Amazon

We are a go!

I’ve got an account up on Amazon for Branum Games.We have Battle Gnomes up for sale and will proceed with putting up the other games as they are completed. I wanted to make sure it was accessible before blasting games out to reviewers. I don’t want a review out there, and interest, but not have the games available for purchase.

I also want Battle Gnomes where it needs to be prior to my next Kickstarter. So the current plan is: to now get the game in the hands of reviewers, continue bringing the games to places/conventions to get sold, talk to game stores about getting them in at this time, and ultimately get into distribution. I have an artist working on some visual updates for the game, and another working on turning into a mobile app. These things are longer term.

And with that, available for purchase and for all intents and purposes completed, Battle Gnomes is all set for the time being. I have other games and projects to focus on, while continuing to maintain this one moving forward. 🙂

Personal Transitions

As the owner/game designer of Branum Games, I also work with several others to make things work out. I have Game Masters and artists and people that work with me to accomplish business goals/tasks. However, I generally am involved in each part of the process. At this time, I am going to be moving across the country to a state I have never been to, where I don’t have friends or connections. It sounds like a great place, Maryland, but I won’t have any footing for my company.

With that, I have to leave my company behind in Arizona. I won’t stop it, I’ll continue it and run it from Maryland. I have too many upcoming events, friends, fans, and options in Arizona to shift things. The plan is ultimately California, but I have all those same things in California. I can’t move everything to Maryland; that won’t make sense. Especially since it’s not a permanent move. This transition of mine will change how things are run for Branum Games. I’ll be delegating, but others on the team will be doing even more if all goes well. I think it should be fine, and they’re all prepared for what’s going on. But of course I’m nervous, and there will be plenty of unknown hurdles.

So far, I’ve scheduled GMs for each of this year’s remaining AZ events. Further, I have initiated three new GMs for us to train and work with. They seem great, and eager. Next, I have my product here accessible by team members I trust. I’ll bring enough with me to Maryland, but also leave plenty here for local events and promotion. I will also leave all GM and promo materials here since this is where my big events are, at least for the next year. We should be all set. It’s a lot to think about, all the moving pieces, but I think we’ve prepared for all the big things. I hope our ongoing supporters will continue to be awesome.

WesterCon!

For the last four days I’ve been at WesterCon/LepreCon/CONflagration/Conalope.

It has a long name for a reason. So, WesterCon 70 combined with LepreCon 43, which also combined with CONflagration which is on it’s 7th year. Conalope is the name of this particular WesterCon event and is specific to the theme of the event, which is celebrating the alien landing in Roswell, NM. You with me so far? Excellent.  Something special about this event is that it was at the location of my very first convention, 14 years ago. Now that I’m leaving the state, it’s a bit poetic that I end my tour here at that location. It’s also an event similar to the one I started with (HexaCon).

So I went to this event with just one GM, Jonathan Jackson. He killed it, he was incredibly helpful and a champ throughout the weekend. We just showed up Saturday and Sunday and ran games throughout. It wound up being for not just the attendees, but also for GMs and staff. I loved the chance to show them the games too. On Monday night, I was able to come to run a round table discussion, same with Tuesday morning. Both times I wasn’t sure if people would attend, and both times I was mistaken. There was solid discussion in both situations. There’s no video of it; it wasn’t that kind of panel/discussion. It was intimate, and I enjoyed delving into the topics. They were: Male versus female oriented games, and RPGs versus tabletop games.

Overall, the convention was great for us, and I think people there enjoyed trying out the games and discussing things in our round tables. It was motivating for me to proceed in setting up for other conventions coming up, some with organizers from this event. While WesterCon is a traveling event and will be in Colorado next year, I hope to attend again and continue supporting the conventions such as LepreCon and Conflagration.