CPG is in Essen for Essen Spiel. It’s our first trip to this nerd mecca, so we have no real idea what to expect. We’ve been warned about the intensity and speed of the convention; we’ll do our best to keep up with everyone and showcase the new features in Far Away: Corporate Espionage. Swing by our booth, 5A700, to see us and other Washington State tabletop game companies.
Over the last couple of months, we stepped back from the edge of manufacturing to apply some TLC to Far Away: Corporation Espionage. The main reason was to wait for some relief from the tariff chaos. But the lure of “more time” is undeniable. Every playtest turns up new issues, since the nature of the exercise invites feedback. Amateur game designers often preach that there is no such thing as too much testing, but you can easily fail into a trap of never publishing in the name of quality. It’s a trap that punishes our backers.
My son and I walk a lot through the neighborhood. One day, we strolled past an old building with a blend of vines cascading down. The ivy twists its way up, conferring a regalness to an otherwise nondescript building. A thick stalk of blackberry descends from some unseen source, spikes jutting out to guard something unseen. The structure emanates an aura of wisdom – the secrets discovered inside over the years are reflected in nature’s approving embrace. This whimsy is not something I feel lifting my heart often as I wade through Seattle, a relatively new city with an ever-increasing ratio of tech money to culture. The magic of the land, of the past, and of the unknown is drifting away.
