Saturday, July 31, 2010

A new game from Black & Green Games and Dig A Thousand Holes Publishing!


A fun game for kids and adults too! Dread House will be available at GenCon, at the Design Matters Booth (#2100).

Thursday, February 01, 2007

New home for Crow Tracks

You can find new posts about Black and Green Games over at:

http://www.crowtracks.blackgreengames.com/


See you there!

best,
Emily

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Thursday, March 02, 2006

Breaking the Ice is available at IPR

Hello!

As of today, you can now order Breaking the Ice from Indie Press Revolution.

IPR is an rpg distribution company run by independent game publishers Brennan Taylor of Galileo Games and Ed Cha of Open World Press. They distribute games for 20+ other independent game design companies including Ron Edward's Adept Press, Luke Crane's Burning Wheel and many more.

Some other crazily awesome games have recently been signed, and IPR just seems to keep getting to be a better place to get games.

It's a thrill to see BtI in there among this great stuff. Thanks guys!

all the best,
Emily

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Sweetheart Deal on Breaking the Ice

Hello!

For the month of February, there will be a special offer for purchases of Breaking the Ice. All orders of the game will include a box of chocolates, in the traditional red heart shape. If you're ordering for a friend (or would like one yourself), let me know and I'll include a personal inscription.

All proceeds from the month will be donated to a women's shelter in Western Massachusetts, to spread the love to those who may need it most.

all the best,
Emily Care Boss

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Slashing the Veil

As you may know, Breaking the Ice is a game about romance and the ups and downs of the start of a relationship. In it you play two characters going on their first three dates. My favorite example is Bringing Up Baby, where the Cary Grant character has as his conflict "getting married to someone else", and the Catherine Hepburn character has as her Conflict "babysitting a leopard". Hijinks ensue, it's romantic comedy and screwball romance in a bottle.

Now, as it happens this game is also well-suited to another huge genre very popular on the internet: slash. Take Legolas and Gimli getting it on, or Kirk & Spok finally speaking of their feelings, and you get the idea. An actual play thread on the Black & Green forum shows how one lost pairing turned out: check out Breaking the Ice between Bruce and Clark for some superheroic slash action.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Pretty as a Playtest

City of the Moon playtest version 1 is now available. This game came out of last year's Iron Game Chef competition.

City of the Moon is set in the classical period of Japan @the year 1000 CE, in the imperial court at the capital Heian Kyo (site of current day Kyoto). The game is "gmless" or all-gm'd. Each player makes a main character that is a female heroine, a high-born lady of the nobility who is serving as a hand-maiden in the imperial court, a position of high status. Art and cultural refinement were paramount in this society and women could rise high in society based on their artistic accomplishments. Creative endeavours were brought to an epic high by women during this time, with Murasaki Shikibu creating the form of the novel with her Tale of Genji.

The heroines each have a destiny they are seeking: attainment of their art, power in the court, realization of love. Each destiny is associated with one or the other of two powerful virtues held in high esteem at the time: aware, the sense of the beauty and transience of life, and miyabi, elegance and cultural refinement. Inner and outer, yin and yang, these differing values express the different courses through which the women of the game seek happiness and face trials.

Since everyone in the game shares in the game duties, each player choses another to present opposition to their character, and does the same for them. The characters become rivals or nemeses, who are vying for attention at court over attainment of the same art, or have dibs on the love or support of another, minor, character. The other players can take part each other's stories by taking part in scenes where they help the main character in her goals, and in smaller ways by creating elements in any scene that may assist or hinder the main characters. They do so by using counters gained during special Full Moon Party Scenes, where the players themselves make poetry in simple party games similar to what they would have played in ancient Japan.

The character's conflicts and efforts culminate in Festival scenes, colorful events involving the Emperor and Empress themselves, in which characters may gain, or lose, powerful allies. You can even cause your nemesis to become possessed by evil spirits, losing them all their support, though if you fail, you suffer the fate instead...

Duration of play is likely best for a short campaign (3-6 sessions). Preparation is quick and easy, though familiarity (and love) of the setting will assist in play. The playtest version includes brief background material and names, example characters from court, descriptions of festivals and Moon Cards, themes and motifs used to inspire the spontaneous poetry of Full Moon Parties. Resolution uses a standard playing card deck, and you will need counters or pennies to use during play.

If you have any questions, write 'em here, contact me at blackgreengames@yahoo.com, or drop by at the Black & Green Games Forum at the Forge.

Friday, December 30, 2005

How did I miss this?

Ron put out a call for a picture of a Big Model posterboy (or girl, for that matter), in his post Let's Make a Deal on the Forge.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of that.