In recent years, I’ve been working with my brilliant programmer friend Jeff Faust of Faust Logic on adapting my card game Squirmish into a videogame. It went into early access on Steam in May 2024, so you can download now it here to check it out. It is playable as single player or multiplayer PVP. It has been a delight to work on. In addition to getting to create and animate a number of new characters for the videogame using Spine, I’ve had a whole lot of fun designing, voice acting and making music for the game. Here is the trailer for it that I made:
A couple reviews:
“Gonzo, crass, and hilarious, Squirmish is one of the weirdest, most amusing digital board games out there—but its gameplay also carries its weight. The voice acting made us cackle.” – Recommended by Steam Curator Noteworthy Video Games
“The first thing that stands out about the game is how much it looks and feels just like the card game in terms of presentation and artwork. All the cards the game has are in this digital copy with bright neon green background, crazy colors, characters zany and the whole thing feels like it was vomited up by a unicorn who had a fantastic day at the carnival eating all the candy and taking all the rides. And let me make myself clear, this is not a bad thing.” – Dad Geek at Geeks Vs. Geeks
OLD MADE MEN is a game I made that is a gangster-themed variation on Old Maid, but rather than trying to not get stuck with the Old Maid, you try to not get stuck with The Godfather.
“OLD MAID? DO I LOOK LIKE AN OLD BROAD TO YOU?”
Also, when you place a matching pair (or “whack” them), there is an effect on the game that is listed on the cards.
I’m pretty happy with the design and packaging of the game… I managed to summarize the rules on one card, and it comes in a cool-looking pocket-sized metal tin.
Youse a hitman for the Goombano family, what’s in the middle of a gang war, see? There’s a lot of contracts out for mugs in need of cement shoes. Gonna take your best poker face, plus luck and smarts to make sure you don’t get left with The Godfather. You get left with him, pal, then you gonna be the one what gets whacked.
54 CARDS | 2-4 PLAYERS | 12+ | 20 MINUTES
I’ve currently self-published the game and I have not really done anything to promote it at this point. I hope to find a publisher for it eventually (I have not started shopping it around yet). If it sounds fun to you, you can buy a copy here.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, I was feeling overwhelmed and helpless reading about it.
In one article I ran across (I can’t find it now, unfortunately) a mother mentioned that there were no good resources she knew of for teaching kids not to touch their faces to avoid getting sick. Well, that seemed like a problem I could take a crack at helping with.
In a week, I put together a free print-and-play game on the subject, appropriately named “DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE!” It makes the surprisingly difficult task of not touching your face into a fun, competitive challenge. Hopefully it will give some families out there some help and some laughs in these difficult times of itchy noses that must stay itchy.
Back in 2014, my oldest daughter became obsessed with Pokemon cards. I enjoyed the creativity of the cards, but when we sat down and figured out how to play the game, I found it pretty disappointing… but inspiring! The things that I did not enjoy about that game got me thinking about how a better card-battling game could be designed… and thus SQUIRMISH was born.
After spending a year or so developing, illustrating and testing the game, I initially self-published it using the print-on-demand service The Gamecrafter. I’m more of a maker-of-things than a seller-of-things, though, so I decided I wanted to find a publisher for it. My favorite game publisher, Gamewright, had an open submission policy, so I decided to send a copy of it their way. They were enthusiastic about it, and picked it up to publish in 2018.
Here is the promotional video I made for the game:
As the audience for the game has grown, it has received a number of reviews. Here are a few of them:
“There is a ton of replay ability here… All of the boys, including Dad, are fans of Pokémon and Squirmish has provided a fresh and simple take on card battling games. The variety that is found within the game is really amazing.” – 8 0f 10 Stars at The Dice Have It.
“It’s really fun to play, really funny cards, and really fun to see all the different types of abilities and how you can try to utilize those during each game.” – Landon Squire at How Lou Sees It
“Squirmish is a fun, family-friendly game which surprised me a bit with the depth of play. When I read the rules, I thought that it would be too kiddy-like. While the artistic style and the humorous text on the cards makes it appropriate for kids, the actions on the cards does give the gamer something to work with! … If you’re looking for a game to introduce the concepts of individual card actions and combat, this would be a good choice. It also will be a good filler for gamers looking for a few laughs mixed in with their gaming.” – Dale Yu at opinionatedgamers.com
