What is cllisti Games?


cllisti Games is my chosen umbrella name under which I will be releasing my game designs. All games will initially be offered for free as Print and Play both here and on their Board Game Geek page. A successful game might get an update to an advanced version or receive expansions that I might charge for. I haven’t decided yet.

Why cllisti Games?


I’ve become quite a big Print and Play gamer. One of my favourite designers is Todd Sanders, who has generously released all his games for free on Board Game Geek. I hope to emulate him. Also, there a number things I’ve come to realise over time on BGG about game design and publishing:

1. Offering a game as a free PnP doesn’t stop it being published. Really good games will be picked up by publishers from the PnP pool anyway. D-Day dice, I’m looking at you.
2. Game designers need feedback from players. Games need extensive play testing to be really good. Free PnP is a two way street in that regard and has a great community on BGG.
3. Practice makes perfect. No great game designer designed just one game. Or if they did, it was a long time coming. Either way, you can get better at it over time if you keep doing it.
4. There aren’t many rich game designers. If I have enough designs, the Long Tail principle might allow a liveable income eventually, but this seems more of a pension scheme than a career.
5. I want my games played more than I want to be paid.

Why cllisti


cllisti is a bastardisation of Kallisti - “To The Prettiest One” - famously scrawled on an apple by Eris, Goddess of Discord, and thrown into a party she had not been invited to on Olympus, ruining the fun with the ensuing bickering. CLL were my wife’s initials before we married. And yes, yes she is.