General Updates
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.