Hey Reader!

David Kessler here.

​Positano is getting published!​

Congratulations to Jeff Grisenthwaite whose game Positano has successfully funded! It is going to be published by SlugFest Games, a company near and dear to my own heart. Late backing is still available for anyone wanting to get their hands on this super cool looking three-dimensional game.

In Positano, you bid and build resorts on a hillside on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, but you'll only score points for your rooms with beach views. It's got a simple rule set with some sneaky depth. One to six players can enjoy Positano in 30 minutes. The game has already received critical acclaim as a finalist in the 2023 Cardboard Edison Awards.

Positano was the first game that Jeff ever brought to Protospiel Online, in January 2023. It was in a pretty early state then, and the feedback was tremendously helpful. A couple of the playtesters raised the question, "I wonder what this game would be like if you removed currency from it entirely?" And that was a huge turning point in the game design process. The physical prototype was constructed from Duplo Legos, but now it’s getting the full production treatment!

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📣Announcements Announcements Annooouuuncements!

Protospiel Online is this weekend Jan 17-19!

If you’re planning to join us, now’s a great time to buy your badge! Our Protospiel-eve Prototype Showcase is this Thursday Jan 16, at 9:30pm EST. So you can still list your prototype in time to have it featured.

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Also, Joe Slack is hosting the 5th annual Board Game Design Virtual Summit this Feb 4-10, 2025 and would love to have you there!

It's an event filled with interviews and panels with game designers and other industry pros, including Matt Leacock (Pandemic), Gabe Barrett (Board Game Design Lab), Roberta Taylor (Creature Comforts), Jon Gilmour-Long (Dead of Winter), and many more. Plus, chats, online playtesting, and connecting with other game designers.

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Click one of the below links to choose your pass and save 10% with code PROTOSPIEL.

• ​Free Pass - view interviews on-demand during the summit
• ​All Access Pass - lifetime access to all interviews and Q&A panels with guests
• ​Premium Pass everything in All Access + bonus interviews
• ​Ultimate Pass everything in Premium + lifetime access to the Board Game Design Course and 6 free months in the course community

Hope to see you there!
Early Bird tickets are available until Jan 30th 2025 at 9pm EST.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more awesome events, community opportunities, and updates about games tested at Protospiel!

~David and Heather

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P.S. If you have something you'd like to see featured in our Community Newsletter, you have 3 options -- either submit an official feature request, reply to this message, or, if you're a current attendee or alumni, post in the #🙌share-your-wins channel in the Protospiel Online Discord server to let us know the details. We'd love to celebrate you!

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