As I write this I am relaxing in a nice, deep, soapy bath. With the hot water soothing my tired body, I can begin to think clearly and allow my paranoid brain to think slightly more clearly.
You see this evening I read some potentially disturbing news: http://www.beastsofwar.com/board-games/flying-frog-send-dungeon-delving-weird-wild-west/.
It turns out that the company Flying Frog Productions are currently running a kickstarter: Shadows of Brimstone
Reading this information gave me pause for thought, and the more I read the more concerned I grew.
Allow me to extract some information for you from their Kickstarter:
Forming an adventuring posse, the Heroes venture down into the dark mines, overrun with all manner of ancient demons and foul creatures from another world.
With tactical gameplay, lots of dice, and a robust card-driven exploration system, no two games are ever the same as the Heroes explore the mines finding new enemies to fight, new Loot to collect, and new dangers to overcome.
Now I know I'm prone to wearing a tin foil hat at the best of times, but tell me, is that, or is that not REMARKABLY similar to the world/game I began this time last year with MaliQuest that quickly spawned CRYPTS?
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You see, I am torn. Part of me thinks "it's just a Weird West Dungeon Crawler with a loot deck. It's not as if that is a unique idea!"
But then I read some of the comments on Beasts of War and the article itself and I find myself taking note that people ARE calling it an original and unique idea.
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This puts me in a dark place.
I do not know if we are 2 different groups, completely independently coming up with an extremely similar game idea around the same time as each other, and after all, I was inspired by Malifaux, and we are currently having Wild West Exodus about to ship, it's safe to say that Weird West is possibly the current hot-potatoe.
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But there is another possibility, one that I hope to any god out there is not true.
That this Shadows of Brimstone is a rip of my ideas.
And this is where I don't know what to think. I know that I am prone to seeing patterns and similarities where there are none, just look at my Wyrd and Malifaux related blog posts in the run up to GenCon. If I was saying that stuff on the street I'd probably have been given meds and be currently living in a padded cell.
So I don't know what to think.
Am I being paranoid? Or is this just one very unfortunate co-incidence?
OR! Are these two games nothing alike and in fact I am seeing similarities and patterns that do not exist.
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Whatever the outcome, this puts an interesting spin on things to come with CRYPTS. I haven't copyrighted or trademarked any of my stuff. I know, I know that's the first rule of game design! But I haven't, so even if it turns out this is a 'stolen game' then it's next to impossible to prove it. Especially when you consider how much stuff I put up on the internet for just about anybody to read and use.
But there are more potential issues. What if in a few years time I decided I really wanted to get my game published? Would I think have a possible law suit on my hands, despite having documentation online proving the seeds of this game were sown back in October 2012?
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I dunno, I'm probably stressing over nothing, especially now as the coiled beast that lives in the dark of my brain tells me that with this game out there, professionally printed, specifically designed dungeon tiles and miniatures, there's no room for CRYPTS, and that really the game is a pointless waste of my energy from this point on.
- I don't like listening to that part of my brain.
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I would welcome any thoughts you may have on this, and while I may be exposing a weakness in saying this, please be kind. As many of you know, MaliQuest and even more so, CRYPTS is my baby, and seeing all of this is leaving me feeling pretty low right now.
Anyway, as always friends, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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