We have great news! Our friend and fellow game designer Chris Leder, has just topped the 50% mark for his Roll For It! Kickstarter campaign. It’s going well, but they still have the other 50% they need to fund. If you’re up for it, I’m confident that he’d sincerely appreciate your help.

They’re doing some really unique stuff that directly involves The Game Crafter. They are offering rewards that include alternate card designs that we are printing. We think its very cool that Calliope Games, is recognizing Chris’s grass roots efforts and keeping The Game Crafter involved in the process.

As you know, we think Roll For It! is a fantastic game! It’s that perfect gateway/filler game everyone enjoys playing. If you pledge, you’ll have the chance to participate in their event “Pip will Travel!”. This looks like a ton of fun for the entire family. You can find more in Update #5. Also, if you happen to mention the “The Game Crafter” in the comments section of the campaign, Calliope Games will enter you in a raffle for the entire suite of Calliope titles including Tsuro and Tsuro of the Seas!

If any of this sounds appealing to you, or you just want to help out a fellow Game Crafter, please pledge to the Roll For It! Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/781219801/roll-for-it. I know that both Chris and Calliope Games will appreciate the support.

Noble Valerian continues his series on how to use The Game Crafter. This time he shows how to create a game project.

Game designer Jason Rohrer is known for getting experimental with his games, but this time the creator of The Castle Doctrine, Diamond Trust of London and Passage took things to another level: He designed a game that no one living now is meant to play. 

Noble Valerian discusses the difference between DPI and PPI.

NOTE: You do not need to know anything about DPI or PPI when designing your images for The Game Crafter. Our templates tell you exactly how many pixels your images need to be, so you can be successful without understanding these technical designations. However, this tutorial is great if you want to know how stuff works.

Using Apple Automater to create PNGs from PDFs by Nephilim.

Creating TGC Booklets using Apple Pages by Nephilim.

First unboxing video showing off the new TGC shrink wrap. The game is from Sky Davis (Fishagon) and the game is called Solar. Also, this may go down as the most dramatic unboxing ever. 

Watch it Played takes a look at Columbia

The Game Crafter will be returning to Gen Con this year and we’re going to have another 20x10 exhibitor booth! We’ll also be hosting the 2nd Annual TGC Community Social and a Community Game Night! If you plan on attending any of these events, please RSVP on the links above or by visiting The Game Crafter Facebook events page.

Our friends at Double Exposure, Inc are once again running the First Exposure Playtest Hall. This event space allows designers and publishers to preview and test their newest creations before they go live. Scores of all-new role playing games, story games, board games and card games will be represented in the Playtest Hall. The event is free for gamers who want to playtest titles. Game designers and publishers can purchase blocks of time for their games to be featured and tested.

The full-length and official announcement for the First Exposure Playtest Hall is available here.

While not all video game genres translate well over to board games, and vice-versa, there are number that have been successful at replicating the feeling of a video game but in a board game format. One of these games is Mad Rush Rally, currently sold exclusively on The Game Crafter. A previous finalist in the Map Builder Design Challenge held on the site, the game mimics the kart racing genre of video games the world has grown to love, complete with a faster paced and simple game-play mechanic then most racing board games to keep the players constantly involved. It also uses insane fun-to-use items that can be used to hinder or help players. Some items are left right on the track you are racing on.

One thing that separates this game from the other racing board games is the well delivered and unique game mechanic of designing the race track, not before, but as you are racing on it. And these aren’t large pre-made sections of track; every corner, every straight away, every short-cut is designed by the players mid-game card by card throughout the game. This constantly changing track alters the outcome of every race and keeps everyone in the game, from first to last place, since placement can change at any moment. Check out the shop page for more info and a video on how to play!