Steve Jackson's Blog, page 27

February 5, 2025: Last Shot Is Available Today!

Intrigue and international espionage intertwine in  Last Shot , the latest release from Steve Jackson Games.  Last Shot is set as the Cold War is winding down in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union. You are an agent attempting to be the last player standing. To do this, you'll need to manage your cards carefully – and wait for the perfect moment to play a Terminated card to eliminate another agent. If you're the last agent standing, you'll take the victory! This fast-playing game accommodates three to six agents and can be played in under 30 minutes. And because it uses less than half of the cards for each session, it has great replayability!  Last Shot is now available at your FLGS and at our online store, Warehouse23.com.

– Michelle Richardson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

February 4, 2025: Need Soundscapes For Your Games? Check Out MyNoise!

If you use ambient sounds for sleep, meditation, relaxation, or just to set a mood, then there's a good chance that you're familiar with MyNoise. This website was founded by Dr. Ir. Stéphane Pigeon, a research engineer and sound designer based in Europe. Dr. Pigeon travels throughout the world to collect sounds from nature and landscapes, and also works with collaborators to create meandering ambient music to accompany you during daily tasks. What else can you use soundscapes for? Games, of course! MyNoise already has an entire collection of gaming soundscapes on its front page (look for "Background Sounds for Game Masters"), but they aren't the only noises that will help you set the mood. Trippy atmospheres like "Take It Easy" could help give extra depth to a space- or science-fiction game, while "Autumn Walk" or "Dark Seas" are great for fantasy adventuring parties. There's even an eerie mix called "Number Stations" that would be perfect background noise for a spy game like Last Shot . Some of the pages on MyNoise are only available with a donation, but don't worry – a subscription is not required, and it only takes one donation to gain access to everything the site has to offer. (I kick in additional money from time to time because I use their app so often, but that's just me.) It may be worth it if you're an audiophile or a game master, especially since the site offers features like animated audio sliders, presets, and personalized calibration options, among other things. You can even create your own multilayered soundscapes that combine up to three different noise generators based on keywords or themes – the MyNoise Community page features some truly amazing creations, such as "Rivendell" and "Wasteland Radio." I can't wait to see what Dr. Pigeon and his listeners come up with next.

– Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

February 3, 2025: Thank You, TikTok

Even if you've never scrolled on TikTok yourself, after recent events it's hard to imagine anyone hasn't heard about the drama around the long-threatened ban and its speedy reversal. This post is not going to be about that (although, if you value your First Amendment rights, I'd urge you to examine the language of the bill and the Supreme Court decision – we're dealing with a far more vague and disturbing expansion of government censorship powers than a simple ban on a video app).

Between downloading all my old videos and trying to add online friends elsewhere, I started reflecting on how much my life has changed over the last 5 years . . . and how much of that was shaped or enabled by a silly phone app full of lip syncing videos.

So thanks, TikTok, for (directly or indirectly):Introducing me to most of my current friend group, including my housemates and my partnerMy job at a FLGS which got me into the tabletop gaming industryGetting me a publishing deal for my first bookLanding me at SJ Games!Pushing me to finally finish a decade-long bachelor's degreeHelping me figure out what I wanted to do with my life (spoiler alert: It's making games!)I have no idea where I'd be were it not for the butterfly effect that started with "roasts based on your favorite TTRPG," but I am really glad I'm here.

And for everyone else . . . tell your online friends that they matter to you, and maybe get a second way to contact them. Keep physical backups of art that matters to you.

You never know.

– Irene Zielinski

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

February 2, 2025: Fifteen Smiles To The Thumbtack?

I love cork bulletin boards. There's something satisfying about maneuvering a colored pushpin into the brown "wooden" surface that isn't the same for me with magnetic boards, digital alternatives, or the like.

From in-game "conspiracy boards" for tabletop RPGs, to "leader boards" or lists of games for our game nights, I love the tactile sensation and the tiny holes in player names or vital clues.

If you're like me in this love, don't keep it corked up; let us know on the forums!

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

February 1, 2025: Step It Up With WalkScape

Walking can be exciting in tabletop and computer RPGs – it could lead to treasure, hidden dungeons, bustling towns, ancient ruins, or other surprises. Unfortunately, walking in real life doesn't usually hold the same thrill. That's why I was so excited when I discovered an app that uses your step count to create an adventure reminiscent of old school MMORPGs.  WalkScape describes itself as a "mobile fitness RPG where you make progress by walking in real life." Like most RPGs, you start by creating a character. Then you begin in a small town with a few options for activities like woodcutting, foraging, fishing, and mining. But the only way you can perform these actions – or travel on the world map – is by taking steps in real life. Unlike other walking games like Pokemon GO , WalkScape draws data from your phone's internal pedometer, rather than location data. The app doesn't track your location, and it doesn't require you to use the app every time you get up and walk. You just move, bank your steps, and then open the app and choose what you want your character to do. The more steps you take throughout the day, the faster your character will complete jobs, travel between destinations, and level up.  While I've only used WalkScape for a few days, I really enjoy it. The settings and tasks are well developed, and the game has a nostalgic charm that really draws you in. That's no surprise, given that the creator was directly inspired by games like RuneScape . (Fans of that title will appreciate that one of WalkScape's  early tasks involves fishing for shrimp with a basic net.) The one downside for me is a lack of Apple Watch integration, though apparently that's something the developers are working on. In the meantime, I just have to remember to keep my phone with me at all times, lest I waste a step or two (or three . . . ).  WalkScape is currently in closed beta, though you can get an automatic invitation during their next sign-up period by supporting the project on Patreon. You can also learn more and discuss the project via the WalkScape Discord or subreddit. May your journeys be exciting! 

– Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 31, 2025: My Favorite Band Is Herrerasaurus

Herrerasaurus is a lesbian folk-pop duo – two moonlighting science communicators, characterized by tight vocal harmonies and a quirky-yet-sentimental songwriting style. In addition to their growing catalog of originals, they've got an eclectic cover repertoire; you're equally likely to hear them play the Everly Brothers or a Scottish folk ballad. If that interests you, then read on – they've got some NYC-area gigs coming up!

    View this post on Instagram           

A post shared by Herrerasaurus (@her.rerasaurus)

This clip is from Almost Victorian, a song with a bold stance on whether or not it's flirting to read someone bioecology papers while they infodump at you about a wizard game.

Anyway, if you're in the New York area, you are lucky enough to have several opportunities to catch the duo or Clara at a live show in the coming weeks:

Clara is appearing in a songwriter showcase at the Shrine World Music Venue in Harlem
Monday, February 3, at 10 pm

Clara has a solo set at LIC Bar in Manhattan
Monday, February, 10 at 8 pm

Herrerasaurus is playing at the Shrine World Music Venue in Harlem
Thursday, February 27, at 9 pm

Herrerasaurus is playing at Young Ethel's in Park Slope
with MAXIMUMLOVETIMELINE and Grace Corsi (presented by Mother of Pearl Collective)
Sunday, March 2, at 6:30 pm

All the venues are 21+, and there's no cover for any of the shows.

– Irene Zielinski

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 30, 2025: Edible Melee

Winter is prime cookie baking season. And when people like us get together, gaming happens. So why not combine the two? First, you'll need a copy of Melee . If you don't happen to have it (you should!) Steve Jackson Games has the PDF available for free on Warehouse 23. Next, you'll need the board. You'll need a lot of hexagons. Hexagonal cookie cutters are available pretty much anywhere that sells cookie cutters. If you want to build a full Melee board, you'll need 99 cookies. If you do this, make them small to avoid indigestion, or perhaps go with a more limited board size. Or, of course, have a lot of players. You may want some special terrain. A simple icing of confectioner's (powdered) sugar with just enough milk to make it gooey, but not so runny it drips off the cookies, can be easily colored with food coloring. Blue, of course, is water. Green (perhaps decorated with green sprinkles or sugar) makes grass. Spare or broken cookies can be crushed and stuck on with icing for rough terrain. You can tint some icing brown for mud, black for a pit (or just leave that cookie out of your map!), red for fire (possibly with crushed red and orange hard candies on top), purple for magical effects like Gates, etc. I even have some little bones left over from a Halloween cupcake kit. I've put those to good use! Finally, you'll need figures. There are several options: If you have a suitably tiny cookie cutter, you can make gingerbread meeples! The candy aisle (if you have a 5 Below near you, they have an excellent candy department) can supply everything from giant snakes that look suspiciously like gummy worms to gummy dinosaurs, gummy giant frogs, etc. Alternatively, you can make little square cookies and draw figures on them with an icing pen like the art on the Melee counters, and either lay them flat, or use a bit of icing to glue them to other cookies in a vertical position. Lay out your map, line up your figures, and you're ready to play! The rules are just like Melee , with two exceptions: One, when you defeat an enemy, you get to eat them! Two, to make the game more interesting, at the end of each player's turn, that player can eat one of the map hexagons. But 1) You cannot eat a hex that has a figure (alive or dead) on it, and 2) The map must remain contiguous – that is, no islands. If you try this, or if you have done something similar, let us know on the forums!

– Jean McGuire

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 29, 2025: INWO In Japan

"Pix or it didn't happen!"



It happened. Here are our shiny new copies of the Japanese editions of INWO and The INWO Book.

This edition was published by Asukashinsha, with rights arranged through Japan Uni Agency. And it looks amazing!

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 28, 2025: Diamond Bankruptcy: We Are Clear

Several of you have asked whether SJ Games was impacted when Diamond Comics filed for bankruptcy. The short answer is no. Obviously the whole industry is shaken when a large player falls, but we were not a Diamond creditor. We do a great deal of business with their subsidiary, Alliance Game Distributors, but Alliance is healthy and will probably have a new owner soon.

Diamond itself is not necessarily gone; it is seeking reorganization under Chapter 11.

If this is all news to you, check out the Baltimore Banner feature coverage. There is a list of creditors in this Graphic Policy article.

At any rate: Thank you for the concern, but we are fine and we expect our friends at Alliance to be fine too.

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

January 27, 2025: What's In A Game?

Have you ever thought about how many different talents go into making your favorite games? The skillset that can devise and develop different gameplay options is subtly different from the skills that go into writing or editing them. Playtesters (and those who wrangle those comments) check that the games make sense and are fun. Graphic designers work with artists to help the games look awesome. Print buyers make sure the games are both high quality and as affordable as possible. Marketing folks promote games so that they find the right audience. Digital gurus work hard so that all the games have the right information online, including options to buy them. Various admin and support-office people get bills paid so that the lights stay on and progress can continue for the next games. I'm certain I'm forgetting about folks.

A lot of this effort can be invisible. It's rare for someone to go, "Wow! I can tell someone edited the heck out of this book!" . . . After all, editing is only something that people notice when it's not done. Similarly, I've never sung the praises of a print buyer at my gaming table, even though great components can help a game come to life.

So, the next time you crack open a new night's enjoyment, take a moment to look at those credits and see who worked to bring it to your table. You may not have noticed them before, but they're all doing their part to make sure you have fun.

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!