Games Looking for a Publisher
All of these games are finished, but looking for a publisher. Maybe you can give them a home. If you want more details, demos, or sell sheets, email me!
Profiteer Rails
Features: Cube rails, shareholding, route building, historical theme, unique buyout mechanisms. Language independent.
Number of players: 3-5
Details
During World War I, rail networks in many countries, including the UK and USA, experienced a process of nationalisation in order to secure supply routes for the war effort — this was a moment of opportunity for shrewd investors! Profiteer Rails explores this concept through the mechanisms of a cube rails game. Don’t let the lack of cubes fool you — this is a simple game that places an enormous emphasis on player agency.
On their turns, players pick from a small set of actions — mainly building railway track and buying shares. Through this, they raise the value of companies they own shares in, and position those companies to benefit from the nationalisation process — an innovative and simple mechanism, in which the game-controlled Central Rail Company spreads across the board, gobbles up small companies, and lands cash into the pockets of investors. If you can position your company to be in the right place and for the right price, huge payouts can come your way. Or perhaps you can force another player's company isnto an early buyout - "whoops!"
Profiteer Rails is a follow up the critically acclaimed Luzon Rails. It has been extensively playtested and features maps for both the UK and USA.
Cúige: Path to Tara
Features: Card drafting, civilisation building, simple rules. 30-45 minutes.
Number of players: 2-4
Details
In Cúige, players are leaders of ancient Irish clans who have been called to the Hill of Tara by the High King. He declares that Viking invaders are coming and the clans must work to develop their strength and wealth, while building intertribe unity with culture and happiness. The king has granted you three seasons in which to fortify your clans. Fail, and the invaders may well destroy Irish civilisation forever.
Cúige: Path to Tara is a game for 2-4 players and takes place over three seasons. On a turn, players pick cards to join their clan, then split the available cards for the next player’s pick. At the end of each season, clans are judged based on their happiness, culture, strength, and wealth. After three seasons, the clans return to Tara to decide the winner.
Milk
Features: Real world locations, price setting mechanisms, high interaction, simple rules, simple components. 30-45 minutes. Language independent.
Number of players: 3-4
Details
Prepare to enter the cutthroat world of milk delivery! In the olden days (i.e., the 1990s), it was common to get milk delivered to your home each morning. Milk deliveries were run by dairy companies, who would have to bid for their routes. The better routes would earn more money with fewer deliveries and the very best would do this while already being close to another route.
In this game, 3-4 players are owners of dairy companies. They will start with a handful of cash and a selection of routes. On their turn, they offer two routes for sale at a price of their choosing, and give other players a chance to buy those routes. But not all neighbourhoods are equal, and even more importantly, each player will value them in vastly different ways. And what if you don’t really want the other players to buy your routes?!?
Deal With It
Features: Closed economy auction game. High player count with few components. 20-30 minutes. Push your luck. Tableau building. Lots of yelling!
Audience: Families and gamers.
Number of players: 3-6
Details
Deal With It is a fast auction game with a closed economy. Having such an economy makes it easier than many auction games - players don't have to wonder too much about how much things are worth.
In Deal With It, players buy and sell fruit cards, to amass high scoring collections of fruits OR to just get rich. Either approach can win you the game!
The order in which players buy fruit cards determines the value of those cards, so players must carefully time their actions. Running out of money at the wrong time can ruin your plans! On their turn, a player puts a card from their hand up for auction. If another player wins the auction, the original player is paid the winning bid. If the original player wins the auction, the pickles are removed from the game. Cards that are won at auction are placed in a player's tableau following very simple rules.
Once every card has been auctioned, the game is over. Fruits in tableaus are worth points depending on how they are positioned relative to other fruits. Subsequently, the same fruit can be worth different amounts to different players. Coins are also worth points, opening up another possible route to victory for shrewd fruit sellers.
Luzon Rails
Features: 18XX style game, with simple rules and a quick play time. Impressive table presence.
Audience: Gamers
Number of players: 3-6, with an additional solo mode.
Details
Luzon Rails has already been self published and the initial print run has sold out. It has also been published in the Japanese market by SunnyBird.
Gameplay is card-driven and involved players buying shares in rail companies and then developing those companies to achieve large pay-outs. You can read more details on its game page.
I'm currently open to other publishers licencing Luzon Rails in English and other languages.
Eccentric Exhibits
Features: A two-player, 20-card trick-taking game.
Audience: Couples, families, gamers.
Number of players: 2
Details
Eccentric Exhibits is a 2-player, 20-card trick-taking game. In this game, players are rival museum curators trying to arrange the most prestigious exhibitions of bizarre and unusual artifacts - unicorn hooves, kraken tentacles, books of pure evil, and alien skulls, to name a few.
You can read more about Eccentric Exhibits and find a print-and-play on its game page.
Unfinished Business
Features: Drawing party game with a spooky twist.
Audience: Large social groups
Number of players: 3-8
Details
Unfinished Business is a party drawing game for large groups of social gamers. In this spooky games, players pretend to communicate with the dead, in order to deduce what unfinished business those ghosts may have. The problem is that the ghosts may only communicate through the medium of terrible drawings.
This spooky game is a playtest-favourite and a PNP is available on itch.io
Terminal Dispute
Features: Roll and write with fun dice-drafting. Includes a solo-mode.
Audience: Families, gamers.
Number of players: 1-4
Details
Emergency sirens blare throughout the starship and you race to the escape pods. Take a moment to fully activate the escape systems and you stand a much better chance of survival. Of course, the Navigation Matrix is vital, but so is the USB Phone Charger — you wouldn't want to be floating in space without access to your games!
In this roll and write game, players are interfacing with an escape pod terminal. Over twelve turns, they will use dice to put numbers into the Navigation Matrix and power up the Phone Charger. At the end of the game, the player who has most efficiently completed these tasks is the winner.
Whiskers in the Dark
Features: Two-player hidden-movement game.
Audience: Couples, gamers.
Number of players: 2
Details
This game was made in collaboration with Angelo Nikolaou.
Whiskers in the Dark is a tense game of cat and mouse! One player is a mouse hunting cheese in an apartment. The other player is a cat trying to catch that mouse! Each player must make use of their particular skills to get the upper hand. If the mouse can eat enough cheese before running out of time or being caught by the cat, they win! All the cat has to do is chow down on the mouse... if they can find it!
This game uses only 18 cards and a pad of paper. Download the demo at itch.io
Disorderly
Features: A team-based trivia game.
Audience: Families, social gamers.
Number of players: 2-10
Details
Disorderly is a trivia game where players don't need to know the correct answers - they simply must convince the opposing team that they do!
A simple, yet tricky scoring system means that teams of players can score points for being mostly right as they attempt to figure out which animals have the most teeth, or which countries drink the most vodka...
Contact me for a demonstration of this game.
Voyage
Features: Tiny format RPG and storytelling.
Audience: Story-game fans, families
Number of players: 2-6
Details
Voyage is a collaborative storytelling game contained in a small deck of prompt cards. Together, players create a travelling group of characters and face challenges and triumphs, developing a unique and unexpected story over an evening of play.
Contact me for a demonstration of this game.