Foundations of a Game Developer
My Journey From Chess with Grandpa to Creating Award-Winning Games
Brandan organizing a Battle Sheep tournament at KublaCon 2014
Hey there, gamers! My name is Brandan Parsons, and I'm excited to kick off this blog series about my adventures in the board game industry. It's been a fun journey from playing games as a kid to working on them professionally, and I thought it might be interesting to share some of that story with you.
The Seeds of Passion
Like many others, my love for games started in childhood. I have such fond memories of playing Chess and Stratego with my grandfather during his holiday visits. He was a retired architect with a sharp mind for strategy, and those games were more than just fun—they were lessons in thinking ahead and understanding my opponent.
Stratego - one of the games that sparked my lifelong love of board games.
I still have my childhood copies of the games I played with my grandfather, complete with records of our wins and losses. These aren't just games —they're treasured memories that sparked a lifelong passion.
From Player to Professional
Fast forward to 2012. After graduating from UC Davis, I found myself in the San Francisco Bay Area, trying to break into the video game industry. I worked on some cool projects during that time (shout out to Sifteo Cubes and Nukotoys!), but something was missing. Then came the turning point: Marbles: The Brain Store.
Marbles: The Brain Store - where my journey began
When I saw that a new store called Marbles had opened in the San Francisco Westfield mall, I immediately applied. Even the job interview, held in the mall's food court, was a delight. The store manager, Richard Lefrak, didn't have much experience with toys or games, but he was amazing with people. His background as a traveling stagehand / laser-show-expert for bands like Pink Floyd, had given him a unique perspective on entertainment, management, and the human experience.
At Marbles, everything clicked. The store's mission resonated with me—promoting brain health through games, toys, puzzles, and books. We had different sections for word skills, coordination, visual perception, critical thinking, and memory. Everything was quick to learn and they all had the shared objective of making people's lives better. I loved all of it.
One game, in particular, changed everything for me: Spot it!
Spot It! - a high speed matching game, sold in a compact metal tin
We kept it by the cash register to teach customers as they were about to pay for their purchases. Spot it! was quick, fun, and affordable, and I became very good at selling it. And soon, I became one of the top-performing salespeople at one of the top-performing stores in the nationwide chain.
Blue Orange & Beyond
Eventually, I learned that Spot it! was published by a local publisher, based in San Francisco: Blue Orange Games. I started seeing their staff come into the Marbles store to drop off new inventory for us, and I made it my mission to join their ranks. Eventually, an internship opened up on their marketing team, and I jumped at the chance.
The Blue Orange Games team at New York Toy Fair 2016
At Blue Orange, my world expanded. I started attending board game conventions regularly, selling games to attendees, and eventually meeting with game designers to review new submissions and ideas they had. Working directly with the team in France to bring approved submissions from prototype to published game, we went on to win many prestigious awards together.
Kingdomino - winner of the 2017 Spiel des Jahres
Dragomino - winner of the 2021 Kinderspiel des Jahres
My experience in the industry would continue to grow and diversify. Later in my career, I had the opportunity to work with Brain Games Publishing, based in Riga, Latvia. Among other projects, I contributed to the marketing and distribution of ICECOOL in the US market, a unique dexterity game that became a beloved fan favorite.
To date, I've worked on more than 150 published games. Check out my portfolio for some more of my favorites!
Looking Ahead
My journey from chess matches with my grandfather to working on award-winning games has been incredible, and I'm excited to share more of it with you. In the coming posts, we'll dive into the nitty-gritty of game development, from prototyping (spoiler: it involves more spreadsheets than you might think!) to playtesting, from design challenges to marketing strategies.
I'll be sharing stories from behind the scenes, lessons learned, background stories from behind the scenes development of award winning games, and many more personal insights and stories from this fascinating industry of tabletop games. Whether you're a fellow game enthusiast, an aspiring designer, or just curious about how board games come to life, I hope you'll find something interesting here.
What about you? What aspects of board game development are you most curious about? Design challenges? Marketing stories? The joy of prototyping? Drop a comment below—your input will help shape the scope of future posts.