So, my roommate has been working on a project for a while. I've helped, but it's mostly her thing. She finally took the plunge and hit Publish, so now it's available for purchase! I know I have very little reach, but maybe people will think it's neat and spread the word? Worth a shot!
I'm putting the ad copy below the cut, but the short version is that you're apprentices to a wizard who's asked you to buy materials from the Fairy Markets. They don't deal in coins, they deal in trade, so you have to trade the items you start with and draw for the items you need. Some items can also be used to affect the game, like causing a player to skip a turn or discard a card. You can also buy the favor of one of the Fae to do large effects like sweep the Market and replace it with something new, or grab any one item regardless of cost.
Collect the items from the Lists, turn them in to get points, and the person with the most points at the end wins. Strategic play from simple rules.
Right now, it's available as a "Print on Demand" product for a physical box set. It comes with the card decks, the manual, and the point markers. We're hoping that as word spreads, we can eventually get enough momentum to even get it in physical stores (and printing in bulk would allow us to drop the price, especially after the printer raised the price of On Demand printing last year). We'll also be looking into setting up a Tabletop Simulator version with proper scripting and features and such, but that might be a couple months out.
We are proud to announce the launch of the newest game from CrabBattle! Games, Fairy Market!
The Faerie Market opens at dawn. There are many strange and wonderous items to be had in the markets, for a price, and I've instructed other apprentices in the market to trade with you as well. Return to me when you have the items and I shall give you other chores. Continue to serve well and I shall be mightily impressed. Be warned, Time passes strangely in Faerie, and Beware deals with the Fae.
As an apprentice to an absent-minded wizard in town, you've been sent to the strange and wonderous Faerie Markets to do some shopping. Trade for Magical items, use them to gain an advantage, and even make deals with the fairies themselves. Compete with other apprentices to bring back the goods, and beware deals with the Fae.
Fairy Market is a 2-4 player game in which you will trade goods with an ever-changing market, racing to complete lists for the Wizard. Strategize how to get the cards you need, without letting others know what you're after. Play cards to change the market, change your hand or even lock your opponents options, but beware, the market can be unpredictable.
Includes rules for either a lighter game or a more strategic "Timeless Realm" Variation.
CrabBattle! Games is a small group of game developers in Madison WI, with a focus on making games that are simple, with an eye towards Accessibility, and still have un-plumbed depths.
Fairy Market is available NOW on thegamecrafter.com!
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/fairy-market
Any questions or comments, please contact us at [email protected], or @CrabbattleG on Twitter! Enjoy!
A project that’s been in the works for over 2 years is finally live and out in the world!
We have been so excited to collaborate with @seananmcguire on an art print inspired by her novel Middlegame. Today we release this alchemical work into the wild and hope that you find your improbable road to walk to your Impossible City.
Note: if you sign up for the Tor.com mailing list this week, you can get a free copy of Middlegame in the DRM free e-format of your choice!
We’ve had a bit of drama in the last year at least regarding characters not showing up on cards when they had flavor text and stories about them, or Wizards not anticipating the player desire for a UR artificer legend and Kaladesh being the perfect, now missed, opportunity to make it happen.
In response, Mark Rosewater has answered a lot of asks explaining what the process for a set/product going to print actually is and just how difficult it is to answer this stuff. Basically once we see that Kaladesh is coming out or see a character in story and flavor text, the thing is out of R&D’s hands. Here’s what we know:
Design starts about two years prior to release for a large set (source)
A set is finalized six to nine months prior to release (source)(source)(source)
We learn about supplemental products roughly six to nine months before the release--under the old method of telling us about products prior to announcement day at least (source)
The finalization for set names varies greatly (source)
Flavor text occurs after design is finished--characters created in flavor text can’t become a card in that set (source)
Design hands a set off to development 16 months before release (source)
If anybody wants to send in links to additional sources on any of this info or if you can think of other timeline stuff we know about regarding the release of a set, send links to me and I’ll update this post.
The basic problem we’re running into is that Wizards needs to know about what we want at least a year beforehand and that would mean they essentially got lucky and could squeeze that desire into a product at the tail end of development somehow. But we don’t know what they have planned in even vague terms until about 6 to 9 months out, way too late for anything to be done.
And even then, the year out timeline is if things just happened to align perfectly--it’s still terribly unlikely anything could be done.
When your ready to Launch Your Product it can be an exciting and rewarding experience. However, it requires careful planning and execution to ensure its
