My good friend Erin Robinson recently released her biggest game to date, Puzzle Bots. If you haven’t played it yet, now’s your chance. Trust me, it’s a keeper. Go ahead, I can wait.

Given that I’d also recently started following The Drunken Moogle, it seemed only logical to somehow combine the two. It is therefore with a great deal of pride—and a moderate amount of less-shame—that I give you…

PUZZLE SHOTS

I tried to ensure that all the ingredients would be readily available, or at least easy enough to find in stores. So, without further ado, let’s meet the team (from left to right).

HERO

• 1 part orange juice
• 1 part vodka
• Dash of blue curaçao

Directions: Mix OJ and vodka separately. Pour blue curaçao into bottom of glass, then gently layer OJ mix on top.
Tasting notes: Refreshing and citrus-y. Quite the go-getter.

ULTRABOT

• 1 part crème de menthe
• 1 part Jägermeister

Directions: Slowly layer Jägermeister over the crème de menthe.
Tasting notes: The Jägermeister provides an initial, punishing Eastern bloc-style punch, while the crème de menthe reveals the sweet underbelly.

KELVIN

• Literally a few drops of crème de menthe
• Sambuca

Directions: Pour a few drops of crème de menthe into a glass, then top up with sambuca.
Tasting notes: As this is mostly made of sambuca, clearly it is meant to be set aflame.

IBI

• 1 part gin
• 1 part grape juice
• 1 blueberry

Directions: Mix the gin and grape juice in a glass. Add the blueberry.
Tasting notes: Ever the shy one, Ibi tends to curl up into a ball on land.

BOMCHELLE

• Rosé wine
• Dash of tabasco sauce

Directions: Pour a shot full of rosé wine. Then add generous dashes of tabasco.
Tasting notes: Starts off sweet enough, but carries a surprisingly potent sting.

And there you have it! Remember people, always drink responsibly. And if that’s not an option, blame the new guy.

Day began with perhaps the greatest blunder of the trip, which was skipping Satoru Iwata’s keynote speech on how to get your Nintendo Wiis to print money for you. I was told keynotes are skippable. I was not told they would be handing out free DS games.

Next was an opportunity to sit in with Emil Pagliarulo (Fallout 3), Fumito Ueda (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus), and Goichi Suda aka SUDA51 (Killer 7, No More Heroes) as they discussed their approaches to game design. The discussion wasn’t mind-blowing, but SUDA51 is certainly a character.

This was followed with a panel of devs working on “smaller” downloadable platforms such as the iPhone, XBox Live Arcade, etc: Vlad Ceraldi, Mike Mika, Jonathan Blow, and Kraig Kujawa (titles and credits to be posted at a later date). This talk I found really fascinating: they delved into the pros and cons of going from large companies/production lines to smaller groups, of developing for one’s self, of working with the various publishers, how and when to put your game out (if indeed that’s under your control), and so on. Really interesting discussion…and as was pointed out, not all panelists agreed on every issue. Good for a dynamic, that.

After lunch was the game design challenge, where three parties were asked to come up with a game design around a specific theme. This year’s: “My First Time,” an autobiographic look at sex. Naturally, this was a giggle-fest. Regardless, the designers really threw themselves at the problem: Heather Kelley and Erin Robinson (pinch hitters at the last minute) took the humourous, mini-game centred approach; Sulka Haro went for user-generated content (and was actually my pick for best design…he managed to solicit a huge range of responses apparently, both the very silly (obviously), and the very touching); and finally last year’s design challenge winner, Steve Meretzky, whose take was much more akin to an old-school adventure game, mixed with text-based IF awesomeness. The award went to the ladies, which, I’m almost embarrassed to say, is to be expected from an audience composed of 90% males. What can I say, we’re easily manipulated.

After this, I wanted to catch Chris Hecker’s (EA/Maxis) lecture on meaning and aesthetics in user-generated content, but unfortunately had to cut it short for a meeting. I did however catch Will Wright’s Russian Space Minute, in which he discussed a Space Shuttle-esque Russian space vehicle (the Buran) capable of delivering multiple badness to enemies of the Paternal-land. Gotta love that man’s passion for just about everything.

