Concerning my self-imposed goals to write and produce games: Human decision-making is largely fueled by seeking out novel/familiar stimuli, as well as avoiding previous pain points and repeating pleasurable experiences. We will need to keep this paradigm in mind: People will avoid previously painful experiences, repeat pleasurable ones, and are dually pushed and pulled by existing behavior patterns and the opportunities to have new life experiences. Maybe my decision-making and goal-setting is just fueled by the thought that I haven’t had painful experiences, or perhaps my threshold for cerebral adventure is higher than most people.

Writing is a private event made public: when you write, you’re putting your words into context for an audience.  Game-creation is also a private choice that you can make public, very much in the same manner as a writer publishes a book. I’ve got one game set fairly finished, and another game is in production and prep for the first prototype printing. These started as ideas, and had to be fostered into reality, brought forth one conceptualized structure at a time until the framework was present – only then the cards could be developed and put into print. From there, many other iterations and changes have to take place before a finished product can be sold.

As it is, I will probably be setting my first game into a IndieGogo or Kickstarter in order to raise funds (kind of like a pre-release of the game, but without a corporate sponsor). Afterwards, I’ll have more time to work on the second game in development. When you create something of lasting value, it is like an errant child – sometimes it circles back and you realize what you could have done differently. That’s part of the sacrifice of releasing your creations into the world – once you’ve let go, stop grasping.