Funk Family Game Night

One of my favorite things about GenCon 2014 was being able to meet so many of the people from the board game community. Everyone from designers to publishers to artists to reviewers to enthusiasts were in attendance. I got to meet YouTube celebs like Boyan Radakovich. I got to play games with publishers/friends like Randy Hoyt. I got to ‘talk shop’ with Kickstarter gurus like Jamey Stegmaier. It was definitely one of my most social experiences in the past few years.

Unfortunately, I’m not always very good at starting up the conversation. I’m even worse at keeping it going. With a common interest, I did find it easier. But I’m much better when I can start with a purpose. Plus, I like having ‘souvenirs’ of things. My memory isn’t the greatest, most of the time, so having something to jog it after the fact is useful  🙂 I took a lot of blank game cards with me (for those games that came with them), but only got to have a couple of designers/publishers to sign their cards.. Bummer.. But, that gave me an idea..

Jason Tagmire had this excellent, fun meta-game going at GenCon: ConCrud. Basically, you got a con-crud card, signed your info, and passed it off – giving someone else con crud. Their goal was to not leave the con with it! It allowed a fun little interaction when meeting people and provided a cool souvenir even if you ‘lost’  🙂

I was wondering if ‘game cards’ might not be the answer I was looking for. I’d love to have designers/publishers/artists sign something unique to me that was not only a reminder of meeting them, but a fun little game component. So, I present to you my first draft (please excuse the poor design! I’m no Daniel Solis!) of G-G-G-Game Breaker cards:

Front

Back

The point of the card is this — You ask someone to write in a fun little rule for their game and sign it. I’m imaging things like:

“This card allows the player to KO a minion at range 3 and become first hero in the game Heroes Wanted once per GAME – Travis Chance”

or

“This card allows the player to Link 2 cards of a different color/number in the game Yardmaster once per SESSION – Patrick Nickel‘

or

“This card allows the player to Swap any 2 relics on the map in the game Relic Expedition once per TURN – Randy Hoyt”

(Assuming, of course, I could get those 3 guys to sign something like that!)

Plus, I like to amuse myself, and I find it funny to think of someone, in the midst of a game, yelling “G-G-G-GAME BREAKER!” and tossing down their signed card to take their game-breaking action  🙂

I don’t have much luck getting people to respond to my blog, but I thought I’d try again.. So here goes.. Game designers/publishers/artists.. If someone asked you to sign something like this at a con, would you do it? Would you think it was fun/amusing, or would you find it a nuisance? Gamers/enthusiasts.. Is this just too silly? Would you even bother getting something like this signed? Would it just be a gag, or would you actually attempt to play the card during a game?

I’ll probably end up tweaking this a bit (and maybe changing the name/theme) and getting some cards printed up prior to next GenCon, just for myself. But if there was enough interest, I was thinking of getting someone much more talented than I am to design the cards and then toss them on Drive Thru Cards or The Game Crafter or something. Again, nothing serious, just a fun little ice-breaker when meeting the people that make our little hobby go.. And something to help remember the experience.

So.. Please let me know. Thoughts? Suggestions? Flames?  😀

-Jason