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Evil Hat Productions

{{Short description|Tabletop role-playing game publisher}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Evil Hat Productions

| logo = Evilhat-logo.jpg

| logo_size = 244px

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| type = Privately held company

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| location_country = United States

| location =

| origins =

| key_people = Rob Donoghue and Fred Hicks

| area_served =

| industry = Role-playing

| products = Fate, The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game, Blades in the Dark, Thirsty Sword Lesbians

| services =

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| homepage = [http://www.evilhat.com/ www.evilhat.com]

| dissolved =

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}}

Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.

History

Fred Hicks 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.{{Cite book |author=Shannon Appelcline |title=Designers & Dragons |publisher=Mongoose Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907702-58-7}}{{rp|421}} 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; the result was Fate which Hicks and Donoghue would publish under the name Evil Hat.{{rp|421}} 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).{{rp|421}} 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 (2006) to introduce the Fate 3.0 system instead.{{rp|423}} 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.{{rp|423}} Don't Rest Your Head was critically acclaimed and quickly sold through Evil Hat's short print-on-demand print run.{{rp|424}}

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 series of novels by author Jim Butcher.{{Cite web |title=Evil Hat Productions - Home |url=http://www.evilhat.com/?about |access-date=2011-02-03}} The FATE system had also been licensed to Cubicle 7 Entertainment who used it for Starblazer Adventures, based on the British Starblazer comic.{{Cite web |title=Starblazer from Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd |url=http://www.cubicle-7.com/starblazer.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207152139/http://www.cubicle-7.com/starblazer.htm |archive-date=2011-02-07 |access-date=2011-02-03}}

Evil Hat Productions is a part of the Bits and Mortar initiative and was one of the original founding companies in August 2010.{{Cite web |title=Bits and Mortar |url=http://www.bits-and-mortar.com/2010/08/launch |access-date=2013-09-07 |archive-date=2014-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801223146/http://www.bits-and-mortar.com/2010/08/launch/ |url-status=dead }} Publisher Coalition Forms Pro-Retailer Pro-PDF Initiative Bits and Mortar

In January 2016, Evil Hat Productions announced print-runs for some of its Fate Core System games such as{{Cite web |date=January 14, 2016 |title=Evil Hat Expands 'Fate Core' Offerings |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/33473/evil-hat-expands-fate-core-offerings |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}} Venture City (2014){{Cite web |last=Tremaine |first=Kate |date=2022-05-25 |title=10 Best Quick-Start Fate Adventures, According To DriveThruRPG.com |url=https://www.cbr.com/best-quick-start-fate-adventures-drivethrurpg/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=CBR |language=en-US}} and Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple (2011).{{Cite magazine |last=Harnish |first=M. J. |title=An In-Depth Review of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/10/an-in-depth-review-of-do-pilgrims-of-the-flying-temple/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |issn=1059-1028}} The company then announced in September 2016 that they would be bringing both Blades in the Dark (2017) and Karthun: Lands of Conflict (2017) to trade in 2017; both games were funded via successful Kickstarter campaigns in 2015 and 2014, respectively.{{Cite web |date=September 13, 2016 |title=Evil Hat Brings Successful Kickstarter RPGs to Trade |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/35493/evil-hat-brings-successful-kickstarter-rpgs-trade |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}

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 "at the end of 2018".{{Cite web |last=Bunge |first=Nicole |date=October 3, 2018 |title=Evil Hat Dials Back New Publishing for 2019 |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/41510/evil-hat-dials-back-new-publishing-2019 |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=ICv2 |language=en}} Game designer Alex Roberts told Polygon that her game For the Queen (2019) was "the last boxed game" released by Evil Hat as the publisher shifted to exclusively releasing books and that originally, the game was "almost on the chopping block" as it was "80% done" when the publisher made their change.{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=2024-05-23 |title=For the Queen's creator on the new edition, her many copycats, and her balloon-kink RPG |url=https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/24161224/for-the-queen-second-edition-changes-darrington-press-descended-games |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}

