Have we won, yet? (What's happened to the War on Terror?)

It's been a while since our last blog post and now is as good a time as any to reflect on what the 'war on terror' has become; what it means these days.

We've been attending a few corporate trade shows, over the past few months, trying to get our games into gifty-type areas (it's all pretty dull and hence no blogs - we have been busy, just nothing worth writing about!).

It's been tough at times, not least because on more than one occasion, we've fallen victim to what I'll call the 'Obama Effect'. That is, people believing that everything's changed and our games are now a little obsolete. The 'war on terror' was neatly wrapped up when Obama took office and announced plans to withdraw some troops from Iraq and now, infuriatingly, the economy's recovering too. Does that mean we're left peddling anachronisms? Nostalgic souvenirs of a former, nastier time?

As far as the economy goes, we're not really in a position to make any predictions, however a few facts are undeniable and should dampen any "Farewell to the Recession" party:

1. The system broke. We can't lend ourselves to richness and we can't have unbridled, short-term greed without paying for it at some point. We're still demanding exponential growth from finite resources. None of this has been 'fixed'.
2. The thing that all shocks have in common (and this applies to both financial and physical) is that they have after-affects and are followed by further shocks just when you think the worst is over.
3. The economists who are now telling us that things are recovering are the same economists who (if you can cast your mind back just 18 months) couldn't forsee any of this happening. That places economists and remedial children together as the only segment of the population who were unable to predict the financial future.
4. Assuming this is a total recovery with no ill after-affects, we've still just devalued some major currencies by trillions virtually overnight. Your pound/ dollar/ whatever is now weaker, so it will buy less, so you have to work more, just to maintain the level of wealth you previously had. Quality of living just took a nosedive. No, more like a belly flop.

We're not doom mongerers. We don't revel in Armageddon fantasies. We don't want you to cancel your "Farewell to the Recession" party. Especially when it coincides so neatly with your Windows 7 launch party. It's just frustrating how short our collective memory is.

Rather than blather on endlessly though, we recommend instead that you take an hour or so out of your day to watch Chris Martensen's Crash Course. It neatly links the economy, energy, resources and the environment together rather than dealing with them as the separate issues that news organisations like to treat them as.

How cute are these bunnies going to look when it comes to the Abu Ghraib scenes and rabbits are stripping other rabbits naked, hooking them up to electric wires and letting dogs loose on them, while posing for trophy photos? And then there's the War on Terror; the eternal war that's patiently awaiting a rebrand. A brief digest of mainstream media reporting on the issue will reveal that Iraq is officially over. It's not a war any more, it's a fledgling democracy. Afghanistan has replaced Iraq as the conflict zone du jour and is proving stubbornly difficult to win. Not that anyone has mentioned what winning entails or what the current goal is (something the Americans are rapidly shifting as we speak, since military defeat seems almost inevitable). Ironically, Afghanistan kicked off Bush Jnr's infamous 'war on terror' and yet you won't hear the phrase used in news reports today unless it's in the past tense.

Sadly, while the phrase is becoming scarce, the ideology that spawned the war on terror has far from vanished. In fact, quite the opposite, it has grown in scope, thanks largely to the US. The president that was elected on a mantra of "change" has disappointed critically in this area. Firstly, there's been no meaningful action on Iraq - Obama's not willing to challenge the present (the massive military presence still remains, as does the world's largest US military base) and even less willing to confront the past. That speech about "Iraqis needing to take responsibility for their country" was disingenuous in the extreme. A rapist blaming his victim would come across as more likeable.

Then there's the war in Afghanistan, which has not only seen both troop numbers and civilian casualties escalate but has been expanded aggressively into Pakistan with the chilling (and outstandingly illegal) use of unmanned drones (by the way, you should watch this film about the surreal Playstation lives that the pilots of these things lead back in Las Vegas while carrying out remote assassinations on the other side of the world). Welcome to the future!

