I created a monster

Long time ago in a far away galaxy My Wife didn't play board games. Then I showed her Cash & Guns and Citadels and she began to play games. My mates were jealous. My Wife played boardgames. Lucky me. It was great time. But months passed...

One day I came back home and said that I just sold Adel Verpflichted. 'What do you mean, you sold it?! Why haven't you asked me?! I like that game! Bring it back!' Man, I felt like hit by a big hammer. She was serious. She was damn serious. I wasn't allowed to sell Adel Verpflichted!

That day I discovered that there are games she likes. Games she wants us have at home. That was something new. That discovery costed me 14 euro. I had to buy Adel Verpflichted back again. No more my games collection. It was our games collection since then.

We were in car, driving back from board games convention in   Vienna and talking about games played there. 'I want you to buy me Ingenious', she said. She was serious. She was damn serious. She wasn't talkin' about flowers. She wasn't talkin' about perfume. Nor about new dress, handbag, ring. She was talkin' about board game. She wanted me to buy her a board game. Woow!

That day I discovered that My Wife - like my true gamer friends - fell in love with new titles. She play new game, she love it and she want it. That was something new. That discovery costed me 20 euro. I had to buy Ingenious.

Early September, few days after holidays. Kids sleep, silence at home. My Wife ask me to play Race for the Galaxy with her. In the last few weeks we played more than 50 games of RtfG. I am sick of it. I can not look at it. 'No, thanks', I say. I hear my voice and I can't believe it. I just refused to play board game. My Wife wants to play board game. I don't want to play board game. This is crazy.

That day I discovered that I am not the only one at home who ask to play board games. And what is more, perhaps, I am not the truest gamer at home. It seemed that My Wife was more 'geeky' than me. I was scared. Terrified to be honest.

Few days ago. 'Do you want to play The New Era?' she asks. No way. I am sick of it. She knows it. I refuse to play it since few weeks. I am asked to play every day and I refuse every day. This is deep deep defense. I refuse and refuse. This is terror. No, seriously, I am in a corner, terrified. I feel like "a geek's wife", forced to play board game every single evening.

'Never mind' she says 'I asked Tycjan to come. He will play with me'. She is serious. She is damn serious. They play New Era. I only watch. I don't play. They play. I can't believe this is real. I can't believe this is happening.

This is my newest discovered. I created a monster. There is a true dangerous geek at my home. Help me.

I'm done

This is it. I am done with The New Era. Since now for a few next months I will be - literally - bombarded with only bad news. I had a great time designing the game. Creating new cards. Finding new strategies. Watching testers having fun or not having fun. Recording results and spending hours for analise. That was fun. That is my beloved job. That is why I am waking up everyday with smile on my face.

This is it. Since now no more smile on my face. Since now I wake up and think what is the bad news today. What's coming?

Cover.
The cover of the game is in progress. I am eager to see it. And you know, I have no idea if I like it or not. I like cover of my Stronghold, but I don't like cover of my 51st State. I like cover of my Pret-a-Porter, but I don't like Witchcraft. It is Russian roulette. So I am waiting. Will I like cover of my own game? Not for sure. It may be the good news or bad news for me.

Components
You wouldn't believe how many things can happen with components. Components are a bad news generator. That is why I will not be able to sleep well till Essen, when I get my game in hands and play it. When Stronghold was in print I was terrified - there were so many tokens, I was absolutely sure that something will go wrong. No chances that everything will go smooth. Luckily, no mistakes with Stronghold. But we got screwed year later, with 51. State. You can easily forgot about one tiny token that is used in very rare situations. Your graphic designer may misunderstand some token and design it with some errors. Your printer may screw up cutting tokens and they will be wrong cut. Every time I open box with my new game I am terrified. What gone wrong this time...

Rulebook
OK, rulebook for my game... Should I write anything more? This is hardcore. I can't write rulebooks. I hate rulebooks. I can not sleep because of my rulebooks. You can't understand my rulebooks. OK, let's stop it. No more about rulebooks. This is one big bad news.

Demo games
I love to teach playing my games. During conventions I spent endless hours showing my games to new players. I also love Essen fair. This is the moment. This is a culmination of many months of hard work. I love this crowd, I love meeting players from all over the world, I love this great event.

And still, at some point it will be nightmare. I will be happy doing hundred demo games. I will be happy doing another hundred demo games. But at some point I will be able to no longer talk about the game. No more. And I will be forced to say: "I hate my game. I really do."

Joy will finally come back. Two years after publishing Stronghold, I am thinking about playing it again. I think I like the game again. I no longer hate it.

In a three years since now I will like The New Era again. I only have to wait.