Category: Uncategorized

  • [Kickstarter Update #2] Unlocked Stretch Goals and extended Early Bird Discount!

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    WOW! Just WOW!

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    We’re about 24 hours in to our campaign and we’ve already unlocked 2 stretch goals!

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    All games will now include upgraded Bar Tokens and Items.

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    Both of these will be made from punchout boards and will receive a fancy design from Jose!

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    At the moment we’re using blank discs as Bar Tokens and mini-cards for Items – really looking forward to seeing how this spices up the visuals.

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    We also noticed that apparently we’re not very good with our AM/PMs, so the Early Bird 10% discount rewards turned out to be 36 hour rewards. We’re happy with keeping this though, so you’ve got another 12 hours (until midnight CET) to grab the discount.

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    Next stretch goal is for Custom Playing Boards – and I’m really excited about this one to give players something unique in front of them.

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    Thanks again to everyone who has shown their support – please continue to share the project so we can get all these stretch goals and make it an even more awesome game!

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  • [Kickstarter update #1] We made it within 6 hours! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

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    We’re only 6 hours in to the campaign and we’ve already reached our goal. This is incredible and a huge thanks to all the backers who have showed their support so far!

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    I recorded a cheeky Insta vid also sharing my gratitude to you all:

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    https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ciu_nXGIb0X/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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    This now means we’re in Stretch Goal territory! First up it’s an upgrade to the bar tokens for the lights-on round. Currently plastic discs, let’s see if we can make then into great little designed tokens!

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    Remember that all stretch goals will be added to all existing pledges, so your game will get better as this campaign grows 🙂

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    It’s all upwards from here folks, thank you for joining us on this journey!

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  • Kickstarter launches on Tuesday 20th September 2022!

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    We’re thrilled to announce our upcoming Kickstarter Campaign for Gay Sauna the Board Game!

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    It’s launching on Tuesday 20th September and we need your help to make this a big success! We need signups for our mailing list more than anything else right now, so please help us by sharing this link: https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/5a32fdd4-f6e7-4230-af6b-eef48dae41df/landing or directing people to this website,

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    We’ve also got a series of in-person events planned which we’ll be revealing more about in the coming days.

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    Stay tuned and we will be gearing up for this exciting moment where we finally bring this project to life!

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  • I feel SO honoured!

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    Today’s blog post is all about Ant! If you’ve been watching the website closely, you might have noticed a new face on the team page – Anthony, from Nib and Thread Communications.

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    Ant isn’t just some marketing guy, he’s one of my dearest friends who I’ve known and admired for more than a decade. His LinkedIn page can tell you his professional story of marketing, pet stores and the historical Cozy Bar in Amsterdam. And here’s some words from the man himself:

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    Yaaaaaas! I’m so excited to be back beside Adrian again on Gay Sauna the board game. With José on design and Adrian’s creativity I plan on a very fun time making this a huge success. Adrian is like my gay brother who will get in trouble with me when mom isn’t watching, so we make an excellent team.

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    Ant was a huge support for our Kickstarter in 2019, helping me make some sense out of this new world I’d thrown myself into, making the most out of the limited resources we had back then.

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    We’ve got many many memories together – quite a few revolving around a special annual gathering, which happens to also be where we both found our significant others. We also at one time had a garage band called AA that was even booked for a gig, that never happened…

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    Above all else, I love this man (and his husband Fan)!

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    And now we’re in 2022 and we’re getting the chance to work together on this project again! With more time, a more realistic budget, thousands of lessons learned and a great team to pull it all off – we’re geared up and ready to bring Gay Sauna the Board Game to life!

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  • We’ve got serious momentum!

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    These past weeks have been incredibly busy for me, with work piling up during the week, our house being renovated and trying to plan our wedding amongst the challenges we’re all facing in opening up and getting back to normal. That being said, together with Jose, we’ve managed to make huge progress with the game.

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    Artwork

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    Jose has done an incredible job at getting the men and boys drawn up and coloured in, and I’m so excited to be able to share the first set of Visitor artwork with you all!

