Hopes and Fears

So I have one of my games, Itsy Bitsy Spiders, entered in the Rio Grande design competition. It is a very solid game that is fun and easy to learn (and cheap to make). I have yet to receive a review that even comes close to negative. When I went to Milwaukee, I often had players asking to play it again immediately after the first game was over! That's a really good feeling, let me tell you. That means I've struck something good.

That's the good news. The bad news is that I keep hearing people say that my game might not be a "Rio Grande game".

A little info on my game is needed at this point. Itsy Bitsy Spiders is a quick, push-your-luck racing game that has never taken more than 30 minutes to play. It is pretty light on strategy, but in an enjoyable way. My target audience could be anyone, since everyone likes it (even hardcore gamers who typically opt for the brain-melters), but for a more specific target, I would say making it a "family game" would be the most lucrative. It is also a great filler game.

This is why people don't think it's really a Rio Grande-type game, though. When most gamers think of Rio Grande, they think of Race for the Galaxy, Puerto Rico, Power Grid, and El Grande. That is what I thought of, as well. However, just to double-check, I went to the Rio Grande website. As it turns out, they also make games such as Coloretto (a filler/family card game) and Ra (a more complex, but still fairly simple, push-your-luck game). In fact, Rio Grande appears to straddle about every genre of games out there--including party games--so I don't think I have anything to worry about.

The only thing left to worry about in the contest, then, is if the people judging the contest think IBS isn't a Rio Grande game and take that into account when they are voting. If that's the case, I could still be in trouble. Barring that, though, I think I should be getting a free entry to CHI-TAG.

Even if I don't, I have gained a lot. I've made contacts and, more importantly, I have supreme confidence in my game. I don't just THINK my game is good anymore. I KNOW that any game company that passes on it is missing out. Knowing that, I am more than ready to slog it out the old fashioned way if this competition doesn't pan out.