As mentioned, this was followed up by a meeting with Dustin Clingman, my mentor, who introduced me to his bud Larry Mellon, a fiend for analysis, metrics, automated testing, and apparently also studies of ancient civilisations. Larry took me across town (well, 10 blocks) to another academic party, and swept me right off my feet. Frigging intellectuals.

Afterwards, I came right back to the hotel (well, “right” meaning I walked around on my own for about an hour), and relaxed for all of 10 minutes before my roommates and a few other IGDA scholars entered, and convinced me to head back out for some more crawling. We had ourselves some burritos at a nearby taqueria (I think this is what it’s called…a Mexican place with Mexicans in it) along with a Negro Modelo beer, then off to Lefty O’Douls, a nearby Irish pub/cafeteria/restaurant/lounge. Not much action there, so we headed instead to the loft of the Marriot (amaaazing view of the harbour) to hang out with some dudes from Blizzard. As you do.

I am apparently learning.

Today was a student-oriented day starting, oddly enough, with student orientation. Got a few tips from Darius Kazemi on networking effectively—it involves basically having no shame. One must know how to get into a conversation, and almost as importantly, how to pass a dud converser on to someone else. I also met my mentor, Dustin Clingman, who gave me similar advice…and also serves as an introduction machine. Somewhat intimidating to watch these gents walk into a room and know 90% of everyone. Then again, that’s part of the game here…

Then, a tour of Three Rings, a local studio working on casual/MMO/puzzle games, run by Mr. Daniel James, Pirate. Very nice studio, hitting a semi-casual, semi-dedicated audience.

The evening consisted of a string of parties—first an apparently “Canadian” party with flags, poutine, Nanaimo bars, and roast beef sandwiches a’plenty. Remind me to have more roast beef sandwiches when I get home, as I’m clearly missing out on a vital part of Canadiana. Next, we caught a cab across the peninsula (surprisingly cheap, regardless) to the Harmonix Rock Band party, where last year, apparently, The Who made a surprise appearance. This year, however, The Who did not appear, and in their stead I did my best not to ruin…whatever song we happened to be playing.

Finally, from there to the main IGDA party, being essentially a ballroom the size of a football pitch crammed with game developers. The smell was surprisingly pleasant, and the company interested and interesting. From there, a short walk through the streets of San Fran—stopping in at The Cellar, a local hole in the floor, to scream over loud music and say hello to my friend Erin, and then back to the hotel to crash.

Well, shower, then crash. Shower, cut myself shaving, then crash. Good night.

Thus far, I have accumulated approximately 50 business cards, met a man with scuba toe socks, played with a mind-reading SDK, sat in a pod, had a number of energy drinks, found a decent local IPA (Lagunitas), and watched some Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

And the conference doesn’t start until Wednesday.

It’s going to be a long week.

Despite my taking my sweet smegging time in brewing this batch, today is the big day—Bottling Day.

I actually managed to clean out the bottles in record time today; one hour, and it’s a bargain. If you’re making beer, let me give you some advice. Get two separate brushes: one for the carboy, one for the bottles. It’s a wee bit more expensive, but I can vouch that having a brush specifically for the bottles, one that isn’t ludicrously oversized and doesn’t require way too much force to use, makes the whole process a whole lot less painful.

This is just a preamble…bottling will occur after supper, and updates will likely be available. In the meantime, check out my newly created brewing album, a hilarious photojournal of the crazy world of homebrewing, the likes of which several of you have likely seen many times before.

Excelsior!

UPDATED: Bottling went quickly and uneventfully, which is how I like it. I’d lost a bit of the beer during the first syphon last month (some detritus got stuck in the syphon itself), so this time there are only 50 bottles, as opposed to the normal 60. Lucky 13 indeed. And apparently I bottled on the 13th. Go figure.