Adventure Snack is Evolving Like a Pokemon

I choose YOU, newsletter reader!

Photo by Akin Cakiner on Unsplash

🙏 Thank you so much for the outpouring of support I received last week. Based on the comments, I think my Adventure Snack Ups ‘n Downs Feelings Roundup struck a chord. I’m so glad you appreciate my games, sense of humor, presence, and persistence. I plan to keep showing up in your inbox next year, in new and exciting but also consistently goofy ways.

😻 Speaking of last week’s post, an interesting record was broken. On every Substack page, there’s a chart that shows an author’s “Top” posts. I have no idea how the algorithm works for calculating what is Top, but it’s been there this whole time. One of the first quests I posted four years ago is a game called You Are the President’s Cat. Throughout the years, the Top post charts have been pretty fluid with one exception: President’s Cat has been fixed at #1 since it was posted 4 years ago. No other quest or post ever topped it. That is, until last week:

I’m taking this as a sign that I’m headed in a worthwhile direction creatively with this newsletter, though I suppose it could also be a cryptic sign about the upcoming election. Something about Dark Brandon maybe?

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🔥 This newsletter is morphing from an adorable Charmander into a far more powerful Charizard. (Will the newsletter “Gigantamax” further? I don’t know enough about Pokemon to continue the metaphor, but let’s say yes!) I’m not going to spoil the surprises in store for you next year, but I did want to give you an idea of what to expect, so you’re not caught totally unawares.

• Starting early next year, Adventure Snack will have a new name and logo. I want a fresh start. It’s the newsletter equivalent of dying my hair green and ripping holes in my jeans. I’m punk now, MOM.

• I’ll still be sending you games to play, but I’ll be writing other related stuff, too. The formula of two text games a month has gotten restricting for me. I’m loosening the ol’ collar and rolling up the ol’ sleeves. (Why is everything ol’?) I’m going to try writing weekly and with more variety.

• The Adventure Snack archives will be slowly moved off Substack and onto itch.io, the YouTube of games. According to my stats, virtually no one plays AS quests on my newsletter website, so I’m going to give them new life on a new platform.

• I plan to give you more opportunities to offer feedback on the games I make, like you did with Fix Your Mother’s Printer. Y’all are amazing playtesters! Without you, Fix Your Mother’s Printer wouldn’t have had a dog, one of the best parts of the game without question.

• We’re shifting from 2D to a 3D perspective. I’m going to give you a look into how and why I create games, and I’m going to take on ambitious dream projects that make me a little scared to design honestly. It’s the gamedev equivalent to bungee jumping. (Do people still bungee jump? Or did that get, like, outlawed?)

Normally, this email would be a reader survey asking what y’all think of Adventure Snack. Your opinion is really important to me – again, the dog! – but I need to focus on the creative vision in my head for this newsletter and bring it to life. I’m forming a cocoon around myself this winter. It’s sticky and gross and a little cramped at the moment, but in a few weeks, I’ll be ready to burst out and slurp some sweet, sweet nectar with y’all. That’s a weird line to end on. Uhh…

🎅 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! What games are you planning to play over the break? My nephew Karim is coming to our place for Christmas and he wants to play the Pokemon card game. He’s six and doesn’t know how to actually play Pokemon, so we play a version of War where we each put down a card at the same time and whichever one he likes best is the winner. I can’t wait ‘til Karim’s a little older, because I think he’ll be a shark at 1000 Blank White Cards.