Let’s face it: finding new tabletop role-playing games is incredibly difficult. Even the best games from small or independent publishers struggle to find an audience. To meet that need, Heart of the Deer Hornthe washington-based tabletop publisher behind artifacts such as Winter cityhas been working to cut through the noise in recent years. For example: a message was posted last week a series of YouTube videos from Big Bad Cona local table convention. Among them are a handful of the most influential tabletop RPG designers of the past decade, with the focus shifting from the games themselves to the artists behind them.
Once a game hits the market, designers often have to transition from creative to full-time marketer, reducing their game from a work of art to simply a product that can be sold. In these interviews, Andi Lich of Deernicorn gives designers the chance to talk about their artistic intentions with someone who is as in love with games as she is.
The first interview in the series is with Jason Morningstar, the designer behind it Fiascothe GM-less game that took the industry by storm when it debuted in 2009. Split into acts and scenes, Fiasco asks players to play different relationships in a doomed, mistake-filled comedy set in locations like small-town America or the Wild West.
Deernicorn also interviewed Alex Roberts, whose genre-defining narrative RPG For The Queen created a whole series of ‘Descended from the Queen’ games. In For The Queenplayers act as guards chosen to accompany the reigning monarch on a dangerous diplomatic mission because “she knows you love her.” Players take turns drawing prompt cards that explore the nuances of their relationship with the queen before they must make the final decision whether to defend her from an oncoming attack, or not. The game is perfect for new tabletop gamers and teaches itself from the first card.
Other interviewees include Takuma Okada, designer of the influential Traveling alonea series of minimalist solo games about traveling alone through different locations; Jeeyon Shim, co-creator of Field guide to memoryan award-winning narrative diary game about the relationship between the player character and their deceased mentor; and Tyler Crumrine of Possible Worlds Games, a studio whose most recent publication, The details of our escapeuses a set of dominoes to follow a caravan of pilgrims in search of a place where they belong.
If you’re not familiar with these designers, these 20-minute interviews can introduce you to your next favorite game. Being aware of them might give you some insight into the minds behind them and help you remember why these games are so good.