Steve Jackson's Blog, page 54
May 16, 2024
May 16, 2024: Munchkin Big Box Wrapping Up
Our biggest crowdfunding campaign ever, by a wide margin. As I write this, it's over $1,155,000, and is about to hit 8,000 backers. I am not even going to guess where it might end up. Whoa. It hit 8,000 while I was typing.
There are only a few hours left. If you meant to get the Big Box and haven't yet gotten around to pledging . . . here's the URL.
I'm very appreciative, not just of the sweet monie$$, but also of the staff who have worked so hard to make this happen and the useful comments from the backers. Those comments have shaped the campaign. Thank you.
Fun Fact: The campaign closes today, Thursday, at 4:00 Austin (Central) time. But, if there are people on the Backer Train, the campaign won't close! It will just keep chugging along until there's no one else waving frantically to get aboard! How cool would it be if 4:00 came and went . . . and the train kept going?!
– Steve Jackson
PS – I'd be remiss if I didn't also remind you about the Car Wars STL campaign, CARnage 2 , which ends next week.
Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action
There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!
There are only a few hours left. If you meant to get the Big Box and haven't yet gotten around to pledging . . . here's the URL.
I'm very appreciative, not just of the sweet monie$$, but also of the staff who have worked so hard to make this happen and the useful comments from the backers. Those comments have shaped the campaign. Thank you.
Fun Fact: The campaign closes today, Thursday, at 4:00 Austin (Central) time. But, if there are people on the Backer Train, the campaign won't close! It will just keep chugging along until there's no one else waving frantically to get aboard! How cool would it be if 4:00 came and went . . . and the train kept going?!
– Steve Jackson
PS – I'd be remiss if I didn't also remind you about the Car Wars STL campaign, CARnage 2 , which ends next week.
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!
May 15, 2024
May 15, 2024: Steve Jackson Games (And Munchkin ) In Forbes!
As a writer, I'm thrilled when I get to use the lowercase version of "august," because it throws my editors for a loop every time. In entirely unrelated news, we're always honored when we make an appearance in such an august publication as Forbes. They recently ran a piece on their website to coincide with our (still ongoing!)
Munchkin Big Box
BackerKit campaign. (And the
Big Box
is only the beginning of some truly memorable releases as we ramp up to
Munchkin'
s 25th anniversary in 2026!)It's a fun article, including some insight into the game's genesis that even I wasn't aware of. So, if you're interested in our august crowdfunding effort, you may want to march over there! (Sorry.)
– 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!
May 14, 2024
May 14, 2024: Shadowrun And More Sigmar – Coming This September!
It's that time again – time for us to share what's coming soon to Steve Jackson Games.While it's only mid-May, we're already looking ahead to the two exciting
Munchkin
releases we have planned for September, and you're going to love them! Munchkin Shadowrun is a collaboration between Steve Jackson Games and Catalyst Game Labs. It's based on classic
Munchkin
and the famous roleplaying game
Shadowrun
. Enter a cyberpunk future and encounter elves, trolls, and even dwarves. Included are 193 brand-new cards with fabulous art by Lar deSouza. You'll go on an exciting journey to dodge the corp with the goal of hacking into the Matrix for the win! This stand-alone game will retail for $39.95. If you love
Munchkin
and Game Workshop's epic
Warhammer
, you'll want this brand-new addition to the line!
Munchkin Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Dire Domains
is the fourth expansion for
Munchkin Warhammer Age of Sigmar
. Travel down into dungeons and through portals as you battle monsters in 20 fantastical locations from the
Warhammer
universe. This thrilling expansion can be yours for only $11.95! We hope you'll enjoy these two great titles. Look for them in September at your Friendly Local Game Store or our online store, Warehouse 23! – 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!
May 13, 2024
May 13, 2024: Happy 25th Anniversary, Warehouse 23!
We've been so busy lately with all kinds of exciting developments (like our ultra-successful Munchkin Big Box crowdfunding event) that one interesting bit of trivia almost went uncelebrated. Namely, the 25th anniversary of Warehouse 23!We'd been selling product online before that, but April 30, 1999, (on this very Daily Illuminator!) is when we publicly announced our new online store at Warehouse23.com with its own shiny URL and everything.
