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: | Alex Aboud |
|---|---|
| Location: | Dragori Games - US |
| Day Job: | Game Designer and Publisher |
| Designing: | Five to ten years. |
| Webpage: | dragorigames.com |
| Find my games at: | Our live campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dragorigames/tanares-rpg |
Alex Aboud
Interviewed on: 9/21/2021
This week we get two interviews! Today we get to meet Alex Aboud, the designer of the successfully Kickstarted Tanares Adventures and the currently crowdfunding (and nearing $2 million raised) Tanares RPG! Tanares RPG is only on Kickstarter for a few more hours, so be sure to check it out right away if you want to get in on the action. And if you want to learn more about Alex, read on!
Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.
How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Five to ten years.
Why did you start designing tabletop games?
For love and analytic thoghts about games.
What game or games are you currently working on?
Tanares Adventures Boardgame and Tanares RPG
Have you designed any games that have been published?
Yes, Arena the Contest was the last one.
What is your day job?
Game Designer and Publisher
Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.
Where do you prefer to play games?
In my home
Who do you normally game with?
With my friends
If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
Any Dungeon Crawler or D&D
And what snacks would you eat?
pizza and chips
Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
no
What’s your favorite FLGS?
Our local FLGS, it feels like home
What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
My favorite still is D&D. I believe it will always be,
What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Dice roll (I really love the manipulation of luck, to make cleaver decisions to improve the changes of be successful, but the tension of a dice rolling is great).
What styles of games do you play?
I like to play
Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games, Video Games
Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design
Board Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games
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?
Theme. In my opinion, mechanics are more important than theme, but they must have deep relation to the global theme to increase a lot of the immersion while playing.
Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
No
Do you have a current favorite game designer?
No, many are super great. It would be not fair to choose one.
Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
From Video Games (especially classic RPGs) and DnD / MtG
How do you go about playtesting your games?
It is very important not just listen to the feedback, but pay attention on the people's reactions during the gameplay.
Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
As a team. It is very important to have other ideas and criticism to my own.
What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Make games simple enough to be attractive to casual players and deep enough to challenge heavy gamers.
If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
X-Men
What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
To design a good game, maths are very important, but you must consider the feeling too.
What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Persistence. The best idea will come in time and after many tests and not
Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have:
Arena the Contest
Games that will soon be published are:
Tanares Adventures Boardgame
This is what I have currently crowdfunding:
Tanares Adventures Boardgame and Tanares RPG
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
What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Video Games
Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
LotR
Do you play any musical instruments?
No
Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I was a dance teacher in the past during my university course.
What would you do if you had a time machine?
I would work with Boardgames / RPG again. I love the community.
Are you an extrovert or introvert?
extrovert
Have any pets?
yes, a Dog Shin Tzu
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?
Boardgames would survive, as they can bring lots of fun to people (and don't require high tech to be created or played)
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):
I would like to thank you all the community for the support and for trust in us. We are doing our best to make the games as good as possible.
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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