The 3d6 Gaming Story
All of my fondest memories of being a kid in eastern Pennsylvania have something to do with either sports or games. I loved playing games of pick up tackle football or sliding around a frozen creek playing hockey. There were the countless hours of practicing my tennis stroke against the elementary school wall, and of course the years and years of Little League Baseball. When stuck indoors, my favorite games were See Action Football, Talking Monday Night Football, Statis-Pro Baseball, and Strat-O-Matic Baseball. I played Statis-Pro through Junior High, but then home computers came along and the board games were relegated to the closet.
Through High School, my computers were the TRS-80 Model 4, and the Mac 512K. You should be able to guess my age with those references! I really enjoyed programming and even developed my own golf game in BASIC on the TRS-80, with ASCII graphics and sound! MacGolf, MicroLeague Baseball, and Pro League Football were my games of choice in those early years and on through college. The best sports-gaming league I was ever involved in was for an old Mac game called Playmaker Football. I played in this league for a number of years after college while living in San Diego. Good times!
Of course I was also hooked on all the console games through the years, and still grab a controller from time to time. While the best sports video game of all time will always be Tecmo Super Bowl (yes, I still play the modded version every year), I think I played all the rest at one point or another. Oddly, while I still enjoy the console games to this day, I have been uninterested PC simulations for going on 10+ years now.
From 2007 through 2011, I hosted padresfanmods.net, a pc-mod site for Out of the Park Baseball by Out of the Park Developments, PureSim Baseball by Wolverine Studios, SAT Football by Roo Games, and PC Replay Baseball by Replay Publishing baseball. I spent a lot of time creating graphics and sound files for all 3 games through the early 2000's and played the heck out of all of them. I believe I am still the voice of the "play by play" announcer in PC Replay Baseball, and the "referee" in SAT Football. But in early 2012 I walked away from the PC sports gaming community as I had just re-discovered table-top sports gaming and the PC games weren't giving me that sense of fun that I used to get from those early games I played as a kid.
It was in 2010 that I discovered Jeff Downey Games, Replay Publishing, and of course PLAAY. I re-cut my tabletop gaming teeth on Game Winning Drive, Grid Iron Wars, Cardboard Baseball, Time Travel Baseball, Replay Baseball, and Red, White & Blue Racin'. It was through my enthusiasm for RWBR that I struck up a fast friendship with Keith Avallone and was privileged to help play-test History Maker Baseball in 2013. I also contributed to History Maker Golf and it wasn't long before I was churning out scoresheets, game helpers, and other accessories for all of Keith's games.
I've always had an interest in creating and sharing additional content for the games I love, as I like to have a connection with the greater gaming community given that these games are played primarily solitaire. In 2015 I decided to try my hand at a YouTube gaming channel, named Hands-On-Games as I didn't plan to put my face on camera all that much. The channel is still out there if you want to check it out.
Under the 3d6 Gaming banner I have collected all of my shared content including my published games, home-brewed content, and 3D printed accessories. I hope that this website will serve as a useful resource for people who share a passion for the same games that I do.
Follow my 3d6 Persona on Facebook here. This is where I plan to stay engaged with the 3d6 community. Or feel free to email me at the address below.
- Al Wilson, April 2024
contact: alwilson3d6@gmail.com
Best Friends of 3d6 Gaming
The highest quality people in the tabletop gaming community. Without the continued support of these individuals, there would be no 3d6 Gaming.
Keith and Sam Avallone at PLAAY Games. Please visit PLAAY.com and learn about all their great games.
Steve Tower at After Further Review. Steve has showcased my games more than any other YouTube channel over the years.
James Cast over at the Tabletop Sportcast. I love being on his show for an interview. Big help in my games development process too!
Travis Jansen from the PLAAY Community. Check out his great 3D printed accessories here. He may take Torchy's Tacos gift cards for payment.
Harvey Couch from the PLAAY Community. Harvey has been a big help in many of my published games. If you like the band Widespread Panic, check out his podcast here.
Bob Hansen from the PLAAY Community. He's got a great (private) Tabletop Sports Games Facebook page. Maybe he will let you join!
Cooper Gilbert from the PLAAY Community. Do you need the nicest human being who can also overcomplicate the most elegant game design in seconds? Cooper's your guy!
Paul "Saucy Boy" Salzgeber from the PLAAY Comnunity. My birthday twin and best selfie partner.
Mark Miller (aka Jerry Cuan on Facebook). Easily the biggest fan of Fast Drive Football, and an incredibly generous friend. I am forever grateful for all that he has contributed to FDF.
Brien Aronov from the PLAAY Community. Was a big help in completing Fast Inning Baseball and contributed a ton of NPB content for the game.
S.T. Patrick who has featured both Fast Drive Football and Fast Inning Baseball in his quarterly publication dedicated to our wonderful hobby, Sports Sim Magazine.
3d6 Gaming on the Internet
Apr 2024 - James Cast talks about Fast Inning Baseball on the Tabletop Sportcast Podcast. Link.
Mar 2024 - Issue #15 of Sports Sim Magazine features 3d6 Gaming's newest game, Fast Inning Baseball. Link.
Jan 2024 - Dave Gardner plays some Five Dice Pro Football on his YouTube channel. Link.
Dec 2023 - Steve "AFR" Tower takes a first look at Fast Inning Baseball on After Further Review. Link.
Dec 2023 - James Cast and I have a chat about Fast Inning Baseball on the Tabletop Sportcase Podcast. Link.
Dec 2023 - Dave Gardner takes a first look at Fast Inning Baseball on his YouTube channel. Link.
Jan 2023 - James Cast and I have a chat about Fast Drive Football v2.0 on the Tabletop Sportcast Podcast. Link.
Jan 2023 - Dave Gardner takes a first look at Fast Drive Football v2.0 on his YouTube channel. Link.
Jan 2023 - Marco Scola plays some Fast Drive Football on his YouTube channel. Link.
Dec 2021 - James Cast looks at the College Edition of Fast Drive Football on the Tabletop Sportscast Podcast. Link.
Aug 2021 - I'm interviewed by the gang at the Digital to Dice Podcast. Link.
Nov 2021 - Steve "AFR" Tower takes a first look at the Fast Drive Football Comissioner Expansion on After Further Review. Link.
Jul 2021 - Dave Gardner takes a first look at Fast Drive Football on his YouTube channel. Link.
Jul 2021 - I'm interviewed by Geoff Giordano on the APBA Football Club channel. Link.