Big News & Upcoming Changes!

Believe it or not, August was a very busy month at Game & Word!

Dear Reader,

Hello! It’s me, again! Now that Game & Word’s monthlong hiatus is almost over, I figured now’s a good time to check in with my awesome subscribers. Because believe it or not, I’ve been very busy this past month, and because of that, there’s a lot of awesome in store for you throughout the coming months. But first, let’s catch up.

Game & Word Appeared on a Super-Smart Podcast!

I’m so used to playing the host on podcasts, I’d almost forgotten how much fun it is to just be a guest! Fortunately, I was able to do just that by appearing on Dr. Mike Wingert’s podcast, The Mouseion (in case you’re wondering about pronunciation, it rhymes with “museum”).

Professor Wingert is the dean of the Holy Transfiguration College at Agora University. His academic specialty is Middle Eastern languages and cultures… ancient Middle Eastern, that is! No joke, dude is fluent in at least five (that I know of) old, old, old languages, including Assyrian, Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, and Aramaic. He’s a crazy smart guy, and I’m flattered he asked me to come on his podcast.

Now, you might be wondering: “how in the hell could video games possibly overlap with that?!” And I’ll admit, I had similar thoughts going in. But you’d be surprised! I’ve always said there’s more to games than meets the eye, and this episode is a textbook demonstration. Plus, Mike’s a former gamer himself (so he gets the appeal), and he’s got that rarest of talents in that he can make connections between even the most seemingly disparate topics.

It was quite an enlightening conversation! You can listen to the whole thing below (or search for it on your preferred podcast app):

Game & Word Made a Video Game!

Hey, remember that game I was developing throughout the summer? Well, it’s almost ready to be unleashed into the world! In fact, my team and I are going to pitch it to publishers this coming Wednesday, hoping that one will pick it up (and feed my family for at least a few months). Already, our game has generated quite the hype train (a small hype train, but a hype train nonetheless), if the feedback from our alpha and beta testers is any indication. We’ve also been asked to submit it to a competition of some kind, with a cash prize and all.

Anyway, if you want to see me (and my insanely talented teammates) pitch our steampunk tavern simulator, you can get tickets by clicking the linky here.

*(NOTE: If you’re a paid subscriber or founding member, I can get you a comped ticket! Just let me know by end of day tomorrow if you want one)

Regardless of what becomes of our game—though that cash prize does sound pretty sweet—making it was a very eye-opening and valuable experience, one I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. If nothing else, it’ll make Game & Word’s content better, as I now understand a whole new layer of gaming: that of actually making the games we love.

Game & Word is Overhauling its Subscription Model!

Speaking of cash, I’ve been giving my subscription model a lot of thought this past month. Obviously, I’m thrilled that folks are reading this newsletter at all, and if it were up to me, Game & Word’s entire output would be forever free and available to all.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where scarcity—of both time and resources—is a fact of life. As such, I still need to put food on my family’s table. Paid subscriptions allow me to work on Game & Word as much as I do, while still keeping a roof over my daughter’s head.

Balancing these two needs—the need for readership, and the need to eat—is by far the toughest part of running this newsletter. And I’ve experimented with placing bonus content, community threads, and podcast comments behind the paywall, to mixed success. I briefly considered paywalling the whole thing, before I came to my senses and realized, what would be the point, then?

But at long last, I think I’ve finally found a subscription model that doesn’t limit access (at least, not too much), while still providing enough of an incentive for folks to upgrade to a paid subscription.

Here’s the deal: each Game & Word issue will be free and accessible to everyone for the first two weeks after publication, after which it’ll become paid content. I believe this is a workable compromise, for the following reasons:

• People can still read my latest content as it’s published—and since almost all of my articles’ views are generated within the first week after publication, it doesn’t feel like I’m excluding anyone.

• If you’re an existing free subscriber but still want to go back and read a legacy issue, you can! As long as you have access to your inbox, you’ll have access to everything I’ve published after you subscribed.

• Meanwhile, if you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll get complete, unfettered, unlimited access to G&W’s full archive—plus that warm, fuzzy feeling you get knowing you’re supporting an indie publisher!

Now, there are some caveats to this. Namely:

• Podcasts and video posts will remain free, regardless of age.

• Comments for podcast/video posts, however, will be paywalled.

This provides another incentive to subscribe—the ability to ask questions to my podcast guests via comments (although I should be clear that their response is not guaranteed).

Also, paid subscribers will still receive occasional bonus content—namely, little updates in between volumes, like you saw this past month. Paid subscribers will also get nice perks related to future G&W projects I’m currently exploring (merch, anyone?).

I’ll be archiving/paywalling older issues throughout the month of September, starting with Volume 1, then working up to Volume 3. Regularly scheduled archiving will begin with Volume 4.

If you’d like to get a head start, upgrade your subscription today:

Game & Word Is Ready for Volume 4!

It’s coming, folks! The cover issue will drop on Sunday, September 4, 2022, after which our weekly publishing schedule will resume. Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride!

Thank you, as always, for your readership and support.

Cheers,

~Jay