Musing on the Craft, Episode II: Revenge of the Nerd

Dear Jane McGonigal, I love you, just kidding, but seriously.

In the last EBP post I talked a little bit about some interesting ideas about games, their role in culture, and their potential. If you didn’t read the post, you should, cause then this one will make a whole lot more sense. Also you’ll get to check out some really excellent resources from various game designers including the much lauded Jane McGonigal (also my secret (to her) girlfriend). But this post isn’t an advertisement for the last post or a letter of affection to Jane, at least, not entirely.

I explained the potential importance and usefulness of games in terms of personal development and I also promised you that I’d explain what that has to do with Enchanted Beard Press. I had my fingers crossed when I wrote that blog post but I’m going to be an outstanding guy and tell you anyway. In a word, everything. It has everything to do with Enchanted Beard Press.

When Simon and I first talked about establishing a game company it was primarily as a method of publishing the game I had already created, Drunkfish. As time went on and we began to discuss more seriously the idea of what a business centered around games and run by us would look like we had a lot of ideas about what our values were. Simon and I love games. Love the crap out of them. But we both thought they could be more. We both wondered what the limits of games were too. If a game made you sad when you played it, is it still a game? If the point of the game was that you left feeling a bit uncomfortable, would you still want to play it? Can games rely on emotional intelligence over the more traditional logic and reasoning based games? We had a lot of questions, many more than just these, and in asking these questions we discovered that we wanted to find the answers. Not by polling people or by reading about games but by creating games that did these things.

Drunkfish may not be the perfect reflection of these values but the seed of these values is there. We stand by it because it is a board game that takes play off the board and puts it squarely onto the bodies and behaviors of the people playing the game. In that way Drunkfish is transgressive against board game norms. And although there are untold legions of people out there willing to make a fool out of themselves in front of their friends, there are many more who aren’t. That’s where the value of Drunkfish lies. In changing the location of the action of a board game (from the board to the bodies of the players) and it’s a trial for friends to endure together. If you’ve ever been truly ridiculous in front of your friends you’ve probably discovered they’ve only loved you more for it.

More importantly, the future of Enchanted Beard Press holds much more than Drunkfish. At present we are developing two games that represent these values of pushing the envelope of what games are about, how they are played, and what they teach you. Games shouldn’t just make you better at hoarding and managing resources. Games should teach you to be a better storyteller, games should teach you to be more empathic, games should teach you to think critically. They can do all that and a lot more. And that’s what we’re working on now. It may sound a bit idealistic but, to be honest, I’m okay with that. Game is a media and if any media can inspire change and growth, so can games. That’s our belief, at least, and it’s also our intent.

Thanks for hearing us out. I promise to be more funny next time.

- 6 Beardz