John Zinser

Time to make the donuts

Up at 4AM is my habit. On weekends my best days start with golf early. Today I have a tournament and don't T-Off until 11 so I am passing time getting ahead on some work. Mystic Lands? Smash-Up? A completely new project? It's exciting to have no priority and great choices.

Into the FUN FACTORY from AEG The Fun Factory is open! Get great deals on great fun, from new expansions to exciting reprints, and a NEW TITLE-- INTO THE MACHINE!

We just flew past 1000 backers in the Fun Factory Kickstarter in the first 3 hours. Super excited to see how they engage with the gamification now that they are inside. www.kickstarter.com/projects/ald...

AEG Fun Factory Kickstarter Fun Factory Kickstarter – Planned Titles This is the draft of games that will be in the AEG Fun Factory Kickstarter that launches next Tuesday. New titles, reprints and evergreens. Into the Machin...

Spending a few minutes this morning posting our Fun Factory list link across socials, looking for comments on what we might be missing.

Always amazed at the ideas the community sees that we don’t.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

#1TBZ #boardgames #FunFactory

Coming soon: Into the FUN FACTORY from AEG The Fun Factory is open! Get great deals on great fun, from new expansions to exciting reprints, and a NEW TITLE-- INTO THE MACHINE!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/ald...

We’ve reached the stage with the Fun Factory Kickstarter where tough choices have to be made. Which great ideas make it in, and which get saved for the future?

I love this stage when there are too many good ideas, and you still feel like you’re getting enough done.

#1TBZ #boardgames #FunFactory

Proof graphics for our Ding Ding hard enamel turn token. It is our free gift for newsletter subscribers during the Fun Factory Kickstarter.

If you are not signed up for our newsletter you should. AEG has lots of fun things planned www.alderac.com/sign-up-for-...

#1TBZ #boardgames #FunFactory

I’m up early like a kid on Christmas morning.

The Forge Fire POD site is in soft launch, you can check out the presents, but I would suggest you wait to open them. We are still waiting on a few items.

connect.forgefire.games/pages/produc...

It is amazing to me how many introverts are working in the gaming industry. I have always been a do think do person and my staff are think do think people. I hope they have done the thinking they need to do because this is a DO week.

Don’t get too good. I am the least talented gamer at my company. :) I lose so often I look for games that are fun to play even if you don’t win.

I always wonder about the round-trip timing for a spoiler that drops like this.

Will it travel through the Smash Up player grapevine?
Will it lure curious fans over here to Blue Sky?

Guess we’ll find out soon enough. 🤡

#1TBZ #SmashUp #boardgames

This one is totally on me. I don't want any of my hard working team to get blamed for this boneheaded move. The weeks before and after Gencon are scared ground. I know that.

Back from Gencon with lots of amazing memories. I do have one that is evading me. One of my friends gave me this printed 20 sided die. I can remember the moment it happened, them going into their bag to get it. I cannot remember who it was. I want to thank them for this die that NEVER misses. HELP

On my way to Gencon. I expect I will be giving more than one quick teach of this amazing new game we are launching at the end of August. I think everyone will be stunned at the deals in the Fun Factory kickstarter. Some of our best work yet.

Nice. The tokens look like they are made from the same material as soft small toys from my childhood. I assume they are 3D printed but I can’t help thinking those little tokens would be double awesome if they were soft and tactile.

Deserved.

Board game excitement = different flavors:
Timmy loves big swings & table-wide “wow!” moments.
Johnny loves clever combos & pulling off a plan.
Spike loves tight decisions, mastery & high stakes.
Vorthos gets excited by story, world & role play.
Melvin by clean, elegant systems clicking together.

Trying to focus on work but my brain is already at Gen Con, sprinting between demo tables like it’s the board game Olympics.

Can’t wait to play, explore, and maybe sneak in a celebratory cocktail or two.

#1TBZ #GenCon2025 #boardgames

I have been pulled into this vortex. Is learning how to make Tik Tok videos and brainstorming new games ideas work? My Monkey thinks so.

If you know you know.

That looks pretty nice @drawnonward.bsky.social

When you see how awesome Mystic Lands looks remember that I used this photo to try and explain part of the vision. The actual product looked nothing like this thank goodness.

No matter how good your artists are, if you don’t know what to ask for, the path to something great is slow, uncertain, and humbling.
Mystic Lands is teaching me that again.
Vision matters. Language matters Sometimes the magic doesn’t show up until Final_v9_reallyFINAL.psd.

#MysticLands #boardgames

GENCON- So many of our early Gencon experiences started with packing a truck and then a road trip across the country. I am glad that is not necessary any longer but sometimes I miss the memories we made on the road.

I am seeing spoilers for the new Warlord out on the web. They have done a great job upgrading the game. Very exciting stuff.

I’ve played the Road to Gen Con scenario more than 30 times.
It always starts with: “This year I get ahead of it.”
It always ends with: “How did everything become a fire?”

I have 16 turns left until departure.
Thankfully, I’ve assembled a team of elite firefighters.

#GenCon #LegacyGame

Her weapon is Joy.

Her aim is true.

The empire never saw it coming.

www.gencon.com/events/281055

I spent the day connecting with my friends in the industry about our 30th Anniversary raffle. Some great companies are helping us celebrate. @allplay.bsky.social @wizkids.bsky.social @renegadegamestudios.com @arcanewonders.bsky.social and many more. Grand Prize for the raffle is growing.

Love Edge of Darkness. I spent a week in the factory figuring out how to get that tower to work correctly.