Origins Recap with Paul Cooper
Vistit them at http://www.McNeillBrighterMinds.com
At Origins we had the chance to speak with Paul cooper, VP of Game development over at McNeil Designs, manufacturers of the award winning, including the 2007 Spewgie for Best Family Game, game You’ve Been Sentenced. You’ve Been Sentenced (YBS) is a game that is surprisingly simple in concept and excruciatingly amusing in execution. The concept behind it is simple, make a sentence out of the words on your five (5) sided cards. The problem is that each card will have a point value and, better yet, each word on the card will have a point value and, isn’t there always an and, and if you use all 10 of your cards you get extra points.
The result is a whole lot of interesting word combinations that have been cobbled together to make a sentence. So, the game is fun, the game is easy to play, the game is an award winner, so what could they possibly do to make it better?
Add categories, of course.
And that’s just what they did, with five (5) categories published and one that is pending:
- Sports Highlights
- Sci-Fi and Fantasy
- Pop Culture
- Gourmet Cuisine
- Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge
- NASA Space Flight (Pending)
There are also talks with undisclosed parties to implement licensing deals for YBS add-on decks tied to the intellectual property of these undisclosed parties. Who might these undisclosed parties be?
Hey, they’re undisclosed, stop nosing around.
Suffice it to say that folks in the geek world will love it and these arrangements could extend the popularity and audience of this game even further. Granted, it’s already in Barnes & Nobel and is already available to 95% of the population of the US locally but the add-ons could open a whole new area and make this game a staple of just about every genre.
We know, we know, we had you at “geek.”
In other news, the company website will be undergoing a major revamp in the coming months and will include the full version of On-Line You’ve Been Sentenced that can be played against other players. The game Twisted Fish will get an update as well through an AI that will allow you to play a game against 1-3 computer players should no one be around waiting to play a hand or you are feeling anti-social. Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone about it.
The company itself is moving forward, with a mix of full-time and part time employees and a plan on the books for a major marketing and publicity initiative over the next year. This is being coordinated through investors and promises to further increase the exposure of the company and its products to the general populace.
And although there are other games in development within the company they are willing to entertain game submissions that are submitted through the regular process. Here’s a hint, go to their website, find out what you need to do, and follow the directions. DO NOT send unsolicited games to them unless you are looking to clear space in your garage. It’s a common sense thing that zeal at times negates.
We did notice one extremely important thing. There is a new printing of the award winning game You’ve Been Sentenced. We could tell because the 2007 Spewgie for Best Family Game is printed right on the box for everyone to see. You should take a look your own self by purchasing a copy.
Trust us, just seeing the Spewgie graphic will make it all worthwhile. And the addition of a great game?
Bonus.