Hello gamers, it's about time to update my posts. I've been busy updating Millennium before the next printing of its 3rd prototype. It's a slow and tedious process, especially in my case but I hope to send for another prototype soon, maybe in April.

Here's the newly updated box cover I hope to print with the spot-gloss option.

New Millennium Game Box

This is a rough version of the new square box. (large stout box) The main difference is the gradient around the letter M, which will be printed in shiny spot-gloss while the remaining image is a matte black around it.

Here's a sample of spot-gloss on the game board. It gives the spot a glossy and raised texture that's hard to see here but it is a very impressive effect.

I decided to go with a more comic book style to the box and a graphic novel feel for the books with the same idea. More contrasting colors and black and white gradients throughout.

It's not a hard and typical graphic novel look, but it has that flavor. As the design progresses over the next few months, I suspect I might indulge a bit more in the graphic novel approach to all the artwork.

Spot-Gloss

Overall, I think it's a bit more eye-catching and trendy, I suppose so this could be the direction I'll go in when I launch the game this September (fingers crossed).

It's a work in progress, as all things are and so I hope to fine-tune everything else to match and optimize the game mechanics, which is very important. I tend to work backward and tackle the design elements first because I work visually towards the end product. So all the moving parts are in place but I need to synchronize all those wonderful parts with an exciting game that players will love.

That's really the hard part. Everything else is window dressing but for me, that's an easier way to develop games. It's a lot like designing the poster for a movie before you write one word of the script. I think it's a good approach in this case too because I work visually, which is a good thing since players are first going to see the box before they learn to play the game.

I don't know about you, but that makes perfect sense to me.

In reality, I work on everything along the way, including writing descriptions of the game and developing images to go along with it for marketing and promotional purposes. And that reminds me of the back or bottom of the box. I won't be printing the bottom now but here's a preview of the "finished" design.

I've enlarged it so you can read the text, see the texture, and get a feel for the game and how it's played. It's an ambitious project with a broad scope so that takes time to develop and refine as I go along. Ideas are simple but their execution can be daunting as you can see. This image has not been updated with the new gradients yet but it's just a snapshot of the actual prototype box.

Back of Millennium Game Box

After I'm done with the game I'll post more about how I went about this design and why. There's much more than meets the eye here because there's so much to tell in a very small space. And so that's always a challenge. 

There's an entire book worth of information here as far as design and development but that will be for another post and another time.

Right now, I'm stuck in development hell as long as COVID-19 is around. But that makes the game even better because I'm not rushing anything.

Stay tuned for much more to come about the game's progress. It's slowly but surely getting to a better place than when I started so improvements are essential.

Meanwhile, keep on staying alive and well and keep playing this wonderful game we know as, life in the fast lane.

Ending of Midnight Sky - George Clooney, Felicity Jones

Here's another movie that needs explaining. Why Clooney, why? I wanted to love this movie as much as Interstellar but it's far too cryptic to get the first time around. I hate when that happens, especially when there are so many opportunities to show and tell during so many great scenes. 

Again, this is one of those films, especially with its opening where audiences fail to connect with these characters because of a lack of better scenes that clearly and emotionally reveal what's going on before the film gets going. All the moving parts are there but without an emotional connection at the outset, most of the film seems meaningless. See for yourself.

New 2021 Millennium Game Box

So here's an old design I was kicking around years ago and I think I'm finally going to use it if I can get The Game Crafter to print it with Spot Gloss like they do for the game boards. I recently got one of their prototypes and the board was really nice with spot gloss (not optional on their website) so I asked them if they can print my cover that way. Hopefully, they can, and if so I'll try it out with this design.

As much as I liked the cover with Andrea and Apollo with a 1930s background, I think that's a bit too scene-specific (ok for cards) as opposed to a genre-specific image so that good design after 2 years is out. Go figure. Sometimes you have to get over your own designs.

I love black boxes and so I think this is a better way to go for now. It's a very striking look that could work. Right now I'm deep into fixing my playing cards for the most part because some of the text is way too small to read so I'll have to make a few changes.

I plan to have this new box ready to promote next November after I get several (good) reviews and so on. I'm also trying to finish Warpd! so I can get it out there too.

I'm shifting into high gear with all my board games because let's face it, I'm not getting any younger so it's time to make some final decisions and roll the dice.

Yeah, life is a gamble after all.

 

The Apocalypse is Upon Us [Behold, The World After 11/3/2020]

I present to you, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra with their score of Taxi Driver (A Night Piece). 

