Game Designer Coordinator

For the event, I was the game designer coordinator this year, so I wanted to share my experience with that. We had 10 participants in Designer Alley, which focused on established designers who had products they wanted to sell and/or promote.

One of the most exciting parts was seeing games that had appeared at previous Board Game Days as demos or prototypes, like Scrapbots, Medieval Merchants, and Sheep, now show up as completed products for sale. I love to see that progression, and I want the event to support it. We are a space for designers to bring an idea to the table, improving it over time, and eventually getting it into players’ hands. I didn’t get to spend as much time downstairs with them as I would have liked, but everyone I talked to had very positive things to say. They had a steady stream of customers and got the word out about their games to new audiences.

Playtesting and Demos

Upstairs, attendees were greeted by the Play and Win and game libraries hosted by the Bodhana Group. The first section of tables they came to was the Break My Game demo and playtesting area, where over a dozen designers brought games in every stage of development. Some were polished, near-final versions, while others were paper prototypes covered in Sharpie-marked changes. This is where I brought my two games: Community Cats and Harrisburg 1878.

Every time I looked up, the tables were full. People were waiting in line to try specific games, and some designers were told, “I would buy this today if you had it.” I loved seeing that shared energy between designers and attendees. It made the whole section feel active, encouraging, and full of possibility. We also had a few visiting designers from New York!

Community Cats Playtesting

I was able to get a few playtests in with my games between other duties as assigned, including running home to print more sign-in sheets because we ran out. For Community Cats, one of my favorite moments is seeing the rules click on a player’s face. During my first playtest, I could tell the player understood the core game loop before I was even done explaining it. They started nodding along, as if the next rule felt obvious, which is usually a good sign that the design is moving in the right direction.

I also learned more about the game’s difficulty. Both playtests used random setups instead of the scenarios in the back of the rulebook, and even though the players seemed to have similar skill levels, the first game was probably too easy while the second offered a much better challenge. That tells me the setup may be doing more work than I realized, and HBGD gave me a clearer direction for what I need to test next.

Harrisburg 1878 Playtesting

As for Harrisburg 1878, I spent the week after Great Escape on the Lakes making some big changes before bringing it to HBGD. I tried to balance the game by making sure every resource could be used to develop some kind of asset. I changed the Prosperity track so that it was tied to trading resources rather than selling Consumer Goods, which are now called Furnishings. I also reduced the number of resources that could be developed and turned development into a simple one-resource-plus-one-action exchange instead of a set of complicated recipes.

The version I brought was very new and had never been playtested, but I was encouraged by how well the main loop of build, produce, and develop held together. It is becoming a strong engine builder with several different paths to scoring points. The teach still took longer than I wanted, but it did not seem confusing so much as full of moving parts, which feels appropriate for a game about industrialization. I haven’t done a post yet about Harrisburg 1878, so that will be coming next. I want to talk more about the history behind the choices I made in the design, and the challenge of making sure that history still comes through when I am not there to teach it.

Next Year

Hopefully we will have a date set soon for next year’s Board Game Day. It seems like a late summer date fits a lot of schedules, so we’ll likely stick with that. Personally, my biggest goal for next year is to bring in even more designers. We had a few visiting designers from New York this year, and with the Amtrak station right there, Harrisburg can be an easy trip for them. I also want to make sure we are reaching designers in Lancaster and the surrounding area. The more people and perspectives we can bring together, the more ideas we can have flowing around the room.

I know designers were excited to get playtesting in, but I also want to keep building the community around those playtests and create more opportunities for designers to meet, talk, and support each other. I have some investigating to do on how to make that happen. Subscribe to stay up to date on next year’s Board Game Day, Community Cats, Harrisburg 1878, and whatever else ends up in the midden next.

I know I’ve been behind on posts. It’s been far too long, but I was struggling to find time or energy to write. So this is going to be a mass update of everything that has happened in the last few months.

Community Cats chosen for Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged

My solo pick-up-and-deliver game, Community Cats, was chosen as one of 26 vendors that will be featured at New Mill Industries’ Indie Games Night Market at PAX Unplugged. From what I was told, the competition was intense, with over 100 applicants vying for spots.

For those who don’t know about the Night Markets, it’s a way for niche games to get out in front of the public. It’s for designers who only want to do small runs or take a DIY approach. To learn more, visit https://www.newmillindustries.com/ignm

I’ll probably be posting a ton about Community Cats now while I try to figure out exactly what my production path looks like.

Great Escape on the Lakes

GEOTL is one of my favorite game conventions. It’s hosted at a YMCA camp in Painted Post, NY. They have only been holding it for a few years, but the numbers are growing each con. I was able to enter my games into a game contest. There was a panel and luncheon for game designers where we got to discuss questions about all stages of the design process.

