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Varsity Final Development Update and Announcement


Last time I posted about Varsity was over two months ago, when I discussed the game's Break Moves and discussed the game's then-soon Kickstarter release date. At the time, I had lofty goals for the game's art design, direction, and release. I was in talks with a publisher, and was feeling over the moon about the game's release. In the time since that post, a lot has happened in my life—good and bad—which has made me realize that this sort of grandiose planning is better saved for projects in the future.

I'm a young adult, a fresh college graduate who's just started a new job, and I don't have the expendable capital or connections to do everything with Varsity that I would like to do at the moment. In particular, I worry that a failed Kickstarter for the game would discourage me from trying something like this again in the future. 

That said, I am still very passionate about Varsity and its mechanics. Besides, the game is finished! It's been heavily play tested, stress tested, and troubleshot, and it's already fully presentable and playable. After a lot of contemplation, I've decided that it's better to release it now (without the full art, extra playbooks, etc. that I planned for the Kickstarter release) than to leave the documents to rest in my personal files. That's why I've decided to release Varsity on itch.io later today (5 June 2021, 2:00 pm EST) and on DrivethruRPG as soon as it's approved to go public. In both cases, I'll let you pay what you want for the game. 


The download will include 'Varsity v1.0,' the first full release of the game, as well as two downloadable cheat sheets (one for the players and one for the referee) full of all of the references and moves needed to speed up game play, and one printer friendly document full of blank landscape layouts for each of the playbooks. 

Any amount of support for the game would be very much appreciated. I don't have the time and resources to work on rpg design fulltime, but it is really a true passion of mine, and I have several other projects that I am excited to work on in the coming days. If you want to support my endeavors, please grab the game and leave however much you feel is appropriate. If I notice interest and support for the game, I would love to do a Kickstarter for a Varsity v2.0 someday. But in the meantime, I think the game is pretty damn fun and I want to give you all a chance to play it!

I am excited to get back into the swing of posting on this blog, both about new projects and general musings about rpg design as a whole. For now though, I'm excited to see you all on release day. Cheers!

UPDATE: Varsity is now live on itch.io! If you want to support the game and its developer, pop over and pick up a copy!

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