And don't get me started on Iran. The relentless and aggressive ratcheting up of pressure on Iran is depressingly reminiscent of the ardent drumbeat that lead to the Iraq war. How does the mainstream media shake a million dead and 4 million refugees from their conscience so quickly? Some are positively relishing the prospect of another war. Luckily, a notable few have diligently highlighted the supreme irony of Israel complaining of Iran's (perfectly legitimate) pursuit of nuclear power, while they themselves hoard upwards of 300 nuclear warheads that have never officially been declared. In fact, just last month, Israel refused to sign up to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and thus open its nuclear sites to inspection by the IAE. What's that sound? Oh, it's the complete silence created by no journalists demanding action be taken to force Israel to comply - no "increased sanctions", no "tougher measures", no "keeping all options on the table". Just deafening silence.

Mr. Obama, a copy of War on Terror is in the post, as a reward for being such a secret war merchant. You should do well at our little game.

Meanwhile, the war on terror is gradually going through the transformative stage that all wars since the 2nd World War go through - that is, they are re-interpreted and re-remembered and re-evaluated until they are "good" wars (like WWII) and not "bad" wars (like Vietnam). Playing a disturbing part in this process is a Japanese animated film currently in production that puts the war on terror in the hands of cute, fluffy bunnies. I searched the whole of Google for words to express the WTFness of this short clip and found just one: "wrong". I mean, for a start, bunnies just aren't that tough. We had a pet one die just this weak - it died from a full stomach. I can tell you now, no animal that can eat itself to death so easily is going to be very effective in fighting animal terrorism. Secondly, how cute are these bunnies going to look when it comes to the Abu Ghraib scenes and rabbits are stripping other rabbits naked, hooking them up to electric wires and letting dogs loose on them, while posing for trophy photos. Actually, I kind of want to see it now. That's morbid curiosity for you. I just hope they have the sense to rename it "Watership Black Hawk Down".

Thanks for bearing with me. I feel better now. Normal service will be resumed presently.

Our largest convention yet: GenCon in Indianapolis

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The Indianapolis tourist board has a hard time of it. Famed for just three things - corn fields, a car race and a rather geek-niche game convention - it's no surprise to learn that, when extolling the city's virtues, people often shorten this already anaemic list to just "corn and cars".

GenCon attracts around 30,000 visitors a year and really should get more respect. It's quite an amazing spectacle, even if you've never played a game in your life, and the enthusiasm and passion for the subject is quite contagious.

TerrorBull Games is still the 'special' runt of the litter though. For a dyed-in-the-wool gamer, our games are almost as foreign as their own practices are to 'normal folk'. This is something that only really hit home during the convention, but since War on Terror and Crunch take their influences more from the real world than other games, they end up being relatively hard to categorise in a hobby that is quite rigidly defined in numerous categories and subcategories of games.

The upshot is that a game like War on Terror is quite a hard sell to a proper gamer. Is it a war game, or a strategy game, or a party game, or a light-hearted game, or a deep, cerebral game, or a 'Euro-style' game or an 'American-style' game? We certainly developed some sympathy for the Indianapolis tourist board over the course of the weekend.

War on Terror is like a dowsing rod for lovely weirdos It was this demanding audience however that made the eventual successes all the more rewarding. Those that were happy enough to throw caution to the wind and buy a copy ended up having a great time that evening with their fellow gaming friends. They learnt that a game with non-fantasy graphics, a spinner, dice, money and a balaclava can still be rewarding 3 hours later. At the same time, we learnt a little more about the existing games market and that a certain amount of (re)education is needed on our behalf to persuade the really hardcore gamers to try something new.

In short, it was a tiring, but hugely entertaining convention, made all the more enjoyable by the addition of meeting friends, both new and old. In fact, it never ceases to amaze us how this game (it's mainly War on Terror that's responsible) keeps introducing us to kind, funny and unique people all over the world. It's like a dowsing rod for lovely weirdos.

