🌈🚀 Reliable wonder engine. I make narrative role-playing games that imagine a weirder, queerer, more connected world.
looming darkness wonder's loom
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Hi Reader, Lovely to see you. Please, come in, sit down. On the table, I have a terracotta vase filled with chamomile flowers, sacred to Inanna, and Mesopotamian irises. The land of Gilgamesh has taken over the game table, as you can see. Because the Kickstarter for Defy the Gods launches on Tuesday! If you haven't yet signed up to follow the campaign, please do at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hecticelectron/defy-the-gods. Then come back. This book got a lot more personal than I expected. I look back to four years ago, at starry-eyed Chris resolving to make such an ambitious game. To three years ago, when my brother's passing moved me to make a game that drinks deep of life. One year ago, when I finally made queer resistance the game's core. And late last year, when, against my business interests, I started billing it as a "queer game." This book became a beacon for my trans journey. It rocked my whole sense of who I am. Now, thanks partly to this game, I'm changing my name. A little. I go by Chrys now. Among friends. Why do trans people always go for Y names? It's short for Chrysoprase, an apple-green stone straight out of a Lord Dunsany story. I love Dunsany's sense of abundance and uncharted possibility—his wild invention. I flooded Defy the Gods with that abundance. In 1916, in the middle of the Great War, Dunsany publishes The Last Book of Wonder. His preface acknowledges how dark the world seems. But he's still in love with wonder. In 2025, the world seems dark again. In an act of resistance or maybe just flight, I'm publishing a game full of wonder. Wonder, passion, glory, doom. A loom to weave infinite characters who drink deep of life. That's the earthbound dream, anyway. To make it take flight, I need a push! So, forward this email. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. It all starts on Tuesday. See you then! Your friend, P.S. That link to send your enemies to is https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hecticelectron/defy-the-gods. |
Everlasting, Neverending Game Night
🌈🚀 Reliable wonder engine. I make narrative role-playing games that imagine a weirder, queerer, more connected world.
Hi Reader, Welcome! The daffodils are blooming in the front yard. They look good in this metal pitcher, don't you think? Defy the Gods is at the distributor's warehouse, at Plus One Exp in Philadelphia. I had a great talk with Tony last week, sorting out how distribution is going to work. They're a well organized team—they got this. Plus One Exp also brought a couple display copies of Defy the Gods to PAX East last weekend. Maybe I didn't print enough of the special edition! Tony said people...
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. Do you like the pantsuit? I got it at Ross. powered by Midjourney I'm glad you're here—you're just in time for a big announcement. Roll that podium over here, would you dear? In an effort to capitalize on market synergies, Hectic Electron is excited to announce two new games in our line-up: Defy the Raccoons and Queer Sky Pirates. The first one out the gate is Defy the Raccoons. In this game, inspired by Over the Hedge and the sensational,...
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. After some whipsaw weather, spring has gotten determined here. Nothing's blooming in the garden yet, but five years ago, M rescued an orchid from a gutter, and now it's blooming for the first time. So I've put it on the table. I'm still thinking about everything I saw at GAMA Expo. So much waste. It's amazing what sells. It's discouraging how few ideas are in most of it. But it's a privilege to be in this business. I'm so glad I get to make fun things for...