retrospective

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2020 is in Hindsight

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2020 is in Hindsight

There’s no denying that 2020 has been a stressful, challenging year for the world. Every rational human has been affected by the pandemic, whether through illness, loss, economic hardship, or the existential malaise that has permeated our collective consciousness. I have no desire to add to the numerous articles documenting these issues, but I do want to share the state of Cherry Picked Games. I want to commit to the public record our plans and desires looking forward. We’re a tiny board game company that depends on the support of our fans to create games we hope they’ll love. So, as much as possible, I’ll try to refrain from the “this would have been better in a normal year” mantra as I share the Cherry Picked experience. I want to describe where CPG is, from my perspective, so that our supporters know where we’re going, and any other indie developers can learn from our efforts.

Catalyst - Five Year Retrospective

Catalyst - Five Year Retrospective

Catalyst has been a part of my life for over ten years. My mind has been drifting into the apocalypse for all my adult life. I rarely went a week without playing a session from late-2011 until the last campaign guide was released in mid-2015. I still play Catalyst regularly, though not with the same frequency. We wrapped up my first Roll20 campaign. All this play forces me to compare the five-year old RPG against both the current gaming ecosystem and my own design knowledge. With the anniversary at hand, I wanted to share some thoughts that have been percolating alongside visions of demon hordes razing cities and the badass heroes trying to stop them.

Far Away Retrospective - Applying the Lessons

Far Away Retrospective - Applying the Lessons

This is the final part of a three-part retrospective series on Far Away. In this series, we explore the development or Far Away and the lessons learned along the way.

We did it. Far Away is in the hands of backers. It’s on the street for retailers (whatever that actually means in the current pandemic world). People are staying things about it on Board Game Geek. By all those metrics, Far Away is now a real game. This marks our fourth title we’ve taken from idea to production. We’ve spent the other two retrospective articles looking back on the development, so, with the game’s release, it only feels appropriate to look forward and talk about how we’ll approach the next game differently.