I am fascinated by the act of collaboration, and collective creativity.

As twins, myself and my brother used to invent games using pencils and paper. We didn’t have a ZX-Spectrum or an Atari, so we tried making computer games with paper. We called them Computer Games On Paper. Imagine a sheet of paper like this:

On the top you’d have your different weapons, ammunition (shown as boxes), health points (the heart), and so on. The bit underneath, with all the silly doodles, would make up the bad guys for the level. You would draw your stick man on a tiny, torn piece of paper, and move him around the level, trying to avoid or overcome the obstacles.

The other player would take the role of the computer, trying to kill you, and making fair judgements whether or not you could be attacked by the enemies. When you shot someone, you’d flip a piece of paper (one side marked hit, the other marked miss—with certain weapons you could flip it a few times, like the grenade). When enemies shot you, it worked the same way. As you progressed through the level, you’d both draw shooty lines and explosions (and make all the noises).

In the end, it might look like this:

In a way, that’s where Chronicles of Skin began. Why not try this with your kid and tell me how you get on?

It’s all over! Did you get a chance to contribute? More… »

I’m the black sheep in a family of artists. That’s what I’ve been telling myself for years. But every so often, I get a chance to scribble and draw, and you know what? It’s fun.

Over the next few days, I’m going to talk about the artistic influences of Chronicles of Skin. More… »

Wow!

Thanks to the generosity of the community, Chronicles of Skin got funded in a day.

The project started at 2pm on Tuesday afternoon, by 11pm, 20 funders had pledged more than $1,200. By the following afternoon, it had jumped to over two thousand dollars.

This has been a short, but incredible experience for me. I expected weeks to pass.

So, we’re going to get straight into production, full steam ahead. If you’d like to pre-order your own copy of Chronicles of Skin, or you’d like to get a signed copy (or one of the other exclusive perks), you should visit IndieGoGo and place your order.

Thanks a million!