Enjoy the dichotomy of its peaceful sound and its daring riffs. 

Behold, people. The flashpoint that ignites the apocalypse is soon upon us. 

Stay calm and stay safe.

Enjoy the music.

Peace out.

New Post-Apocalyptic Board Games, Movies & Books

 

Here's an unfinished preview of a promotional video for Millennium. I still have quite a bit to add to it, mainly game-play snippets and an upbeat score to finish. I want to keep it under 2 minutes if possible. 

This video is primarily a short introduction so players get a feel and tone of the game so following these instructions, I'll feature players demonstrating several moves for starting the game.

Post-Apocalyptic Board Game Millennium And New York's Freedom Tower Live On

Freedom Tower New York City 2020

September 11, 2001, is certainly a date to remember for many reasons. It's hard to believe that it's been almost 20 years since that event took place and gripped our nation in the unknown.

I had just retired that same year and moved to Florida like many people from the Northeast, trying to get away from the cold and the snow. I sure miss spending Christmas in New York and New Jersey.

But life goes on and here we are in the midst of a pandemic. Not exactly a surprise but nevertheless, a blow to the economy in so many ways.

It's great to see that New York City's Freedom Tower has stood the test of time and stands tall and proud alongside the former Twin Tower footprints; a destination on my bucket list for sure.

Today also marks the date I had set to launch my new board game, Millennium. September 11, 2001, is an important date for the board game because it serves as a backdrop to the Millennium landscape, which references September 11, 2001, as the catalyst for change in America. As it turns out, COVID-19 in the year 2020 is another flashpoint that certainly has shades of an impending apocalypse; not to mention the chaos the coming presidential election in November might bring.

Yes, folks, the future apocalypse is alive and well in America and around the world, hence the board game Millennium. Here are some of the package designs I've tested over the years.

Current Design 2020

As the game stands now it's in development hell due to financial reasons, although, that being said, I've updated the game and currently still play-testing the sepia-toned version you see above. As you can see, this box features the first book, Edge of The Apocalypse.

I think this box tells a better story on its cover and so most likely I'll print this packaging for the debut box hopefully out next September 11, 2021. Unless we're in for another dose of COVID-19 or God forbid something worse. You never know.

And so this is how it goes. I spend 3 years developing Millennium and along comes this pandemic and wipes out all the momentum I had going. Boohoo, cry me a river okay. Get over it. It's just a game. Right. That's what I keep telling myself.

No worries. Let's just hope we're all around in the year 2021 with a new outlook on life and everything it has to offer. So stay tuned for more about the game. I'm hoping to put out a promotional video soon.

Check out my previous posts on this blog for much more about the game and the three companion books, which are all out on Amazon in paperback or ebook versions.

See the Books

See Millennium on The Game Crafter

Passengers | The Movie - Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence

 

Okay folks, I'll make this short and not so sweet. What's the best part about Passengers? For me, since I've been around the block a few times and for the most part I detest formulaic screenplays (you know the ones I mean; most of them. Movies with a beginning, a middle, and a predictable ending.) Yes, Andy Garcia's two-seconds cameo was a nice surprise but come on, stop that Hollywood. That's a cheap trick, if ever.

So just about the best part for me was the Avalon Spaceship itself. Wow, if you're a sci-fi enthusiast you gotta love that ship. This is where the movie earned its stripes in my opinion, including Pratt's interaction with the vessel. And just as a head's up to Hollywood producers, (not that they need it from me) there's a whole mini-series waiting to happen based on the Avalon. Go for it. I'll wait for my royalties in the mail.

Okay, enough of that. Jennifer Lawrence, you're gorgeous but annoying to watch; listen to. Did she have to almost kill him? Please. I mean a bit over the top performance, despite the script. Scary. Almost turned into a horror flick. Pratt, a bit more nuanced in his approach. He's cool, okay. 

Look, everything hangs on the concept, which is quite good except that a ship as advanced as the Avalon should have detected and avoided colliding with an asteroid belt or whatever. But of course, if you use that logic then you have no story. 

What's one to do? Nothing. Pray for better movies.

Two out of five stars.

P.S. No disrespect to Laurence Fishburne (he's always good) and Michael Sheen. I've always loved Fishburne since Apocalypse Now and Sheen does shine in Frost/Nixon. In this film, he's the subject of comic relief but nicely done as an Android; an interesting hook.