MonkyTumbl

Yesterday, we launched a crowdfunding campaign for The White Box on Kickstarter. The White Box is a game design workshop-in-a-box we’re publishing in cooperation with our friends at Atlas Games.

What it is is simple: It’s a book of essays about game design written by DigiPen game design professor Jeremy Holcomb, that comes in a box that’s also full of components (dice, meeples, cubes, chits…) useful for prototyping games.

What is represents is more interesting: A chance for us to promote our vision of people understanding, talking about, and engaging in the craft, business, and art of making games.

Eight years ago, Sergeant Squad’s unit was sent on a top-secret mission that went worse than bad, further than south, more crooked than sideways. The extraction force  never came and Squad’s men were gunned down to the last, on the run through a Central American jungle. All except Squad.

When Squad came to, the voices of his men lived on, inside his head.

“Never leave a man behind,” they say.

That’s a mixed bag of advice.

We rescued Abby from a city shelter in Gardena, California, in February 2001. A volunteer had taken her picture, written about her sweet temperament, and posted the information on a website maintained by a rescue group.

The vet told us that she was about a year old, so we decided that her birthday was Valentine's Day. She didn't come with a name so Stacey picked out Abby, because it means "joy."

Abby liked to eat peanut butter and tuna fish the very most, followed closely by everything else, with the exception of vegetables, which were delicately spit back out when their true nature was discovered.

Abby knew the cheerful sound that our first Tivo made when a show was over. At night, this was the cue for her bedtime walk, so she came running at the noise.

Abby was usually the second Tidball to wake up; she'd come to find me at my desk and put her paw on my leg to let me know that, "Hello! It's time to eat!"

We lived lots of places with Abby, but I think that her favorite must have been our hilltop house on Vista Superba street in Los Angeles, where she had free run of a deck and back yard with an incredible view that I still miss, too. She loved to lay in the sun on the deck there and sleep, panting hard in the heat.

Abby's been with Stacey and I almost as long as we've been married, and Edward and Adam have never known a Tidball family without her in it.

It turns out that there's a part of my attention that used to keep thoughtless track of where the dog was. That confused part of my mind is making the house feel strange and empty now, without Abby in it.

Rest in peace, good girl. We'll plant a tree for you, and remember you forever.

Rest in Peace, Abby Tidball 2000-2013

Although certain assets and employees may find new homes or move together to a different agency or firm, RiverKey as it’s been constituted for the last three years, give or take, is over.

In their least dramatic form (no need for drama), the reasons are that two unlucky and uncontrollable events, in close succession, forced the ownership to take a hard look at our strategic plans and decide — wisely, I must add, as one who was there voting with them — that it would require too much money on too long a bet to continue.

So:

I’m looking for the next thing, and I’d be grateful if you’d help me find it.

As you most likely know, I’m a creator and creative leader. My creative specialties are writing and game design, and I’m particularly good at bringing operational order to creative processes.

My most likely next move involves finding and hiring a great boss. Which is to say, getting a job at a going concern. My best matches are probably with…

A creative firm or agency, especially one focused on interactive work, where my creative experience and disciplined leadership will be an asset.

An in-house product development or marketing position where I can improve a brand’s value for those who love it, or who would love it if they knew about it.

A start-up or small but promising company where my broad base of skills will bring unusual value due to the number of hats I can expertly wear.

The usual “All About Me” can be found on LinkedIn, with a more detailed resume and portfolio of creative work available directly from me for the asking. Please call or email (323-253-6258, jeff-at-jefftidball-dot-com), or encourage those in your networks to do likewise.

Our family would like to remain in Kansas City, but would consider relocating to the Twin Cities.

The very bottom line is that I believe in the power of creativity and communication, and am looking for others who do, too, to run the next leg with me.