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 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)".{{Cite web |date=February 3, 2019 |title='The Adventure Zone' Bump -- Sales of Little-Known RPG Surge |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/42405/the-adventure-zone-bump-sales-little-known-rpg-surge |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}} Hicks highlighted that while Fate Core System "achieved a big sales surge" after being featured in May 2017 on Geek & Sundry’s TableTop "the impact was shorter than it was for The Adventure Zone" impact on Monster of the Week. Lin Codega of Rascal highlighted that "while it was never out of stock during its four-year run at Evil Hat, after For the Queen was featured on Shut Up, Sit Down, it became exceptionally hard to find at physical distributors, according to a spokesperson from Evil Hat".{{Cite web |last=Codega |first=Lin |date=May 21, 2024 |title=A new audience For The Queen |url=https://www.rascal.news/a-new-audience-for-the-queen/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=April 25, 2025 |website=Rascal News |language=en}}

Awards

Don't Rest Your Head was a runner-up for Indie Game of the Year at the 2006 Indie RPG Awards, losing to Evil Hat's Spirit of the Century.{{rp|424}} In 2007, Evil Hat won a silver ENnie Award for Best Rules and an Honorable Mention for Best Game, both for Spirit of the Century.{{Cite web |date=2015-08-01 |title=2007 Noms and Winners |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2007-noms-and-winners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211163745/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2007-noms-and-winners/ |archive-date=2015-12-11 |access-date=2015-12-20 |publisher=ENnie Awards}} In 2008, the game supplement Don't Lose Your Mind won the Indie RPG Awards for Indie Supplement of the Year.{{Cite web |title=Indie RPG Awards |url=http://indie-rpg-awards.com/2008/supplement_of_year.shtml}} 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.{{cite web |title=2009 Noms and Winners {{!}} ENnie Awards |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2009-noms-and-winners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427011140/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2009-noms-and-winners/ |archive-date=2013-04-27 |website=www.ennie-awards.com}}

The company won two Origins Awards 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.{{Cite web |date=2011-02-26 |title=2011 Noms and Winners |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2011-nominees-and-winners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190312050617/http://diehardgamefan.com/2011/12/26/diehard-gamefans-2011-tabletop-gaming-awards/ |archive-date=2019-03-12 |access-date=2015-12-20 |publisher=ENnie Awards}} The company also won the silver ENnie for Fan Favorite Publisher in 2012.{{cite web |title=2012 Noms and Winners | ENnie Awards |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2012-noms-and-winners |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829103719/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/about-us/2012-noms-and-winners |archive-date=29 August 2019 |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=www.ennie-awards.com}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2015-05-23 |title=The 2014 Award |url=https://www.dianajonesaward.org/the-2014-award/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=The Diana Jones Award |language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web |date=2014-08-16 |title=Announcing the 2014 ENnie Award winners |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/announcing-the-2014-ennie-award-winners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409154339/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/announcing-the-2014-ennie-award-winners/ |archive-date=2019-04-09 |access-date=2015-12-20 |publisher=ENnie Awards}}

In the Best Family Game category, the company won the silver ENnie in 2015 for the Atomic Robo RPG{{Cite web |date=2015-08-01 |title=Congratulations to all the 2015 ENnie Award Winners! |url=http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/congratulations-to-all-the-2015-ennie-award-winners/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212015626/http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/congratulations-to-all-the-2015-ennie-award-winners |archive-date=2015-12-12 |access-date=2015-12-20 |publisher=ENnie Awards}} 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. Evil Hat won "Best Setting" in both the 2018 and 2019 Indie Groundbreaker Awards from Indie Game Developer Network, for Arecibo and The Way of Pukona.{{Cite web |title=Previous Award Winners |url=https://www.igdnonline.com/previous-award-winners |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Indie Game Developer Network |language=en-US}}

