I have one very bad habit - I am attracted to foods that are not good for me. It has gotten to the point that the doctor has put some very strict restrictions on my diet. All of the junk food I used to enjoy is now off the menu. The healthy foods should be filling me up, but I still have cravings for candies, donuts...oh, you name it. The one thing I miss most this time of year are those wonderful Christmas cookies with that icing. So far I've been good and avoided temptation - but since I've been so good, Santa better give me a heck of a present this year!

See you next week.

Will Cy ever finish the game he's working on? Probably, but it's a good bet that it won't resemble the project he started with.

In the meantime, let me share with you a few thoughts that have occured to me lately.

Item one: I'm just one guy! If you want me to hire you or buy your services, think again. I'm just one guy who has been making games for a long, long time and this website is here so I can share some of the things that I've learned with anyone who is interested. I'm not an independent developer who is getting ready to set the world on fire with the next big craze and I'm not itching to contract work out to the dozens of studios that have been contacting me. Rest assured, if I were, I already know who I'd be contacting. On the other hand, if anyone has need of a design guru, let me know!

Item two: When in doubt, recap. That's one of the most important tips to folks running a Toon game. But it also works in other situations as well. Try it in a meeting sometime.

Item three: When shopping for Christmas gifts, think about what the recipient(s) will be doing when they receive the gifts. Sure, folks might be able to get a lot of stuff with a gift card, but they sure aren't a lot of fun to play with on Christmas morning.

Speaking of things to play with, I'm going to start sharing some of my favorite games with you. To start with, Ziggity. If you've got 10 minutes, you can play this game. It's a quick, fun little variation on Cranium where players have to spell a word, add some numbers or perform some other simple task to get rid of their cards before the other players. Like similar games (Uno and Rat-a-tat Cat, for instance) there are a few cards in there that will allow you to make things more difficult for the other players. Over all, if you're looking for a quick diversion, give this game a try.

All right - I think that's enough for now. Let me know if you find this useful and I'll give you more!

Well, that time of year is upon us again. And we have one possible explanation why some folks won't be getting a certain item for Christmas this year. Needless to say, this isn't the first time that demand for a new game system has exceeded supply and it most likely won't be the last, either. My son desperately wants an Xbox 360 for Christmas this year, so much so that he's not asking for anything else for fear that the other item will keep him from getting the Xbox. I explained to him that he might as well wish for the moon, because it will be just as easy to acquire. Ah, youth.