It is 12/31, here are just some of our many thrills from the first year of our small family business.
The first game - We will always remember opening the package from Michigan with the very first Fill The Barn game to come from the factory.There was the thrill that we had pulled it off, as a husband and wife we had actually managed to publish our family's first board game.
The first store - For us this was a gift shop ten miles up the road called Brown's Orchards. There is a certain feeling to walk in and see your family's game on the shelf.
Our first review - Sending your game off to a reviewer can be a bit scary. You believe in your game, but what if the reviewer doesn't, and then they tell everyone they don't like it. Fortunately, Fill The Barn got a great first review, by one of the best family reviewers out there, none other than Father Geek!
Getting on the table - We have been fortunate to find game stores who not only put Fill The Barn on their shelf, they put Fill The Barn on the table to play with their customers. The first to do so was That Game Place outside Harrisburg, PA. A game does not come to life until somebody takes it out of its box. We are thankful for game store owners like Charlie & Jasmine who take games out of their boxes to play with thier customers.
Our first Unpub - To think that when 2012 started we had no idea the Unpub movement existed - what a find this group has been! Playtesters (who aren't family & friends) who want to try new games - that is every game designer's dream. Our second (unpublished) game AtataT made its debut at an Unpub Mini in May 2012 in Washington DC at Labyrinth Game Shop. And after the response, we knew that AtataT will have to be game #2 from HoopCAT Games. A huge thank you to John Moller for providing this service.
Our first TV coverage - We were pleased that game store owners put Fill The Barn on their shelf and on their game tables. But Kathy Stroh of Our Game Table in Dover DE really surprised us when she took Fill The Barn with her to an interview for the Delmarva Life TV Show.
Sandy's Toy Shoppe - This was a very different memory from the others on the list. Working a day in Sandy's Toy Shoppe was not about promoting our company or product. Rather, it was a reminder that there is so much more to life than games. Christina will tell you that one of the nice things about having games in a warehouse is that it gives our family the freedom to give some away whenever we want to.
As a family, we have enjoyed our first year with a product to sell. It has been our first chance to hear of other families who enjoy our game enough to play it again and again. Being a game-making family, we sometimes can't tell whether it is work or play when we gather around the table to try a new rule variation or prototype. I'm nowhere close to quitting my day job (the one that pays the mortgage, pays the bills, and puts food on the table). Yet we are enjoying the ride of our little side venture that we call HoopCAT Games.
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