Welcome to your monthly dose of insights!

Hey again,

You've made it to the end of the year - the end of the wonderful week of whateverdaythisis - however you’ve enjoyed the time off from the usual routine, I hope it’s been a good one.

Today’s email is all about 2024, and looking ahead to an amazing year to come.

2024 was a great year. Along with my partners at No Box Games, we crowdfunded Around the World in 10-15 Minutes (which included Europe and US maps) in May and Dragon vs. Kingdom in October:

(Did you miss either of these? Head to https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/no-box-games)

I'm really proud of Mint Tin Monster Mashup, which crowdfunded alongside 3 other mint tin games in October. While I'll have to tell the whole story of that game another time, the moral is to review your shelved games every once in awhile and never be afraid to reach out to publishers.

I attended Airecon, UK Games Expo, and Essen Spiel and kept up with lots of cool people, pitched some games, and had lots of fun.

Beyond board games, I kept up going to the gym and running - these are now rock-solid schedules I'm really happy with. I ran a 5k Parkrun almost every Saturday of the year. I did two 10k races and my first HYROX. Physically speaking, I'm just about in the healthiest shape of my life.

What about 2025?

I already know 2025 will be amazing. There’s a lot of stuff I can’t talk about yet since it hasn’t been announced, but I should have about 5 games coming out next year. This doesn’t include whatever I’ll be able to sign and work on next year.

The projects that I’m proud of...

...ironically enough, are the ones that won’t have my name on the front of the box.

Some of these are other people's projects - whether I was a developer, a rulebook editor, a consultant, or simply offering advice to a friend, it was great seeing lots of games come together.

Some of these are games from Virtual Playtesting, which is still meeting and playtesting people's games. In fact, after merging with Remote Playtesting, we've expanded our number of meetings. (Join here: https://discord.gg/QhtHwvKB9G)

The one I'm most proud of...

...are my Accountability clients.

Near the end of 2023, I set up a page offering to help keep board game designers accountable "like a fitness coach" or personal trainer. It was (and might still be) kind of weird, but I quickly filled the schedule with some interesting people.

I was privileged to be a part of their journey as their Accountability coach. Once a month, we’d meet for about 30 minutes (sometimes longer) to discuss where they were right now, what they had accomplished this month, and what they wanted to do in the month to come. Some of them wrote some kind testimonials about our time together:

I'll be offering this Accountability coach service again in 2025 - but only for a few folks. 2025 is going to be a busy year, after all, and I want to make sure I serve my clients as well as possible.

The basics: $199 for a 30-minute Accountability session each month in 2025, or $299 for a 60-minute session instead.

Go have a look here for all the details.

What was your highlight in 2024?

Hit reply to share - it could be something you accomplished in board games or something in your personal life.

Thanks for reading, hope you have a great New Year's celebration, and hope you start off 2025 in an amazing fashion.

Chris