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    Bear

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    Daddy

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    Guy Next Door

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    Jock

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    Otter

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    Twink

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    With this first iconic set of gorgeous guys ready, we can start working on updating the overall visual design of the game to match. We’ve already started sketching out new layouts for the visitor cards.

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    Prototypes

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    My current handmade prototypes are a few years old and were made for a previous version of the rules. I’ve gotten by with a bit of frankensteining for a while, but it was about time I got something new printed that is coherent and applies many of the things I’ve learned these past years.

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    I’ve done all of the graphic design for this version myself, but I’m so happy I’ve been able to use the latest artwork from Jose. This time around unfortunately I don’t have the time or space to print, cut and finish multiple copies of the game using my home printer, so I’ve splashed out and ordered 4 copies from TheGameCrafter.com that will be professionally printed and finished! I’m so excited to see what it’s like to play the game with real cards and dice, and relieved at all the time I’ve saved by not having to print them myself.

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    Prototypes should arrive during August and photos will follow very promptly.

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    Merchandise

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    Once the prototype was ordered, I was overcome by the urge to get some more merchandise sorted. It was so great getting the keyrings and towels printed for the Kickstarter, that I wanted to do another round. Of course using Jose’s fantastic artwork!

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    I’ve signed up for an account with CloudPrinter.com and ordered a series of items using very basic layouts of the artwork to test how it scales to physical items and to see the quality of the finished products. I’m looking at Beach Towels, T-Shirts, Hoodies, Polo’s and Mugs. I’ll let you all know how they turn out!

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  • A Huge Sauna Welcome To Our Awesome New Artist!

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    I am so delighted to be able to introduce the new Gay Sauna the Board Game artist to you all: Jose Garrote!

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    I was introduced to Jose a couple of months ago by a fan of the game (shoutout to Daniel – thank you!), and after our first chat it was clear we had a great connection and energy! A few conversations and some initial artwork later and we’re working super well together on this project.

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    So Jose, who are you and where are you from?
    Hi! As Adrian said, I’m Jose, I am an artist from Spain who loves video games, animation movies and thanks to my friends in Vancouver, also board games.

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    How did you hear about Gay Sauna the Board Game?
    Well, my friend Daniel, from Vancouver, the one who’s guilty for why I like board games, told me about Gay Sauna the Board Game. He said “Why don’t you draw one of the guys they have on their website so they can see what you could do?” and so I did… and here we are!

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    What’s it like to work on a board game?
    Honestly, it’s kinda different from other projects. When you’re working on a board game, the challenge is to keep in mind the mechanics are more important than the art itself, which is a very tricky thing for an artist if you ask me. We just want to make it beautiful! But thanks to my background in video game design I am used to it. I think we’ve been doing a great job emphasising the game strengths and it’s really nice work together I feel very confident about the results.

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    And what about drawing naked men?
    Am I allowed to say dirty stuff? I mean, imagine the places I end up looking for references… My goal is to make these guys sexy and at least they are for me, meaning sometimes it gets a bit hot in the room. But fun facts aside, drawing the human body is basic stuff to do as an artist so usually you don’t really think “this guy is hot” when you’re drawing them, you’re focused on getting the anatomy, the proportions or the lightning right. I am sorry if you thought this would be all fun but you have to be professional too.

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    Where can everyone find you and your art?
    I’m glad you asked, just a few days ago my website was finished and I would really appreciate you all taking a look: https://www.narfil.com

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    Now with Jose on board, we’re getting close to putting the first version of the game into production! With that announcement, I think it’s only fair we share a visual hint of what’s to come.

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    We hope you like him as much as we do!

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    For now he’s nameless, but that’s all for a good reason. We have big plans on the next steps, and we’ll be revealing all (and maybe a bit more) in the coming weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on the latest news!

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  • It’s been a bit quiet, but I’ve been very busy!

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    My last post was in October, so I can forgive anyone thinking this project is dead – however I’m very happy and excited to let you all know that not only is the project very much alive, but has made leaps and bounds of progress in these past months!

