Glewwe Brawl Factory

"A small fish in a small pond."

Welcome to the Brawl Factory. This site is a means for the public to peruse, explore, and/or acquire some of the games created in the Factory without the bother of contacting me directly. It is not fancy, but then neither are the games! I'm an amateur tinkerer, not a professional designer: I have great respect / admiration for those who stride into the arena / market with their ideas and place themselves before the public's judgement / wallet. What I offer is nowhere near as good: those expecting polished, well-presented games (and fancy stuff like proper grammar) will be sorely disappointed by what is found here.

If, however, "good for a laugh or two" suffices to justify some of your time then I invite you to check out my humble offering to the world of gaming.

History of the Brawl Factory

The name comes from the first style of creation that was run at conventions. What began with the Wild West Barroom Brawl grew over the years as different genres were invented (to use all those skirmish / RPG figures lying around...) --the latest being the all-girl Bra-room Brawl. Winners of Brawl-a-thons at local conventions receive the honor (?) of having their name pinned to the Hat.

Though unnamed at the time, the Brawl Factory dates back to the 60's: a trip to the movie theater with my brothers to see "The Alamo" or "Great Escape" was followed by a descent to the basement ping-pong table to set-up / recreate the action with toy soldiers, blocks, and the "binder-gun". Making up games / scenarios for our plastic army men evolved over the years in "Little Wars"-fashion as explorations of history (via those odd book-things that could once be found in places called "libraries") generated details and restrictions to create greater challenges for our growing expectations / feelings for what "felt right" in a game. Board games were also invented: scraps of cardboard were never thrown out in our house!

The purchase and play of "real" games upon exposure / entry into the wide world --where it was discovered that some people actually wrote down and (gasp!) sold the games that they had made up-- did little to quench the creative fires: many's the time I've annoyed my fellow gamers by tinkering with an existing ruleset, as I was always looking at store-bought games not as final products as much as inspiration or raw material for my own twisted plans / ideas.

The Factory was mothballed for a score of years spent "bouncing around". The century / millenia's turn brought a return to the midwest and the associated reunion with the old gaming group / conventions [M.A.G.E.] which --in addition to having a family with growing children who could roll dice and enjoy a game-- led me to oil up the old Factory and begin to churn out odd creations to plague the locals, entice innocents to the world of gaming, and (hopefully) bring a measure of fun to the Cons I attend. I continually try to maintain / support the guiding principle of the Factory symbolized in the draw-from-the-Hat by which the all-powerful god of fate speaks: "Fairness?...what's that?"

Purpose of the Brawl Factory Website

While at those Conventions I've had more than a few requests for copies of this or that game and have given same if they were on hand --eventually I learned to print-up / bring-along extra copies of rules for that purpose. In more recent years, similar interest has occassionaly been expressed on some of the internet gaming sites I've visited, and I have emailed copies of my rules / games and/or posted them on relevent forums.

This page (made possible by the kind permission and work and moochability of my cousin Mark, the gentleman-brewer) is in answer to those accumulated requests to see what I've done (or am doing) regarding game-creation, as well as --in no small part-- to give my huge and needy ego a bit of cyber-stroking. It's only truly valid purpose is to make it easy to satisfy people's curiosity and --hopefully-- cause a bit of fun to be had. That fun is the only immutable guide to what may result from this page's existence, and since personal preference determines what is fun it has the final say in what is done with these games: If some part of a game ruins the fun had while playing --or if a different method / game-mechanic can produce more fun-- then players should discard or change or substitute the offending rule to better suit local tastes. All I ask, as the designer, is that you take the time to send me complaints so that I could possibly repair the game or --better yet-- let me know of your new, better idea so that it can be shared with others: I'm in this for the fun, so the more the merrier!