We've gone through more than one update since then, all in our ongoing efforts to deliver the coolest gaming goodness directly to you. For those willing to risk a nostalgia bomb, you can check out the Wayback Machine archive of how Warehouse 23 looked in its earliest capture, from September 22, 1999. Just please don't try to order anything; we have enough problems already upholding the proper flow of linear time.
– 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!
May 12, 2024
May 12, 2024: Questionable Game Purchases?
I'm not sure if this'll spark an interesting discussion or reveal my own idiosyncrasies, but that describes how I've approached social interactions for the past 30+ years. So, here's my query: What's a "questionable" game purchase you've made? This isn't necessarily the biggest game you've bought (big games are cool!) or a game you didn't enjoy (mistakes happen), but rather a purchase you knew going in that you couldn't quite justify, but – darn it – you pulled the trigger anyway.
I've bought lots of stuff I've thought better of, but I'll share the first one that sprang to mind when I formulated this topic. I saw a dice set I loved; as they often are, it was a standard polyhedral set for . . . some big game out there? I think it had an ampersand? Not important. Anyway, I loved the set, but couldn't quite justify it, because I didn't really play the ampersand game; I played GURPS . And GURPS needs three six-siders, of which the set only had one.
Of course, I bought four sets . . . the extra one just in case. And, lo, I have my awesome set of GURPS dice – along with a lot of eight-siders, four-siders, and so on that I lack a regular use for.
No regrets! I love them. But – considering that I ended up with 18 dice I don't particularly need – they sure are a questionable purchase.
That's the story that pops to mind for me. If you have one of your own, feel free to share your anecdote privately or publicly 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!
I've bought lots of stuff I've thought better of, but I'll share the first one that sprang to mind when I formulated this topic. I saw a dice set I loved; as they often are, it was a standard polyhedral set for . . . some big game out there? I think it had an ampersand? Not important. Anyway, I loved the set, but couldn't quite justify it, because I didn't really play the ampersand game; I played GURPS . And GURPS needs three six-siders, of which the set only had one.
Of course, I bought four sets . . . the extra one just in case. And, lo, I have my awesome set of GURPS dice – along with a lot of eight-siders, four-siders, and so on that I lack a regular use for.
No regrets! I love them. But – considering that I ended up with 18 dice I don't particularly need – they sure are a questionable purchase.
That's the story that pops to mind for me. If you have one of your own, feel free to share your anecdote privately or publicly 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!
May 11, 2024
May 11, 2024: Vote For Munchkin Digital
Every year, Board Game Geek holds the Golden Geek Awards to celebrate the best in tabletop gaming. The awards are presented every year at the BGG.Con event in Dallas, Texas – and this year, you can help
Munchkin Digital
get on the podium. That's right – not only is your favorite game of dungeon delving and backstabbing available in digital form, but it has also been nominated for Best Board Game App for 2023. We'll need your help to win, so head to https://boardgamegeek.com/geekawards/boardgame and cast your vote. (You'll need to make a free BGG.com account to get started.) Voting closes on May 12, 2024, so don't delay! Vote for
Munchkin Digital
,
then tell your friends to do the same!
– 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!
– 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!
May 10, 2024
May 10, 2024: Race Into The World Of Car Wars With CARnage 2!
Return to the autoduel arenas of the future!
Car Wars
fans can now back the next part of our
CARnage
STL series on Kickstarter.
CARnage 2 is a massive set of STL files that will allow you to 3D print dozens of Car Wars scale models: cars, crew, accessories, arena terrain, and more!
The two newest cars, Meteor and Boomslang, can be printed in armed, "naked," or wrecked forms. You can also print wrecked versions of existing cars Sawtooth and Pure Energy. Add Superfans Billy Bob and Esteban, with three of their friends, to toss an occasional shot into the speeding chaos. Pick weapons from the Fake Machine Gun to the Super Magnet and the Wrecking Ball. Accessories range from the valuable (more classy spoilers) to the, ahem, personal (truck nutz and longhorn hood ornaments). And drive around, or through, new arena obstacles. You can do it!
