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. Sit down. We've got some cold fizzy water and some pizza from this place up the road. On the table and chairs there's an oiled bronze sword, a boiled leather shield, a skeleton key mottled in verdigris ... let me get all that out of the way. There. As you can tell by all the detritus—We're just a week and a half away from the end of the Defy the Gods Kickstarter! So far, we've unlocked an embroidered patch, a spot-gloss upgrade for the standard edition, a...
Hi Reader, Whew! Please come in, out of that gale. Here at the table, there's a tranquil bunch of violets and some herbal tea. Those winds are Origins Game Fair blowing through Columbus like a hurricane. Also—related—Defy the Gods blowing past its second stretch goal. This week has bowled me over. I sold out of all my raccoon dice and enamel pins. I sold over fifty Quick Starts for Defy the Gods. Several people also backed the Kickstarter right there at the booth. Since I don't have a...
Hi Reader, Welcome! Please, come in, make yourself at home. On the table, next to some humble, xeroxed character sheets, is a tiny ceramic pot holding a lush orchid. I've been thinking about the densely packed experience lately. Like movies. Even though they're today's prestige storytelling format, even a great movie is just two hours (okay, two and a half) of light and sound. But in that time, it takes you on a rollercoaster. When it drops you off at the end, you feel richer—not twenty...