12 Shades of Heather - Card Game Notions

Soooo... Whilst being laid-up with all of the abdominal chicanery (I'm feeling way better, it's that last 10% that's the real bitch, but only because I need to get back into some semblance of 'being in shape-ish,' and I'm working on that pretty well, and the bottom line is that I'm very thoroughly going to survive just fine)...

Where was I. Oh, yeah! I found myself in that... Place. You know the one? It's the one where you are just wiped out, stuck in bed, and you mind is working the way it usually does, but your body is just BLaAaaArRrGh. It does give you a lot of time for thinking. If you can lift your arm, you scrawl a few ideas onto a piece of scrap paper. It makes me jealous of Mozart in Amadeaus; at least he was able to be bedridden while composing an entire symphony for Salieri. (They were actually really good friends in real life, and Salieri had a deep affection for notorious W.A.M.)

I'll definitely drop these ideas as we go, as there are quite a few of them. But one that I have in mind...

It's funny. I have this process when it comes to 'big ideas.' They hardly ever enter my mind fully formed. Rather, they pull themselves together, slowly, over time, because of their gravity. Like planets forming. I can't even begin to tell you how many manilla folders I have that only have one piece of paper in them -- the reason I do that is because, at some point, whether you're in the shower or taking a poop, or talking to a friend, and then, something happens, and... five of those folders all click together, and makes sense for each other, and there it is.

In this case, the 'fever dreams' served as that cobbling impetus. A five-body problem. And now, there's this -- that card game you might have gotten a whiff of from one of my previous messages.

And here's the real nugget in all of this: I have a sneaking suspicion that this game might, actually, be a whole lot of fun.

I'm building this airplane in-flight, so to speak, so a lot of it is still evolving. I have gathered that this is true for most people who find themselves designing a whole game. But as far as the mechanics are concerned? I dare say... They check out, in a way that provides a satisfying, entertaining, re-playable experience.

And here's the kicker -- it's a one-player game. Room for expansion packs and mix-and-match sets, etc. I am certainly aiming for some great artwork on it, too -- if you are reading this, you are a fan of me, and (why not point out the elephants) The Girls, so I would love to thing of this game as... how best to say it... a chance to build a greater connection with the whole 'notion of me,' while keeping the experience deeply personal. There aren't a whole lot of one-player card games out there; I think there are even fewer that have Tig Ol' Bitties.

It comes, I suppose, from a place. I've always loved a good card game. Back when I was a kid, I was... well, pretty lonely. But. I did have one thing going for me -- during the summertime, I would have to hang out at a shop my family owned. Boring stuff, but it kept the roof up. BUT! Next door? Like, Right. Next. Door. There was a massive comic book and gaming store.

I will write more about this in a post I already have planned. But for now, this place instilled a love of nerd-itry, and I got to learn a lot of cool stuff from a bunch of folks who were just as Doctor Who-loving, MTG-playing, Pokemon-slinging, 40K, D&D, comic books, paintbrushes the width of a human hair, it smelled like weed on Saturday nights, long after closing... You know. A muthafukkin' comic book shop.

Again, I will address all this in a separate post, soon. I only dip into this backstory to display that I have a somewhat decent pedigree when it comes to knowing how these kinds of things work. And, I really enjoy having a fun time with... Shit, man. Designing a whole game.

I love leaving little clues, so I hope you enjoy the image above. With all the ideas of have in mind about 'How a Heather Dresses,' most of them involve... well, you know me. I'm a pretty simple person when it comes to sartorial sensibilities. Give me a pair of board shorts, a hoodie, and some flip-flops, and I'm generally a happy camper. So when it comes to a game, where one of the mechanics involve 'what I'm wearing?' I find myself having to spread outside of my comfort zone by asking myself, "Hmm... how do I 'clean up well?'"

The idea of this game is that it's a first date. The outfits are things that, yeah, I've worn at some point for some reason or another. Not necessarily on a first date, per se... but you wouldn't necessarily show up to such a casual encounter in a Little Black Dress, and Evening Gown, or, for that matter, in your comfiest PJs and Bunny Slippers. This range? It's an in-between.

These are not any sort of final draft. I'll leave that to the artists. Same with the rest of the cards. I've crunched the numbers, and this game with contain 64 + 56 + 24 + 16 + 12 + 8 cards... which equals... 180. So far. Mas, o menos.

It's a single-player game, too, which is actually kind of unique. My attraction to such efforts led me to a game called "Maiden's Quest." I've yet to play it myself, though I've familiarized myself with the rules, and the mechanics of my game are vastly different. I only mention this because single-player card games are very rare, and as such, there are only a few giants' shoulders you can stand upon.

I want to gush more about this thing, which has done such a good job of occupying my brain while I recover from my surgery. And I will. But, I will pause for now. The above is a lovely picture, and I hope it tickles some cockles.

[Ed. Note -- The outfits above are a small part of the game. The final products will reflect my dimensions much more sincerely. That said, if there is a "first date" sort of outfit that you feel is "very Heather," and is one which I might be missing from this dirty dozen, please let me know here in the comments.]