From Theory to Reality

     I am getting my first real dose of Project Management. We have covered so much yet,at the same time, realizing how much we have to cover.  As we are now coming closer to wrapping up the design process and moving into the production process our speed is somewhat startling. Plenty things have happened in these past few weeks since my last update; we received the wooden board in the mail and I have finished the designs for the Garage and Speed Bump Cards (shown below). All we have left to figure out are the play pieces (which are wooden pawns at the moment), the rule book ( dubbed the SPARK Owner's Manual), and Car Cards for the game.  We have barely begun to touch on the game's logo or our own logo. 

     What makes this all the more startling is realizing how close our deadline is.  We are going to be presenting our game at Gen Con, in their First Exposure Play Test Hall, during the 15th through the 18th of August in Indianapolis, Indiana. In truth, the game we have now will probably pass muster, but we want to present the best game possible to the people who, like us, love playing games.  We do not want to leave out the tiniest detail that might dull the game for a single player.  So checking and re-checking what decisions we are making and why has put us behind on time, but ahead in the quality of the game. 

     I hope that you, our intrepid reader, will continue to read and wait for more information on the game. And, that in the days to come you will participate in helping shape our game by playing in our Alpha tests throughout the remainder of July and the start of August, and also by joining us for our first Beta test at Gen Con. 

Board and Player Pieces

Speed Bump Cards   

Garage Cards (Weapon, Parts, and Crew)

     In a side note, we have added two more cars  to the base set and renamed one. The two new ones are the Deadly Drifter, which has the special ability to move diagonally, and the Mad Monster, which can go over and share the same space as other cars. The one we renamed was the Mad Motor, which is now called the Sonic Cycle, and stands as the only car to break the double alliteration theme we had been going for. 

As always,

See you on the next lap,

The Spark Team