The most exciting pledge level is the $1,000 Superfan Ticket. It will let you collaborate with the Steve Jackson Games team to create a 3D character (yourself with a gun, for instance) who will be part of Car Wars forever!
At this writing, we are most of the way to our goal – we'll have reached it by the time you read this – and we have a lot of stretch goals ready to announce!
Follow us on social media for upcoming posts – including professional miniature painters adding color and detail to the cars with their skilled brushes.
Head over to Kickstarter right away and make your pledge now – if you play Car Wars (or Gaslands , or other auto combat games) you don't want to miss this!
– 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!
CARnage 2 is a massive set of STL files that will allow you to 3D print dozens of Car Wars scale models: cars, crew, accessories, arena terrain, and more!
The two newest cars, Meteor and Boomslang, can be printed in armed, "naked," or wrecked forms. You can also print wrecked versions of existing cars Sawtooth and Pure Energy. Add Superfans Billy Bob and Esteban, with three of their friends, to toss an occasional shot into the speeding chaos. Pick weapons from the Fake Machine Gun to the Super Magnet and the Wrecking Ball. Accessories range from the valuable (more classy spoilers) to the, ahem, personal (truck nutz and longhorn hood ornaments). And drive around, or through, new arena obstacles. You can do it!
The most exciting pledge level is the $1,000 Superfan Ticket. It will let you collaborate with the Steve Jackson Games team to create a 3D character (yourself with a gun, for instance) who will be part of Car Wars forever!
At this writing, we are most of the way to our goal – we'll have reached it by the time you read this – and we have a lot of stretch goals ready to announce!
Follow us on social media for upcoming posts – including professional miniature painters adding color and detail to the cars with their skilled brushes.
Head over to Kickstarter right away and make your pledge now – if you play Car Wars (or Gaslands , or other auto combat games) you don't want to miss this!
– 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!
May 9, 2024
May 9, 2024: App Recommendation: Joplin
I take a lot of notes and visit a lot of webpages for research. I find it invaluable to be able to scoop up info from interesting pages, copy bits of code or ephemera that have proven useful, and save recipes. (I have a lot of recipes . . .)
As far as software that does what I need, I can recommend Joplin. I've been relying on it for over 5 months, and it works great. It lets you type in "fresh" notes as you think of them, or – with a suitable extension installed – copy bits of websites that catch your eye. All its data is stored locally (encrypted, if you like), and it can sync via Dropbox or any similar service you might use.
Joplin is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and iOS. Oh, and it's free and open source. It updates often, so I feel pretty confident I'll be able to use it for a while. It's a bit finicky to set up, especially if you want to be clever and sync stuff via Dropbox, but it's not terrible. And at a cost of zero dollars to try it out? Well, that's pretty . . . noteworthy.
– 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!
As far as software that does what I need, I can recommend Joplin. I've been relying on it for over 5 months, and it works great. It lets you type in "fresh" notes as you think of them, or – with a suitable extension installed – copy bits of websites that catch your eye. All its data is stored locally (encrypted, if you like), and it can sync via Dropbox or any similar service you might use.
Joplin is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and iOS. Oh, and it's free and open source. It updates often, so I feel pretty confident I'll be able to use it for a while. It's a bit finicky to set up, especially if you want to be clever and sync stuff via Dropbox, but it's not terrible. And at a cost of zero dollars to try it out? Well, that's pretty . . . noteworthy.
– 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!
May 8, 2024
May 8, 2024: Eurovision Fever!
