At the end of last year I wrote about our 2010 releases, both new and reprinted. That exercise turned out to be very useful for 2011 planning -- I went back to it a few times a month as I worked on scheduling new releases and reprints -- so here's a review of our 2011 new releases. There were so many reprints that they'll get their own writeup next week!

January -- The year started very strong with the release of James Ernest's Give Me The Brain. It's always fun working with James, and our edition of his fast-food zombie game turned out great. One look at that bright pink box and it will forever be burned into your memory.

And Munchkinomicon was a fantastic first Munchkin expansion for the year. There's a forum thread in which fans are discussing their favorite booster packs. I put my own vote in for Munchkinomicon. I still want a sequel for this wacky pack of spells.

February -- 2011 was a great year for dice, and we started with the +6 Bag o' Munchkin Rainbow d6, a pack of six dice to upgrade your Munchkin and Munchkin Quest games. But as cool as dice are, the big release for this month had to be Munchkin 7 -- Cheat With Both Hands, the replacement to the previous Munchkin 7 -- More Good Cards and Munchkin Blender expansions. And it looks like everyone's loving this one; the first reprint is on its way already.

March -- Hands down, our biggest release of the month had to be Munchkin Zombies. That game ate a LOT of brains.

Also in March we released Munchkin Monster Enhancers, a booster that gave a home to the cards we didn't use from More Good Cards when Cheat With Both Hands was created. It's become very popular with players who want to make their Munchkin games really mean. I love those players!

April -- We only had one new release this month, and it was a much bigger job than we expected. But in the end, the new edition of The Awful Green Things From Outer Space turned out beautifully. All of the effort that Ben, Monica, and Steve put into updating the game was well worth it, if only because whenever anyone sees this new edition the first response is "Wow."

May -- Our first month in 2011 without a new release. Not bad, but I'd rather put something new on the store shelves every month except December (the end-of-year releases have to be out in November). I'm hoping that 2012 will be a little more steady when it comes to new games and accessories.

June -- The successes of Munchkin Zombies and Munchkin Cthulhu were reinforced with the release of Munchkin Cthulhu Crypts of Concealment and Munchkin Zombies Kill-O-Meter, two accessories that have done very well for us. (In fact, Crypts of Concealment performed so well that we had to immediately reprint it. That took us all by surprise.)

July -- In late 2010, we put together a plan to create a bulkier, fancier, more "deluxe" version of core Munchkin. What would we call something like that?  Munchkin Deluxe, of course! And it turned out great, with a gameboard and pawns and a big, beautiful box. Based on what I saw during convention season, players are using this version to introduce their friends to Munchkin. It's never bad when new players discover just how much fun they can have with the game, and the board and pawns make level tracking easier to visualize than ever.

August -- Ken Hite's GURPS Horror is a fantastic update of a classic book. I still remember the first time I read GURPS Horror -- way back in 1991 -- and just how inspired I was after reading it. It's truly awesome to be able to help players today feel that same sense of excitement. And Munchkin players were treated quite well this month with the release of Munchkin Zombies 2 -- Armed and Dangerous, +6 Bag o' Munchkin Level Counters, and the Munchkin Conan the Barbarian booster. Munchkin Conan the Barbarian was personally very exciting for me; I'm a fan of Howard's work and the chance to work on an official Conan expansion for Munchkin was more than I could resist . . . even when my senses were screaming at me that the deadline was unrealistic. Well, we did it and we did it right. 

September -- More dice! The Munchkin Jumbo d6 turned out perfectly. Six colors, six different sets of new cards, and insanely large dice all came together to make this a powerful release. And for those who love plush, we unleashed Zombie Chibithulhu, a cute brain-eater ready to help you in games of Munchkin Zombies.

October -- Just like last year, October was the month in which several delayed releases all ran into each other and hit store shelves at once. We had six new releases: the new Munchkin Axe Cop core set, the surprisingly-fast selling Giant Cthulhu Dice (see the November 18, 2011 Daily Illuminator), the Munchkin Dice Bag (with a rule and cards!), the new blue and yellow Cthulhu Dice, GURPS Tactical Shooting, and our new Trophy Buck dice game.

November -- The final month of new releases and our last chance to bring you more dice . . . so we did! Another new Cthulhu Dice color -- sparkly pink! -- joined the existing swarm, while Munchkin Fairy Dust Dice enhanced everyone's Munchkin Fairy Dust booster and Munchkin Jolly Jumbo d6 made Christmas more . . . well, Jolly! Closing out the month -- and keeping Christmas fun -- was Munchkin Reindeer Games, the latest Munchkin booster. It goes so very nicely with the Waiting for Santa and Santa's Revenge boosters that are already out there bringing cheer to Munchkin games everywhere.

