Greetings,
We are proud to announce the public launch of our new company, titled “The Shenandoah Studio.” We are a new game company, and a new kind of game company to boot. We are focused on finding the best games by top game designers and then publishing them on the iPad.
We have a philosophy about that, but the short version is:
• Focus on game play first
• Avoid the animation and 3-D art Death Star
• Insist on great solitaire play from the start (not an afterthought)
• Use turn-based game systems that can be played asynchronously
• Focus on “game systems” that can evolve over time
Lastly, and most importantly:
• Start as a game designer-centric company – and stay that way
So where are we right now? We are up and running, with nine games ready to begin software implementation, all by top game designers. We’re announcing eight today, one more within the next couple weeks, and – we hope – three more very soon.
Before incorporating as The Shenandoah Studio we were known as “Project Simonsen,” named in honor of Redmond Simonsen, co-founder of Simulations Publications (SPI), art director, game designer, friend, and mentor to myself and literally hundreds of other people in the game business. He died in 2005, too young, and is sorely missed. Our permanent name, “The Shenandoah Studio”, honors one of the most beautiful places in America and my family’s ancestral home.
What does this mean for gamers? It means there’s a new player in town, one run by gamers for gamers. It means that we want your feedback as we post things like product polls, design diaries, and playtest reports on our website at http://www.shenandoahstudio.us so that we can deliver what all of you really want. And it means that some of board gaming’s best-loved titles will be coming to electronic tablet form soon, fully authorized and in cooperation with the original designers.
This is going to be an exciting journey. We’re pleased to ask you to join us on it.
Cheers,
Eric
Eric Lee Smith
Co-Founder & CEO
The Shenandoah Studio