I suppose I could go on about all the things that have kept me from writing on my blog, but it’s really only been 2 things: 1. I’m lazy. 2. I have very little readers, so I figure that if I don’t write, not really anyone is missing out. Of course, #2 is likely directly a result of #1. Hmm. Time to eradicate #1.

So what’s new with me? Well, Supernova has been printed and is available to the lucky few who preordered. The retail copies are making their way towards retail, being towed by snails, somewhere on the eastern side of the US. There’s been a shwack of feedback on the rules from the people who’ve played it, posted to the BGG page.

Basically, here’s the gist of it: I suck at writing rules. Now, those people who have posted are far too nice to come out and say it like that, but that’s essentially the truth of the matter. It seems I do suck at writing rules. Sigh. But that’s okay, cause it means I can learn from this and try to improve on them… Which is my plan. That, and the next game I come up with, I’m definitely getting someone else to write the damn things.

What else is new? My lovely wife and I are traveling the globe this blustery winter and are heading to Belize for a much-needed 3 week vacation. Can’t wait for that. Considering our current temperature up here in Calgary is round about -30 Celsius, it can’t come too soon. We so often ask ourselves why we live here. Anyone? I seem to recall it having something to do with maintaining steady jobs and income and whatnot. When it’s -30, it just doesn’t feel worth it.

I think I’ve learned a crucial board-gaming wisdom about myself. I think I’m not as much of a Euro-gamer as I thought I was. A few years ago after discovering the hobby that is boardgaming, I figured that I had to buy any and all Eurogames coming out. So I did. After having played a bunch of them, I’m less than enamored with a lot of them. I think I prefer a little bit of dice in my Euro. Some combat is nice too. Dare I say it? I like theme too. I don’t know what this means on a fundamental level, but I can say that I’m going to avoid dry, mechanical, mathy games from now on, if I can. You may notice that my collections’ trash quotient has risen recently, with the purchase of Last Night on Earth, Doom, Mutant Chronicles, Risk:2210 and Dust. We’ll see how they go over.

Now that you all (all 3 of you) are up to date on my life, I can feel like I’ve done my blog justice. For this year, at least.

That just made my day.

I suppose I should start by introducing myself, to those who don’t know me personally… My name is Oliver Harrison. I’m a web designer by trade, but really wish I was just  playing and designing board games all day long. Now that likely wouldn’t pay the bills, but it’d sure be cool.

I’ve been working for nearly 2 years now on a game called Supernova. It’s due to be published early in 2008 by Valley Games so if you like tile placement games with some combat, check it out. It’s available for preorder on their site. You can also find a bit more about it here: Supernova.

I don’t claim to be an expert on design or gaming… so don’t take my rambling as anything much like an authority. However, I love to stir up good discussions, so feel free to comment, argue, or simply drop me a line via the contact form. I’d love to hear from you.

Oliver