So, it seems that the small press/indie games scene in the UK and Ireland isn't quite as vibrant as it is in the US. So what can we as a community do to promote small press stuff, get people playing, talking and designing? Well, a bunch of us here in the UK have got together to set up The Collective Endeavour, a collective (funny that) of small press publishers based in the UK.

So here's our press release spiel...

The Collective Endeavour has been set up by a group of British small-press games publishers to help and promote games design and play.

The Collective Endeavour website (www.collective-endeavour.com) is a place where you can sign up and talk about design, play, conventions and other gaming related things of interest. If you’ve got an idea for a game in your head, want to ask how to publish something you’ve already written, aren’t sure about how to get a games PDF out there or any number of design and publishing related questions, then it’s the ideal place to ask. The founders of the site will always be on hand to help out with questions such as this, as will other site members. And you’re also encouraged to post reports of your actual play experiences: what was fun for you and your group, what made the game cool, what things did you take away from it? Play is the heart of our hobby, and your experiences can help improve the experiences of others.

We’d love to see people pitch up at the website with a little idea for a game and in six month, a year, or however long it take, have their own game out there in print, PDF or whatever format they chose to distribute it. The Collective Endeavour is there to promote and assist just this kind of thing. On the site you’ll also find blogs, project reports and other notes and queries from the site co-ordinators. The Collective Endeavour will also have a presence at many UK conventions, promoting small-press games.

Who Are The Collective?

After many discussions about small-press publishing in the UK, a number of independent small press games designers came together to form the Collective Endeavour. And they are: Malcolm Craig (Contested Ground Studios), Gregor Hutton (BoxNinja), Andrew Kenrick (Steampower Publishing), Matt Machell (Realms Publishing), Iain McAllister (Contested Ground Studios), Joe J Prince (Prince of Darkness Games).

End of spiel...

Now, please don't feel that this is purely a venue for discussion by those base din the Uk and Ireland. We'd love to make it a place where, like story games, people from all over the place can contribute. However, it's kind of useful for things like publishing, print and production to have a view from our side of the pond, as sometimes things can be a little different over this way.

In conclusion, we'd like to welcome any and all people to come and join the Endeavour. The more support we can get, the bigger a success it will be. Hopefully people will see value in our efforts, not as competition to sites like here, Story Games and RPGnet, but as complementary to the efforts carried out by all these other sites.

Cheers
Malcolm