March 2021 Recap
Behold, the sunny-rainy wetscape that is Seattle in March. It was in this hellscape that I sojourned tirelessly this month, with occasional breaks for entire days of reality television and Animal Crossing.
Being at home with my “production computer” opens the door to using my very particular sets of skills. Mostly that means creating new game artwork, setting up virtual games on Tabletop Simulator, and so forth.
When I’m babysitting my condo in Vegas, that’s the time to write fiction (and play Animal Crossing). When I’m at home in Seattle, it’s time to make games. And, you know. Play Animal Crossing.
Here’s a recap of what Crab Fragment Labs threw together in the month of March:
New Game: Fairmarket. I’ve been working on this one for a few months, but this was the right time to bring it to the public. It’s a gambling game that gets mentioned in the background of some stories in the Dew Point universe, so I figured it needed rules. You can read all about it on the Fairmarket page.
Print-and-Play: After the Fog. I posted this game to Tabletop Simulator a few months ago, but I held off on posting a PnP of After the Fog, because the game was still changing so fast. At this point it’s more stable, for better or worse, and so this month I posted PnP files so you can play with your friends. If, you know, that’s allowed.
Relocated Rochi: The gambling game Rochi has been in public beta since 2017, first with Cheapass Games, and now here. In the process of relocating the game, I converted the cards to poker-width, added a tuck box, and added two variant games (precursors of Rochi) to the beta rulebook. The game is still coming soon from a real publisher, with much more beautiful art, but for now ours is the only version you can buy.
New Old Fiction: 100 Lies. Back in 2009, when I published a web comic with Brian Murphy, I wrote a series of short essays called the Year of 100 Lies. Those are still funny, so I’ve decided to give them a new home at the Library. This month I posted the first block of five. More will come whenever I feel the need.
Super Secret Game Testing: Okay, it’s not all that secret. I posted a photo to the Crab Fragment Instagram this month of what is quite obviously some kind of Lords of Vegas expansion. The first tests were… interesting. But that’s about all I can say; look for more information from Lone Shark in the coming months. Also plz follow my insta kthx.
In the Background: Along with roughing out some new fiction, I spent a good chunk of March sorting through old papers and notebooks, looking for half-baked ideas. I’m not sure where this project is leading, but it’s nice to have the ideas culled and sorted, and not hiding in a thousand scattered places.
I’ve been recording Here All Week, my weekly podcast with Kelly Wright. Please check it out if you’re not already a subscriber. We are getting close to episode 50 and our one-year anniversary!
This month I also set up Instagram and Mailchimp accounts, in the hope of eventually sending out updates like this via email. But it’s a slow process, and I don’t have many mailing addresses yet. Please add yourself if you’d like to be on the mailing list!
And of course, please support Crab Fragment on Patreon if you want to make this a little easier for me. We picked up one more patron and sold one deck of cards this month. Progress!
Thanks for your support and please enjoy the games!