Earn CASH for writing a game review!

Happy 2006 to everyone!

My name is Merwin, and I'm the CEO of Plague Games™ and the primary author of _Dead of Night_, the Bite-Sized Horror RPG by Steampower Publishing™.

Since it's the Year of the Dog, per the Chinese lunar calendar, I took the liberty of performing an appropriate bit of haruspicy.*

While cutting open the fleshy bits of this brand new year for the ooey-gooey surprise inside, I discovered that the time was ripe for a special award:

If you write a published review of Dead of Night, I will personally pay you cold, hard cash for your services. I'm setting aside $240 this year, to be divided up amongst all the people who write reviews for my game. (see ELIGIBILITY AND PAYMENT below)

Please read the GUIDELINES and the HOW TO APPLY sections carefully.

GUIDELINES

1) Above all, be honest. I'm not looking for toadies. I'm looking for publicity and ways to improve the Dead of Night game. 

2) Submit actual play reviews only. Unless they're extraordinarily insightful, armchair reviews are not eligible for any awards.

3) Write about how the game actually worked for you and your group, rather than simply a blow-by-blow of how cool the characters or adventure were. I want to know how I did, as well as how you did. :)

4) Do your best to be professional. Write a minimum of 1000 words with as few grammar and spelling errors as possible. For reference, this message clocks in at nearly 1000 words.

5) Include Advanced Options in your Actual Play experience and write-up, if possible. This counts towards special award considerations. 

6) Point out unique, play-based areas for improvement. This counts towards special award considerations.

7) Read existing reviews and try to cover new ground.

HOW TO APPLY

It's easy:

1) Write your review, following the guidelines above.

2) Send a copy of your review directly to "awards@plaguegames.com". Include your full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and the publication(s) or site(S) you intend to submit your review to, and your preferred award payment method (see ELIGIBILITY and PAYMENT below).

My receipt of your review constitutes proof of who you are, what you wrote, and when you wrote it. I do a word count and a casual spell check in the process of reading your review. Nothing more, nothing less. I will not share or publish your personal information or review without your permission. I even tend to ask before pulling a fair-use quote.

3) IMMEDIATELY thereafter, submit your review to the gaming publication(s) and/or site(s) you specified for "formal" publication as a dedicated review. Places that may accept your submission include: 

Dragon magazine (woo!)
Pyramid online zine
www.flamesrising.com
www.gamegrene.com
www.gamingreport.com
www.indie-rpgs.com
www.rpg.net

If you know of other relatively popular sites or publications, please let me know so that I can add them to this list.

ELIGIBILITY AND PAYMENT

You are ineligible for an award if. . .
1) you playtested the game or received credit for any portion of its production.
2) you received a complimentary copy of the game from any source.
You're on your honor not to ask for an award under the listed circumstances. Sorry, but I'm blatantly trying to incentivize SALES as well as reviews. And heck, you already got your copy for free. Give someone else a chance.

Everyone else. . .

Your reviews are considered for awards from the time they appear in a publication or on a site through December 31, 2006.

Don't delay! Why? First, some publications and sites have extended review cycles. Second, I issue awards to deserving reviews every month in 2006. Third, you're in consideration for an award as long as you're review is available in 2006 -- the earlier you submit a review, the more months you're considered for an award. 

I'm not real thrilled about reviews being "submitted" to a personal (or friend's) blog, BBS, or as a general thread on an industry web site's public forum. However, as long as I can find your review with a simple search using a major engine (e.g., Google, Yahoo, MSN), it'll count.

I issue awards based on the thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and entertainment value of a review. I acknowledge the subjective nature of these criteria, but then, it's my money.

Recipients of awards are publicized, to the extent that people know that I'm following through. Publicity will probably be in the form of "So-and-so won the such-and-such award this month. See his/her review here (link)."

There are three levels of awards: Blood Awards™ ($5), Guts Awards™ ($10), and Gore Awards™ ($??). Money not awarded each month goes into the Gore pool, to increase my discretionary ability. Someone's probably going to get a nice Xmas present at the end of the year.

You can only win one Blood or Guts Award from me for writing a Dead of Night review, regardless of how many unique sites/publications accept your review, and regardless of how many reviews you write. Gore Awards, however, are completely at my discretion.

Awards come out of my PERSONAL monthly gaming budget. Barring any unforeseen personal financial difficulties, I guarantee the following:

I will set aside $20 each month,
beginning January, 2006, and ending December 2006.

If substantive unawarded reviews exist,
I will issue at least one cash award
on the last day of each and every month in 2006.

I pay awards by personal check, in U.S. dollars. I deliver awards using the USPS. Paypal is possible, but they take a commission -- your loss. I can also do straight cash, but I take NO responsibility for lost mail. It's on you, man.

*Disclaimer: No animals or people were actually harmed in the process of writing this promotion.

Plague Games, and the Blood, Guts, and Gore Awards are trademarks of Plague Games. Infectious Fun is a service mark of Plague Games. All rights reserved.

Dead of Night is copyright 2005 by Steampower Publishing. Steampower Publishing is a trademark of Steampower Publishing. All rights reserved.

Sigh.

Can't edit my post, and a quotation mark crept into the link.

Here's the correct link to _Dead of Night_ at the Steampower site.

The game should be available through better hobby and game stores, and online from Key20 Publishing.

Backup links:
http://www.steampowerpublishing.co.uk/don.htm
http://www.key20.com/product.php?productid=91&cat=0&page=3

Sorry I haven't updated this recently, but things have been hectic.

It's May, which means that I'm up to $100 in the awards pool.

It's simple. Play Dead of Night. write an honest, detailed review, and I'll pay you for it.

Reports on the game so far are steady and positive, though most are armchair reviews. Players seem to be truly happy with the game demos at conventions. Nearly everyone buys a copy after they've played, which is pretty uplifting.

As with nearly any game, we have a few diehard fans. You could be one!

With the glut of games on the market today, and considering all our positive feedback and dedicated customer support, you owe it to yourself to give Dead of Night a shot.

For the record, my awards pool is now up to $160. Quite a bit of money up for the taking.

Copies should be available at your LGS. Online, you can find copies as low as $14 from reputable retailers.

What are you waiting for?

Based on the near-total lack of response to the awards pool for actual play reviews, I'll be pulling the awards at 11:59 PM PST, October 30th, 2006.

By that time, there will be a full $200 in the awards pool, which will effectively vanish and be redirected to other development efforts.

It's your last chance to grab a slice of the pie. Don't put it off any longer!