When the GameFix enterprise got started last summer, it hasn't even been a whole year yet! I wondered out loud at the first big "kick-off" meeting in Los Angeles whether there were really enough good mini-games out there to justify monthly publication. Well, at the rate we're going, GameFix could supply you with two of them a month and still have plenty left in reserve! (Don't even think about asking for it, though. It's tough enough getting this sucker out monthly!). The response of designers to the call for what amounts to a new type of game has been most gratifying. (Jon, maybe you had better think about announcing a sixth "genre" to go with the five mentioned in this issue's editorial!) Of particular importance is the variety of topics, ranging beyond traditional wargarnes to diplomacy, sports, science fiction, and action/adventure role-playing. Even many of the military games will tackle unusual topics and employ unique design techniques. Old veterans have nothing to fear, though. Around half the games will have a nice, comfortable feel to them.

Here is a quick rundown (in no particular order) of some of the things you can expect to see in the next year or so in the magazine:

Among Nations- A multi-player card game of diplomacy and international intrigue created by Dan Verrsen (Modern Naual Battles, Hornet Leader). Would you believe each round takesjust four minutes to play? Fast and furious are not strong enough words to describe the action. A perfect lunch-time, coffee-break, between-times card game.

Bio-Mecb- Mike (Bombs Away!) Anderson's science fiction card game of genetic warfare in the not too distant future. If you wonder what Mike can do with cards, pick up issue #4 and find out. Then start salivating for this one!

Smokejumpers!- The term "fire in the hole" takes on a whole new meaning here. You fight the big wilderness wildfires you read about every year in the papers and see on TV. This one is being done by newcomer Kerry Anderson, who happens to work for the Canadian Forestry Service. Talk about an expert in the field.... This one looks like it will be a board game, but cards are not out of the question.

Because It's There!- Another great adventure topic: climbing Mt. Everest. Designer Dave Allen, another of our "new bloods," turned in a respectable little board game, but with a little encouragement he climbed a game design mountain of his own. Now BIT! is set to be a powerhouse card game with no map (the cards provide everything, including terrain). This could be one of those items that eventually enters the collectable card game market. We shall see. First, though, it will appear in the magazine.

Shining Path - Back in board wargaming, we have Brian Train's little gem covering guerrilla war in Peru. Give this off-beat topic a chance, and you will find yourself embroiled in a real fur-ball dust-up of a fight and learn how the "New World Order" is getting along in South America. Brian has a bunch of games of this sort in his desk drawer, He's been designing them for years and putting them away because, as he puts it, "No magazine wanted such smart games." Well, Brian, those days are over!

So Sioux Me! Our columnist Tim Kutta has put together a quick and dirty game covering one of the contests the natives won out on the American frontier, at Fort Ridgely in the Dakota Territory in 1862.

Regulus- Joe Miranda breaks into the card game market with a product that focuses on how ancient armies fought whole campaigns. You will be able to resolve pitched battles quickly and easily, too. This one could grow into a line of card decks, each containing an entire army from any period pre-gunpowder period.

Zulu War--- Dennis Bishop redesigns one of the best mini-games of the 1980s, the one that appeared in BattlePlan magazine.

Baseball- Peter Perla puts the Grand Old Game on cards. No Strat-O-Matic stuff here. You can smell the peanuts and the sweat. Some of that sweat will be yours.