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    The game itself has been through huge transformations, with a rewrite to remove the large board completely and bring players together in a hilarious take on a dungeon crawler. I’ll be updating this website in the coming weeks, fleshing out the details of the current version and adding all the latest and greatest into the library.

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    I myself have also been through some pretty big changes, with starting a new position as Product Lead at HelloMaaS.com my time is more limited. It’s a platform where you can affordably hire freelance marketing specialists and get predictable results. Being part of an early stage startup is full of excitement and I’m enjoying all of the challenges and opportunities that I’m experiencing every day of this journey.

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    With a good buddy of mine, Estefano, we’re also building a community called Board Gaymers in Amsterdam. We host twice monthly board game nights held at Prik on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month. We only have space for 3 gaming tables, so we work with a ticket system for €3 that includes a drink worth €3 – it’s really just about reserving your seat for a game. Check out ReRollWorks.com for more information about the events.

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    I get the chance to playtest Gay Sauna the Board Game at all of these events which has opened up a huge amount of valuable feedback for me to work on the game as well as incredible amounts of validation for the game. It truly is an honour to see players coming back to play again when they could be playing many other games.

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    I’m still working on a full plan to go from where I am to full publication, but I’m hoping to launch another Kickstarter some time later this year – I’ll be getting more clarity on this in the next month as I update and work on the website.

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    I guess that’s enough for now, take care!

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  • Morning in public

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    You wake up with a huge smile on your face, despite the alarm clock buzzing at that hideous repetitive tone that seems to somehow touch your soul; or is it that you’ve just woken up and are still a bit sleepy? You ponder that for a second while scratching yourself. 

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    “Good morning me” you say to yourself, while searching around for a pair of shorts to cover your naked body. Finding a really comfortable blue pair of jogging shorts, you jump into them and descend the stairs to refuel. 

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    Your apartment is small, there’s no denying it. It’s not like you can’t afford a bigger place – not a huge amount bigger, but bigger nonetheless. There is just something about your place that makes you happy and content. It’s self-contained and has everything you need in it. You know someday you’ll need to move out. After all it’s not big enough for 2 people, but for now it’s home and you’re quite happy to keep it like that. 

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    Making your way through into the kitchen you pop the kettle on, drink a glass of water, eat a banana, pee (and wash your hands), turn your laptop on, check your phone messages – none, make a cup of tea, light a cigarette and read through your emails. 

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    “Perfect start to the day” you mutter after seeing only 9 new emails and spotting that none would contain anything resembling important information. That gave you the chance to delete them all, close the laptop and do some exercises. 

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    “One, one, two, two…” you count through bicep curls with two 10kg weights, in a really half-hearted attempt to attain the perfect physique. This is just one of the exercises you do on a regular basis – not every day, but regularly enough to keep you firm without being too defined. Due the continuous frustration of trying to get a six-pack, you don’t realise that this is actually the right body shape for you, if you had the body you wanted, you’d probably turn into a dick-head. 

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    After having a shower, including the mandatory shower gratitude, you get dressed and head out into the big wide world. Something about the day has given you a skip in your step, and you decide to walk to work today. It’s only about 30 minutes, you’re on time and the walk will give you a chance to get ready for the day and smoke a few cigarettes on the way. 

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    Knowing you were likely to be heading out drinking after work, you sported your favourite pair of jeans. There are 3 reasons why these are your favourite jeans. Firstly, they seem to match all of your shoes and t-shirts. Something to do with the fading in the colour and the in- between straight and boot-cut fit. Secondly they fitted perfectly. In fact they were the only pair of jeans you didn’t need to wear a belt with that didn’t also constrict your blood flow. Finally they had a zip rather than buttons. This particular zip, had a hidden added benefit: regardless of whether you are lying down, sitting, standing, walking or running, you look like you’ve got a huge cock. Luckily for you, there is 

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    something considerable behind the zip; otherwise you’d just be disappointing people. 

