Summer works

    “In the land of dreams, you may be yourself (…)”, Jorge Palma

Holidays! Synonym for a long-desired pause on the work-work. At home with no schedules. On the road, drawing lines across the country. From north to south, from west to east, and back. Appointments with the blue, the waters, and the skies. Hot afternoons. Warm nights. Family, in larger or smaller numbers.

A word meaning time for games played. But, also, for games-worked on. Collaborations renewing themselves, checking-in without notice. One-off collaborations. New challenges. Projects hovering over the calendar, as in a suspension state. The search for the next to be project.

The agenda, constantly changing, remained filled, demanding time and space. Time, most often nocturnal. The usual space, the cozy living room, the lamp chasing away the dimness, the same desk, the chair, the soft light of a second screen, shelves in the background. All to be replaced for a couple of weeks. Because all it takes is just a laptop connected to the world, a more or less improvised place, a few schedule adjustments, and the work continues.

Summer brushstrokes, wandering in the land of games, crossing time-zones.

The Board Game Workshop (United States of America). Juror and Mentor. These are the roles I've been taking on since 2019 in the contest for games in development, run every year by Chris Anderson. The main objective is not to award notes and rank. The underlying intention is to make a contribution to the improvement of games yet to be, by commenting and discussing. I especially enjoy the mentor role, let us call it this way, for games that have been selected in first stage of the contest. A unique opportunity to meet new authors and have a first in-depth look at ongoing projects, to better understand motivations and choices, to enter that space beyond the curtains.

In this year's edition I followed two completely different projects. One abstract in essence, another with surfing as the theme. The first, with some complexity, calling for thought ad reflection. The second, for more relaxed moments, in a group-play, suitable for various audiences. Originating from very different geographies, Canada, and Australia. Conversations at a distance, five time zones back, ten forward. Sharing opinions, discussing processes, debating options, commenting, questioning suggesting. About the game itself, about writing rules, about presentation videos. On the way to the third stage of the competition, who knows, or on a route of its own, already beyond the contest. 

Want to try it? As authors or as jurors? 2023 is just around the corner, and registration is always open to everyone.

The Geeky Pen (Bélgica). (Belgium). Translate. Play with words and phrases. Sense, style, accuracy. Learning new terms. Looking for solutions. Imagining alternatives. Increasing the accessibility of games. In Portuguese.

The collaboration with this translation company, created in 2015 by Jo Lefebure, and specialized in games, is already one of my most regular ones, almost reaching two dozen of titles translated to Portuguese, in as many months. Regular, but always unpredictable, as it is the norm in this line of work.

This time, two messages arriving in the middle of August. One of them for a much longer rulebook than has been usual to date, suitable for a game of medium complexity, and requiring some thematic research work. Let's see if it's a new trend, or just an isolated event.

Gold Mountain Games (United Kingdom). Editing, reviewing. Seizing the meaning, verifying the consistency, questioning, suggesting, rectifying, preserving the authors' voice. Descriptions of continents, islands, and seas. Fauna and flora. Villages and cities. Multiple races and monsters aplenty. With history and stories. Cultures. Personalities. Skills. A world in creation, coming to life through texts, illustrations, and music. To be inhabited by adventurous players. To inspire the Game Master.

This is a company creating content for role playing games, narrative games, 5th edition compatible. And it is one of the brand-new projects and collaborations, as part of the team in charge of editing the texts. Together with people from different geographies. Right in the core of the narrative. Giving use to many years of editing and reviewing, in the most varied contexts and with the most varied themes.

August 2022. And so, it started!

Hollandspiele (United States of America). Playing, testing, reporting, detailing results, describing experiences, commenting. Repeating. Test, report, evolve. Test, report, evolve. Essential parts of game development. Always with an eye on the rules, of course, just because I do love those manuals that draw us into the gaming experience.

Testing through digital platforms, convenient, cost-effective, allowing to overcome distances and bypass time zones. Granted, they don't convey the same sensations as the real thing, at least for me. But they are the ones making these interactions possible and widespread! 

That Others May Live is a solo game about aerial search and rescue operations, in the Vietnam War. Tense, with the pressure of time draining away, and with the uncertainty of the positioning and behaviour of enemy forces. A creation by Brad Smith, about which you may read here, with development of Ryan Heilman, for Hollandspiele, an original publisher, who does not blink when engaging with sensitive topics, be it the politics of slavery, conflicts, or the challenges of rehabilitation following a brain injury!