Game List

The following is far from a complete list, but it does give a decent sampling of the general insanity. Not all of the rules / games shown have copies available yet: since the writing done until now has been "for my eyes only" its quality has been very poor --yes: even worse than in what can be currently downloaded! Many of the games (especially the brawls) exist as little more than notes / scritches to remind me of how to run the game at a Con and require a lot of work (considering my skill level) to bring them to something that resembles a condition suitable for public consumption / understanding --as they reach that point they will be added to the pile. Even those that are "finished" will most likely require a measure of effort / input by you to make them ready for play: not only in regard to the physical printing / construction, but also to the on-the-spot resolution of questions / issues that will arise that have not been specifically answered / addressed in the rules. Here the earlier spiel about personal taste in fun shows its power: if you run into a corner while playing, the best solution is to find your own way out that satisfies those around the table at the time. I'm certainly happy to provide my opinion (if asked), but feel that it will never be better than the one voiced by those at the sharp end.

THE BRAWLS --The titular games of the factory.

WILD WEST BARROOM BRAWL: The Grandaddy of them all -Hollywood-style mayhem in a saloon.

FANTASY BARROOME BRAWLE: A rustic, medieval-style tavern is the imagined setting for this hack-n-slash slugfest of fantasy-genre heroes: last man / woman / troll standing wins.

STAR-ROOM BRAWL: The same general system / purpose as the fantasy brawle, but instead using those figs with blasters or aliens with twelve arms you've got lying around.

SPAR-ROOM BRAWL: Set aboard the pirate-ship-soundstage of a Hollywood swashbuckler of the 40's-50's where players make one of their characters the Captain / Star of the movie!

CAVEROOM BRAWL: Prehistoric battle to see who will be the new Chief of the tribe.

BALLROOM BRAWL: The black sheep (ie: non-miniatures) of the Brawl family. This is a boardgame that represents a fight for dominance between different music / dance styles.

OTHER OFFERINGS -- A mix of miniatures, board, and card games / rules.

OSCAR RACE: Collect the most stars battling the zombie-paparazi-horde on the red carpet.

BEER & PRETZEL SPACE MARINES: Down-and-dirty shoot-em-up based loosely on the Colonial Marines of the movie "Aliens".

SKATING PENGUINS: Playful spoof of 2D aerial / space-combat games.

VERMINKHAN: Rival gangs of rats compete to rule an abandoned dungeon level.

ZOMBIE 500: Horror-themed auto race.

EASTER RACE: Spring-themed competition involving the rites / icons of the season.

SALAD BAR: Filling a tray at a restaurants' salad bar.

CURRENT PROJECTS -- things I'm puttering with...

WW1 Aircombat: World War 1 aerial combat.

GREAT ESCAPE / STALAG 17: boardgame of WW2 POWs.

If there is a game that you have heard of and would like to see (but that does not appear above), or if a listed game you'd like to download is not yet finished / available, send me a note and I will move it to the top of the list. Also: if there is a particular subject / genre that you think deserves to be addressed by the Factory's design department, by all means: let me know and I'll put my twisted mind towards creating something!

Payment Policy

Regarding payment: As many times as people have asked for copies of games, I've been told that "You should sell these." Perhaps so. Unfortunately, my inherent laziness (not to mention lack of professional writing / designing skill) makes the chances for success of such a venture slim to none...and "Slim is packin' his bags". In all honesty, I feel that many (most?) of these games / rulesets are barely worth the paper they're printed on --and since you have to do all the printing I feel you will already have paid enough to get them. That said, I would certainly not turn away any donation / offering to the cause: the Glewwe-Castle Brewery could always use an extra dollar or two to ensure that the flow of carbonated goodness is maintained. If you feel that what you get from here is worth something more than the cost of your time / printer-ink, I leave it to you and your own conscience to decide if some form of renumeration is called for. What I am strongly against is anyone else selling any of this: I have no idea how you would manage to do so, but "There's one born every minute" so I'm sure a market exists somewhere ("But wait...there's more...!"), and I'd hate to see one of my creations up on ebay gouging some poor innocent...that's my job!

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