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    Completing the look with a casual white shirt, and a light black jacket, you’ve achieved that perfection between smart and looking like you really don’t give a shit. The only problem you’ll face with that look is if you get dirty at all, you will really look a mess. 

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    Ambling down the street with a tediously repetitive dance tune playing in your ear, you start to notice the people swarming the land around you in every direction. Each one of them with their own lives, their own families, jobs, friends, birthdays, hobbies, interests and sexuality. The only thing connecting you with them is the fact you are in the street together. 

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    You can see him walking ahead of you on the other side of the street. He’s wearing blue jeans that are slightly too tight for him. A red sports jacket with cream writing and cuffs. His hair is dark, cropped to a couple of inches, styled in short spikes. His jacket is open but he’s ahead of you and you can’t see his t-shirt. 

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    From the side, his face looks lean and quite angular. His lower face covered in hair beyond stubble but hasn’t quite got to full beard yet. He’s got no piercings, at least none you can see… the thought stirs you a little. You feel the movement in your underwear and your heartbeat increases. 

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    Suddenly he looks round and catches your gaze. You make a slight stuttering movement in your walk as your mind urges your body not to stop still. But it was too noticeable; he glances to your crotch, back to your face and then smiles warmly before looking further behind his shoulder and crossing the street towards you. 

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    He’s not looking at your any more; he’s focused on the road in front of him and the traffic. You slow down instinctively to give him space in front of you while also moving over to the side of the pavement so he can walk next to you, should he choose to. 

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    He hops onto the pavement with a flamboyant yet graceful step-jump, that surely only a friend of Dorothy would expose to the public. Then he takes his place on the pavement in directly in front of you about 3 meters ahead. Despite being a little disappointed that he didn’t drop in next to you and start a conversation, you are reconciled by the fact that his butt is in perfect view, and you’re doubly happy that it’s a very nice butt indeed. 

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    Your trousers stir again, this time with a moment of forced pressure that you just couldn’t resist. Your tight underwear stretched but preventing too much growth, while your jeans are now doing a great job of hiding you. You smirk at the thought of being erect while in public, but then turn your attention to the guy. The guy in front. The guy who’s now like 6 meters in front! 

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    “Woah, what happened” it comes out at a little over a whisper; you shudder at having let that slip. It looks like you got away with it. You contemplate for a moment how bad it could have been if someone 

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    had heard and it had been another thought that slipped out. There were after all so many which weren’t really appropriate for public consumption. 

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    Returning your focus to him, he’s now about 9 meters in front of you. He stops. Turns round, looks at your face, glances down to your crotch, then back to your face before turning back. He bends forward, arse in the air and starts to tie his shoelaces. 

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    The distance between you is closing, you have no idea what you should do in this situation. The signs all seem to be there, he smiled at you, walked in front, and now he’s quite clearly offering himself to you in the middle of the street! 

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    You realise that he probably isn’t expecting you to come up behind him and penetrate him right there, but you seem to think there’s a relatively high level of indicators all pointing you in the same direction. 

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    You’re 2 meters away now, you’re starting to slow down, you are staring at his rear, seeing all the detail available beneath jeans. And now you’re getting closer, you notice his jacket riding up leaving his skin exposed, the small patch of hair growing at the base of his back gives you the last image you need to break free of the tight hold of your underwear. You feel yourself snap upwards beneath the waistband; grateful of the angle preventing visibility above your jeans. 

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    As you get closer, almost close enough to touch him, your arm reaches out. You imagine your hand making contact with his jeans. You get close, a few inches away before he stands suddenly. 

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    You manage to retract your hand in time, pulling yourself upright before reaching his vision alongside him. Peering out the corner of your eye you see he’s looking directly in front of him, not even a glance your way. You regress into internal panic and confusion, your pace slows while you try to weigh everything out and work out if this guy was really flirting with you or not. 

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    He’s back alongside you, jackets making contact, but not quite close enough for bodies to touch. His pace is faster than yours and he’s making headway in front of you. 

