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: | Jim Dietz |
|---|---|
| Email: | thedietzfoundation@gmail.com |
| Location: | Illinois |
| Day Job: | Post-COVID's forced me out of it unfortunately for the moment. I've coached women's volleyball for the past thirty years. Now, I work as a mentor for coaches, do some stat-research on the game, work on publishing fiction, AND THEN work as CEO of the Dietz Foundation. |
| Designing: | Over ten years! |
| Webpage: | www.dietzfoundation.org |
| Blog: | https://thinkingbeyondthebox2018.wordpress.com/ |
| BGG: | Jim Dietz |
| Facebook: | The Dietz Foundation |
| Twitter: | @FoundationDietz |
| YouTube: | |
| Instagram: | @thedietzfoundation |
| Other: | |
| Find my games at: | Retailers who get games from Alliance Dist., Kickstarter, or direct from the Foundation. |
Jim Dietz
Interviewed on: 11/20/2021
This week's interview is with Jim Dietz. Jim has been designing and publishing games for a number of years, initially as Jolly Roger Games and now as the Dietz Foundation. The Dietz Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to fostering games in education by providing scholarship opportunities to students entering the education field as well as teaching the public about using games in education. In addition to all that, Jim is also a volleyball coach, author, and more! Read on to learn about Jim and his current projects, including Free At Last, which is funded on Kickstarter with less than 18 hours to go in the campaign!
Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.
How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Over ten years!
Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I played games and always was tinkering with "this could be done better". Eventually I opened two retail game stores and then published a set of miniatures rules and it turned out that distributors won't carry companies with just one product--so I had no choice but to make more and learn how to develop/handle the publishing side of things.
What game or games are you currently working on?
Free at Last, a card-driven game of the American Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1965. Players take on the role of the major organizations (SNCC, SCLC, NAACP, NAACPLDF, etc). It is competitive (someone will be remembered as the leader of the movement in the history books) but also cooperative (failure in too many Projects and failure to work together can lead to the movement falling apart and setting the cause of civil rights back decades).
The designer is donating his royalties to a scholarship fund while the Dietz Foundation will donate proceeds to the UNCF and Eastern Illinois Univ. then hopefully use any other money to endow scholarships for people interested in becoming teachers.
After that, the Foundation will produce a game on Palestinian-Israeli relations around the history of the first Intifada. Games are a great way to learn and talk about topics whether mundane or controversial.
Have you designed any games that have been published?
Beyond two sets of miniatures rules, I did the Swashbuckler! and PARSEC RPGs and a boardgame called "Orcs at the Gates". My favorite is Swashbuckler!--I think it has the best swordfighting system around--I was inspired by Princess Bride and wanted players to be able to fight their own battle on top of the Cliffs of Insanity.
Now I get enjoyment out of development and working with designers to flesh out their work and help them get published. Most recently, that was 1979: Revolution in Iran which tells the story of modern Iran from 1950-1979...it started a 'theme' that Free at Last and the Intifada game follow--it's not about famous names; it's about everyday people and their ability to bring about change.
What is your day job?
Post-COVID's forced me out of it unfortunately for the moment. I've coached women's volleyball for the past thirty years. Now, I work as a mentor for coaches, do some stat-research on the game, work on publishing fiction, AND THEN work as CEO of the Dietz Foundation.
Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.
Where do you prefer to play games?
Sprawled on a floor--but kids and dogs changed that. I'll play a game anywhere. The best was playing cribbage overnight in the Poznan train station with my son.
Who do you normally game with?
Pre-COVID, with a circle of friends I've known for years. I started going to Protospiels before the pandemic. Now with kids grown, mostly my wife.
If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
Since this is a dream: Die Macher and the 2nd. ed of World in Flames. I also like Automobiles. What we wind up doing is King of Tokyo, Dominion, Escape from Colditz, Vinci, Elfenlands...since we can't get together too often, we play things that will let us talk and go off-topic without too much trouble.
And what snacks would you eat?
Can't find them here now--but taco-flavored Doritos. We tend to go with the basics like chips though occasionally we get things like wasabi peas
Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
Not anymore, really. It just makes us have to talk louder. Years ago--rock, anything from the Beatles to Zeppelin to The Scorpions and Van Halen. We wanted it louder, with more power.
What’s your favorite FLGS?
Titan Games in Springfield, IL...the owner Nick bends over backwards for customers. I think the selection at Red Raccoon Games in Bloomington, IL is amazing, too.
What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
2nd ed. World in Flames, Victory Games' The Civil War, GMT's Churchill. My wife and I have a lot of fun with Elder Sign and PARKS. Worst games--I'll make enemies here: Munchkin Anything and Puerto Rico. I'd rather snort lines of lemonade than play those.
What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
I don't have a favorite--with the right theme and design, almost any mechanic can be great. The exception--I don't care for roll and write games. If we're doing that, lets just grab 5d6 and play Yahtzee.
What’s your favorite game that you just can’t ever seem to get to the table?