Highlights of the con included taking the bus out to the suburbs to an Army surplus store to buy extra camo netting (a very "real" excursion, as Tom rightly identified). There was also a particularly evil moment when a banker came up to our booth to learn about Crunch. After we explained the market-driven price system we had going, he asked if he paid more than the asking price, whether this would push the price up for everyone else. We said it would, so he did - and walked away chuckling to himself.

Of course, we couldn't forget to include the night of the masquerade ball and the vampire party (see the gallery for photos), which rates among as surreal and surprising an evening as we ever experienced in Vegas/ LA. Indianapolis isn't so bad really.

So another piece of the puzzle is laid. America is succumbing, city by city ...

Crunch officially launched. Banker Pinata officially dead.

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So it took us three months to sort out the party, but finally the day had come to celebrate the upside of down and announce to the world that the Crunch is upon us, just in case they hadn't heard already.

The Foundry turned out to be a great choice of venue, we took residence in the old bank vault for the evening and soon had everything set up ready for the party. A good mix of friends, journalists, game shop owners, 'business contacts' and general rif-raf soon started to arrive and the party was in full swing with music being provided by the one and only Pedophile Stepdad.

Before long it was time for Banker Bingo and everyone seemed to enjoy the stupidity of the whole thing, searching for the strangest banking terms and numbers with earnest. Before long we had three happy winners walking away with a mixture of original artworking from the game and pre-cut sheets of Crunch cards straight from the press.

After more schmoozing and beer, and some rather bad-ass break dancing with the aid of the gold bullion turn-table, it was Banker Pinata time, always the highlight of any party. Unfortunatly the banker was just to fat and stuffed with gold to last, the first crazy to attack it had it on the floor and beat the living shit out of the poor thing. Obviously some seriously pent up 'banking rage'.

Just as the frenzy over the chocolate gold had died down the party was over a little too soon. Time for a victory cigar and a brandy and the TerrorBull Trio headed back to the condo to start planning the next party (game).

Big thanks to Stubsy for photography on the night, Rob & Andy for the sounds, Jenn for all the help, Johnathan and the gang from the Foundry and everyone else who made the night a good'un.

It's a Crunch Party!

Next Tuesday 28th July sees the official launch party for our new game, Crunch. It's going to be at the Foundry in London from 7pm - 11pm and we're inviting all of you.

The Foundry used to be a bank and the party's downstairs in what used to be the vaults, so it's a rather fitting location to launch Crunch.

There'll be plenty of fun and games, including a banker pinata and banker bingo, plus music in the form of a DJ set by 'Paedophile Stepdad' (we're not making this up) and a generous dose of prizes and goodies. We're also encouraging everyone to come in 'banker themed' fancy dress and we'll award a special prize for the biggest banker at the end of the evening.

So in a time of hardship and restraint, please join us for a rare evening of decadence and waste. Enjoy the upside of down! Long live the Crunch!

Facebook event page here.

TerrorBull Games instore @ Borders

This Saturday 25th July we shall be instore at Borders, Cambridge from 11am - 6pm, demoing our new game, Crunch and throwing in some War on Terror shenanigans for good measure.

There'll be games (duh!), prizes, silly hats and guaranteed fun. Actually we don't guarantee fun - that'd be crazy. What if your idea of fun was nailing otters to trees? Then you'd be demanding your money back. And we'd be like, 'But it's a free event'. And you'd be, like, 'See you in court, suckers!'. And then we'd be like, 'Your honour, it's just an expression ...'. And the judge would be like, 'Shut it, underling, I have your guarantee here in black and white. You lose. I sentence you all to death by stabbing.' And that would be a bummer. So please, let's stop this talk of guarantees. Come with few - or better, no - expectations.

All three of us will be there to demo games, answer questions and sign whatever it is we have to sign to keep everyone happy. If you're in town, do drop by to say hello. It's nice for us to think we have friends.

Plus, we need to impress the overlords at Borders, so if you've ever considered buying one of our games and have resisted this impulse for whatever bizarre reason, now is the time to do it. Thanks! And see you on Saturday.

P.S. Stay tuned for news on the Crunch lauch party very soon ...