A total of 26 new releases in 2011! That's more than we published in 2010, with only a few bumps here and there (and the bumps were more on the shipping and manufacturing than they were internal, so I'm pretty happy). 2012 which is already shaping up pretty well, with eight new releases already at print and several more in the works.

Thanks, everyone, for helping to make 2011 so successful for us. I hope you'll stick around for 2012, because I promise we have more surprises!

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Back in October, when I was at New York Comic Con, I did an interview with MTV Geek. We talked about Castellan, my day as an extra on The Guild, and our recent string of Munchkin licenses. And through the magic of video and the interwebs, you can watch three short videos at MTV Geek. Thank you to both MTV Geek and our contact, Matt Morgan, for taking the time to chat with me. 

I hope you guys find the videos both entertaining and informative. Just make sure to shield your eyes so my Munchkin Zombies shirt doesn't burn into your retinas and eat through to the back of your skull.

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(Psst, Munchkin fans . . . be sure to check the Illuminator tomorrow!)

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Here are special Christmas rules in effect for all varieties of Munchkin and Munchkin Quest today, December 25, 2011 -- and only today!

1. If you eat a slice of fruitcake, go up a level. This cannot be for the winning level, and all other players must see you eat it -- no feeding it to the dog, who has enough problems. You may do this once per game.
2. If you got jammies as a Christmas gift, start the game at Level 2. If they are footie jammies, you may also automatically Run Away from one combat per game.
3. Wearing a Christmas sweater is a tradition! When you get your starting hand, get one additional card (your choice of Door/DxM or Treasure) for each of the following on your sweater:
   • Bells (must be ACTUAL jingle bells, not just a picture)
   • Snowflakes
   • Reindeer (antlers count!)
   • Bows, ribbons, or tinsel
   • Wrapped presents
   • Santa and/or elves

Finally, if your birthday falls within two days of December 25, in either direction, then you may demand help from other players and they cannot refuse unless the winning level is at stake. That'll teach 'em to combine your presents!

Hoping you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

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As every long-time GURPS fan knows, the next-to-last Thursday of the month marks the release of the new Pyramid. That's why we're happy to announce that we've just uploaded the latest . . .

Wait. According to my notes, I'm seven days late. Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth came out last week. I even made reference to it a week ago -- and I had a pithy note then that it was a week early! The awesome might of this mythical mag obviously addled my mortal brain.

For all you classic crypt crawlers, the biggest holiday surprise in this installment is not one, but two articles for Dungeon Fantasy. "The Golden Geniza of Ezkali" looks at a topic of interest to those unearthing the power of ancient stories (mythematicians?) and uses that lore to build a series of four sinister traps that guard an incredible treasure. Written by Matt Riggsby (author of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 13: Loadouts), this adventure also includes full-color maps. If the heroes escape alive, they can go questing for any of "Seven Mythical Artifacts for Dungeon Fantasy" -- an article that delivers exactly what it promises, in the style of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts.

For a different take on a classic legend, GURPS giant David Pulver scares up a new take on Baba Yaga and her legendary hut. I'm not going to give anything away there, but it features GURPS Spaceships stats.

In addition to a new modern-day campaign featuring the return of the Babylonian gods, this month features insightful articles that deal with classic elements of myth, including death, fortune-telling, and -- of course -- bears.

The latest volume of Pyramid has been going strong for over three years now. If you picked up a 12-issue subscription a year ago, you've received cutting-edge GURPS goodness about magic, psionics, spaceships, GURPS Monster Hunters, Dungeon Fantasy, low-tech, alternate GURPS, and much more. If Pyramid #3/38: The Power of Myth sounds interesting -- and the entirety of human history indicates it should -- then consider subscribing today; you'll save some money while marveling in what new legends we're forging. I like to think I'm delivering lore like Icarus . . . even if my wife is quick to note I'm nowhere near as hot!

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No, we aren't up to 2,011 separate GURPS releases (yet) . . . I'm talking about GURPS supplements published in the year 2011. Playing with word order and comma placement is how editors have fun. However, this editor hopes that you have fun with some of the great content that came out over the past 12 months. Let's review, shall we? My motivations here are strictly archival, of course! I wouldn't dream of hinting that you should spend a little Christmas money to complete your collection.

The year's most awaited item was probably GURPS Horror (also available in hardback). This GURPS classic has been greatly expanded and updated to work well with both GURPS Fourth Edition and a new decade of horror fiction. Like all scary things (if few horror-story protagonists), it didn't show up alone – GURPS Infinite Worlds: Worlds of Horror was lurking nearby.

