March 8, 2008: Bad MQ News, Good Ogre News

First the bad and personally embarrassing news. Yesterday we looked at Munchkin Quest and decided that it wasn't really in shape to go to the printers. The component layouts are absolutely beautiful, and outside testing indicated that it was acceptably good, but we didn't feel it was GREAT. And as we talked about it, Phil Reed came up with a great idea for regulating monster movement, which was the part that had the most problems. So I stayed up till 2:30 in the morning writing new cards, and rewriting the rules, to incorporate that idea. But of course it needs playtesting. So Munchkin Quest gets kicked back by at least a month.

And for this I apologize to you fans and retailers, and especially to Paul and Ross - our Marketing and Sales guys, respectively - who had been repeatedly assured that yes, this deadline could be met. And I also apologize to our foreign translation partners, because this probably makes it impossible for their translated editions to debut at Essen. MQ was our first priority for 2008 (and still is), and this delay is painful.

Now the good news, news that personally delights me. We now have to fill a hole in our schedule. When we looked at everything that might fit into that hole, a spiffy big-box version of Ogre - big board, heavy counters, and so on - had the best combination of "needs no further rules development" and "is in demand." So we get to have Ogre back. I have been really unhappy that it was out of print, but other things had to come first. Now that the other priorities have temporarily fallen down . . . Ogre gets its chance!

What will the new 6th Edition include? Basically, the same game that we have been selling as Ogre/G.E.V., but with massively upgraded components. Further details will have to wait a few days, and when we unveil them, you'll also get to see the redesigned Ogre webpage. Colored type on black backgrounds is SO last-century.

And the bottom line is that you'll see one more big boardgame out of us this year. So . . . not all bad!

Unfortunately, this also means that the month-long vacation that I was supposed to be starting RIGHT NOW (darn it) . . . won't actually happen. But for a while, my job description will not be Boss; it will be Game Designer and Developer. I'll get SOME time out of the office, and Phil will be Boss. He's been doing a great job.
-- Steve Jackson