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Hey everyone! I’m the new Product Director here at the Tap Lab, making sure our games are fun and our engineers always have enough tacos. After a few requests, I created some tips for anyone thinking about growing a beard. Sorry ladies, I don’t mean to be exclusionary, but I have no tips for those ladies out there trying to grow some facial hair.

You may not have a rocking beard today… maybe you’re afraid it’ll never fill in completely, or the ladies won’t dig it, or that the other kids will laugh at you, or maybe you’re 8 and puberty is just a word grownups use around you. Whatever it is, it’s never too early to start planning for your first real beard.

Step 1: Wait. If you did this right, you should have the modest trappings of a beginner beard. This is also typically when the itching starts. Thankfully, there’s an easy solution to this: moisturize. Get yourself some moisturizer and massage it on the dry spots. Make sure you do this in front of a mirror or you’ll leave blobs of moisturizer on your face when you go out in public. If you’re wondering what kind of moisturizer, here’s the short answer: I don’t care. You’re a man trying to grow a beard. Just use whatever you can find.

Step 2: Get a good razor and beard trimmer. You’ll need something to shave your neck and cheeks. If you have a razor you like, you’re fine. If you don’t, I’d recommend getting a Gillete Fusion Proglide. For trimmers, try this Wahl Trimmer. You can also save a few bucks and just getGillette Fusion Proglide 3-In-1 Styler, which trims and shaves. Note: These are all affiliate links to The Wirecutter, who turned me onto these fine shaving tools.

Step 3: Get into shape. I recommend shaving after you get out of the shower, so your pores are open. When shaving your neck area, try to shave by following the bottom of your jaw bone. Staying close to your jaw will make your face look thinner. For the perfectionists, you’ll find that you constantly fear keeping both sides in balance but from my experience, no one will ever notice if you’re a little off.

Step 4: Develop witty rejoinder. Once you have your first beard, you’ll be assailed by both compliments and derision. For the latter, I recommend ignoring the haters. They’re either scared of the competition, or jealous. For the compliments, you’re on your own. Just be prepared to get them from guys and girls. Also, inevitably, you’ll get requests to touch it. I’ve never had this lead to a bad experience but your results may vary.

Good luck with your new beard! If you have any troubles or need sweet words of encouragement, hit me up on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kabirh

If you want a bearded avatar for yourself in Tiny Tycoons, let us know at facebook.com/TinyTycoons!

We’ve been working around the clock here at The Tap Lab to get Tiny Tycoons ready for launch, so we decided it was about time we took a nice ‘relaxing’ break to reset and refresh. What better way to let off some steam than to take on hords of 12-year-olds in an epic game of Laser Tag?

First stop: Laser Craze!

As soon as we got into the briefing room, we were split into teams. Ralph and Ara held down the top of the leader board on the blue team, and Dave, in true game designer fashion, gamed the system to charge to the top of the red charts (while breaking every single rule in the process).

Next stop: Saloon in Davis Square to drink to our victory! We’re laying down plans for our next company outing — any suggestions on where we should head to next?

For more updates as we get closer to launch, make sure to like the Tiny Tycoons Facebook page!

Dave’s guest post on Boston.com covers a day in the life of a game developer — and gives you a great idea of what we do here at The Tap Lab!

From rubbing elbows with our awesome neighbors at Intrepid Labs and laying down preparations for PAX East to playtesting with the team and getting into the nitty gritty details of game design, things are always happening as we lead up to the release of Tiny Tycoons.

Check out the original post here!

For updates as we get closer to launch, don’t forget to like Tiny Tycoons on Facebook!