New Beginnings: Gratitude & Growth
Working with Forever Stoked at PAX Unplugged 2022
From Booth Worker to Published Game Designer
There's a moment I’ve been dreaming of for a long time now: seeing one of my own original ideas for a game sold on a convention floor. PAX Unplugged (December 6-8) marks a big first for me — After years of attending different conventions as a booth worker, selling other people's games, my dream will be coming true next week. My first published game design, Texas Hold It, will be on sale at the Forever Stoked booth (3709).
Texas Hold It box art
Birth of Texas Hold It
Many of my favorite memories have come from sitting around, talking with friends, and being silly together. When Cyanide & Happiness approached my friend Matt Fantastic at Forever Stoked, they were looking for a game about the awkwardness of choosing a spot to pee in a public bathroom. This was such a uniquely silly call to action, so we quickly embraced the challenge together. Along with the rest of the Forever Stoked team, we brought the premise of restroom etiquette into a full game design, with simple and silly mechanics based around finding a spot to pee or deciding you’d rather hold it.
Early version of Texas Hold It on Tabletop Simulator
Looking back, I'm reminded of all the people at Forever Stoked who helped make Texas Hold It happen: Matt, Trish, Blaise, Andrea, and Lorelei each brought something unique to the project. Through multiple iterations of playtesting, we developed our concept into something that had us all laughing together.
Cowboys to the Bathroom
When Matt returned to Cyanide & Happiness with our game design, they loved our vision and were able to add on another layer of irreverent humor to the final product. I couldn't be happier with the publisher for my first original design credit. I've been a fan since my teenage years, and it feels like a great honor to see this game brought to life through their art style.
The final product is like playing a game of musical chairs in a Wild West saloon bathroom, with a fair dose of deadly bathroom humor thrown in for fun. Players vie for the best spot to relieve themselves in the most notorious restroom in the West, investigating urinals - some safe, some dangerous - and trying to outsmart their opponents through bluffing, peeking, and strategic positioning. Just like in musical chairs, there aren't enough spots for everyone, so timing is everything. Get splashed too many times and you're out!
I remember just a year prior to signing, I was working at the Forever Stoked booth at PAX Unplugged (2022), selling the newest game from Cyanide & Happines: Master Dater. As a way of saying thanks, they gave me some stickers on the last day of the convention. I put one on my wallet that day, and it’s still doing its best today, just like me, maybe a little worse for the wear, but hanging on and having fun, trying to bring a little joy into people's lives.
Hang in there buddy, you’re doing great
Board Game Geeking It
My first published design means I'm also officially a game designer on BoardGameGeek now. While I've played hundreds of prototypes across my career, seeing my name listed as "designer" on BGG hits different. Up until this point, I’ve had to keep track of my professional contributions through various forums on the site, but now I have an official page dedicated to my work, and I feel very proud of that.
Life has taken some hard turns lately, as those who've read my previous post know, but this milestone, this little victory, helps me feel good about what I’m doing. Another little drop of validation and good vibes. I’m trying my best to gather all this positive energy and bring it with me, to light my way forward... I am a published game designer now!
Looking Forward
Looking forward to PAX Unplugged next month: I’m excited to be pitching and playtesting several new designs from some of my closest friends in the industry. We’ve been working together, helping each other develop and troubleshoot our games, and we’re getting together at the convention to gather feedback and look for partners for our projects. Between us, we have more than ten new prototypes that we’ve been working on together.
Prototype components taking shape
The prototypes we're bringing to PAX Unplugged aim for that sweet spot where rules fall away and people lose themselves in the experience of playing something fun together. Some use cards, others use dice or tokens, but they all come from a place of wanting to create those moments of shared joy around the table.
Le Vent Rouge on Tabletop Simulator
I'll also be playtesting an early access copy of Le Vent Rouge, a thematic game about art thievery from designers Dustin DePenning and Jason Hager. The three of us will be working together next year to relaunch the game on Kickstarter, with some cool new updates to the project. I’ve only played the game on Tabletop Simulator so far, and while I love the accessibility of TTS, there’s something different about playing a physical copy of a game. I’m very excited to be doing a lot of that at PAX Unplugged.
I feel grateful for how far my journey has taken me so far, and I’m looking forward to what comes next. I get to work with dear friends, creating things that make me laugh, think, and feel. I think that's worth celebrating.
And I’d sure be grateful if you watch the launch trailer for Texas Hold It:
“It’s like musical chairs, if the chairs were toilets”
Available for sale at PAX Unplugged at the Forever Stoked booth (3709)