of 2012. We've been working on it all year this year. While we're at the end of the process (including playtesting), we thought we'd let you in on our process that seems to have taken shape in developing our role-playing games. With WyshMaykers and this new one almost under our belt, a definite best practice and process has been solidified.
*** The Overall Flow *** Making a game is basically like running a project in an office job, only more fun. You come up with your requirements, you determine your resources, you delegate or hire whatever it is you need to make the dream happen, and you work a lot on the follow-through of the plan. Beyond that, it is just details. *** The Requirements *** The primary requirements for any role-playing game can be simplified into 6 basic things: The game system, the setting, the art, the flavor text, the format(s), and the playtesting/editing. Sometimes there are a few extra considerations, but most stuff falls into those six. *** The Resources *** The next thing is the Resources. We're small fish, and the only money we use to fund our games (for now) is money made on previous games. One day we may do a kickstarter project, but for now, what we have works for what we want to do. That being said, we have a limited pool of resources we trust and use. Primarily, we do everything in-house. Aaron does the art (he's getting better, honest) and the first pass of most of the writing. Stephanie does some of the writing and the (brutal) editing. Everyone (Aaron, Stephanie, family, friends, and whatnot) helps in the playtesting, with Stephanie being the lynch-pin in the process. So, beyond the sweat-equity put into our games, there are very little outside resources. *** Making it Happen *** Once we know what we want and know who's working on what, we begin the longest part of the process, making it happen. It usually comes in phases with the rule being made (or altered), a quick playtest using a skeleton of the Setting, then Setting writing and flavor-text writing happens (with playtesting going on during the writing to flesh out things). Then an artless 1st draft is reviewed for editing. Then, the art begins to get drawn while more playtesting comes about. And Finally, the cover and the art are placed in the book with the final editing comments. All the while, we are making sure we stick to the core idea of the plan, and make sure we follow-through on the original plan. Quite franly, we'll probably do an entire post about this later. *** The Release *** After all the work is done, we finally release the product on the date specified by the project plan. This is the fun part. It is great to see the sales come in, the comments on the boards, and even do a little promotion of the product. It is also in this part of the game that we look for ideas and things that people want to see next in the line or as a supplement. Each year (if you've been reading our news blog you know), we gather together over lunch and decide what products we are going to release and when. It's tough, because Aaron has so many ideas, and Stephanie usually has a good reality check on production time and resources. As always, we try to have 3 products a year at minimum with a stretch goal or two. In 2012, we're going to try to take it easy since 2011 threw us so many curve balls. So, without further adieu, here are the 2012 A'n'SR -entertainments goals:
So, there it is, 6 gotta-do's and 3 optional goals for the next year. As we move closer to the end of 2011, we'll reveal more about the mystery game for 2012 and our long-term supplement plans for both it and WyshMaykers. Every October, we go off and plan what we want to do for the next year. It's a fun meeting, usually over a long lunch at a local restaurant. This year is no different. As it stands, here's what is on the list of considerations (in no particular order):
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