Safe from the Losing Fight

I’ve been hard at work on Fortunate Bear’s next product, but I wanted to lift my head long enough to give a quick preview of what I’m working on. Keep in mind, it’s very early in development and maybe 20% (if that) of the features are done. But without further ado:

(Video is HTML 5, so you’ll need a recent browser.)

As a bonus you get to see my fantastical art skills. The codename for the project is Vectorspring, and I hope to be showing off more as it progresses.

I’ve officially launched my new website Hearts & Tactics today. Ever since I started work on Black Maria, I’ve been wanting a website where I could talk about hearts, and pick up tips on how to play better. As a rule, the better I can play a game, the more I enjoy it.

Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot out there when it comes to places to talk and learn about hearts. Don’t get me wrong: there are tons of places to play hearts. There were two dozen iPhone apps last I counted. It’s hearts strategy and tactics information that’s lacking. There is information out there, but it’s scattered and hard to find. I lost count of how many broken links I ran into when doing research.

Anyway, Hearts & Tactics addresses all that. It has a comprehensive strategy section covering everything from passing, playing, and shooting the moon. It’s not just for advanced players either: it contains strategies for beginners too. It has place where you can talk with other hearts players about strategy, your favorite variations, or where you like to play. It even has a brief bit about the history of hearts, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The goal of Hearts & Tactics is to get more people playing and enjoying hearts. I think teaching some basic strategies and providing a place for those interested to congregate and help each other out will do a lot. So go check it out.

I officially released Black Maria today. If you like card games — especially if you like ones that require strategy — and you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you should give it a try. If you don’t know how to play hearts, no problem, the game will teach you how. It’s also free, so there’s no reason not to go try it right now.

If you want to learn more, you can visit Black Maria’s product page or read the press release.