Hey Reader! Heather Newton here. We've had lots of exciting news about games from our community lately. This weeks feature is one I've been looking forward to for awhile, so let's get to it. Tomten Now on Kickstarter! Way back in January of 2022 Tomten: The Tactical Game of Christmas Gnomes made the rounds at Protospiel Online. It was one of my personal favorites of those I got to playtest that weekend, and I've been eagerly awaiting my next chance to play. That time is nearly at hand!...
28 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged The Indie Games Night Market is coming to PAX Unplugged on Dec 7th, 2024, and three vendor tables will have games by Protospiel Community members! In the same vein as the Tokyo Game Market, the Indie Games Night Market serves as an in-person marketplace for small batch, unique games that would otherwise have no channel for purchase. The featured games have not been signed by publishers and have no intention to go on a...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. I know many of us are looking for help in getting our games out there, whether it's connecting to a publisher or self-publishing. There are a couple of cool opportunities in the next month that might help you on these journeys, so today I'm sharing these opportunities in case you missed them! Panda Next Big Game Giveaway (Gen Con) Panda is looking to manufacture the Next Big Game. This is a contest that's specific for folks who are attending Gen Con, since the...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. July is an exciting month for games tested at Protospiel Online. Two games from the early days--we're talking 2020--have found a place in the world this month. Scattered Nexus was tested at PO in October 2020, and again in May 2023. Sinoda was brought to PO in July 2020, and later in January 2022. Congratulations to the creators of these games! The 2024 Edition of Scattered Nexus is live on Kickstarter Scattered Nexus is an ongoing passion project that will...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. Some of you know that last year I decided to branch out from game design into game publishing. I see so many great designs in our online community and wanted to become a part of bringing those games to tables around the world. As part of this process I applied for and was accepted to the GAMA Horizons Fellowship program, an accelerator for emerging publishers and retailers from historically underrepresented groups in the tabletop industry. I'm excited to share...
5 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. Bubble Net is live on Kickstarter! Congratulations to Cat Drayer, of Drayer Ink! Bubble Net is Drayer Ink's first Kickstarter, and one of the first games they ever brought to Protospiel Online. Bubble Net is a meditative, multiplayer Solitaire game for 1 to many players, designed and illustrated by Cat Drayer, and developed by George Drayer. In the wild, most humpback whales hunt by lunge fishing - they see a shoal of fish and they lunge at them. It’s not very...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Emily Vincent here. Surf's Up! Released in US, Australia, and New Zealand Congratulations to Jay Bendixen, whose first signed game, Surf's Up! has now been released across the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Surf's Up! is a bluffing card game in which you play as surfers trying to catch the best collection of waves while scoring bonuses from matching your surfboard to your waves and avoiding bluebottle stings. Your goal is to win the wave without tying, which causes you to wipe...
5 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! David Kessler here. Scrapbots is in its final days on Kickstarter! Congratulations to David Torres, who has been designing this awesome deck builder since 2019. Scrapbots is a bot battling deck builder, combining the tactics of a card battler with the strategy of deck building. Set in a post-apocalyptic robot junkyard arena, you take on the mantle of a Scrapjack, a scrapbot operator competing for glory in the Arena. Build your army of scrapbots, power them up with gadgets, and...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Heather Newton here. When Protospiel Online attendees playtest with me and find out I'm the main person organizing the event, they sometimes ask me what prototypes I brought to test for the weekend. My response is that they've been playtesting my game the whole time they've been engaging with the convention. I suspect plenty of people think I'm kidding when I say this. While I might say it with a bit of a chuckle, I do mean what I say. This session, I made the prototype listing...
7 months ago • 5 min read