Indie Games at iFest

I ran over to Seattle Center Armory to check out some indie games today at iFEST.  The exhibitors were a mixed lot. There were some actual independent video game developers, an obviously not independent video game developer, a few people there showing off their board or card games and a handful of folks who were trying to get you to sign up for a class or a school to learn how to make video games. A real grab bag.  I did see some games that intrigued me.  Here's a breakdown:

The Rabbit and the Owl by Formal Sheep. This was an intriguing take on the platforming genre where you have two characters, one black and one white, who inhabit the negative spaces of each other's levels and can only affect the other character's space with specific mechanics. It's sort of like a platformer/puzzle version of Ikaruga, but as a cerebral puzzler instead of a frenetic shoot'em up.

Warcube by Haven Made looked interesting.  A low poly action shooter with puzzle elements.  The website shows off some flocking behavior that I didn't see on exhibit in the game, but it had a clear art style and fun looking gameplay.




Tiny bubbles, by Pine Street Code Works, has no website that I can find. They had a simple puzzle game about manipulating soap bubbles by cutting the walls between them or dying them different colors.  Combining and dying the bubbles is the key to completing the various objectives on the board. It looked like there was plenty of content and the gameplay seemed solid, so look for this game to be released soon.

Investigator, by Constance Chen, has you playing Sherlock Holmes-as-Alligator. Plenty of puns and make this a great read.  Constance had probably the best comment I overheard at iFest.  When someone asked her who her intended audience was she said, "Myself. I just like making these things."  The spirit of independent game development in human form.

Hobby Progress: Orc Boyz

I found some time to base my orc boyz this week.  It's actually my first time using static grass.  I tend to prefer using small gravel or drywall paste for my bases, but I thought these guys would look best walking over a grassy field.

Get me my choppas!

Basing these guys took some forethought.  With ballast/gravel I usually use watered down white glue. which sits tall on the base when wet due to surface tension. This works fine for heavy rock pieces but I didn't figure the lightweight static grass would do very well. I ended up just using straight white glue thinly applied with a brush. This meant the stickiness of the glue let it sit as a very thin layer. After dunking the base in the tub of grass I used a second, clean brush to clean any grass off their boots and the sides of the bases. It worked well and went very fast.

The last step was to spend a few minutes finishing up the logo on their banner. A fine brush and a bit of time got a spider and some skulls picked out.

I don't really have a use for orc boyz so I've put these guys up for sale over on Half Price Minis.  If you have a use for them you can pick them up for pretty cheap.  Check them out here.

A New Thing: HalfPriceMinis.com

So I've got a new endeavor going.  I've launched a webstore for selling used miniatures called HalfPriceMinis.com

Visit Now!

I've been collecting miniature for more than twenty years.  At this point that's well over half my my time on this planet.  I love miniatures and the games we play with them and I fully realize how expensive the hobby can be. I'm sure there were years where I spent a few thousand dollars on miniatures.

The second hand market for miniatures is huge. Just go look at the listings for Warhammer 40K on Ebay. I've certainly bought my share of miniatures via auction. I've also lost enough auctions and received enough weird things from random ebayers that I'm kind of turned off by the whole thing. I want the surety of knowing what I'm going to get and that I'm actually going to get it.  I suspect I'm not alone.

HalfPriceMinis is a store with cheap, usually used, miniatures. No muss, no fuss. Just click, checkout and its yours.  No waiting for auctions to end, getting into bidding wars or getting something you didn't expect. We won't try to trick you. We just want to get these miniatures to people who are going to love them and play games with them.

February Hobby Wrapup

February is fading from sight in the rearview mirror, so before it's completely out of sight I thought I'd say a few words giving myself a hobby report card.

• Empire Swordsmen - A+. Nailed it.  I finished painting all six swordsmen and even got a blog post in about it that you can read here.
• Bloodletters - F.  I pulled these guys out of storage and then they sat on my desk scowling at me the whole month. I hear Khorne is intolerant of failure, so I expect some kind of retribution.
• Riptide - B-. I got some more paint on this guy and started in on his line highlighting. Not done, but not forgotten.

Riptide of Joy and Suffering

I started his line highlighting up around where the head attaches so I could get that bit glued in.  The arms and shield are being held together with bluetac for the picture.  I want to get them and the torso finished before gluing them on permanently.

For March, I think I'll leave the bloodletters on the desk.  There's really not that much left to do on them.  Of course I'll continue work on the riptide, but instead of thinking I'll get it done I think I'll set a more modest goal, like getting the torso and arms finished.

I've also got a band of Warhammer Fantasy Orcs sitting on my desk that just need to be based.  I'm thinking I'll just sprinkle some static grass onto them and call it done.

Waaaauuuuugh!!!