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Hi Reader, Welcome, please come in. This week, we're meeting a little, sun-baked apartment in Mexico City. A glass tumbler has some purple jacaranda flowers. I came down to Mexico to visit family, but I also bought a ticket to a great games convention here called MegaXP. Although I don’t know much Spanish, my phone does get internet, and it was easy enough to take an Uber to the World Trade Center Ciudad de México. Inside, I had to ask the person at the Registration desk if they spoke English. They looked at me a little skeptically—like, "of course, but why on Earth would you ask that?" But they very kindly pointed me to where to get my wristband. The view inside the exhibit hall looked surprisingly familiar. It was massive, almost on the scale of Origins. Con-goers, cosplayers, and vendors. Most of the booths I saw sold board games, but there was also a lot of Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40K, minis painters, and medieval-style crafts. I noticed a few Mexican inflections, too. Like the snack vendors (popcorn is big), and a trio of stilt-walkers who included El Santo (with an extra-long cape!). Plus! A collective of gamer groups, called Rol en tu idioma, organized a full schedule of role-playing games at several tables in the middle of the hall. I wandered over to that section, and I recognized one group’s name: ReRoll. Their Twitch channel played Raccoon Sky Pirates in 2022. (You have got to see the cartoons of their characters on the overlay.) So, I went over. "Hi, habla ingles?" Again the skeptical look. "Yes." "Hi, my name’s Chris. I made a game called Raccoon Sky Pirates." Instant excitement. One of their members, Chok, facilitated the game on Twitch and played Iggy Escupefuego (Spitfire the Pigeon). He gave me a big hug. I signed a copy of the game for him, and we got our picture taken. As we parted ways, he said, "You made my day!" It’s really true what they always say: Raccoons are international. There are lots of great cons happening around the world, and I rarely get a chance to go to one outside the U.S. What are your favorites? Cheers, P.S. It was so great to finally meet Chok and ReRoll! They're doing great things. Check out their Itch page! |
🌈🚀 Reliable wonder engine. I make narrative role-playing games that imagine a weirder, queerer, more connected world.
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in, have a seat. The snow is finally starting to melt around here. On the table, we have a tin of shortbread cookies, and in the kitchen, your choice of tea, coffee or hot cocoa. So hey, a few weeks ago I got a little preachy about promises and contracts. Although I wasn’t talking mainly about Jay Dragon, I did imply she'd done some things, or failed to, based on conclusions I drew from the Rascal article I mentioned. I was too hasty. The Rascal piece was more...
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in. On the table, I have a bowl of kiwis—the indie game designer of fruits. They're hard to peel, but I swear it’s worth it. (If you’re into OSR, just beast it and bite right through the fuzzy skin.) I know this talented up-and-coming game designer named Faye Weaver. Faye is a Horizons Fellow this year, like I was last year. And she’s been getting frustrated about, well, the crickets. I think everyone who puts a game out there feels this way sometimes, so I...
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in, out of that snow. My it's cold out there—winter is biting down. But it's cozy in here. Have some hot cocoa. I made it with warm milk this time. Did you read the Rascal article about Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast? It's the kind of cautionary tale that keeps me up at night. If you don't have a Rascal subscription, do get one. But for now, here's my best sum-up: Possum Creek Games, led by Jay Dragon, made some big promises to the writers and artists who helped...