In 2022, the team of six writers for the role-playing game Thirsty Sword Lesbians won the Nebula Award in the "Best Game Writing" category; it was the first tabletop game to win a Nebula Award.{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2022 |title=Thirsty Sword Lesbians Wins Nebula Award for Best Game Writing |url=https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/thirsty-sword-lesbians-ttrpg-nebula-award-winner/ |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=ComicBook.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-05-23 |title=Sapphic and sharp tabletop RPG Thirsty Sword Lesbians wins Nebula Award for best game writing |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/news/thirsty-sword-lesbians-nebula-awards-winner-2022 |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}} The game also won the 2022 ENNIE Awards{{efn|Previously stylized as the ENnie Awards.|name=}} for "Best Game"{{Cite tweet|number=1555739788325621760|user=ENnies|title=Best Game Silver goes to: Root: The RPG Gold goes to: Thirsty Sword Lesbians|author=ENNIE Awards|author-link=ENNIE Awards|date=August 5, 2022|access-date=August 6, 2022}} and for "Product of the Year".{{Cite tweet|number=1555740846057820161|user=ENnies|title=Product of the Year Silver goes to: Call of Cthulhu Classic Prop Set Gold goes to: Thirsty Sword Lesbians|author=ENNIE Awards|author-link=ENNIE Awards|date=August 5, 2022|access-date=August 6, 2022}}

Publications

{{Incomplete list|date=August 2022}}

=[[Role-playing games]]=

  • Fate (2003)
  • The most recent edition is known as Fate Core (2013)
  • Don't Rest Your Head (2006)
  • Spirit of the Century (2006)
  • A Penny for my Thoughts (2009)
  • Diaspora (2009)
  • Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies (2009)
  • The Dresden Files Roleplaying Game (2010)
  • Dresden Files: The Paranet Papers (2015){{Cite web |date=March 10, 2015 |title='Dresden Files RPG: The Paranet Papers' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/31055/dresden-files-rpg-the-paranet-papers |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Dresden Files Accelerated (2017){{Cite web |date=July 3, 2017 |title='Dresden Files Accelerated' Printing Errors |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/37886/dresden-files-accelerated-printing-errors |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Happy Birthday, Robot! (2010)
  • Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple (2011)
  • Atomic Robo (2014)
  • Monster of the Week (2015)
  • Bubblegumshoe (2016){{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
  • Blades in the Dark (2017)
  • Blades in '68 (2025) {{cite web |url=https://evilhat.com/blades-68-playtest/ |publisher=Evil Hat Productions|title=Blades in 68' Playtest|date=2025-02-18}}
  • Karthun: Lands of Conflict (2017)
  • Kaiju Incorporated Card Game (2017){{Cite web |date=September 16, 2016 |title=Evil Hat Takes on Giant Monsters in 'Kaiju Incorporated' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/35536/evil-hat-takes-giant-monsters-kaiju-incorporated |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Scum and Villainy (2018){{Cite web |last=Wieland |first=Rob |date=November 26, 2018 |title=Roleplay as Scoundrels In Space In SCUM AND VILLAINY |url=https://nerdist.com/article/scum-and-villainy-lets-you-roleplay-heists-in-space/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=Nerdist |publisher=Geek & Sundry |language=en-US}}
  • Uprising: The Dystopian Universe (2018){{Cite web |date=March 30, 2018 |title=Indie Boards & Cards Dystopian Universe is Now an RPG |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/40046/indie-boards-cards-dystopian-universe-now-rpg |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 1, 2019 |title=Origins Award Nominees |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43096/origins-award-nominees |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Band of Blades (2019){{Cite web |date=January 31, 2019 |title=Evil Hat Presents 'Band of Blades' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/42390/evil-hat-presents-band-blades |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Fate of Cthulhu (2020){{Cite web |last=Rochlin |first=Jason |date=2020-01-22 |title=Fate of Cthulhu Tabletop Game Sparks Controversy |url=https://gamerant.com/fate-of-cthulhu-tabletop-controversy/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=Game Rant |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=April 24, 2019 |title=The 'Fate of Cthulhu' Looms |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/43045/the-fate-cthulhu-looms |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Thirsty Sword Lesbians (2021){{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Chase |date=2022-05-23 |title=Sapphic and sharp tabletop RPG Thirsty Sword Lesbians wins Nebula Award for best game writing |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/news/thirsty-sword-lesbians-nebula-awards-winner-2022 |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}}
  • Advanced Lovers & Lesbians (2022){{Cite web |last=Meehan |first=Alex |date=2021-11-10 |title=Advanced Lovers & Lesbians first expansion for Thirsty Sword Lesbians RPG |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/thirsty-sword-lesbians/news/advanced-lovers-and-lesbians-ks |access-date=2023-04-21 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}}
  • Elizabethulhu{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
  • Pace{{Cite web |last=Israel |first=Cecily |date=May 18, 2009 |title=Sequential Tart: Spirit of the Game (Volume 12 Issue 5, May 2009) |url=http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1394 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802191822/http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1394 |archive-date=August 2, 2021 |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=Sequential Tart |type=Interview}}{{Year needed|date=August 2022}}
  • Texorami!{{Year needed|date=August 2022}}
  • Apocalypse Keys (2023){{Cite web |last=Wieland |first=Rob |title=Monsters Save The World In The Apocalypse Keys RPG |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwieland/2022/10/10/monsters-save-the-world-in-the-apocalypse-keys-rpg/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Chase |date=2023-01-19 |title=7 most anticipated new tabletop RPGs coming out in 2023 |url=https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/23552077/most-anticipated-indie-tabletop-rpg-2023-best-ttrpg-releases |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}

