Monday, January 31, 2011

International Gaming Hub

One of the benefits of living in a European metropolis is the opportunity to "melt in the pot" of internationals living here. My wife just attended an international choir concert at Hans Scharoun's impressive Philharmonie concert house featuring traditional Turkish and Russian music, along with American gospel music. It was a four-hour event that could not have been more eclectic.

Last week, I stopped by the Spielwiese for a quick visit with Michael, and we reminisced on the variety of visitors he's had at his gaming cafe since it's start 4 years ago. Some Europeans come here specifically to get their yearly stash of German games, while other internationals are so intrigued by the concept of a gaming cafe with game rentals that they make it one of their tourist destinations.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Reality Cheque

After recently receiving a royalty report for one of my games, I realized I've reached a milestone of sorts. My 5 games published since the end of 2008 have now sold a total of more than 20,000 copies around the world. The past two years have been very rewarding, as I've had the opportunity to meet and work with so many interesting people in the hobby and industry. I am still enjoying these relationships in addition to the design process, and have no shortage of ideas for the future.

However, I also realize that this number is completely incomparable to the amounts of games that better-known full-time designers sell every year. A game that wins the Spiel des Jahres, the Game of the Year award in Germany, for example, typically sells at least ten times this number!