Escape Room Data has listed Doctor Esker's Notebook as one of its top Escape Room card games. Pretty neat!
Friday, April 28, 2023
Return of Doctor Esker's Notebook now available
I've now sent all the Return of Doctor Esker's Notebook games out to Kickstarter backers that I can at this point (some folks are waiting to combine Return with the fourth game due out later this year). Therefore, with those generous backers taken care of, I'm pleased to start offering the newest Esker game for sale via my website and Amazon.
More info and a link to get yours here: https://planktongames.com/esker
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Froot
I took part in the 52nd Ludum Dare game jam as I have in the past. This time, the theme was "Harvest," and I created a fruit harvesting rat shooting game called Froot. I used MidJourney for some of the art (having no artistic skill of my own) and was pretty pleased with how it looked.
You can play the game in your browser here.
Return of Doctor Esker's Notebook
Hi, all -
Just wanted to share that the third game in the Doctor Esker's Notebook series, Return of Doctor Esker's Notebook, is now complete and at the printer. I ran a Kickstarter for it (here) that I probably should have mentioned on this blog, although I haven't posted here much recently.
If the last two print runs are any guide, the game should be printed, through customs, and ready for players within a couple months. The Kickstarter did well enough that we reached one of the stretch goals, which was an all-new fourth Esker game, coming late 2023.
Friday, May 6, 2022
Temporary Plankton Games site outage - shifting hosting
Hi, all -
I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the Plankton Games site will go down sometime this week for a few days while I switch hosting. My old hosting service (GoDaddy) hit me with a bunch of extra fees and hassle, so I need to dump them and move.
I'm hoping the transition will go smoothly, and I expect the site to be back up by May 13, 2022 at the latest.
New Ludum Dare game: Kharon's Twilight
Hi, folks - I took part in Ludum Dare 50 a little bit ago, and I was able to complete a whole game in 48 hours. The theme was "Delaying the Inevitable," so I made a game where you're eventually overrun by a bunch of mammoths.
The game plays like a deckbuilding boardgame, although it's single-player. There are a bunch of special "power moves" that you can purchase, and you get to use a few of those (randomly selected) each turn, along with some basic moves.
The game did OK in the competition. It was hampered a little bit by speed issues (it's a browser game and I may have gotten too ambitious as to what the browser and my graphics library could handle).
To see the competition page (with more description of the game) see here: Ludum Dare Site
To play the game, check out http://planktongames.com/ld50
My Plankton Games site may go down for a bit over the next few days because I'm changing hosting, but it should be back up within a week or so.
Monday, October 4, 2021
Fun with Commie Mutant Horses
I took part in the 49th Ludum Dare Compo this past weekend and made a computer game from scratch in 48 hours. Really, in about 46 hours, because I had D&D just before it was due. I'm pretty proud of the game this time. The theme was "Unstable," and I went with freeing horses from their bans (unstabling them) using radioactive canisters that exploded (also unstable) set against a Cold War backdrop (also unstable).
See the game here.
See my contest entry (and future ratings) here.
I always enjoy these competitions. Gets the juices flowing in a big way.
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Saturday, November 28, 2020
New shipment of Doctor Esker's Notebook arrived
A new shipment of Doctor Esker's Notebook arrived from India today. 4,320 games in the third printing. 12 boxes, about 40 lbs each. They went to Charlotte instead of Greensboro, and my customs broker closed down, so I had to figure out some new stuff. My new customs broker was absolutely wonderful, though - shout out to Charlotte Customshouse Brokers (https://www.cltchb.com).
Now I have to get them down to the basement sans hernia.
Update to finances of Doctor Esker's Notebook project
I haven't done a business update for Doctor Esker's Notebook recently, so here goes. Last month, I ordered a 3rd printing for the game. Despite being a larger print run, it was a bit more expensive per game because the shipping got a lot more expensive and because I asked them to do it more quickly than previous jobs. My printer in India sends via air freight, and with fewer flights, the printer indicated they had to charge more for this service.
Where the chart is red, I've put more into the company than I've gotten out in revenues. Where it's green, I'm in positive territory (not including compensation for any of the hours I've put in). So, I am still at positive (but small) net revenue after this most recent print run, which is a first.
Once I get the shipment, which will probably set me back another $1,000 in customs and transport, I'll have about $40,000 in potential revenue from copies of the original game and maybe $11,000 from the sequel. No guarantees I'll sell through all of those, but so far, sales have been pretty stable. If that keeps up, it's great - it just might take a while to sell out.
So, I'm not getting rich, but the upside potential is pretty good, and it's what I'd consider a successful product. I'm still selling about 2-4 per day average, probably >90% on Amazon, but with a lot of my sales in November and December as the graph shows. Not sure how this holiday season will pan out, but I'm hopeful.
Fan Tan!
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Flames Over Frosthelm is Free!
Marten Mingenstern and Boog Eggstrom are provisional inspectors, fresh out of Inquisitor’s Guild training. Assigned a mundane task tracking down stolen jewels, they instead uncover a mysterious cult set on destroying the city. They earn the enmity of a vicious noble, the Chief Inquisitor gets bought off and goes rogue, barbarians seize them, and they are sentenced to death. Twice. In a race against prophecy, they face terrible forces long buried.