Not explicitly tied into Horror but in the same vein (that's a little vampire humor) was the all-new GURPS Monster Hunters series. This showed up as a horde of four releases: Champions, The Mission, The Enemy, and Sidekicks. Not to be outdone, an older series had some monstrous fun . . . Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1 came out for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, which also saw the release of its 13th and 14th volumes, Loadouts and Psi.

However, 2011 wasn't just a year of horror and monsters! GURPS Tactical Shooting (also available in softback) and GURPS Social Engineering were both major releases, easily as big a deal as Horror. Meanwhile, GURPS Psi-Tech finished what three other psi-related works started, and GURPS Reign of Steel: Will to Live brought a classic up to date.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and GURPS Monster Hunters weren't the only series that saw growth, either. We added GURPS Low-Tech Companion 3: Daily Life and Economics to the GURPS Low-Tech series, GURPS Powers: Divine Favor to the GURPS Powers series, and GURPS Power-Ups 3: Talents to the GURPS Power-Ups series. The Transhuman Space setting also moved forward, with Cities on the Edge, Martial Arts 2100, and Transhuman Mysteries.

Pyramid provided support throughout all this. This year's issues were #3/27, #3/28, #3/29, #3/30, #3/31, #3/32, #3/33, #3/34, #3/35, #3/36, #3/37, and #3/38. We also kept plugging holes in our GURPS Classic lineup, bringing out PDF versions of the Third Edition books Age of Napoleon, Covert Ops, Faerie, and Special Ops; Ground Forces, Humaniti, and Modular Cutter in the GURPS Traveller series; Grim Legions, Hand of Steel, and Weird War II in the GURPS WWII series; and Personnel Files and Toxic Memes in the Transhuman Space series.

I'll close by noting that I'm writing this recap at the start of December. By the time you read it, at least a couple more things will have been released! You can catch up on last-minute news by glancing at the New GURPS Releases block and checking out the e23: New Releases page.

-- Sean Punch

Yesterday, the inimitable GURPS Line Editor Sean "Kromm" Punch filled you in on the overview of what came out for GURPS in 2011. I'm going to "zoom in" a bit and discuss a few releases I found particularly intriguing this year.

One aspect of e23 I love is that we're able to release more "experimental" items -- ideas that would have been difficult or impossible in the print-only era. For example, GURPS Reign of Steel: Will to Live updated the classic GURPS Reign of Steel setting to GURPS Fourth Edition stats. Although we'd done a Fourth Edition update previously for the Transhuman Space line (see Transhuman Space: Changing Times), this marked the first time we've done an update supplement on a standalone book. Reign of Steel: Will to Live has sold quite well so far -- not surprising, given how cool giant robots are. However, what I found surprising is how much Will to Live goosed the sales of GURPS Classic: Reign of Steel on e23. The month that Will to Live was released, we sold more copies of the original Reign of Steel than in any previous month. Clearly fans "got" the idea that if they bought the original Reign of Steel and the Will to Live add-on, they'd have a complete ready-to-use setting -- and they were hungry to get both! These conversion supplements are tricky to get right, and we're not sure we're ready to tackle another one quite yet, but we're pleased with how this one turned out.

In 2011, we've really tried to take steps toward improving the quality of the art in our e23 releases. The best example is GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1. Each creature comes with a new illustration, making it perfect to inspire the GM or set the mood for players. If you haven't already, check out the Flickr set of illos to see what we mean. Then pick up the full supplement for info on gladiator apes, void brutes, dinomen, and more!

The entire Transhuman Space line got a lot of love over 2011. What makes these new releases noteworthy to me is that they're also useful for just about any near-future RPG (or even more far-flung fare). Transhuman Mysteries (written by fan-favorite William H. Stoddard) offers amazing insight into the future of crime and crimestoppers, while Cities on the Edge addresses all manner of futuristic urban issues. If you're a science-fiction gamer and haven't looked into how fun these can be, consider this to be your secret initiation handshake. (And I probably don't need to plug Martial Arts 2100, since kicking butt will be even cooler in the future than it is now . . .)

Of course, like any parent, I can't pick "favorites" among my e23 children. What did you like most from 2011? Feel free to join the discussion on our forums!

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Today's Daily Illuminator is brought to you by game designer extraordinaire Kenneth Hite.

If you're running a game about chasing Nazi werewolves through alternate histories, this was a pretty good year for you. Not only did you have all that great Monster Hunters goodness from PK, you also got some mileage out of all three of my releases for GURPS in 2011.

Back in May, the Third Edition anthology I helmed, GURPS WWII: Weird War II, came out in GURPS Classic PDF from e23! That book came out eight years ago, in 2003, and it's still just as ridiculously over-stuffed with 1940s-vintage nonsense as it was then! Much of that nonsense is free of statistics (just like all other books about Nazi occultism!) and so, like the Secret of Vril, it can power GURPS games of any vintage.

