Oops! I suppose I should have done this at the beginning, but actually, I think it's better that I do it now. So, who am I, what got me into tabletop gaming and why am I writing this blog?
Who am I?
I'll start with the easiest one. I am currently a student, studying my Master of Subsea Engineering, looking to work in oil and gas industry. At least, that's one of my identities. I do a lot of things outside of my studies, including quite a bit of volunteering with my local Rotaract Club and a couple of different youth leadership development programs. So that's another identity. Finally, I am a gamer. I play games whenever I get the chance. Used to be video games (pc mostly), but have recently begun to move into tabletop gaming.
Why Tabletop Games?
My favourite types of video games have always been RPGs, their narrative and character growth drawing me to them. One of my first ever RPGs was Neverwinter Nights, based of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition. My favourite character and the type of character I play every time I start a new RPG? An Elven Ranger. It might seem a bit cliched, but there it is.
So, a few years back I asked a friend if he could GM a Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition campaign for us. He said yes, I was over the moon. Creating my first character, guess what it was? Elven Ranger? Correct! :D Getting together with a bunch of friends, catching up on what had been happening, eating good food and sharing in this adventure together made that year awesome and I have never looked back.
So, a few years back I asked a friend if he could GM a Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition campaign for us. He said yes, I was over the moon. Creating my first character, guess what it was? Elven Ranger? Correct! :D Getting together with a bunch of friends, catching up on what had been happening, eating good food and sharing in this adventure together made that year awesome and I have never looked back.
Now add a good dose of Kickstarter and I was also starting to play card games. Heaps of fun, but also super portable. What wasn't to like? But the meatiness wasn't there. Pen-and-paper RPGs were great, but they took a lot commitment to put together and run. A happy medium would be board games, and in comes Shut Up & Sit Down. If you haven't checked these guys out yet, then please do. Watch one of their reviews, then come back. I'm happy to wait.
Paul and Quinns introduced me to a whole new world of gaming, one that I had not had the privilege of being a part of, until now. I have only been playing board games regularly now for about two months, from about the time I started this blog, but I now own my own copies of Settlers of Catan and Pandemic, as well as a copy of Android: Netrunner, which I tried out for the first time last night. I can't wait to start reading all of the different cards and seeing how they work together!
Paul and Quinns introduced me to a whole new world of gaming, one that I had not had the privilege of being a part of, until now. I have only been playing board games regularly now for about two months, from about the time I started this blog, but I now own my own copies of Settlers of Catan and Pandemic, as well as a copy of Android: Netrunner, which I tried out for the first time last night. I can't wait to start reading all of the different cards and seeing how they work together!
So, Blogging?
So, I'm a student, a gamer and a roleplaying nerd. Why start blogging? Because I'm also a designer. My undergrad engineering degree taught me how to look at a problem or a system and pull it apart until you have found the core issues or components and then build it back up so that you know affecting any one of those core components will affect the system at large. This can be applied to complex petrochemical plants or slightly simpler board and card games. That has influenced the philosophy I take into all of my designs.
The core components are simple and it is the interaction between these simple components that leads to complexity, where that complexity is appropriate.
As a designer, I have lots of ideas, but I don't necessarily have the time to work on them all. This blog lets me record all of my ideas, in case I ever want to come back to them, or just leave them available to the public. This is because, for me, having a game out there is far more important than necessarily being the person to make that game. That's why I leave all my ideas free of charge in this blog. If you see something that you think you can make into a sweet game, by all means do so. I'd love to see it when you're done.
The other thing I would like to do with this blog, as I continue exploring different media and mechanics of tabletop gaming, is to spur conversation about games, particularly how we can use games to do good in our own communities. So, if you have an idea as a result of something you've read on my blog, please comment and I'd love to start a conversation with you!
The other thing I would like to do with this blog, as I continue exploring different media and mechanics of tabletop gaming, is to spur conversation about games, particularly how we can use games to do good in our own communities. So, if you have an idea as a result of something you've read on my blog, please comment and I'd love to start a conversation with you!