Well, we had a couple over for dinner and game night... Hamumu board game night! We played Arthouse, Art Attack, and Parallel. They loved Arthouse, both thought it was not for them at all (too difficult to think on the fly and make up silly descriptions, or even to draw something in the 1 minute you're given!), until they got a few rounds in and then they really started getting hooked. We all laughed the whole time.
Then we played Parallel. It did not work well. It's too complicated, and 50% of the people involved really weren't into it (interestingly, the two girls were the ones not into this computer-themed game...), although one of them ended up winning, which also shows part of the brokenness, because those of us who were trying our hardest to win were out first! I think there's some salvagable potential in it, but it needs to be simplified and yet given more options at the same time. It may take a fairly radical reworking.
To round out the night, we had our ice cream, and then played Art Attack. This very quickly became their absolute favorite! It went off without a hitch, and they repeatedly said they loved it. They ended up taking home copies of Arthouse and Art Attack to try out on their own. It was almost like a Tupperware party, only I didn't make any money.
I really couldn't see anything that even needed tweaking in the two art games. They just went so well. Well, I'd like to make a few changes to some Art Attack cards, but they were ones I thought I had already made, so I'm wondering if maybe those weren't the most recent cards. Ah yes, I check my files and I see that the cards have been improved since then! I was already ahead of myself. I really think it might be time to pursue publishing on these two. The only trick is... how? They're party games, which is the hardest market to punch into of all. I'm thinking of trying an agent and see what they say. They take a very large portion of the money, but it's not like I'd get very far trying to contact Hasbro or somebody directly.
Anyway, it really was a great experience. Nothing like seeing people laughing until they cry because of your creation! I wish I could get people testing this stuff every week. I've got so many more games I'd love to see played.