Saturday, August 8, 2020
The Outcast Crown
Monday, April 6, 2020
New puzzle game - Doctor Esker's Triad
It's available here: Doctor Esker's Triad
Feel free to try it out, and please share if you enjoy it or know somebody who would.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
97 Klotho
97 Klotho website
Interview at People Behind the Meeples
Pretty neat. Thanks to George for providing the neat series of interviews with designers.
https://gjjgames.blogspot.com/
Friday, January 3, 2020
Doctor Esker's Notebook Project - by the numbers
Let me know if you have questions in the comments.
Monday, November 18, 2019
Esker in Hungary!
https://szabadulos.blog.hu/2018/11/26/otthon_jatszhato_2_resz_angol_nyelvu_szabadulos_jatekok
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Some people suck
Total cost to me, $6, plus potentially unsellable stock and bad reputation on Amazon.
Total cost to him: $0.
Don't think I'm not watching, or that you're not a terrible person.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Finances update
Graph #2 is my net profitability, now about $4,900 in the red but rising fairly steadily.
Both graphs show my initial costs for 1080 games, the gradual rise to net profitability, and then the larger costs of my second print run (2160 each of original and sequel for 4320 total games), and my sales since then.
In terms of inventory, I've still got about 4575 games, which at the net revenue I typically make per game is about $39,000 in total potential revenue if I'm able to sell them all. Set against that revenue will be any future advertising, promotions, taxes, free copies, spoilage, and other such expenses.
So, I have a good shot at net profitability, but probably not until next year, and only then if my sales stay steady or increase.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Son of Doctor Esker's Notebook is now officially available
Son of Esker is here!
If you see this and want one, and you're in the U.S. you can send $14.99 via Paypal to dave@planktongames.com, and just mention that you'd like Son of Esker rather than the original. If you're not in the U.S., contact me about shipping. I can only cover free shipping to US addresses.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Son of Doctor Esker's Notebook is nearly on the way to the U.S.!
SAHMReviews takes on Dr. Esker's Notebook
They're running a giveaway also, linked from the review page, so sign up for a chance to win a free copy of the game!
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Doctor Esker goes to school!
Here's a link to his original post on Facebook.
Here's a link to his YouTube channel - he's got some really cool reviews there.
Here's a link to his reviews on BoardGameGeek.com.
Monday, August 12, 2019
Doctor Esker's Notebook review at Everything Board Games
EverythingBoardGames.com review
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Off a cliff (not really)
Well, my profitability graph went off a cliff. Why? Because I paid for two new things last week. Thing One was a second printing of Doctor Esker's Notebook, which is exciting. I've now sold half of my first print run, and I'm on schedule to run out sometime in October at current sales rates, so I needed some more. I ordered another 2160 games, or double the number from my current print run.
Thing Two was the sequel to Doctor Esker's Notebook, called Son of Doctor Esker's Notebook, which is a whole new deck of puzzles to play. The game mechanism is similar to the first game, but the deck and the puzzles are completely different. You don't need to have played the first to play the second - you can do them in either order. I ordered 2160 of these as well.
So, my graph above, which was flirting with profitability for this year, is now way back in the red. But that's a good thing! I stand to make another $4000 or so from my remaining games from the first print run. I spent about $7500 on the second print run and the sequel print run. That will give me the potential for another $40,000 in revenue from those two printings, or a total profit off all print runs of about $34,000 after I deduct expenses for development, marketing, and supplies. That's nice. Obviously, I'll have taxes to deduct from that also, and I'll have to pay both ends of the social security and Medicare taxes like you do as a sole proprietor. I don't really want to estimate what the hourly rate of compensation for me is, because I've put so much time into this, but I think it'll beat working at McDonalds.
Saturday, August 3, 2019
New Review of Doctor Esker's Notebook by Board Game Gumbo
Board Game Gumbo Dr. Esker review
(Review image from BoardGameGumbo.com)
RoomEscapeArtist review of Doctor Esker's Notebook
RoomEscapeArtist review of Doctor Esker's Notebook
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Four Tribes Review
The game is a light two-player card game with some additional components. It's got a fun mechanic, plays quickly, and involves some nice strategy, along with some luck. The art is really great, as it is for all of Glover's games - he's a great artist in addition to doing the designing. I'm still figuring out the best strategy, and I'm not always seeing why some options are possible (e.g. why I would put any cards on the opponent's side of the river other than the special cards I have to place there). I like the winter village set because I think the higher number of buildings makes the strategy more interesting. Some games have been decided pretty much by luck, but most of them have involved some cool strategic decisions and management of cards. The design is elegant and uses its pieces well, and there's more than enough randomness and variety that the game feels different each time. It fits nicely in the new medium boxes from TGC, although I wish there were a slightly larger bag for fishing around in - it seems not quite big enough to randomize or to fit my giant meaty fist into. I've ended up using an alternative hidden building choosing technique that's working better. My daughter (pictured above) would prefer that the chiefs you're recruiting didn't use the same colors as the buildings, since they're not related to each other, but that's a minor quibble. I also find the special cards, which have interesting abilities, are often just used as wild cards for their numbers, but sometimes the special powers matter and are fun to use.
Cool, unique game, and well worth the purchase for me.