NEST Won?!

Hello! It’s been a while. I’m still working on the example scenarios, but in the meantime, I forgot to mention NEST won the FIST: Jam Ops contest back in June!

To celebrate, I made myself this… uh… award winning wheat logo? Whatever you call these things.

I wrote NEST in roughly three days in a manic creative spree inspired by a truly questionable kids movie. NEST had the lucky coincidence of being released right around the same time as Stranger Things Season 4. Here’s the funny thing: I knew it drew from the same Kids on Bikes tropes as Stranger Things (and even gave the show a shoutout), but somehow completely forgot Russian soldiers were part of the show. It was all a lucky conspirac – er, coincidence. Yeah, that’s it.

I’ll be the first to admit, this scenario is weird. I basically wrote it for myself. I never thought it’d gain much traction, much less win. Then the kind reviews started coming in, with thoughtful and constructive criticism, and I realized people liked actually liked it. Now, in all fairness, Ripley’s Bleak Isle did get the best score. But since she wrote part of the FIST core rulebook, she recused herself and ceded the prizes to yours truly. I didn’t really believe it until CLAYMORE updated the FIST: JAM OPS FIELD GUIDE like so:

NEST, a heartwarming double-undercover spin on Russkies (1987) ✦FIST: JAM OPS WINNER✦

This was my very first Jam, and I have to say, the amount of creativity on display was astounding. There’s already talk of a second FIST Ops Jam in the works, and I can’t wait.

If there’s one takeaway in all this, it’s never believe in yourself. I didn’t think I had a chance in hell, and I won anyway!