Gamestormers and Sloane Have Arrived

My daughter, Sloane, never ceases to amaze me each day. She is going to turn two years old in a month-and-a-half, and each day Sloane surprises me with a new skill or saying. On Monday, she will count up to 14 stacked cups. On Tuesday, she starts singing the theme song from her favorite show starring Minnie Mouse. On Wednesday, she points herself out on the cover of Gamestormers, our upcoming board game release and says “Swoane!” in her oh-so-sweet dialect. She has always had a large personality, but it feels like lately the full Sloane has truly arrived!

And, much like Sloane, Gamestormers has come such a long way in such a short amount of time. Flash back to December of 2022 – my wife, Lizzy, was pregnant with baby Sloane. I remember being so amazed by her toughness. She was creating our daughter! That same month, I had a bit of an epiphany about my own project – helping teachers and students design games. I began working on a document detailing a game where each player designed a game to win the game.

Of course, Sloane and Gamestormers changed quite a bit from that December over two years ago. Sloane went from sitting and crawling to running and climbing. She went from babbling and humming to holding full conversations with herself and singing songs.

For Gamestormers, the game went from a long and convoluted mess to a 5-card narrative-building, strategic experience. Gamestormers went from a complicated mash-up of ideas into a game with simple goals but intriguing choices. A big thank you goes out to our hundreds of playtesters, as well as my wife, the most prominent (and patient) playtester of all, heh.

Sloane and Gamestormers have, in so many words, arrived. They’ve grown into the unique and fun versions of themselves they are today. And I’m incredibly proud of them both. There’s a very specific reason Sloane is the main character AND on the cover of the game – she inspired me even before she was born to take chances. Gamestormers was an incredible chance to take, but it was worth every hour of effort, every risk involved, and every penny spent. I cannot wait for you to try out Gamestormers yourself!