Smoking Oh Pees: On Playing Other Designer's Games and Wearing Capes

 

I used to smoke. It was a long time ago in a galaxy far away. When we discovered that my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, I quit. But back in my nicotine-laced hey days, I loved me a cigarette—especially with a cup of coffee. The problem was that I was forgetful, and often left my own cigarettes at home when I was at work, or in the car, when I was in a bar, or… well, you get the idea. That’s when I would smoke my favorite brand, other people’s, commonly known as OPs (pronounced Oh Pees, not Ahps).

I don’t smoke anymore, but some habits die hard. Now when I refer to OPs, I’m talking 

Supergirl, because she has a red cape, and
I'm tired of Chris Hemsworth.

about other people’s game designs. Catch me at a convention and you’ll see me playing World at War, Lock ‘n Load and the other games I’ve designed. I love them, but you’ll also find me hunkered over Combat Commander, Resident Evil, or PowerGrid. I love those games too.

Stephen King once said, “If you are going to write, you have to read.” The same is true for game design. Not playing OPs is so wrong on so many counts, but let’s discuss two.

I assume you want to design and/or publish games because you enjoy them. If not, you’re a strange form of masochist. The groupies, glamour, and money are few and far between in the board game publishing business. If you love games, why dive into the industry only to deny yourself the pleasure of playing? I laugh when I meet a designer that only has time for his or her designs. If you have time to turn on the TV, you have time to game. So point one, feed the passion that brought you to the industry. Play games.

Point two. Some designers claim they avoid other designs because they influence their own. That’s stupid. Of course playing other people’s games influences your designs. So does talking with designers, playing video games, kicking a soccer ball, watching Fringe, and taking a crap. Life itself influences design, avoiding other games is akin to saying, “I don’t breathe, it influences my lungs.”

Yesterday friend and fellow designer Greg Porter came over. In addition to resolving some issues with his game, Zombie Wars, which we will publish in the first half of 2014, we played Sentinels of the Multiverse, a super hero card game. Kind of like a deck-builder without the building. Great fun, and a treasure chest of inspiration.

Some might say that time was wasted, I say it's seeding my brain, sort of like fertilizing the lawn, watering the flowers, feeding the tiger, putting an aftermarket supercharger pulley on the mini, wearing a cape... well, anyway you get the point. Play everything you can. Talk to, and learn from, every designer and gamer you meet. Smoke OPs.