This piece is from famed designer Mark Herman, a member of SDHist’s Board of Advisors. Mark and that group have been extremely supportive of and helpful with SDHist’s inaugural Night Market (designers selling their small-print-run historical games directly to con attendees) and Skunkworks (designers presenting short pitches on their prototypes to interested publishers, designers, media members, gamers, and more) events at this year’s SDHistCon Summit (Nov. 6-9 in San Diego). Around our announcement of the 10 games at this year’s first-ever SDHistCon Summit Night Market, here are some thoughts from Mark on his initial reaction to the Night Market concept (which has been seen before at both other conventions and independent events, but is being brought to historical gaming here) and how it took him back to his early days in game design. (Herman is seen above with a stack of his designs, and seen at right with Richard Berg reading “Fire and Movement” in 1984; the right photo is by Rodger MacGowan, and both photos come via BoardGameGeek.)

I began to work at SPI (Simulations Publications Inc.) just after the Jurassic period had begun. Publishing a game consisted of melding design, typed manuscripts, photostat machines, typesetting machines, and an X-Acto knife to cut/glue the art to boards. As the purpose of a game publishing company is obvious, the highway from design to market was well lit.

In this era, making a prototype for a game was an analog process where my kindergarten arts and crafts skills were monetized. The process was intimate, slow, but purposeful and collectively resulted in hundreds of SPI-published games.

As I now walk the earth as a dinosaur amongst mammals, everything has changed. While I still honor the old ways, it’s not for lack of digital support, it’s just how I get what’s in my head on to paper. You mammals are imbued with a spectrum of computer and art skills that allow you to create prototypes that are superior in quality to the finished games of yore.

My reptilian mind now asks, “Why do we need game publishers any more? Is it not time to continue the evolutionary process?” I say “Yes, it is. And SDHist’s newest contribution to the hobby, the SDHistCon Summit Night Market, enters the arena.

What is a Night Market? I barely understand it myself except to say it uses today’s tools to publish a small print run of a game, without a company, then sell it to a discerning audience after I am usually asleep. Using the ‘cream rises to the surface’ methodology, my expectation is great designs will be experienced, discussed, and likely find a wider audience in the future.

As a dinosaur I will sadly not participate, as my digital skills are already inferior to my nine-year-old granddaughter. Yet I revel in the idea that I will walk amongst the next generation of designers and their creations. In a word, this November, I will enter the future of publishing.

While I have written this short note in a whimsical manner, I encourage anyone who desires to see their work experienced by more than your personal circle of friends to begin the work of your lifetime, perhaps for a future SDHist Night Market (which is planned to run at each future SDHistCon Summit, and perhaps beyond). The dinosaur in me calls upon the mammals to make the 2026 Night Market the beginning of a new era.