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Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces
role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...
and other
tabletop games Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, or tile-based games. Classification according to equipment used Tabletop game ...
. Chief among them is the free indie RPG, ''
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'', which has won numerous awards.


History

Fred Hicks Fred Hicks is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Fred Hicks discovered the ''Fudge'' role-playing game system while online and used it for his games based on Roger Zelazny's ''The Chronicles of Amber''. Hic ...
had been working with Lydia Leong, Rob Donoghue, and others to run LARPs at AmberCon NorthWest starting in 1999, and came up with the name Evil Hat for themselves. While on a trip to Lake Tahoe, friends Hicks and Donoghue developed a new game based on a conversation about running another ''Amber'' game and fixing some problems with ''
FUDGE Fudge is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk, heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency. In texture, this crystalline can ...
''; the result was ''
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'' which Hicks and Donoghue would publish under the name Evil Hat. Donoghue and Hicks released a complete first-edition of ''Fate'' through Yahoo! Groups (January 2003) then cleaned up the technical writing and slightly polished the system for a second edition (August 2003). Hicks and Donoghue began work on the licensed '' Dresden Files Roleplaying Game'' in 2004, but publication was held up because they decided to use ''
Spirit of the Century ''Spirit of the Century'' is a pulp role-playing game published by Evil Hat Productions, and based on Evil Hat's ''FATE'' system. It is billed as a 'pick-up' game that can be played quickly, with little preparation. Gameplay ''Spirit of the Ce ...
'' (2006) to introduce the ''Fate 3.0'' system instead. While working on these other games, as a side-project Hicks worked on '' Don't Rest Your Head'' (2006), which would be Evil Hat's first published game. ''Don't Rest Your Head'' was critically acclaimed and quickly sold through Evil Hat's short
print-on-demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...
print run. In 2005, the company began producing a series of commercial role-playing games using an updated version of the Fate system, each focusing on a different genre. These include the 1920s pulp adventure ''Spirit of the Century'' and the hard sci-fi '' Diaspora''. In 2010, they released ''Dresden Files Roleplaying Game'', based on the ''
Dresden Files ''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are wri ...
'' series of novels by author
Jim Butcher Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and '' Cinder Spires'' book series. Personal life Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. H ...
. The FATE system had also been licensed to
Cubicle 7 Entertainment Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed propertie ...
who used it for '' Starblazer Adventures'', based on the British '' Starblazer'' comic. Evil Hat Productions is a part of the
Bits and Mortar Bits and Mortar is an online organization of publishers who support brick and mortar game stores. Background Bits and Mortar was established in July 2010, alternately referred to as a ''publisher's alliance, initiative, or coalition'', which adv ...
initiative and was one of the original founding companies in August 2010. In January 2016, Evil Hat Productions announced print-runs for some of its ''Fate Core System'' games such as ''Venture City'' (2014) and '' Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple'' (2011). The company then announced in September 2016 that they would be bringing both ''
Blades in the Dark ''Blades in the Dark'' is a tabletop fantasy role-playing game by John Harper, set in a fictional city of Doskvol, inspired by Victorian London and Gothic fiction. The game was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2015, raising US$179,280 from 3,925 b ...
'' (2017) and ''Karthun: Lands of Conflict'' (2017) to trade in 2017; both games were funded via successful Kickstarter campaigns in 2015 and 2014, respectively. In October 2018, '' ICv2'' reported that Evil Hat was scaling back with "a total of a dozen projects ..postponed or cut in the immediate future" along with staff reductions such as the Head of Marketing Carrie Harris and the Head of Business Development Chris Hanrahan leaving that month and Senior Art Director Brian Patterson being
laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...
"at the end of 2018". In 2019, Hicks revealed that the role-playing game ''Monster of the Week'' (2015) had a surge in sales after being featured on ''
The Adventure Zone ''The Adventure Zone'' is a weekly comedy and adventure actual play podcast based loosely upon the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game series, along with other role-playing games. The show is distributed by the Maximum Fun network and hosted by brother ...
'' podcast in 2018. Hicks informed ICv2 that "interest in that same month surged to a level similar to our initial product release spike; in practically every month since, sustained interest in the game has vastly outstripped what we were able to achieve ourselves. Only one month, October 2018, dipped below the highest interest level we saw immediately following release in 2015, and was promptly followed by November 2018 where we saw our strongest sales-month ever for the product (possibly due to retailers stocking up for the holiday gifting season)". Hicks highlighted that while ''Fate Core System'' "achieved a big sales surge" after being featured in May 2017 on Geek & Sundry’s ''
TableTop Tabletop may refer to: Mountains * Table Top Mountain in Rangeville, Queensland, Australia * Table Top Mountain (New York) * Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa * Tepui, flat top mountains in South America Places * Tabletop, New South Wale ...
'' "the impact was shorter than it was for ''The Adventure Zone''" impact on ''Monster of the Week''.


