Looking into making my return to the Tampa Comic Con on May 2.

Check out the site for info and a look at all the great artists that will be there: http://www.tampacomicconvention.com/

I'll keep everyone posted on the final decision, but we've gotta get Nature Dome Mammals moving out the door to clear the way for the the next release . . . which may or may not even be a Nature Dome deck (though there's a whole world of Nature Dome expansion waiting in the wings) . . . only time (and sales) will tell.

So check out the site, get your Nature Dome deck and come out to see us at the show.

More on that to come . . .

I can't seem to get to the blog nearly as much as I'd like, but there's new stuff on the way.

I've found some cool games at thrift stores and yard sales (the best place to find good stuff by far) that I'll review, and some Nature Dome facts and tips, among other things.

So please, stay tuned. In the meantime, I'd love help building up a fan base for the Nature Dome Facebook page. The more people taht are listening, the more I'll be inspired to keep content worth checking out coming your way.

So be a buddy, be a pal . . . be a fan!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Petersburg-FL/Grand-Gamers-of-St-Petersburg/357050806438?ref=ts&v=wall#!/pages/Nature-Dome/181241580000

Thanks!

It's taken me all week to get to this, but I wanted to give a shout out to the small group of friends that let me beta-test all my home-printed-card-stock, scribbled-upon-posterboard and pasted-on-dice prototype games . . . talented musicians, screenwriters and Your Community Blog creators among them.

We spent last Friday night battling it out on the chess board, playing Pente and trying out several games of my own design for which I needed feedback.

I definitely think one among them is a logical candidate for my first board game release--whenever the fates may decree that day comes. It's a build-a-board strategic sea battle game that is as yet nameless.

I love build-a-board games. You get a new game every time without having to learn new rules. And, depending on the theme of the game, the changing board arrangement and shape reflect a much more realistic representation of the world. Battlefield and other map- or terrain-based games make for particularly good build-a-board games.

Take HeroScape. As painfully similar as it is to a game of my own design from years before HeroScape's launch, I still love to build a cool battlefield and duke it out with my son. A new battle, new scenario and new environment every time--for results that are different every time, too.

Hopefully, I'll win the race to market with my sea-battle game, as well as my build-a-board chess game.

Til then, I'll keep pressing my buddies into service and making the next games to come better all the time.

I've been toying with the idea of a different sort of marketing tactic for Nature Dome for a while now, and Ifinally have an avenue to make it happen.

My next door neighbor happens to be an extraordinarily talented face and body painter--check out some of her work on her website: http://www.bestfaceandbodyart.com/

In addition to doing her own thing at events (including, recently, the Super Bowl and the Florida State Fair), she often books other entertainers--caricature artists, clowns, balloon artists, etc.--to work parties with her.

Which brings me back to my idea--Game Guy . . . Ideally, I would work kids' birthday parties or other kid-centric events by seting up gaming tables with lots of different easy-to-learn, fun games. Featured among them, of course, would be Nature Dome. As I've said, if I can get kids playing the game, they fall in love with it. What better way to get the word out than through 15 or 20 kids a time at birthday parties?

So, today was the debut of the Game Guy at my neighbor's son's birthday party. Unfortunately, a cold front rolled through last night, so there was a strong and very cold wind blowing through the pavilions where I was supposed to set up my games. That meant that I got to play a few dice games (the only things that wouldn't fly away), but not much more. A sputtering sort of debut. But it may lead to bigger and better things.

And I got to dress up as a cowboy to fit the pony party theme (hence the cowboy clothes shopping that led to my discovery of Lost Treasure in my last blog entry) . . . and I may just have discovered a new look for myself in the process.

Fortunately, the pony rides, playground and an admirably enthusiastic balloon-twisting clown saved the day for the newly-minted six-year-old guest of honor . . .