« Developing Horseplay as a computer game » (Bear in mind this was written back in 1989!) Should Horseplay prove to be a long standing success then we shall look at contacting a programmer or development house to prepare a computer game based on one or more facets of the Horseplay compendium. If necessary/financially viable […]

« Avenues being pursued » Numerous games companies have been approached with requests for helpful advice. All refused "to help the competition". The Toy & Hobby Association seems to be ignorant of the industry. With the exception of Steve Nichols at Aztral Games, the nearest offer to give helpful advice came from a London-based agency

« Marketing avenues tried » Markets considered: All the major and many of the smaller established games companies have been approached with the view to selling them the UK rights (on a royalties basis). So far all have declined. Whilst few detailed reasons were given, these included: They do not actually make board games as

« Horseplay’s development history March 19th, 1987 Concieved ‘Chessword’ – renamed to Horseplay – as a magazine puzzle and board game. April 1st, 1987 Added ‘Rustling’ and ‘Equestrian’ to the game rules. April 18th, 1987 Finished first prototype. June 16th, 1987 Conceived rules for ‘Accumulator, adding it to the game. July 2nd, 1987 Finished script

« Horseplay’s ‘current’ and ‘future’ plans » This was written back in the 80’s and is copied here. ~ Paul The rules to ‘Equestrian’ are being reviewed to have three variations: The first is akin to its chess origin and relies entirely upon the players skill. The second adds a luck element were a dice

« Horseplay prototype photos » Notes: Rather than scan negatives from 1989 I’ve set the game up using the original photographs and snapped them with my Nikon. May add a few more shots another day. I’ll also re-do many of the designs and pictures with Photoshop or something. Horseplay prototype boxes for game and design

« Technical drawings for Horseplay » Notes: Here are some of the technical drawings for the game, prepared by illustrator and cartoonist Jayel (John Lucas). Isometric projection of the letter and counter token tiles Perspective view of a design for the horse player piece Isometric view of the tile rack Isometric view of the game

« Rules for Horseplay’s Rodeo Run » Rodeo Run option Naturally some people are best with numbers, while others are more at home with words. A third person may find that their real forté is that of skilful co-ordination of pieces, as with Rustling. To balance the differences and indeed improve yourself at the same