In 'my version’ of Robinson Crusoe setup for 4 players was: Take 2 Starting item cards and 2 No starting item cards. Shuffle them. Deal 1 card to each player.

In that way players had fun since the very very beginning of the game – it was just like in those novels – they are on the beach and they are checking their pockets looking for anything valuable. Some of them have something, some of them nope.

It didn’t make it to the final rules set.

Why?

Because it makes set up longer. Because I need to find all those small moments that make game longer and kill them.

Make it fast. As fast as you can.

***

Have you watched The Dice Tower best co-ops? Do you watch or read stuff from other reviewers? Every reviewer see short of the play as an advantage. It plays quickly. It is rather smooth. It plays in an hour. You can play two games in a row. These all are advantages. No doubt about it, right?

***

I talk a lot with my friends from Rebel.pl This is the biggest games store in Poland. I talk with them to know what is trendy, what sells well, what customers say about games. I want to be updated.

Customers choose quicker game.

He ask for economy game.
He is recommended two games.
One plays in 2 hours.
The other in 90 minutes.
Do you you want to take a guess which one will he buy?

7 Wonders? Civ game that plays in 40 minutes.
1812: The Invasion of Canada? War game that plays in 90 minutes.
Egizia? Euro you can play in 45 minutes.
Race for the Galaxy? Man, you can play 3 games in a row in 90 minutes…

Yeah, players like games that play fast, do they?

***

There is however one question that pops in my mind again and again. If we are games fans, why we want games to play short? Shouldn’t we be damn happy playing them as long as possible? Why we want fun to be short?

Last week I announced pre-orders for Stronghold: Undead. 24 hours later I got more than 50 emails in my Inbox. But this is not the case of number. This is the case of range of my news.

I got orders from US, UK, Canada, Brasil, New Zeland, Australia, Hungary, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Netherlands…

This is exciting. I really mean it. You know, I live in a small village, some about 50 houses all together (and forest!), 20 km from Gliwice, small town in southern Poland. This is very very tiny dot on the Earth.

And yet, when I post info about Undead, this immediately goes worldwide.

US, UK, Canada, Brasil, New Zeland, Australia, Hungary, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Netherlands…

I like to browse photos here on BGG to see where people play my games. Sometimes I browse web to see where people write about my games. Just yesterday I found rules for my Convoy translated into Spanish.

The Convoy se situa en el mundo de Neuroshima, en el que la humanidad ha sido atacada por maqidas…

I have never been in Spain. My games, my ideas, my thoughts have. I found it amazing.