As we advance steadily into 2017, we wanted to do a quick look back over some of the best parts of 2016, and look ahead to what they could mean for us moving forward!
The Magpie Nest Grew
Over the course of 2016, Magpie Games grew to five people! We kept Mark, Marissa, and Brendan, but they're old news. The important additions were Sarah Richardson and Derrick Kapchinsky!
Sarah was a veteran of numerous game projects, working as a freelance writer, editor, layout artist, illustrator, and designer well before she ever joined up with Magpie. She's contributed phenomenally to Magpie even in the short-ish time she's been a part of the team, and every one of us is excited to keep working with her in the years to come!
Derrick had been helping out with Magpie operations for a long while, and we were so grateful to be able to bring him on officially as our Director of Operations, handling a lot of the important functions that allow Magpie to exist. His aid is absolutely invaluable, and we can't thank him enough for his continued help!
You can find more information on the team at our "
About Us" page.
The Bluebeard's Bride Kickstarter Exploded
2016 was the year of
Bluebeard's Bride's Kickstarter success! The game had been in the works for a couple years now, but finally we had the opportunity to put up a Kickstarter for this amazing game by Whitney Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, and Sarah Richardson in October/November. Marissa Kelly spearheaded the Kickstarter itself, and its success was astonishing, thanks to our amazing community and the support of backers!
Bluebeard's Bride made approximately 2600% of its original goal!
We at Magpie Games are so proud to be publishing this incredible game, and we can't wait to share more with you in 2017!
Magpies at Conventions
From Dreamation to Dexcon to Origins to GenCon to Metatopia, Magpie Games was able to make it to a cavalcade of awesome conventions in 2016. We played lots of games, we ran lots of games, we tested lots of games, and we talked to lots of fantastic people. We even had a full table in the IGDN booth at GenCon, and it was a tremendous success. It was great for us to come together so much, and at such awesome events, and to meet all of the great gamers at all of these events!
We also enjoyed bringing home an ENnie for
Urban Shadows for Best Rules. It was the first ENnie for Magpie, and we loved being able to celebrate it together, along with co-author Andrew Medeiros!
Podcasts and Actual Plays
Over the course of 2016, we were fortunate enough to take part in plenty of podcasts and recorded actual plays, and we're proud of every one of them! Here are some highlights:
Books, Books, Books
We put out an array of books in 2016, including
Epyllion,
The Cold Ruins of Lastlife,
The Green Law of Varkith, the aschcan of
Velvet Glove, and just in under the wire,
Masks: A New Generation. We also officially became the publishers of
Undying! We're very proud of our production this year, and we're excited to do even more in the next!
And A Look At What's To Come
Yes, we're entering 2017 with some conflicted feelings about the state of the world, but for our own work, we've never been more hopeful. For 2017, we have plans to release:
- The Encyclopedia Draconica
- The Halcyon City Herald Collection
- Masks: Unbound
- Secrets of A.E.G.I.S.
- Urban Shadows: Dark Streets
- Bluebeard's Bride
- The Book of Mirrors
- The Book of Rooms
- The Book of Lore
...and we're in the process of designing and launching a panoply of other projects, including
Zombie World (with a better name pending),
Velvet Glove,
Mirrorlands,
Cartel, and
Armored Society.
Here's to 2017, and trying to fill it with as much awesome as we possibly can!