In August, the new edition of GURPS Horror Fourth Edition dropped in PDF format, and shipped the next month in glorious black and white hardback form. At one point or another, I think that book nearly killed everyone it came into contact with, like one of those sexy shirtless werewolves the kids all love so much. But like the kids who love those werewolves, I think we can agree that it was worth the risk. The werewolves in the book (both the original-recipe medieval werewolf and the modern wolf-man), sadly, are not sexy and shirtless. But here you go: just add Appearance (Beautiful) [12] and Quirk (Shirts can't contain the beast within) [-1], and you're good. Make him a shirtless sexy Nazi werewolf with Intolerance (Total, Non-Aryans) [-10] and Quirk (Thinks Himmler smells nice) [-1] and it's a point-neutral package!

Where was I? Oh, yes. My GURPS books. In September, we all got to see GURPS Infinite Worlds: Worlds of Horror in PDF. This one was, if I recall correctly, e23 Dark Lord Steven Marsh's idea. Having seen me crank out alternate histories by the carload in "Suppressed Transmission" back in the day, he got the brainstorm to commission six horror-themed AHs to support two books at once! Nice going, say I. There are werewolves mentioned in Duzakh (a world where vampirized Etruscans menace the Persian Empire), and they're strangely attracted to world-jumpers in Tsarevich (jumbled 19th-century Russian politics -- and a big old meteoric reality shard in Central Europe -- eventually creates a modern world strangely similar to the backdrop of all Hammer Films). Plus zombies, Frankensteinian monsters, killer robots, and Stalin! Stalin is not a werewolf. He's much, much worse.

What's that? You're not running a game about chasing Nazi werewolves through alternate histories? Hmmm. How about a game of insane bushido cultists (warped by the Corruption rules in GURPS Horror Fourth Edition) using Mass Magic from GURPS WWII: Weird War II to blow open a gate between worlds? (Imperial Japan is the world's leading power in Reality Gotha-Z! Admittedly, the rest of the world is pretty much overrun by zombies -- but still.) Who knows what could emerge? (See pp. 72, 79, and 97 of GURPS Horror Fourth Edition for what could emerge. And p. 126 for some hints on how to reveal it.) There you go! Glad I could help.

See you all in 2012!

I spend my days helping to make sure the wheels run smoothly on e23. Although we have an amazing selection of Steve Jackson Games releases on our dazzling digital domain, we also offer lots of interesting PDFs from other publishers. The end of the year is a good time to look over their high-rated releases (which usually translates to "what should I -- Steven Marsh -- check out because it looks so cool?").

Amarillo Design Bureau makes detailed tactical games, but with those details come lots of rules and options to keep track of. So it's no surprise that fans are delighted to have compiled versions of the rulebooks available as searchable PDFs. The Federation Commander Reference Rulebook is a huge hit, as is Star Fleet Battles: Electronic Master Rulebook (which actually came out in December of last year, and sold enough this year to keep it a top-seller).

Fans of GURPS also bought lots of copies of their licensed Fourth Edition supplements, including GURPS Prime Directive, GURPS Federation, and GURPS Klingons. There's a lot of futuristic fun in these supplements, and I won't be surprised if I spend part of my holiday looking for adventure among the stars.

Atlas Games has also released a gaggle of goodies that got my gaming juices flowing. As an RPG omnivore, my tastes drifted toward a slew of classic and award-winning RPG core rulebooks that were uploaded to e23 this year, including Feng Shui: Action Movie Roleplaying (pistol-packing kung-fu hijinks), Unknown Armies 2nd Edition (modern occult intrigue), and Over the Edge Second Edition (which has the subtitle The Roleplaying Game of Surreal Danger . . . and I can't top that). Of particular note is the Ars Magica 5th Edition Core Rulebook; it was just uploaded a few weeks ago, but it's already conjured a lot of buzz (unsurprising, given how popular the rest of the Ars Magica line is).

At e23 we also feature non-system material, of use to any gamer, which is why Hamlet's Hit Points -- and the gamerly analytical insight it brings to three classic tales -- has found such an appreciative audience. A bunch of Traveller fans also picked up the 40-Ton Slow Pinnace by the inimitable Loren K. Wiseman (editor of our own Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society). Finally, the old-school geek in me was delighted that we uploaded Grimtooth's Traps, a classic systemless supplement that's been maiming heroes for decades.

The electronic publishing revolution has made it easier and more affordable than ever for gamers to expand their horizons, and e23 has been proud to help make that happen. The future is now . . . and it's a lot of fun!

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