My favorite part, however, is not board game related. My husband and I run the escape room there. For the past three years we’ve brought The Wizard’s Retreat, a one-hour in-the-dark traveling escape room. Everyone gives it great reviews. We were told this year that after a group played last time, they couldn’t stop talking about it. After doing a professional escape room, the whole group said The Wizard’s Retreat was easily comparable.

We will be bringing the escape room locally to Harrisburg in November for a fundraising event. Stay tuned for more information on that.

I also got to meet my new friend, Houdini, a 17-year-old goat who is very well fed. He recently lost his partner, Earl, but refuses to hang out with any other goats now. He looks very much forward to being visited by people (and fed). We went for a walk each morning to stay active, and to see Houdini!

20 Sided Gamified Podcast

I was the guest for Episode #133: Building a Game Community: Manda Shafer of the Harrisburg Board Game Alliance of the 20 Sided Gamified Podcast. You can listen to it here:

I spent the first half an hour talking way too much about my first passion, the roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade. About halfway through, we start to talk about some of my games and Harrisburg Board Game Day. It was my first time on a podcast and I really enjoyed the opportunity. Turns out I really do like talking about myself! Hopefully more chances to be a guest will come.

Harrisburg Board Game Day

Board Game Day (https://www.hbgalliance.org/events/harrisburg-board-game-day-2026) is this week, Saturday, August 29, from 10am-8pm. It’s a free community event for everyone to enjoy board games. I’ve been working with over 20 designers! We’re going to have a Designer Alley where you can buy some of their games, but we also have plenty of tables set up for demos and playtesting.

Good Day PA did a segment for us where fellow board member, Erik Arneson, and myself were featured. You can watch it below.

Our local community paper, TheBurg, also shared an article with more information about the day: https://theburgnews.com/news/harrisburg-board-game-day-to-return-this-weekend-with-play-connection

Mindmidden

I am going to try very hard to go back to posting regularly. After this weekend, my time should free up slightly. I’ll be focused on getting Community Cats produced. However, that will probably be a great opportunity to talk about the DIY approach for this newsletter.

What is The Establishment?

It’s a storytelling game for 3-6 players where you take on the role of a faction leader and member of a secretive group trying to control the fate of humanity. The setting is sci-fi, based in the near future, where humans have colonized Mars and moved into the Inner Asteroid Belt.

How did it start?

This game actually started as a roleplaying game based in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade. Each player controlled a clan of vampires and was part of a council that controlled everything going on around them. I wanted to make a game where one session covered more than a few days or weeks. I wanted it to represent years of planning and control. I play tested it a handful of times at conventions and the local game cafe. It was neat, but pretty sloppy and relied too much on the source material. At that time, version 5 of Vampire wasn’t a thing yet, and it was sort of a dead IP.

How it evolved

I wanted to build a system that could be played in any setting the GM wanted to create. It involved a hex-grid map, a bunch of tokens, and some poker chips. There was an element of debate and dealing that continued into the published version. However, I eventually wanted to make a game that didn’t rely on having a storyteller or GM to run it. I wanted everyone to be able to play.

Card-based format

I moved to a card-based format that uses branching storylines. I usually describe it as a Choose Your Own Adventure book for multiple people. There are still some card mechanics rather than traditional dice, but at its core, it’s closer to a roleplaying game (RPG) than a traditional card or board game.

The Challenge

Because The Establishment is somewhere between a card game and a roleplaying game, I don’t think I’ve found the real audience for it yet. It’s missing the traditional win condition that board gamers are looking for, but it’s also a departure from the pencil-and-paper expectations of role players. I need to find a way to appeal to a seemingly thin slice of the Venn diagram: players who like board games, but also enjoy trying out one-shot RPGs without a well-known built world.

What does the future hold?

Well, I still have many copies to sell, so I’ll keep trying to figure out how to find the audience and how to better market to them. It’s currently available for sale on the DPH website, at any convention where I or DPH Games are, or in one of the local Harrisburg game shops. I’ll also have it with me at Developer’s Day at Lazarus Games in June.

The Harrisburg Board Game Alliance is holding the third annual Board Game Yard Sale on Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 12-3 pm. The Yard Sale serves as a fundraiser to help keep Board Game Day free for everyone.

Back up, what’s the Harrisburg Board Game Alliance?

I serve as the Vice President of the Harrisburg Board Game Alliance. It’s a non-profit dedicated to spreading the board gaming hobby in the Harrisburg region. You can learn more at our the HBG Alliance website.

Our biggest event is our annual Harrisburg Board Game Day, which is held every summer. It’s a free event for everyone to enjoy some new games, try to win some free prizes, meet new people, and experience Harrisburg.

So what does that have to do with a yard sale?