World in Flames. In a dream world, it'd be great to play another campaign of VG's Vietnam 1965-1975.
What styles of games do you play?
I like to play
Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games, Video Games, Other Games?
Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design
Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games
OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
No
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 admire people who start with theme first but my brain insists on mechanics coming first mostly.
Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
Yes. 2000 Origins Board Game of the Year...a century ago, literally.
Do you have a current favorite game designer?
Richard Launius...not just for his designs, but the guy's an awesome friend.
Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
Driving in my car during the times I don't feel like listening to music or audiobooks.
How do you go about playtesting your games?
Pre-COVID, in person...looking forward to going to Protospiels again here starting in January. Other that Free at Last (which is on Vassal/Discord right now), the other designers I'm working with are wizards with TabletopSimulator.
Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
Team. More eyes, more brains...less chance of a massive boo-boo.
What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Coming up with an idea--then finding it's been done already...and better than what I came up with.
If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
Starship Troopers or James Bond.
What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
Long ago...I've forgotten when long ago was!!! I think that when you design--you have to make it so YOU are happy with it first and foremost rather than worry about other people's thoughts.
What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Don't give up. In some form or another, there's the right match for however your game finally ends up. Also--designing a roll-and-move game and answering trivia questions isn't new/revolutionary...you deserve a kick in the shins if you say that on your 'sell sheet'.
Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have:
1979: Revolution in Iran--just released, pretty good buzz.
Supercharged--this is grand prix racing in the 1920s/30s. A lot of fun and I like that it plays fast even with an entire grid of 20+ cars on the course.
Games that will soon be published are:
Coming up is a game by Sobhi Youssef on the 1st Palestinian Intifada and a deck-building game by Richard Launius...and then a design I'm co-working with someone busier than me that involves World War Two airplanes.
This is what I have currently crowdfunding:
Free at Last (http://kck.st/3ngO3bb) through DEC 15.
Currently looking for a publisher I have:
None--though looking for designers with games (if that counts!)
I'm planning to crowdfund:
Mr. Youssef's Intifada game. After that, noooooo idea.
Games I feel are in the final development and tweaking stage are:
Free at Last--mainly because it is a CDG and we're trying to pound out/eliminate possible killer-combos of cards.
Games that I'm playtesting are:
the WW2 game
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are:
I sketched out a deck-building game around concepts from a great computer wargame called "Rule the Waves 2"
And games that are still in the very early idea phase are:
None--ideas at the moment are focused on a novel about 1/4 of the way finished.
Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker’s Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Not officially other than the Protospiel group on FB.
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 Trek (not the reboot), Coke (best with crushed ice), VHS.
What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
writing, volleyball, dog-walking
What is something you learned in the last week?
I was reminded that 99% of people are kind and will surprise you with that, often weirdly at just the moment you need the lift.
Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
I like most music--but over-engineered pop...it's all the same. I think 80s rap is underrated and that country sucks but western does not. Books--I was working my way through Ian Fleming's but stopped a while back. My favorite going back to childhood is Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Movies: Casablanca, Aliens, Unforgiven, The Blues Brothers (and Goldeneye is an underrated Bond film)
What was the last book you read?
Dr. No.
Do you play any musical instruments?
Piano and saxophone, though insanely rusty on both.
Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I never actually graduated high school.
Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
That MAY have been doing 120 in a 55mph zone in a 1973 Ford LTD long ago. There's also the 5v5 football game we played the length of a 6-foot wide hallway in a residence hall.
Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
Movie projector broke in grad school. I got invited with my friend Mark to rent movies with some of his other friends. One of those was a girl named Julie. She wound up marrying me (silly girl!!!) a few years later.
Who is your idol or hero?
I've been blessed to know too many awesome people to really narrow that down except in volleyball--Jim Stone and in regular life--my wife...an amazing teacher, advisor, and administrator who keeps me on the straight-and-narrow.
What would you do if you had a time machine?
Pop forward 500 years...I don't want to know how my life turned out, but I'd like to know if we get past the current childishness of powerful people.
Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Introvert...but you'd never believe it.
If you could be any superhero, which one would you be and why?
Batman--he's really the only one who is normal. Yeah, he has money, but his success is based on thinking and determination.
Have any pets?
Dogs: Kaiju, Jaeger (yes from the movies) and Spike (we adopted him because my daughter said it was 'destiny' since he had a volleyball name)
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?
Ball games will survive--I mean, everyone wants to throw/kick/hit things and always aiming at something, right?
What I'd like to see wiped away is the worry about skin color, gender, judgment based on who you like, who you hang out with. That won't happen though. So as long as my stepmother's under the asteroid, I'm pretty much good with any/all collateral damage (...you said go dark, right?)
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):
Whoever reads this deserves a shout out--YOU are awesome to someone. YOU can make a difference--you ARE making a difference. Keep it up!
Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions!
Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?
Reach out--I'm happy to share what I know. A rising tide lifts all boats.
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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