Project MAKO Gets a Name and Some Game

i've been playing this shark game with my kids a few weeks now, and we have grown to love it. both my daughters, ages 14 and 6, can grasp what to do since the rules are really light and not complicated.

last night i was able to take the game out of my small family circle and let some friends play it. they were able to learn the game rather quickly, having been gamers for many years, and were able to give me some great feedback on the game.

i had been kicking around the name of this project. so far i have three possible contenders:


Predators of the Deep:  seems a bit dark and gritty for such a light game.

CHOMP!: one of the first ideas i had for the name. still sticking around. seems viable for it, and is straightforward in what the game is about.

SHARK!: much like CHOMP!s reasons for naming the game as such, and it would obviously be first thing a person would scream.

theres still some work to be done, but i hope to have this convention ready in october. let the creativity run begin!

It Is Finished!!!!! at least for now!!!

last night the final pieces fell into place. the victims card deck is complete. now comes the playing of the game.

but, i already feel something else coming down the pipe.  something that uses the same mechanics and design. another layover that i'll need some stuff to redesign. something for next year for sure.

another deck of cards will probably be coming for my shark game. just so that the shark players can screw each other over,

a lot more to come

General Update on Project Mako

during the tirade of the mind i had slowly started to get some things ready for the overall design of the game. a wooden block for a die, a deck of crappy cards no one is going to miss. etc.


by the end of the first night, as i posted those pictures, i was about 70 percent done with the project. shortly after the post,  i worked on the movement cards, and almost got them done.

then i took them into work and began coloring them, which with breaks and lunch i manage to finish the detailing of them in about a day or two.

i took time to work on a rule set on the computer, which took roughly a day or so to sit down and work it out in my head. still would like to do a reference card  soon.


i added a few more things, like point chits, chits to keep track of how many swimmers have escaped, and a windrose token that is used to designate north, plus i added color to the shark fins, so that each are easy to discern from the others.

all that remains is the final assembly of the cards. the backs are on the cards, just have 54 fronts to put on (yes 54, it includes 2 joker cards.)

more pics, and possibly a video, to come soon.

Peircing the Veil: Project Mako

i had told you a few things about my brain beginning to act up again and a leak of something about to erupt. i had no idea it would come to this.

last week, august 6th to be exact, i had a dream about a shark-based table top game. i saw shark pawns that looked like the poster for Jaws, and the swimmer tokens were nothing more than and head and an arm on a flat base to look as if the whole figure was mostly underwater.

i know what triggered this dream: driving past a digital billboard that keeps showing shark week.

anyway, thought it was an interesting idea, but left it at that.

until my afternoon shower the next day, when my brain exploded and spilled out the exact way to make this game happen. my mind sped out of control, spitting out rules and mechanics that i was lucky enough to get down on paper.

my mind continued blasting me day after day, until finally i succumbed to it. i would do it, reluctantly, but i would make the game.

i thought about how to make the pawns, especially the swimmers and the sharks. i wanted to make them with army men and a hot wire cutter, while the sharks would be sculpey based. after a while i didnt think i would be plausible...until my mind again butted in and told me to design it "on the cheap" for now and just make shark fins for the sharks, and heavy cardboard standees for the swimmers.

ok brain, you win.

i'v spent the last several hours designing the game, building the pieces and now i'm almost finished. all i need to do is design a deck of cards and type out a rules set and it's good to go.

to you, the loyal readers, whomever you may be, i give you a picture of what is to come. project mako (since i dont have a better name at the moment) is underway.

until next time...don't go back into the water.

MK

the unexpected brain leak

i was at work this past week, i believe it was wednesday, and i began thinking about things. just some random thoughts.

i had recently bought a couple of packs of these, and really didn't know what to do with them yet.

then, i thought of a game that i purchased this past winter, called The Quiet Year, a game that uses a deck of cards for events during the period of a year to try and rebuild society.

then, the dam's broke and the flood occurred and i tried to catch as much as i could on paper.

i will be designing a zombie apocalypse game using the mechanics of The Quiet Year, then throwing my own spin on it, and using these cool ass cards with it.

stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

MK

Ressurecting the Past

well, i've found the mother-load. someone managed to digitize a bunch of old Ravenloft adventures and tossed them out into the internet ether. i think i caught a few of them here and there, so i put some evil into my kindle.


additionally someone put the old school munchkin rpg out there ( the 3.0 edition). hmm. tempting tempting tempting. i wonder what else i can find out there.

the creative juices are flowing again, and i'm wondering what my brain is cooking up right now. i envision something fun, light, and enjoyable without the burden of heavy books and the lost time from looking up obscure rules.

something is coming...and i think its going to be cool. stay tuned!

MK

Ravenloft: Domain of Dread

today, i want out to my garage where i store most of the games that i have on hand. needless to say, there's a lot of stuff to go through.

anyway, i have an old rubbermaid bin that probably hasn't been open in several years. i know what's in there in great detail: Ravenloft supplemental materials from DND's second edition heyday. several box-sets, numerous modules, and tons of supplements and info.

now, why do this?

well, knowing how well dread intermingled with A Night a Seyvoth Manor. i intend to literally resurrect the dead..these dead modules, and bring them back to life with Dread. i think the synergy between the two will be enough to make this interesting.

Ravenloft via Dread: coming to a convention near you.

time to pick out a few favorite modules, and find some guinea pigs for experimentation.

MK