Recap: Unpub Mini at The Games Keep in West Chester, PA.

I'm about to sit down and give you a recap of an event I didn't attend. All my information is second hand. If you want a real first hand account of the event there will be a link at the end of the article for Jason Tagmire's recap.From what I hear the event was a success with over 25 participants throughout the day, The Games Keep was kept pretty busy. All five games being presented saw multiple plays. I've heard from three of the 5 designers so far and their response is pretty positive that the event was helpful for them and the development of their game. Really, that's all I need to know.

Here are some thoughts from Karl Kemmerer, owner of The Games Keep: "I definately consider the event a success. I was really happy with the turn out for it too."

Tom Callahan, designer of Co-Op Tower Defense game & Unpub veteran, sent me an awesome email. Among my favorite comments is the following tidbit: " The most recent Unpup at The Games Keep has been my most useful experience in developing my board game.  I finally got a group of players that were legitimately interested in figuring out the mechanics of the game, exploring every option, and ultimately appeared to enjoy themselves when they succeeded with the objectives." This is why we do it folks. I'm really happy about this one!

Tom goes on, in his completely unsolicited email: "I have gotten the best feedback so far, because these people were so engaged, and willing to share their feedback. ...I got to meet some of the other Game Developers at this event too.  I talked to them, played a few games with them, and it became clear that they're a different kind of person. They have a different energy to them, and I can't really explain it."

We may hear a little more from Tom by the end of the week. I'm working on something new and he seems like a great candidate for it!

A few more comments poured in from Greg Miller of Baked Fresh Daily Games. They've been out promoting their first game Mecha Mayhem! "We really had a great time showing off the game, meeting players and designers and getting some truly insightful feedback!"

Okay... That's about all the real knowledge I have. For the rest of the story I need to send you over to Fruitless Pursuits where Jason Tagmire (who was my event captain for this event and presented his game Pixel Lincoln) gives another one of his awesome flawless and very detailed recaps! He gets thorough and gives you a lot of information that I can't. It's a great read and contains lots of photos.

Thanks Jason!

As always I want to thank all the designers and participants for making the event a success! Big thanks to Karl for hosting us at The Games Keep. He's been really supportive of me and this program... and he's already invited us back again down the road!

Well friends... next stop, Washington D.C.!

The following photos were provided mostly by Jason Tagmire. A few came from Greg Miller. I'll caption them as soon as I can.