I've been working on the Emma Expansion pretty diligently for the past few weeks. I finally got the files finished last Thursday and got my copies back from the printer today. This is just in time to take them on a trip to New Hampshire where I'll hopefully get the chance to do some play testing with some friends of mine. I just have to pack it up with Marrying Mr. Darcy and we'll be good to go! 

After we work out the bigger bugs, I'll rewrite the cards and get the files prepped to send out to Kickstarter backers. I'm not sure how long this will take- probably depends on how well it works and how many changes there are. I'm guessing the play testing won't take nearly as long as the original Marrying Mr. Darcy took (many, many months) since a lot of the basic mechanics are similar as opposed to starting from nothing. Here's hoping! 

Karen Doornebos, an author and JASNA Chicago member, reviewed Marrying Mr. Darcy for Booklist Online playing with a table full of fellow Janites from JASNA Chicago. 

Check out the full blog and review here! 

2. Brain storming
I have a bunch of notes of random ideas for various cards and character powers. This was significantly easier than brainstorming the original game. Since I decided early on that Emma should be an expansion/companion to Marrying Mr. Darcy, several of the mechanics were already in place. 

3. Writing/organizing
Eventually I started writing cards into my spreadsheet (picture above). I actually started by creating the left hand column which gave me an idea of what event cards were in MMD (like party cards, scandal cards) as a rough guide to what to include in Emma. It is definitely not going to be exactly the same- for example there are not as many scandals in Emma, but there will be much more Meddling. So there are some new mechanics that go along with gossiping, meddling, "helping" your friends, and my favorite - match making. I'm still writing cards for the beta test but as of today I'm about 2/3 of the was done. 

4. Making "cards" 
I had my husband set up a file that I could transfer my written text into a card size text box in a document that will eventually become the PDF Print and Play. I probably should wait until all the cards are written in the spreadsheet, but seeing it look like an actual card is really motivating. These are about 1/3 complete. We're keeping them very simple and art free until we've got the game play and text finalized. 

That's where I am at this point! Once I finish I'll do some in-house alpha testing, make revisions, and then send the files out to Kickstarter backers. I am optimistic that we would be able to eventually Kickstart a print run of the expansion and make it available in stores. 

I was very impressed with this young woman, Lily, who is half of the review team behind The Chalk. Lily and her dad review tabletop games and are posting the reviews on youtube. She clearly has good taste in books and also did an excellent walk-through at the start of the video. You can check out their review of Marrying Mr. Darcy below. Consider subscribing to them on youtube or twitter @chalkreviews. 

Marrying Mr. Darcy Game releases the Undead Expansion

If you need to have a few zombies interfering with your Regency Era romance, the new Undead Expansion for Marrying Mr. Darcy – The Pride and Prejudice Card Game will be released July 11, 2014.

Erika Svanoe, a Jane Austen fan and game designer, created Marring Mr. Darcy, a light strategy/role playing card game based on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Players try to  earn points and attract the attention of available suitors by attending events and improving their characters. All of their efforts are in hopes of marrying well and becoming the most satisfied character at the end of the game.

After completing a successful Kickstarter campaign, Marrying Mr. Darcy is now available online and in game stores around the world.

About the expansion:

The new Marrying Mr. Darcy: Undead Expansion adds the threat of the walking undead to the heroines' attempts to build their character and marry well. Elizabeth Bennet and the other ladies must now face the possibility of undead attacks, undead suitors, and curses, while still trying to marry the suitor that will earn them the most happiness. The ladies may use weapons, stealth, and cures to try to make it to the end of the game, but may end up undead themselves.

Marrying Mr. Darcy: Undead Expansion will be available in stores and online beginning July 11, 2014. Expansion must be played with the base game of Marrying Mr. Darcy. Expansion includes 20 cards.

Number of players: 2-6

Recommended ages: 13+

Time to play: 60 minutes

 

Marrying Mr. Darcy website: http://www.marryingmrdarcy.com

Email: marryingmrdarcy@gmail.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/marryingmrdarcy

Twitter: http://twitter.com/marryingmrdarcy