Well, at the Yard Sale, there are going to be over 20 different vendors selling their used board games so that they can live another life. The Alliance will also have a table filled with games that have been donated to us. So all the money we raise goes towards things like rent, insurance, and supplies for Board Game Day. That’s how we can keep it free for people to attend, by covering all the costs through the yard sale.

What’s expected at the yard sale?

Each vendor is just a regular gamer with too many games on their shelves. I anticipate there will be hundreds of games for sale, and usually at a very good price.

We have early access tickets for only $6 that you can buy to get in early. This will let you view and purchase games an hour earlier than general admission. Update: Early access tickets sold out!

In the past, we’ve had all sorts of games. Everything from piles of Avalon Hill war games to mass market party games to copies of Kickstarter exclusives.

Anything else special?

Yes! The Bodhana Group, another local game-related non-profit, will be there selling games. They have an extensive library for sale, and all proceeds will benefit the use of gaming in therapy.

The Alliance will also have a special “Made in Harrisburg” section that features new games from local designers. That’s where I’ll be stationed most of the day, so stop by and say hello.

Made in Harrisburg

I suggested the table to the HBG Alliance Board because I wanted to work on an idea I had to promote our local designers and help introduce them to the gaming community. I had heard about the great success that Designed in the DMV had as a promotional tool for designers in the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia region. It’s a collective of game designers helping one another make and sell games. I’d love to capture the spirit of that and apply it to our region.

I’m not sure how successful this first year will be. This is more a way to dip my toe in the water and get some designers used to the idea of helping one another. I will certainly report back on what happens.

Take my money!

We’d love to. Join us at the Harrisburg Board Game Yard Sale on Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 12-3 pm. If you bought the early access ticket, you can get in at 11 am.

Let me know what you think about this event and whether you have any questions. Hope to see you there.

Community Cats puts you in the role of a rescuer facing a neighborhood overrun with stray cats. It’s your job to Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) the cats to keep the population from spiraling out of control. I like to tell people: It’s like Pandemic, but with kittens! You feel a constant pressure to take control of a situation before it becomes unmanageable.

Where did the idea come from?

For those who know me, I’ve been involved in animal rescue for over a decade. I’ve fostered so many dogs and cats, I’ve honestly lost count. I also spent a few years involved in TNR work. I feel very strongly that we cannot adopt our way out of the overpopulation of cats, and that TNR has to be one of the tools. I really like to make games that help people learn something new. So it’s sort of natural that making a cat game only made sense, and TNR seemed to be something that’s not out there yet.

Another cat game?

I know there’s dozens of games out there. You can say, “You know that cat game...” and no one will know which you’re talking about because there are so many. However, I believe that Community Cats isn’t just a fun game with a cat theme put onto it. The real-world mechanics of it really drive the game. Every rule in the game exists for a very specific reason and as much as possible is true to real life situation. I lean into educating people on how it works, but still making an interesting and challenging game.

How’s it play?

Community Cats is a solo game. Each of the six cat colonies on the gameboard, plus the wandering cat track, begins with two cat cubes. At the end of each round, any colony with more than one cat that has not been trapped, neutered, and returned will gain a new cube. The player has ten rounds and five actions per round, represented by time tokens, to buy equipment, trap cats, and take them to the clinic. Money is limited to cover both upgrades and visits to the veterinarian clinic. Players roll dice equal to the number of traps they have to capture the cats in the colony. Event cards help the player along the way with benefits like extra traps, lines of credit, and a volunteer. Players win when all the colonies have been stabilized and can no longer produce new cat cubes. However, if they run out of cubes from the bag or the wandering cat track fills up, they will lose.

Where I’m at in development

I’ve been working on it for about 9 months now. I believe the core mechanics are solid. I probably need to get a few more playtests in with other people. Being a solo game, I’ve been able to play it a lot myself. However, the feedback from others is crucial. The main area I need to work on is determining the difficulty level. Since there are 11 different colonies, but only six are played each game, the difficulty fluctuates based on which colonies are used and where they are placed in relation to each other. I think my plan is going to be to suggest possible setups for each difficulty level - easy, normal, hard, extreme. But I need the playtesting time to do that.

What does the future hold?

Originally I started the game thinking I was going to make a print and play. It got a little too complicated for that, so I pivoted to thinking I’d approach publishers. But then I heard a panel at Unpub Festival that talked about a ‘third way’ for game publishing that involves small batch self-publishing. The idea is that you create 25-50 copies of the game for sale at conventions or game markets. Indie Games Night Market at PAX and Lunar Punks’ Midnight Market are some great examples. I am currently exploring ways I can create Community Cats on my own.

Stay Tuned

I have a lot more to cover about Community Cats, but I wanted to give readers a foundation on the game for when I inevitably write another article about it. If you want to stay informed, subscribe to Mind Midden to keep getting updates about my games like Community Cats.

