KickTraq

Update from Jonathan Liu, Designer THANK YOU!We did it! Despite the big drop in pledges over the weekend after my "Pulling Back the Curtain" update, we still managed to regain a few backers and pledges toward the end, and Emperor's New Clothes will... (Read More)

Update from Jonathan Liu, Designer Happy April Fool's DaySorry, I just realized that many of you were waiting for something funny on April Fool's Day and then I went and posted a serious update. So, rather than bombarding you with a list of online... (Read More)

Update from Jonathan Liu, Designer The Last HurrahEvery board game (or any other creation, for that matter) begins with this: something that nobody else can see. It's a vision that exists solely in the mind, and part of the goal of creating is... (Read More)

If you’ve been reading GeekDad for a while, you know that our senior editor Jonathan Liu has a real passion for games and puzzles and narratives of all kinds. That all came to a head on March 4 when Jonathan launched a Kickstarter drive for his first board game, Emperor’s New Clothes. (Read More)

Jonathan H. Liu’s probably best known for his GeekDad columns over on wired.com, but I don’t think anyone ever thought that him launching a simple Kickstarter campaign would cause such a stir. What originally started as something of an experiment (admittedly with the overtones of seeing how many people would come in on the joke) became a rather major cause of rage in certain quarters. (Read More)

The Growing Up Gamers crew are all about the tabletop games. Yes, we sneak in a videogame every now and again, but boardgames, card games and roleplaying games are what we love most. So naturally... we thought Geek & Sundry's International TableTop Day was a brilliant idea. And we knew that we had to participate. So we went to our favorite game store, Rainy Day Games in Aloha, Oregon (near Beaverton). (Read More)

Update from Jonathan Liu, Designer Stretch Goals UpdateAs you've probably noticed, we lost backers after my announcement yesterday. For those of you still along for the ride, I had one specific announcement about the stretch goals involved. All of... (Read More)

Last weekend at PAX East, I met up with Jonathan Liu and played his game Emperor's New Clothes at the Game Salute booth. The game is still on Kickstarter right now (ENDS MONDAY!), and I even had the chance to contribute to a Pixel Lincoln version of the game that will be available to the backers. We're joining the ranks of artists such as Munchkin's John Kovalic in the ensemble of talent behind this game. If you haven't seen the game, or heard the many discussions that it has initiated, go check out the Kickstarter page. It's a brilliant take on the classic tale and a wonderful experience for the creative gamer. (Read More)

Update by Jonathan Liu, Designer [Spoiler Alert]Please note: If you're new to this Kickstarter project and you would like the full experience, it's best if you go back, read the front page, and then read the Updates starting from the beginning.... (Read More)

Jonathan Liu is exactly the reason why Kickstarter works. Jonathan, Senior Editor of GeekDad on Wired.com , has backed 182 Kickstarter Projects. Kickstarter works because people back projects they think are cool or interesting, and not just ones where they want to purchase the product or know the creator. So,... (Read More)

As an avid board gamer myself, I didn't want to spoil the game for you with a bunch of review lingo and "this is exactly what you will get when you back the Kickstarter". Instead, I went straight to the designer and asked some questions that I hope encourage you to try the game for yourself. (Read More)

Update by Jonathan Liu, Designer. Meet the Artists: James Stowe and Jonathan HillIf you like RPGs and webcomics, have I got a site for you: SidekickQuests.com. James Stowe's online comic features a small band of sidekicks in your typical RPG fantasy... (Read More)

Oops...I posted the wrong update for Jonathan. Here's the correct one. Sorry for the error. Update Posted by Jonathan Liu, Designer Meet the Artist: Gene Luen YangGene Luen Yang is a writer and cartoonist whose comic books often (but not always) deal... (Read More)

Update Posted by Jonathan Liu, Designer Meet the Artist: Gene Luen YangGene Luen Yang is a writer and cartoonist whose comic books often (but not always) deal with Asian American identity. He's won a couple of Eisner Awards and has both illustrated... (Read More)

Update Posted by Jonathan Liu, Designer Meet the Artist: Lee MoyerLee Moyer is, simply put, amazing. He's been doing digital art since 1989, back when the only computer I'd used myself was an Apple II, and his portfolio includes major corporate... (Read More)

A couple of weeks ago we received prototype copies of the Kickstarter game Emperor’s New Clothes—a game with a new twist on an old tale. We can’t wait to share our thoughts with you. (Read More)

Update Posted by Jonathan Liu, Designer Hey, everyone! Sorry for the radio silence, but I've been at PAX East this past weekend with the Game Salute folks and it's hard to post updates when you can't get a computer with wifi during a gaming... (Read More)

I know a lot of interesting people. Some I’ve worked with, some I’ve met while traveling the world, some just owe me money. My name may be on the website, but it seems kind of boring if I’m the only person whose voice is heard here. So I’m bringing some of my friends to the site, as time permits. I’m not a podcasty kind of guy, so I’m just keeping things simple: one guest, six questions. (Read More)

We often see casual games being drowned out by RPGs, miniatures, and heavier games on crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. That's where we come in! Here is an overview of some of the best casual game concepts being crowdfunded this month. (Read More)

t seems like every other board game these days is being funded through Kickstarter and I think that’s awesome. It allows for a wide variety of games to enter the market place and where the people decide what’s good enough to pass. And with all the exciting things happening there I thought I’d talk about a few projects that I’m most excited about. (Read More)

GeekDad's Senior Editor Jonathan Liu has launched a Kickstarter game campaign of his own, and it's not a stretch to say it doesn't look like any game I, and I'm willing to bet you, have ever seen before. (Read More)

Kickstarter, the sovereign of the people’s crowdfunding revolution, has risen far from humble beginnings. For 22 consecutive days in 2006, its most-funded project was New York Makes a Book, which raised only $3,329 over the life of its campaign, a hair over its $3,000 goal. Progress was swift, however, as chatter about the site took hold. In just over three weeks, another project assumed the most-funded throne, earning $7,711 (four times its goal). It only took 31 more days for a Kickstarter project to breach $15k, and the bar has been climbing ever higher. The current most-funded project, the Pebble smartwatch, raised more than $10 million in a little over a month. That’s 68,929 people who thought an app-centric customizable watch face was a good idea. (Read More)

I think that in game design it’s important to learn from other things on the market and to see what lessons they can offer. From time to time I’ve referenced other games and the attributes of them that I think I can adapt to my own projects, but I think this might be the first time I’ve decided to devote a post to picking a particular game apart. Recently I’ve come across a singularly unique kickstarter project that I feel deserves this kind of treatment. Ladies, gentlemen and everyone in-between, I give you The Emperor’s New Clothes. (Read More)

For those of you not familiar with the fairy tale, “Emperor’s New Clothes” is about two swindlers who create clothes for the emperor so grand that they are invisible to anyone unfit for his position, among other things. The emperor dons the invisible clothes and suspects something is amiss, but doesn’t want to appear unfit or “stupid” himself by saying so. While his ministers and the townsfolk also go along with the pretense, one little boy (who is innocent of such things) decides to speak up and point out that there really is no special clothing on the emperor. It’s this classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen that inspired the development of “Emperor’s New Clothes”, a board game by Jonathan Liu (from “GeekDad”). (Read More)