=Books=

Fiction:

  • Beyond Dinocalypse {{ISBN|978-1-61317-016-8}}
  • Dinocalypse Now {{ISBN|978-1-61317-003-8}}
  • Don't Read this Book {{ISBN|978-1-61317-012-0}}
  • Khan of Mars {{ISBN|978-1-61317-018-2}}
  • King Khan {{ISBN|978-1-61317-019-9}}
  • Sally Slick and the Steel Syndicate {{ISBN|978-1-61317-063-2}}

Non-Fiction:

  • Designers and Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry Volumes I-IV (2015, 2nd Edition){{efn|First edition was produced by Mongoose Publishing.{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2012 |title=Expanded 'Designers & Dragons' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/23915/expanded-designers-dragons |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}}} by Shannon Appelcline{{Cite web |date=August 6, 2014 |title=Expanded 'Designers & Dragons' Four-Volume Set |url=https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/29336/expanded-designers-dragons-four-volume-set |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}

=Board and card games=

  • Race to Adventure{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
  • Zeppelin Attack! (2014){{Cite web |date=July 7, 2014 |title='Zeppelin Attack!' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/29037/zeppelin-attack |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Don’t Turn Your Back (2015){{Cite web |date=May 6, 2015 |title=New Dark and Gritty Deck-Building Game from Evil Hat |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/31519/new-dark-gritty-deck-building-game-evil-hat |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game (2017){{Cite web |date=January 13, 2016 |title=Preview: 'The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/33463/preview-the-dresden-files-cooperative-card-game |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=May 19, 2017 |title=Review: 'The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game' (Card Game) |url=https://icv2.com/articles/reviews/view/37556/review-the-dresden-files-cooperative-card-game-card-game |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • Kaiju Incorporated Card Game (2017)
  • Greedy Dragons (2018){{Cite web |date=January 19, 2018 |title=Split the Hoard in Evil Hat's 'Greedy Dragons' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/39398/split-hoard-evil-hats-greedy-dragons |access-date=2022-08-07 |website=icv2.com |language=en}}
  • For the Queen (2019){{Cite web |last=Dohm-Sanchez |first=Jeffrey |date=January 24, 2024 |title=Critical Role's Darrington Press Announces 'For the Queen 2E' |url=https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/56077/critical-roles-darrington-press-announces-for-queen-2e |access-date=April 25, 2025 |website=ICv2 |language=en}}

Notes

{{notelist}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

  • [http://www.evilhat.com Evil Hat Productions]

Category:ENnies winners

Category:IGDN Winners

Category:Indie role-playing game publishing companies

Category:Role-playing game publishing companies