It's flashy and fun. It's colorful and vibrant. It's a spectacle of songs and props and pyrotechnics and costumes. It's the biggest music competition in the world. It's the Eurovision Song Contest! Each year beginning in 1956, countries across Europe (and in later years, Australia) have sent their very best performers to compete for the trophy. From Albania to the United Kingdom, Eurovision has drawn hundreds of millions of watchers each year. Even if you've never heard of Eurovision before, you most likely know two of the most famous winners: Celine Dion (1988, representing Switzerland) and ABBA (1974, representing Sweden). You may have seen the extremely popular Will Ferrell movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. This year's event, with the theme United by Music, will take place in Malmö, Sweden. The host country is the home of the previous year's winner. In 2023, Loreen took the victory with her amazing ballad "Tattoo." There are 37 countries participating, each with an original song that was written just for the competition. No matter what genres of music you enjoy, there's guaranteed to be something here for you to love. There's rap, multiple types of pop, techno, traditional folk, and so much more. In addition to outstanding musical compositions, Eurovision is also known for its extreme over-the-top staging and costuming. Semi-finals will be held on May 7th and 9th, and 10 artists from each of those days will move on to the finals on Saturday, May 11th. During the Grand Final, those 20 artists plus last year's winning country (Sweden) and The Big Five (Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, and France) will perform. The points come from a popular tele-vote plus a vote from a team of professional jurors from each of the 37 countries. Beginning in 2023, residents of the United States can weigh in on their favorites, too! Two of the very best entries this year come from Croatia and Norway. Croatia's Baby Lasagna is favored in the odds to win the entire contest with his song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim." Norway's Gåte will perform "Ulveham," which is based on a famous Norse fairytale. Want to watch? Eurovision will be streaming LIVE on NBC's Peacock app at 2:00pm CST on all three of the contest dates! You can also use a VPN to watch it on YouTube. – 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!
May 7, 2024
May 7, 2024: Winner Takes All . . . To The Game Closet
I can't figure out if I've shared this anecdote before; if I have, Google is failing me. But, to borrow an old quip, "Don't stop me if you've heard this one; I want to tell it again."
My wife's family has a tradition at their gaming table. It stemmed from her childhood, where certain parties (let's call them "her younger brother, Matt") would be less-than-gracious players. The behavior of these players – whomever he may be – would be such that it hampered the enjoyment of games in general for the non-winning participants . . . especially because such winner(s) were particularly skilled at games and thus won a lot.
The parents wanted to do what they could to promote unity at the table, so they had a rule: Whoever won the game had to put it away. This encouraged gracious behavior during the game (why risk alienating potential help with putting the game away?) and shifted the act of post-game maintenance from a communal activity – where everyone might be subjected to the gloating of the victorious – to an individual responsibility that let the losers walk away from the table and do other stuff while the winner had to toil.
Although the underlying impetus is decades in the past – the player(s) in question are more gracious than they were many years ago – this tradition continues whenever the family gets together to this day. Those who are vanquished can (jokingly?) say they lost intentionally so they didn't have to put the game away. Those who win treat post-game cleanup as a prize . . . and any players who want to stick around and help with the chore are free do so.
If anyone implements something similar at their gaming tables, I'd love to hear about it (maybe on the forums) . . . and so would my wife's family, I'm sure.
– 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!
My wife's family has a tradition at their gaming table. It stemmed from her childhood, where certain parties (let's call them "her younger brother, Matt") would be less-than-gracious players. The behavior of these players – whomever he may be – would be such that it hampered the enjoyment of games in general for the non-winning participants . . . especially because such winner(s) were particularly skilled at games and thus won a lot.
The parents wanted to do what they could to promote unity at the table, so they had a rule: Whoever won the game had to put it away. This encouraged gracious behavior during the game (why risk alienating potential help with putting the game away?) and shifted the act of post-game maintenance from a communal activity – where everyone might be subjected to the gloating of the victorious – to an individual responsibility that let the losers walk away from the table and do other stuff while the winner had to toil.
Although the underlying impetus is decades in the past – the player(s) in question are more gracious than they were many years ago – this tradition continues whenever the family gets together to this day. Those who are vanquished can (jokingly?) say they lost intentionally so they didn't have to put the game away. Those who win treat post-game cleanup as a prize . . . and any players who want to stick around and help with the chore are free do so.
If anyone implements something similar at their gaming tables, I'd love to hear about it (maybe on the forums) . . . and so would my wife's family, I'm sure.
– 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!
Steve Jackson's Blog
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