Gaming Philosophy

Why This Website?

This website is dedicated to the idea that games are fundamental to what it means to be human.

Whether you get together with your family or play with your friends, there's something special about group gaming. Jesting, sharing, joking, laughing, teasing... all the while, eating your favorite snack food. What could be more fun?

Today's world presents us with an ever-wider variety of entertainment options. Phone apps, video games, computer gaming, video and audio streaming... we benefit from all these.

And yet, these are essentially isolating technologies. They separate us from one another more than they bring us together.

How much do you talk with your family when you watch a film or TV? How many new friends do you make when playing a phone app? And how well -- really -- do you know the friends you meet gaming online?

It's FTF -- and only face-to-face -- that allows us to truly enjoy each other and get to know one another on a deeper level.

Hence this website presents new games for you to enjoy. It's all about how you play the game, which is, above all, a social experience.

All the games on this website are free. There's nothing to buy and no underlying commercial motive. Our only goal is to encourage our human interaction and nurture relationships.

In other words, to have fun.

As Tolkein's Niggle once said, "It's a gift!"

Why I Invent Games

You'll notice two kinds of games on this website. Some I invented over the years and have play-tested with friends over countless enjoyable hours. These are accessible through the website's main menu bar.

The other games are those I've run across in my gaming explorations, and have found to be worthy of more play than they receive.

I've put these primo select games on this website because I know you'll enjoy discovering them, too. You access these games by selecting the Board Games and More Games! tabs from the main website menu.

Okay. So, why do I invent games? What would motivate such a hobby?

A game is a self-contained universe. While rules define a game, it is the mixture and balance of participatory elements that really characterise what a game is and what it means.

Does a game develop suspense? Does it challenge the participants with subtle trade-offs and complex decisions? Does it emphasize cooperation or co-opetition or competition? Does it reward intelligent risk-taking or just blind luck? The game designer has a free hand to approach all these elements and dozens more in whatever manner suits him or her.

I invent games because they offer a ready venue for creativity. Inventing a good game is analogous to painting a fine picture or writing a bracing short story or composing a memorable song. It's creativity within the bounds of an art form equal to any other.

And, to be honest, I invent games because it seems I just can't play a game more than a few times before I start thinking of ways it might be improved. Sometimes my "improvements" actually help! Other times they lead me to create -- for better or often for worse -- entirely new games only distantly related to their parents.

I hope you enjoy my games. Feel free to write me with your reactions -- positive or negative, and especially any ideas you may have for improvement.

All my games are freely distributed under the open source license Creative Commons License BY-ND. You're welcome to post them on your website or distribute them, just please don't alter them or their attribution.

Thank you for your interest.

Howard