Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers. Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before. If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples.
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| Name: | Kiefer Shipman |
|---|---|
| Email: | reflectivetreegames@gmail.com |
| Location: | San Marcos, Texas |
| Day Job: | Interpreter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing |
| Designing: | Two to five years. |
| Twitter: | @reflectivetree |
| YouTube: | Reflective Tree Games |
| Find my games at: | Hopefully, I’ll have a PnP soon. |
Kiefer Shipman
Interviewed on: 3/7/2020
This week's interview is with Kiefer Shipman, the designer behind Reflective Tree Games. Kiefer has several designs that he's been working on and hopes to have one or more of them published through crowdfunding this year. Outside of board games, Kiefer is also a sign language interpreter. Read on to learn more about Kiefer and his projects.
Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.
How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Two to five years.
Why did you start designing tabletop games?
My philosophy: more games is best, and I want to be a part of that.
What game or games are you currently working on?
Merchants of The Tradewinds, Hope Falls, untitled time travel game
Have you designed any games that have been published?
Not yet! Looking to be Kickstarter ready end of this year/beginning of next
What is your day job?
Interpreter for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.
Where do you prefer to play games?
I run 4 weekly gaming-related groups. One is for designers here at my house, one is at a local community center, one is after parks and rec kicks us out of the community center at my house, and one is my weekly Gloomhaven group. I’m also looking to start a design-related podcast at some point in the future.
Who do you normally game with?
I game with about a dozen people on any given week.
If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
My tastes in games ebbs and flows like the waves in the sea. Right now, I’m really enjoying Taverns of Tiefenthal, Tiny Towns, Gizmos, and Fantastic Factories.
And what snacks would you eat?
Snacks vary greatly.
Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
Occasionally, but I mostly enjoy having the sounds of the people around the table over a soundtrack.
What’s your favorite FLGS?
Probably Emerald Tavern in Austin.
What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Favorite-probably Villainous. The theming and skill Prospero Hall adds into all their games manages to astound me each time. Least favorite- Betrayal at House on the Hill. In the end, you move typically one space, roll dice, and something happens to you, but I enjoy the role playing. I can’t really think of a worst game.
What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Favorite-worker placement Least-dudes on a map/area control and games where you just get picked on relentlessly.
What’s your favorite game that you just can’t ever seem to get to the table?
This War of Mine. Amazing mechanics and a fantastic message that don’t often get seen due to the subject matter.
What styles of games do you play?
I like to play
Board Games, Card Games, Video Games
Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design
Board Games, Card Games
OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
Ehhhh.... I’d rather not. In the end, the player who wins a large percentage of the time is the one who drew the dirtiest card.
You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.
When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
I’ve done both. My first game, Merchants of the Tradewinds was theme AND mechanics. My second game, Hope Falls, started off as mechanics. My untitled time travel game started off with theme.
Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
I’ve entered several, made it to the second of three rounds in most of them.
Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
Prospero Hall. Kind of cheating, since they’re actually a group of designers, but I really admire their dedication, understanding, and research they put into bringing the IPs they make games from to life. I also really admire Rodney Smith. Perhaps it’s his friendly nature, but I just want to get my game in front of him at some point.
Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
Oddly enough, my best ideas come to me in that weird moment between asleep and waking. I’ve actually lost a few games during those times because I opt to go back to sleep thinking, “I’ll remember that one when I wake up” and then don’t.
How do you go about playtesting your games?
Between the four groups I run, as well as several groups in both Austin and San Antonio, there’s never a shortage of play testers.
Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
That’s a double-edged sword. I’ve had bad experiences working with people when I didn’t set clear expectations. Working by yourself, you’re always on the same page as your team. Work with someone else, and they might not be on the same page. But designing solo is difficult in that you don’t always have people to bounce ideas off of.
What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Networking. Getting a crowd day one of a campaign is very important, but going to conventions is often a barrier to entry for people like me. I can’t afford thousands of dollars just to get my own booth, hotel, flights, and food, so I find it very difficult to meet all the people I would like.
