Games coming up

Games, games, games!

We're just looking for a good time, and that's as clear as can be - in recent posts I've mentioned the request at Destination Unknown for a fresh take on D&D as well as a great chance to get into Traveller. The New Year is imminent and with it reflections on the past and planning for the future. A great time to plant a figurative seed - perhaps a space seed for a truly bumper crop - in the fertile soil of the gaming mind.

In much the same way as everyone has a novel in them, I think every gamer is a budding games designer too. As evidence for this I cite the number of independent or homegrown games either already available or in development at blogs I visit regularly. Ever ready to support new growth, I thought you might like a report from... yes, the field.

Heading first for iron-rich soils, we have the roleplaying game Red Planet by Clovis Clithog at Jasoomian Dreams (a site not for those uncomfortable with either the lightly-clad or largely-unclad female form). A helpful mini-review was given a day or so ago at Swords Against the Outer Dark, with more guidance on when to avert the eyes.

Soon to be stalking Martian territory too, ArmChairGeneral has his When the Navy Walked, a Victorian / Edwardian sci-fi miniatures game which I've mentioned before and will again. An RPG is under development. For a taste of the setting, you can read the first chapter of the novel Between Spears and Steam at this very blog.

Ironhands has several sets of tabletop miniature game rules available, from the monster mash gobbledyGook!, through the vehicle combat Road Wolf, to the space combat and exploration Star Crashers and the Gundam-using MS ERA. There are also some house rules for the Games Workshop games set in the 41st millennium.

Greg Christopher has his roleplaying games Errant - informed by the aesthetics of Gladiator, Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans and Kingdom of Heaven among others - Statecraft, a historical grand strategy RPG, and the intriguing, personality-driven Synapse. Thoughts on future developments are up at Synapse Design Blog.

The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms is also a hotbed of roleplaying game design activity.

This is based on a casual browsing only and it's more than likely I've missed a project or two even in the places I spend a lot of time. If I've missed yours, tell me.

And this is not to list all of the blogs involved in expanding existing game systems, which would be to list a very large proportion of all hobby blogs. One that stands out for being solely a development diary is Sorcerers of Doom, for expansion of Heritage Dungeon Dwellers. Another for the sci-fi wargamers is Tales of the Maelstrom, which mixes and matches ideas, rules and miniatures from the history of 40K.

Another group of blogs again, with some overlap, are those creating their own settings or developing existing. Examples are The Book of Worlds, Riskail and Waystar High Port.

Has anyone played or reviewed any of these games, or used any of the expansions or new settings? If so, feel free to leave useful links in the comments section.

If you know of other independent of homegrown games and worlds like these, point them out too and let's get watching and lending a green-fingered hand.

Also, what's the game you have taking root within?