Awards

''Don't Rest Your Head'' was a runner-up for Indie Game of the Year at the 2006
Indie RPG Awards The Indie RPG Awards are annual, creator-based awards for Indie role-playing games and supplements. They were established in 2002 by Andy Kitkowski, and are the most sought-after awards in the ''Indie RPG'' community. For the purposes of the Award ...
, losing to Evil Hat's ''Spirit of the Century''. In 2007, Evil Hat won a silver
ENnie Award The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World ...
for Best Rules and an Honorable Mention for Best Game, both for ''Spirit of the Century''. In 2008, the game supplement ''Don't Lose Your Mind'' won the Indie RPG Awards for Indie Supplement of the Year. In 2009, ''Don't Lose Your Mind'' won the Silver ENnie for Best Writing and ''Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies'' won the Silver ENnie for Best Setting; both games were also nominated for Product of the Year. The company won two
Origins Awards The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...
in 2010 for ''The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game'': Best Role-playing Game and Best Supplement for two books in the line. In 2011, the same game won gold ENnie for Best Game, Best New Game and Best Writing, and silver ENnies for Best Production Values and Product of the Year. The company also won the silver ENnie for Fan Favorite Publisher in 2012. The company was nominated for the 2014 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming; the committee wrote that:
Ever since the release of ''Fate'' as a free RPG in 2003, Evil Hat Productions has aimed at two usually difficult goals: skill and elegance in game design, and professionalism and transparency in publishing. Honesty and openness about business realities, and excitement and perfectionism about game possibilities, built the Evil Hat audience from a corner of the Internet to a loyal horde numbering in the tens of thousands. ..By co-creating Bits and Mortar, Evil Hat pioneered PDF-retailer cooperation; using the Open Game License and Creative Commons, Evil Hat built on a tradition of trusting players and designers to build better games. In 2013, Evil Hat hit both its design goals and its deadlines with ''Fate Core:'' five books Kickstarted, printed, and delivered, and over 60,000 copies sold. And ''Fate Core'' is still a free RPG.
Also in 2014, Evil Hat's ''Fate Core System'' nearly swept the ENnies, with Gold awards for Best Game and Best Rules and Silver for Product of the Year, while the related ''Fate Accelerated Edition'' won Gold for Best Family Game and the supplements and accessories ''Strange Tales of the Century'', the ''Fate System Toolkit'', the ''Fate SRD'' and ''Eldrich Fate Dice'', won silver ENnies for Best RPG Related Product, Best Supplement, Best Website and Best Aid/Accessory, respectively. In the Best Family Game category, the company won the silver ENnie in 2015 for the ''Atomic Robo'' RPG and the gold ENnie in 2017 for ''Bubblegumshoe''. ''Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry'' won the gold ENnie for Best RPG Related Product in 2015, and the ''Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game'' received the silver ENnie in the same category in 2018. In 2022, the team of six writers for the role-playing game ''
Thirsty Sword Lesbians ''Thirsty Sword Lesbians'' is a narrative-focused tabletop role-playing game that emphasizes telling " melodramatic and queer stories"."Thirsty Sword Lesbians". ''Kickstarter''. Evil Hat Productions. Retrieved August 6, 2022. The game was funde ...
'' won the Nebula Award in the " Best Game Writing" category; it was the first tabletop game to win a Nebula Award. The game also won the 2022 ENNIE Awards for "Best Game" and for "Product of the Year".