If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
I had an idea a while back to release games that use characters/companies from other board games. Like a Mario Kart-like game using other board game characters, a Smash Bros-like game (same concept), and a worker placement game where you take on the role of a real-life board game publisher, and release their actual games. As I mentioned before, going to conventions is a huge barrier to entry for many people, and my thought process for these games was to take all the profit of those games and set up a scholarship for other game designers to attend free of charge.
What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
Just because a blog tells you that you should design your game THIS WAY, doesn’t mean that’s how YOU need to design your game. Everyone designs differently, and that’s okay.
What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Sometimes, doing that possibly costly, possibly wasteful work is better than doing no work at all. Making a nice deck of cards when I probably didn’t need to kept my mind focused on my game when I was banging my head against the wall on some stupid mechanic. Keeping my mind engaged allowed me to think about it in my free time, and I was able to come up with a lot more solutions.
Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have:
None yet, but SOON.
Games that will soon be published are:
Merchants of The Tradewinds
Currently looking for a publisher I have:
Possibly Merchants of The Tradewinds. I haven’t quite decided if I want to self-publish or not. I’m keeping my options open.
I'm planning to crowdfund:
Merchants of the Tradewinds possibly, but my Time Travel worker placement is a for sure self-publish.
Games I feel are in the final development and tweaking stage are:
Merchants of The Tradewinds
Games that I'm playtesting are:
Hope falls
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are:
Time Travel Worker Placement
And games that are still in the very early idea phase are:
Pottery worker placement game, murder hidden movement game, a game I’m calling Veto, which is a party game all about the power of the presidential veto.
Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker’s Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Board game design lab, San Marcos Board Game Designers, San Antonio board game designers, Austin Board game designers.
And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I’m sure are on everyone’s minds!
Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Star Wars. Either. VHS.
What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
I play video games, but board games have filled a void in my life I didn’t realize was there-human interaction.
What is something you learned in the last week?
I suck at computers. I mean REALLY suck. 90-year-old man suck.
Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
I grew up with 60s, 70s, and 80s pop and rock. That’s typically my jam. But I’ve also found a group that does “epic” covers of those songs that are typically for use in movie trailers. Still to this day, one of my favorite series is the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, as well as The Giver by Lois Lowry (I do not recommend the movie for this AT ALL. DON’T EVEN WATCH THE TRAILER) I love the hidden gems of movies. The kind you see at Walmart that no one went to see. Some favorites: The Killing Room, Mr. Brooks, Bubba Hotep, Tucker and Dale VS Evil.
What was the last book you read?
I’m currently reading Jamey Stegmaier’s book.
Do you play any musical instruments?
I used to play the violin, but now I sing professionally in the shower.
Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I grew up with Deaf family members, and because I grew up signing, I now use that skill for a living.
Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I went to a paint rave. This was back in the day when Dubstep was the huge thing. None of that sounds like a big deal, but the paint being thrown around by the bucket...was house paint. I’m a pretty hairy guy, and the paint cemented my hair to my skin, so I had to shave most of my body (which hurt) and since it was house paint, I’m sure I probably chipped a few years off my lifespan.
Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
Me and my wife (at the time we weren’t even dating) were in a really dark place. Worst time of our lives. We got pregnant, and that really put our entire lives into focus. We had something to live for. Something I wouldn’t give up for the world.
Who is your idol?
My grandparents. They are genuinely the most loving people in the entire world. I don’t know how they can go through life as the saints they are.
What would you do if you had a time machine?
I would go and undo some mistakes I made in the past. Things I shouldn’t have said. Things I should’ve said.
Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Introvert, definitely.
If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
I want to be the superhero my daughter thinks I am.
Have any pets?
One cat, Evie (she’s part Lemur, I swear) and dog Mo (he’s not very bright)
When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
I don’t think board games could ever be wiped out. We’ve had them for thousands of years, and I imagine we’ll have them for thousands more. I would hope that something that big would unite us rather than the constant divisiveness we experience everywhere today.
If you’d like to send a shout out to anyone, anyone at all, here’s your chance (I can’t guarantee they’ll read this though):
To my wife and daughter Elena, you are the force that keeps me going. Without either of you, I would have nothing.
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions!
Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html
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