HouseBoy to be watered down?
Alright, so Apple has twice rejected the HouseBoy app. They site it is too sexually-charged for iTunes even though there is no nudity depicted in the game and the only sexually-charged word we use is "hookup". Aaarrrrggg!!
SO, we may have to remove some of the images that depict the boys in near-naked poses and maybe change the "hookup" action to "raiding each other's piggy banks". Hopefully that will get us past the Disney-esque Puritanical censors at Apple. It'll still be the same game, you'll just have to use your own terminology.
On the plus side, when we make it for Android devices, we shouldn't ecounter such censorship issues.
HouseBoy Music
Here is a YouTube link featuring our very own HouseBoy composer Danny Culp (a.k.a. Aethernaut), playing some of his marvey 8-bit music liver here in Denver, Colorado. He just finished three excellent loops for the game to be played as the background music for Cleaning Chores, Fixing Chores and Hookups. Just wait till you hear them!
http://www.youtube.com/user/Aethernautisded
HouseBoy screenshots
Here is an example of Garden Boy doing a cleaning chore in the living room of Jonathan Glamcock's Santa Fe estate.
Here is Garden Boy hooking up with Pool Boy in the library. (Pool Boy's dice color should be blue - just one of the little glitches that is getting worked out).
Drag Show iPhone app
As things are coming together for the HouseBoy app game, we are now looking forward to the second smart phone game title that we will produce - Drag Show, the contentious drinking game.
Of course, it will not have to be played with adult beverages, but there will be special content with recipes for all the creative names of drinks we have come up with.
As we discovered with HouseBoy, the digital realm frees us to make the games work in ways that are impossible with printed cards and other real-life bits. So, for those of you who have played the physical card version of Drag Show, be prepared for a whole new world of sassitude and rhinestones with the iPhone version of this marvelous game!
HouseBoy iPhone app sneak peek
Here is the freshly-designed look of the main game screen for the upcoming HouseBoy iPhone/iPad app.
A brief thought for writers and their readers
This is for my fellow writers. It comes from my favorite author, Steven Erikson, who used the voice of one of his characters (a poet) to address what may be the most common criticism of the author's own work. What many criticize is precisely what I find to be one of his greatest strengths.
"A tale is what it is. Must you have every detail relayed to you, every motivation recounted so that it is clearly understood? Must you believe that all proceeds at a certain pace only to flower full and fulsome at the expected time? Am I a slave to your expectations, sir? Does not a teller of tales serve oneself first and last?"
This thought can apply to any creative person and their audience. I say, "Be not afraid to depart from the common axioms of your craft, for therein may lie true voice and fresh expression."
HouseBoy tease picture
Chayne and Russ have worked their hot magic, yet again! We're not going to show you everything, but here is a bit of a tease for the "hook up" imagery coming in the iPhone/iPad HouseBoy app game.
Dog Walker prototype
A picture of the prototype of Dog Walker, the board game. We're excited to start play testing it and work out the kinks. We will also be getting a feel for how we want the app version of the game to work, which will be quite similar to the print version.
HouseBoy Videos
Got a lot of writing and concept work done today on the forthcoming HouseBoy Interview video. We were inspired after hanging out with HouseBoy director, Amy Kersten/Catherine Edwards for her birthday. We're going to have some amazing special guests pop in to "interview" as house boys.
We will get some good groundwork information on each of the actual HouseBoy characters through the interview process as well as get a sneak peek at some recurring characters that are likely to show up at crazy times in season 1.
We hope to film the interviews this month and have the video up by mid December, perhaps coinciding with the release of the HouseBoy game app.
Speaking of which, part 4 of the HouseBoy Instructional Video will be up by Thanksgiving and the 5th and final part by mid December!!
Dog Walker development
In this lull of activity while the HouseBoy app developers are on vacation, we are taking the opportunity to work out some more details on Dog Walker. The glory of the digital medium ought to allow us to take most all of the dog submissions from fans and turn them into playable game elements since we are notl imited by how many cards we can affrd to print for the actual tabletop version.
It's kind of exciting to think that you will potentially be able to filter your dog draw pile in the app game according to breed or family submission.
Stay tuned!