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Mepacon is one of my favorite mid-sized local conventions ever. We’ve been going for over 15 years now! Mepacon 50 was held April 17-19 in the Lehigh Valley, Pa. It happens twice a year and is filled with so many games, you may not know where to start. To learn more about the con, check out their website https://mepacon.com.

For the third time now, I’ve run the Break My Game playtesting section. If you don’t know about Break My Game, learn about them at https://www.breakmygame.com. We set up four tables for the weekend for game designers to sign up and bring their games for playtesting.

By the Numbers

Let’s cover a few of the numbers. We had 11 two-hour slots for the entire weekend. Seven were sold out with only the late night and Sunday slots left unfilled. We had nine designers sign up. That was over 50 hours of playtesting in a three-day span.

Overall, it was a positive experience for the designers, but a few things make this different from other playtesting events.

One, the people attending are regular gamers. In some cases, a few might be designers who sit down, but the majority of people looking to play a game are not. This provides both pros and cons. While you might not get the in-depth analysis a fellow designer can offer, you do get a fresh perspective from potential consumers which I think is invaluable.

Two, Break My Game isn’t the only thing there. Mepacon has so many opportunities: board games, LARPs, RPGs, miniatures, even an egg hunt this time. There are a lot of things competing for players’ attention. Designers need to be willing to attract players into their games. It’s not the built-in audience one can find at other playtesting events. This can make it difficult for less outgoing designers.

Three, these conventions have a great mix of games at various stages of development. The schedule play generally includes only published games, but doesn’t always. There are also vendors that have nearly finished, about to crowdfund, or ready for sale games too. It’s important to me to make sure that the playtesting section stays true to its intent: games that need constructive criticism and feedback to grow. Attendees can also be confused by the blurred lines between these different stages of games.

Four, it’s still young. While Break My Game has been going on for years in many places, this is only the third convention for Mepacon. That’s less than two years old. It’s still in its infancy and going through some growing pains. I have a lot to learn about what works best for this setting and will only learn that through trial and error.

My experience

I got to playtest Van Life Challenge by Gray Dog Games (https://www.graydoggames.com/). I competed against fellow players by traveling around the country, trying out some wild regional foods, and telling my TV viewers all about it. We had fun telling some food stories (which earned me some extra points). My favorite part was learning some of the foods. Pennsylvania had perogies, which is one of my personal favorites.

Community Cats

I also had the chance to run a few games of Community Cats with players. It’s my solo game where people take on the role of a cat rescuer trying to keep the population of stray cats in their neighborhood to a sustainable level. One playtester said she would have bought it if it was available. I take that as a positive sign that the game is nearly complete.

Until Next Time

Special shout out to my volunteers: Ryan, Will, and Jacob. I honestly would not have been able to do it without you. Thank you for organizing the tables, attracting players, and jumping into the game when needed.

If this sounds like a fun experience to you, the next Mepacon is November 13-15. Whether you’re a designer looking to test your next game or a player looking to give feedback on new designs, I hope to see you at a table.

Mind Midden is something I came up with a long time ago in college. At the time, the internet was still sort of new and these blog things were really taking off. I never actually got around to writing anything for it, but I had good intentions.

I don’t know what a midden is

A midden, in archaeological terms, is a refuse pile. It’s usually where people threw out a whole bunch of stuff over time. It was a place where, when you were done with something, you threw it out and that builds up over time.

So a mind midden would be a place in your brain where you finish something and store it away for good. But there’s one important thing about middens at an archaeological site. They are an absolute treasure trove of information. It’s a place where layer upon layer of stuff tells you everything about the people who left it – from what they ate to what they played with.

Following that logic then, this mind midden is a digital place where I can store a bunch of information after I was done with it that, once discovered, could be a great source of information for anyone else.

But, who are you?

For those reading who don’t know me, I’m a game designer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I self-published and crowdfunded my first game, The Establishment, in 2024. I’m Vice President of the Harrisburg Board Game Alliance, which hosts Harrisburg Board Game Day, an annual free board game day for the community. I also run the monthly Break My Game playtesting event in the area. My current goal is to build a community for game designers. A place to strengthen relationships, create real networking opportunities, grow as designers, and get our work seen by more people.

And why am I here?

My plan is to use this space to allow people interested in the things I do to keep tabs on what I’m up to. The focus will be board game related ranging from topics like my game design journey, games that I’ve played, experiences with playtesting, and news and information on the many game events I participate in.

I’ll be publishing every two weeks. Some topics I initially have planned are a review of Mepacon, a nearby game convention I recently attended, and introductions to my game designs.

So now what?

I hope I’ve enticed you with this first post to have you stick around. Subscribe to receive timely updates in your email. There’s a lot I have to add to this midden and I’m excited to share it with you.