This week on Quoth the Raven we are changing things up a bit from our regularly scheduled posts. We reached out to our friends over at Slugfest Games, previous Con in the Castle Guest of Honor, to see what they were up to. Slugfest’s Director of Marketing, Jen Kitzman, agreed to join us for a virtual interview. Keep reading to find out about what Slugfest has in store for 2020, how you can get involved, and her personal favorites from their lineup!

Hi Jen! Thank you for joining us for this virtual interview. Can you tell us a little more about what you do at Slugfest Games?

You’re welcome, Molly, it’s always a pleasure to chat with you. Connecting with the folks who make local conventions happen around the world is one of my favorite parts of this job! I’m SlugFest Games’ Director of Marketing, but of course since we’re a small company, I end up wearing a lot of different hats. I’m the front line of our email communications, I handle our web store orders, I run the SlugCrew and Organized Play programs, I help event and convention organizers get prize and demo support for their shows, and a bunch of other things that crop up here and there. I also plan our attendance at conventions and lead our booth presences.

What would you say Slugfest is best known for?

That’s easy! We’re known for The Red Dragon Inn, our fan-favorite fantasy tavern brawler, with all of its gambling and drinking antics and expansive cast of quirky characters.

Can you tell me a little more about the 2020 SlugCrew Rewards?

Well, first I’d like to point out that for the time being, we want to encourage SlugCrew members to stay home and play it safe! We’ve even opened up events to include online teaching games for the first time ever, from now until July 31. There are some stipulations that folks can learn more about on our blog post here.

The 2020 SlugCrew Rewards became available this January to members of our international demo team. The minor reward is a trio of promo cards – two new drink cards and one new prize card. You can earn the SlugCrew minor reward in about 4 two-hour long demos (either online or at your friendly local game store when it’s safe to do so once more!) The major reward requires quite a few more demos, but we think it’s worth it – SlugCrew who earn the major reward will receive a preview copy of Melvyn the Minotaur, well before his eventual retail release. This mellow minotaur mage is a master of runic magic, and in charge of the labyrinthine Arcane Archives at the Mage’s Collegium of Greyport!

How would someone go about signing up to be part of the SlugCrew?

Signing up to SlugCrew is easy! Just go to our website, find the SlugCrew page, and fill out the form. There are some ground rules and pieces of advice to read, and you’ll probably want to confirm your email for the SlugCrew Newsletter to keep up to date with the latest Crew news. Once you’ve taken care of that, all that’s left is to get in touch with your local game stores and start running demos (again, either online or later in the year when it’s safe to do so!) SlugCrew is self-directed – we don’t tell you where to go or what to demo, so you have the freedom to schedule your own events and then report them on the SlugCrew page.

Do you have any Kickstarters going on right now? Any anticipated for later this year?

We just wrapped up the Evil Pooky project last month, which received some truly enthusiastic support! Finishing up the cards and components has been going well, and I can’t wait for folks to see the amazing art and delightful humor we’ve packed into Evil Pooky.

As for future projects, we do have a few things on the docket that may launch later this year, but nothing I can announce right now. I will say we have our noses to the grindstone on some exciting new stuff!

Is there anything in 2020 specifically that you are excited for? Will Slugfest be at any conventions this year?

Anything in 2020? Phew! Well, I’ll let my fangirl colors show and tell you that I’m really interested in playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I have big #feelings about the original game, and however the remake handles the material I’m sure I’ll be entertained and find good reasons to dig into it.

SlugFest has planned to attend multiple conventions this year. Of course, with the spread of Covid-19, delays and cancellations are bound to affect our attendance schedule (UKGE and Origins have already been delayed, for example.) We’re moving forward as directly as we can, and still have firm plans to attend Origins and Gen Con this year, as well as making our first trip to the UK Games Expo at their new show date. If we make any big changes without announcements from the shows themselves, we’ll be sure to make that clear on our Facebook page.

For folks hungry for some convention experiences while still sheltering in place, they can check out Con of Champions to help support Tabletop.Events as they rally to keep the lights on. There’s also Play Unconventionally happening in late May, and they’re assembling an ambitious convention-like online experience.

What is your favorite game/series that Slugfest does? 

I love all our babies! Don’t make me choose! Haha, but seriously, I do like all the games we make. Battle for Greyport is probably my favorite game of its type, and Red Dragon Inn is of course one I still love playing after all this time. I’m getting more excited for our eventual release of Tales from the Red Dragon Inn by the month as well; that’s our dungeon-crawler based on the world and characters of RDI!

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