I'll start this blog post by complaining! While I'm happy that we have released the site to the public and I'm happy that we have entered the beta stage of House of Possession, I'm not happy with our play times yet. I know I'm not supposed to talk about the "bad stuff" but:

1. It's the truth.
2. It's OK - we'll fix it!

So the problem we're encountering is that the game is going a little long. Our guidelines for primer games are that they need to be within 2 - 15 minutes long and we are breaching that upper end too often. But as I mentioned above, we'll fix it. Alright, complainer mode off.

In more happy news, now that we've begun beta testing, I can talk a little more about the gameplay. House of Possession is a fast paced card game where you use timing and strategy to get out of a demon infested house before the other players. While you may focus on tripping up your opponents to get ahead of them, these creatures are also battling to keep you in the house as a demonic plaything.

Sometimes you are just about to get out of the house. You have a great, and often inappropriate, exit line all ready to go for the rest of the table. Probably a really silly line about how Captain Howdy likes his soup. Then a Failed Exorcism occurs and your entire hand gets wiped out! But hey, it's alright because next time you watch it happen someone else.

So if you're playing against both the players around the table and the demons trying to keep you in the house, how do the demons get to "do things" to the players. Interestingly enough, the players actually cause the demon's events to occur. Playing some cards force these events to take place. You have to decide when you are either in a safe enough place to unleash hell on the table or when a Banshee's Wale might actually help your strategy.

On another note, I've received messages of angst from a few people who want to know what happens to Mark Vinter next. I promise to get another HoP Scrap out there as soon as I can and, while I won't always promise this, the next Scrap will continue Mark's story. Our intention is to bounce around to a few of the characters but I appreciate the concern for poor Mark, so we'll push him a little further along the House of Possession storyline, since you asked.

OK, I'm getting dirty looks now. It must be time to get back to work!

Happy gaming!