Reflecting on Two Years of Foulplay Games
Wow, how time flies! Once again, we’ve come to a tremendous milestone—two years as an official business. And once again, we are so humbled and thrilled to have the support of all our supporters (now officially dubbed, with much affection, “Foulplayers”) cheering us on along the way! Thank you for helping us make it to year two!
For this special time of year, it is important to us that we take a moment to reflect on the past year (sometimes even further back) and look at all we accomplished and what we hope to achieve in the near—or even distant—future. It’s a nice reminder that, while hustling and reaching for the next goal and thinking of ways to get better and improve are very admirable, there also need to be moments that you can be positive and show gratitude for how far you’ve come, what lessons you’ve learned, and what you are excited for, both personally and as a business.
So without further adieu, here are our thoughts on year two of Foulplay! (And check out our reflection of our first year!)
Maddy:
What was something exciting Foulplay accomplished over this past year?
It was exciting this year to expand our virtual game experiences using a new platform, Gather Town! When this pandemic started, it was hard to even grasp an online murder mystery party, and we have come so far since then! Using Gather Town, we were able to create templates for our hosts where they and their friends and fully immerse themselves in these worlds, explore the map, scheme with other players, and solve a murder. I can’t wait to see what technology will allow us to do next!
What is the biggest thing you have learned since starting Foulplay?
Since we started Foulplay, the biggest thing I have learned is that it is okay to make money doing something that you love. Kristen and I spent the last decade hosting and writing murder mystery games for free and at first, it felt scary to start asking for money. Your worst anxieties and fears start sneaking up on you. As women, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking “Oh, anyone could throw a party, who would even pay for that?” or “There are already so many games and companies out there, why would anyone buy ours?”. Women do so much work and emotional labor when it comes to organizing, planning, and hosting that it's difficult to build enough confidence to say, “We are great writers, we throw great parties and immersive events, and these are real skills we should be paid for.” I’ve learned it is okay to create joy and be paid for it!
What changes and new developments are on the horizon that you are excited about for Foulplay Games?
I’m really excited to lean into our new brand with merch and hopefully see the return of in-person events and comic conventions! Before the pandemic, we had a blast hosting pop-up parties for con attendees and loved seeing strangers become friends by the end of our murder mystery games! With new merch to rock, it would be great to bring new games to our local conventions underneath a whole new look.
Some images of our maps on Gather!
Kristen:
What was something exciting Foulplay accomplished over this past year?
So many things, it’s difficult to name just one! We had so many amazing and exciting things happen this past year that have all come together, but I think one small but very meaningful thing that we did accomplish that probably got slightly overlooked by other things like hosting virtual events (check as one of the great things that happened this year) our new rebrand (yet another great thing that happened) was that we sold our 100th game! I think for me it serves as a reminder of the core of our company and what we are hoping to do, and that is to give folks the opportunity and confidence to host their own parties and make our games their own. It really brings some validation to our company and our product to see people continue to be interested in our stories.
What is the biggest thing you have learned since starting Foulplay?
You’ve just gotta do the thing. There is no waiting for the right time, or for your work to be perfect, for you to be perfect, or for the feeling of certainty to set in--it’s just something you need to do. Working on this company has been a harsh but much-needed master class in making mistakes and failing forward in many ways. I remember when we first started we had such a clear vision and expectations of what exactly we would be doing, what we needed to get there, and how we’d be spending our time building our company and brand. And honestly, almost 80% of it has not been what I (or even we as a team) expected. It’s really the long game of doing and doing and gradually seeing that you can do it. That you have been capable this whole time! In fact, the more you do the thing, even imperfectly, the more certain you will feel about it. So whether that is going to the gym, starting a business, or just picking up a new hobby, you just need to do it and ask questions later.
What changes and new developments are on the horizon that you are excited about for Foulplay Games?
As always, more games! My favorite part is coming up with new and exciting stories and ways to put our Foulplay twist on everything, and we have so many fun, cool new concepts that are brewing away! I guess that’s sort of a generic answer, so I’ll tease a bit more with the idea that we are really trying to think outside the box with our new offerings that are in the pipeline. We’ve also been revamping our old games (including revisiting ones that we wrote years ago before we were a company!) and have been playing with lots of new ideas and potential additions to keep things fresh and appeal to our geeky audience! So I am very excited to lean into that aspect of things (thanks to our new amazing branding as well!) and just geek it up everywhere--in our games, at conventions, in merch--everywhere!
