Category Archives: publishing

Shock:Human Contact limited edition almost gone

February 24, 2010 – 6:09 pm

I’ve got just a handful of copies of the Shock:Human Contact Dreamation 2010 Preview left. I’d love to see them in the hands of some fans of Ian Banks’ Culture, Ursula LeGuin’s Ekumen, and Asimov’s Foundation.
If you’re one who lives in the US, paypal me $9 + $4 s&h.
If you’re one who lives elsewhere on [...]

By joshua | Also posted in shock: | Tagged | Comments (1)

Episode 11: THE END OF THE WORLD!

February 18, 2010 – 3:37 am

40:30 long & 37.1 MB big
In this episode, Robert Bohl (designer of Misspent Youth) and Joshua A. C. Newman (designer of shock: social science fiction) end it all. Just in time for your Dreamation 2010 drive/flight!
- You can’t cut a piece off something living unless it wants you to, like one of those happy cow-like [...]

By Robert Bohl | Also posted in game design, making stuff, news, olmag | Comments (0)

Shock:Human Contact Is At the Printer

February 16, 2010 – 5:46 pm

For 800 years the Academy has been slowly bringing the humans of Earth back from the brink of extinction to enlightenment. For the last 300, it has looked in wonder at the faint signals from the stars, knowing that humans had fled their home deep in its terrible past and may now be struggling without [...]

By joshua | Also posted in playing games, science/fiction, shock: | Tagged | Comments (2)

Merchant Warehouse is a Terrible Company.

February 10, 2010 – 8:47 pm

Many people who read this blog are small publishers like I am. You often find yourselves at conventions needing to take credit cards. I’d like to give you a piece of advice: Don’t Use Merchant’s Warehouse. I got stuck in a contract with them almost two years ago for our booth at Gen Con. They [...]

By joshua | Comments (6)

Human Contact Dreamation Preview Edition Front Cover

February 10, 2010 – 10:28 am

I’m excited about running Shock:Human Contact at Dreamation 2010 (The Year We Make Contact) with folks! I’m getting the edition put together right now and I’m really happy with the way it’s shaping up. I’ll have copies of this edition for all players of the game, and depending on the cost of production, might have [...]

By joshua | Also posted in making stuff, shock: | Tagged | Comments (12)

Human Contact

February 5, 2010 – 9:21 pm

Human Contact is a version of the Shock: system, focused for a far-future, spacefaring setting. Its science is as hard as I can make it while still having fairy dust things like “interstellar travel” work, while at its core, the setting is about culture clash and the moral challenges of being an explorer and being [...]

By joshua | Also posted in game design, science/fiction, shock: | Tagged | Comments (2)

Shock: review at Gnome Stew

December 31, 2009 – 10:11 pm

Matthew J. Neagley wrote a nice review of Shock: over at Gnome Stew a couple of weeks back. People say nice things in the comments, too!

By joshua | Also posted in shock: | Comments (0)

Choose Your Adventure! [Oo! Let's Make a Game!]

December 28, 2009 – 1:44 pm

51:04 long & 49 MB big
In this episode, Robert Bohl (designer of Misspent Youth) and Joshua A. C. Newman (designer of shock: social science fiction) discuss major changes to the game, spend a lot of time with feedback, and discuss how Jewish someone has to be in England.
We took some during-the-show notes. If you have [...]

By Robert Bohl | Also posted in community, game design, making stuff, olmag | Comments (0)

Oo! Let’s Make a Game! Episode 9: Secret Powerz!

December 5, 2009 – 12:53 am

57:39 long & 52.8 MB big
In this episode, Robert Bohl (designer of Misspent Youth) and Joshua A. C. Newman (designer of shock: social science fiction) discuss the abilities of the hunter-fog-cloud thing, talk a bit more about the tech web, then get into brainstorming some of the possible powers that the different characters in the [...]

By Robert Bohl | Also posted in community, game design, olmag | Comments (0)

The Game Design Studio Opens Its Garage Doors Again

December 1, 2009 – 5:36 pm

Fellow students of game publishing, the Game Design Studio is open once again. If you have rules that you’ve playtested, layout you want help with, concepts you want to clarify, come and enlist the aid of others while offering your help in return!
As last time, the doors will be open for a finite time. When [...]

By joshua | Also posted in community | Comments (0)