October 30, 2003: Necronomicon Was Fun

Well-organized, well-attended, and with an experienced staff that made me feel very welcome even at a couple of moments when I felt a bit like the Guest from Hell. (Problems happen. Don't ask.) But I had a good time and there will be pictures later.

One new thing we tried there, inspired by the con's horror theme: "Evil Stevie's Mad Game Design Lab." I took, no kidding, eight different games in development or at the printer, plus Spooks because it's brand new and it IS Halloween time. The players got to see things in every stage of development . . . from Ninja Burger and Dork Tower, which are not far from the shelves of your local store, to Illuminati: Crime Lords, which is so unfinished that I normally wouldn't let anybody see it. But the people who tried it did manage to play, after a fashion.

And it was good for you, too, because the group that played Ninja Burger spotted enough places where the rules could be improved that I said "Whoa!" and halted the rulesheet on its way to press, and fixed 'em. Thanks, folks!

So I shall, I think, do such events again. Maybe without the strings of blinking lights, crackling plasma lamps, and fake skeletons with which we decorated the room. Then again . . .
-- Steve Jackson

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