Publications


Role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

* ''
Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
'' (2003) ** The most recent edition is known as ''Fate Core'' (2013) * '' Don't Rest Your Head'' (''2006)'' * ''
Spirit of the Century ''Spirit of the Century'' is a pulp role-playing game published by Evil Hat Productions, and based on Evil Hat's ''FATE'' system. It is billed as a 'pick-up' game that can be played quickly, with little preparation. Gameplay ''Spirit of the Ce ...
'' (2006) * ''
A Penny for my Thoughts ''A Penny for My Thoughts'' is a role-playing game by Paul Tevis, published by Evil Hat Productions in 2009. Description ''A Penny for My Thoughts'' is a storytelling game involving amnesiac characters who ask leading questions of each other to f ...
'' (2009) * '' Diaspora'' (2009) * '' Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies'' (2009) * '' The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game'' (2010) ** ''Dresden Files: The Paranet Papers'' (2015) ** ''Dresden Files Accelerated'' (2017) * ''
Happy Birthday, Robot! ''Happy Birthday, Robot!'' is a role-playing game published by Evil Hat Productions in 2010. Description ''Happy Birthday, Robot!'' is a storytelling game specifically aimed at children. Publication history Not long after they released the books ...
'' (2010) * '' Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple'' (2011) * ''
Atomic Robo ''Atomic Robo'' is an American comic book series created by ''8-Bit Theater'' writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener, depicting the adventures of the eponymous character, a self-aware robot built by Nikola Tesla. The series is split i ...
'' (2014) * ''Monster of the Week'' (2015) * ''Bubblegumshoe'' (2016) * ''
Blades in the Dark ''Blades in the Dark'' is a tabletop fantasy role-playing game by John Harper, set in a fictional city of Doskvol, inspired by Victorian London and Gothic fiction. The game was crowdfunded on Kickstarter in 2015, raising US$179,280 from 3,925 b ...
'' (2017) * ''Karthun: Lands of Conflict'' (2017) * ''Kaiju Incorporated Card Game'' (2017) * ''Scum and Villainy'' (2018) * ''Uprising: The Dystopian Universe'' (2018) * ''Band of Blades'' (2019) * ''Fate of Cthulhu'' (2020) * ''
Thirsty Sword Lesbians ''Thirsty Sword Lesbians'' is a narrative-focused tabletop role-playing game that emphasizes telling " melodramatic and queer stories"."Thirsty Sword Lesbians". ''Kickstarter''. Evil Hat Productions. Retrieved August 6, 2022. The game was funde ...
'' (2021) ** '' Advanced Lovers & Lesbians'' (2022) * ''Elizabethulhu'' * ''Pace'' * ''Texorami!''


Books

Fiction: * ''Beyond Dinocalypse'' * ''Dinocalypse Now'' * ''Don't Read this Book'' * ''Khan of Mars'' * ''King Khan'' * ''Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate'' Non-Fiction: * ''Designers and Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry'' Volumes I-IV (2015, 2nd Edition) by Shannon Appelcline


Board and card games

* ''Race to Adventure'' * ''Zeppelin Attack!'' (2014) * ''Don’t Turn Your Back'' (2015) * ''The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game'' (2017) * ''Kaiju Incorporated Card Game'' (2017) * ''Greedy Dragons'' (2018)


Notes


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Evil Hat Productions
ENnies winners Indie role-playing games Role-playing game publishing companies