Summer games, travel, and gaming travel
Happy July! We're just back our annual trip to the beach, with 8 adults and 6 kids (ages 2 months to 13 years). We've already reserved next year's campsites. But it's just the beginning of my summer of travel!
In this email:
Tussie Mussie had a great run on Kickstarter, and is now available for preorder.
I'm working on Wingspan expansions, and looking for input.
The Kennerspiel des Jahres award will be announced July 22, and I'll be there in Berlin!
And then I'll be at Gen Con.
I was on Ludology and Five Games for Doomsday, and other media
Bird of the month: Willet
Tussie Mussie Available for Pre-order
Tussie Mussie had an amazing 4,605 backers on Kickstarter last month. Thank you all for your support! If you missed the Kickstarter or know someone who wants a copy, you can preorder from Button Shy Games. Games are scheduled to ship October 1.
Wingspan Expansions
The first Wingspan expansion is working its way through the final processes and will hopefully be out later this year (you can track it in this nifty chart). In the meantime, I'm starting to work on future expansions. The plan is to do one for each continent.
Do you have ideas about what you'd like to see in an expansion? I asked today on the Wingspan Facebook page, and lively discussion ensued -- feel free to chime in!
Kennerspiel des Jahres
I'm headed to Berlin in a couple of weeks to go to Berlin Brettspiel Con and to the award ceremony for the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres...because Wingspan is up for the Kennerspiel.
Several people have asked me what the best way is to get the news when the winner is announced on July 22. I think they'll post it here. (Note that the German title for Wingspan is Flügelschlag, which Google Translate shows as Flap. I love this.)
I've had a chance to play Detective and Carpe Diem (the other two Kennerspiel nominees) in the last month, and enjoyed both. I have no idea what's going to happen, but I'm honored to be on the short list no matter what. And looking forward to seeing Berlin and meeting a bunch of people from that part of the world!
Gen Con Plans
Then I'm off to Indianapolis for Gen Con at the beginning of August. I'll be spending part of every day at the MeepleSource booth, which is #2919. Come say hi! I'm happy to sign things, take selfies, whatever -- don't be shy. (I recently have signed a few first player tokens -- they're much easier to travel with than the whole Wingspan box. Not sure I would have thought of that!)
Press and Podcasts
Birdwatching Magazine did a nice feature story on Wingspan, but as of right now it's only available in hard copy.
I was on Ludology, which is my favorite game design podcast.
And Five Games for Doomsday, which does some of the best interviews in board gaming.
And also Who What Why? and the American Birding Podcast. They're good too!
You can browse the whole list of my interviews and podcasts here.
Bird of the Month: Willet
Where we camp at the beach, there's a wetland area with a boardwalk that's fantastic for birdwatching, and there are always lots of willets. Willets are in the sandpiper family, and like other sandpipers, you'll often see them hanging out in the mudflats, looking for crabs, worms, aquatic insects, and fish with their sensitive beaks.
Unlike other sandpipers, you'll also see willets roosting in trees. This always confuses the heck out of me (what's that bird in the tree?) until I remember that they do this.
Whenever we are around willets (and sometimes when we're not), my spouse and I seem to manage to manufacture a conversation that goes something like this:
Him: You know those birds that just flew overhead?
Me: Whatchu talkin' 'bout, willets?
I hope you're having a great summer full of games, or birds, or whatever else makes you happy!