After the Fact

Seasons of Us is a series of firsts for me. It is my first submission to a game jam. It is the first game I've written in under a month. It isthe first game which I actually completed. As a corollary to that, it is my first published game, which is a major milestone for me. Despite being up and submitted to the Otherships Jam (for which it was expressly made), and despite it being a source of pride that I "finished" it, the work is not quite done.

Many rules of the game were lifted from my larger story game in the works, so I know that they work and do so in the same context as Seasons of Us. There are elements that I made just for Seasons of Us. To be honest the game hasn't been properly playtested due to the time constraint for the game jam. I had only started putting Seasons of Us together after mid-month, leaving me little time to finish.

There is also the matter of editing. When I uploaded the 49-page PDF (including TOC, front pages, empty pages, etc.), I had just made it under the wire for the submission deadline. Right away, I saw several errors I hadn't caught before submitting. This means Seasons of Us has yet to be edited. I did my best in the time given. Better people than I have written smaller works with plenty of errors and issues, and I do not presume my game is free of them.

My goals from this point include:

• playtest the game thoroughly
• find a third party editor to view and revise the text
• supply more illustrations
• supply example of play in the book
• find a good artist for a fully illustrated edition (this will necessarily be more expensive)

All in all, this was a learning experience. I learned about myself. I figured out things that I hadn't considered about self-publishing. And I figured out a way to push through writer's block and several bouts of executive dysfunction while also having to contend with my daily routines in order to put out a game. I also learned that giving myself half a month to write a game is just not enough time. In the future, I'll be sure to start writing sooner or choose a game I've already done some work on for such a short time frame.

My pride upon submission has yet to diminish. Nevertheless, I'm certain I can improve.