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    You left it too late to speed up now as he’s stepping out in front of you. He looks behind, you crumble, you’re desperate for him to gaze into your eyes and kiss you. But his eyes stare out into the empty street behind you. He looks forwards, causally drifts into the turning on the right, down the street and out of your life forever. 

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    “What happened there?” you say aloud. Not caring who heard you as you continued to walk straight on the way to your office. Walking on your own again, you immerse back into the music in your ears. Settling into the rhythm of the beats and your steps, all your movements in time. 

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    And then you see the blonde guy with the scarf. 

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  • Is it your first time?

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    You step out into the dark street as the bartender locks the door. It’s a Summer’s night, but it’s a bit chilly. You curse yourself for not bringing a jacket with you and start the long stumble back home.

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    All of a sudden a glimmer catches your eye as you walk past a dim alleyway. Spluttering on and off erratically are the bright blue and pink neon letters signalling the entrance to the Gay Sauna…

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    A strong breeze gusts down the street forcing you to close your arms around yourself, in the hope of staving off the cold, and you struggle to make your next steps forward.

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    Glancing briefly backwards you catch the glimpse of bright welcoming light spilling from the Gay Sauna, as the door slowly closes behind the most recent entrant. In this light you’re also now able to see the pack of hungry men waiting impatiently, tapping their feet or pacing in excitement and nerves.

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    As you try to continue your journey the wind picks up again, even stronger than before, and nearly knocks you from your feet whilst the chill sneaks into your light shirt and sends goosebumps all over your body. Getting home was not going to be as easy as you had hoped.

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    “Well…” you mutter to yourself “…there’s a first time for everything”

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    Turning around, you slowly retrace your steps and take your place in the line, excited to see what wonders await you inside.

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  • How I create my prototypes

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    This duo really does give me everything I need

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    While I don’t claim to be an artist or designer, there’s a lot of art and design work needed to create Gay Sauna the Board Game. For all of the “real artwork” and finalised designs, I’m working with two designers for, but in the meantime there’s a host of prototype versions that need to be created and in order to make this possible, I’ve had to learn how to do this myself.

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    Without anyone paying for my software, it’s not viable for me to be using Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign – the subscription models just don’t make sense for me. So I’ve had to find the right alternatives for me. To make everything I’m creating at the moment, I use a combination of GIMP and Graphic.

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    GIMP is a free, open source image editor that packs a real punch. I’ve been using GIMP for many years for basic things like creating transparent backgrounds on existing images, but now my needs have grown and it’s great that this free app has been able to cover a lot of my new found requirements. The only drawback to GIMP is the lack of native CYMK and Vector image capabilities. While there are some ways to resolve these using plugins and community contributions, I always found them cumbersome and a little lacking. So, as I started to print the things I was producing, it became necessary for me to find something to help me where GIMP couldn’t.

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    In walked Graphic. Native to Mac, Graphic is a vector editing program that seems to be designed for people creating publishing work – whether that’s digital or print, it’s got me covered. While it lacks the extensive functionality of both GIMP and the Adobe suite, Graphic more than makes up for it with its simplistic approach and easy to use GUI. There have only been a couple of times that Graphic has not been able to meet my needs and thankfully GIMP was fully capable of filling this gap. The biggest drawback is the lack of full layer masking capabilities – so specific edits I need to make to images I now do in GIMP and then move over the finalised edit to Graphic for layouts and finalisation. Graphic isn’t a free program, but the lifetime license only costs $30 and I feel it has been more than worth the investment at a fraction of the cost of even part of the Adobe suite.

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    I’d never thought I’d ever be spending so much of my time manipulating and creating images, but it truly is a rewarding activity with a tangible outcome at the end. It’s been a challenging learning process too, as it’s not just the methods I need to learn, the wider concepts of graphic design are pretty much entirely new for me. I didn’t even know what a layer mask was 12 months ago and now I’m finding out all the ways in which they can be useful within my creations as well as finding alternatives when the software is lacking.

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    I doubt I’ll ever work as a graphic designer professionally, but I’m sure having a lot of fun playing as one for the time being.

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