Today Diagonal Move, is joined by Bez Shahriari from Stuff by Bez to discuss motivation and player interaction
DM: Hi Bez, thanks for joining me this afternoon. You are the designer of Yogi, Kitty Kataclysm and the ELL Deck system. How did you get started in games design?
BS: I fell in love with video games at a very young age. One of my earliest memories is of the ZX Spectrum and being amazed that my siblings could affect what was happening on the television screen.
My love of video games eventually resulted in studying video game design at university. Unfortunately, during the second year the focus moved away from design onto programming. I failed that year and ended up going back to Glasgow, discovering BoardgameGeek and a local game group soon after.
At that point, I had been using packs of traditional playing cards as a tool to improve my general game design skills while creating video games. As I began to develop more of an interest in modern boardgames, I was inspired to turn my creative efforts towards physical games.
Initially I only showed these to friends. Then, about 8 years ago, I moved to London and discovered Playtest UK. Playtest UK is a national group of like-minded people that meet to help each other develop games. The members basically agree to play each other’s games, discuss exactly why they are rubbish and then work together to improve.
I was only able to get my first game, ‘In a Bind’ finished due to Playtest UK and their willingness to work on my ideas with me.
I wanted a game with chaos and silliness that lasted 20 minutes. There was card stealing, card swapping, scoring points but I had this one card that said “Stand up. If you have the card at the end of the game score 10 points, if you sit down, give the card to another player”.
During a playtest it was commented that it was the only card involving a physical action. It didn’t fit. Either make a physical game or don’t. So, I went all out for silliness. I had people running around the table, spinning in circles, hopping, even doing sit ups during playtests
Gigamic picked up the design in 2016 and rebranded it as ‘Yogi’. It has gone on to be very successful, selling over 100,000 copies internationally. I’m happy to say that Yogi is currently paying my rent and I can now concentrate on being a full-time games designer.
DM: You have also designed a game system, the ELL Deck. Can you tell us more about that?
BS: My second release was the Wibell++ system, which has recently changed its name to the ELL Deck. This system is based around a deck of cards each with a pair of letters, border art and a number on them. Some games use all these features, some use only one.
On release it shipped with 5 card games in a tuck box. There are over 26 games, with a new ‘headline’ games added each Bez Day (1st August).
The original game was Wibbell itself. In this game the aim is to win cards by shouting out words that use letters from both cards in a central display and cards in your display.
I then used the same card deck to create Faybell, a story telling game and Grabell, a dexterity/pattern recognition game. As I thought of more and more ideas for games using just this deck of cards, the concept of a system began to form in my mind.
The ELL Deck has very much become my life’s work. I will release at least one new core game in the system each year until I retire. Since release the system has had a deluxe edition and I’ve recently finished a Kickstarter for Categorickell, a version with graffiti style art.
The system isn’t just a means of publishing my own games. I also hold a design competition each year that allows players to contribute to the system. The only limit on entries is imagination.
DM: Where do you find inspiration?
BS: Inspiration can come from anywhere. From a game you like, a theme, a mechanic, a name, a design challenge or component limitation or from any combination of these.
One of my prototypes is a party game called ‘A game, wherein you blether (a Scottish word meaning to talk at length at a fast rate; ranting, hypothesising, narrating or speaking in some other manner, without necessarily making very much sense)…’ and then the title currently goes on for over 2000 words, covering the box.
It was inspired by a BGG Geek List that highlighted games with long titles. The intention of the Geek List wasn’t to inspire a game, but it certainly inspired me. Now it’s a ridiculous thing with 550 illustrations!
Coupell, from the ELL Deck, was inspired by the idea of being in a romantic couple. The aim is to achieve two scoring piles that have an equal number of points in them. It’s a balance that can only be achieved through real co-operation.
I’ve also been working with Tiz Creel on a game called Seize the Power. It has a mechanic whereby each player has a set of individual rules to follow, but it is up to them if they follow those rules. If they wanted to, they could even give or sell their rules to another player. This mechanic combined well with its theme of discrimination.
DM: Stuff by Bez games feature a high degree of player interaction. What is it about this aspect of game design that interests you?
BS: Interaction in games is a very interesting subject. There are still means to interact in even the most strategic games.
Think about a game like ‘Go’. That game is played in near total silence. All communication happens through the medium of the game. A full 19×19 game of Go is a huge strategic conversation. If my move doesn’t result in a reaction from the other player, have I contributed sufficiently to the strategic conversation?
Some interaction is with game mechanisms more than the other players. I remember playing Bohnanza. It’s a trading game where you would expect there to be high player interaction, however, much of the time is spent focusing on the cards, not the other players.
At the other extreme are large group or party games which are usually intended for 7 or more players.
Kings College, in London, commissioned a piece from Sarah Jury and I for their exhibit: ‘Genders: Shaping and Breaking the Binary’. It’s called ‘Challenging Structures’ and it responds to academic research that explores how changing views on gender and gender identity are reflected in law. What is the impact of changing the gender on your passport, for example?
The last playthrough had 30 people, split into 4 countries with different ideologies. It includes player characters that are written to be transgender or trans-phobic. Given the sensitive subject matter we had to include a means for players to stop interacting if they wished. Interacting with my words and actual actions places these LARPs and similar party games in a different category.
Physical and digital interaction are being combined by using in-game apps and the boundaries of what even counts as a “board game” is being pushed by games like ‘The Mind’ and ‘Wavelength’.
I think we are reaching a point where it’s now possible to draw on game principles used in live action roleplay or even sports and still be loosely within the umbrella of “boardgame”.
DM: Any advice for new designers?
BS: Although it pains me to say this, any designers thinking about moving into publishing need to be aware that marketing and logistics are the most important factors in being successful.
In this crowded world, you need to be able to make people aware that you exist and build relationships with retailers. You also need to do research into the marketplace. Are there games like yours available already?
Ask yourself ‘why am I creating this game?’. You don’t need to follow the standard path of design, pitch, publish.
There is massive value in making games for small limited print runs or even just a single copy given to a friend as a declaration of love. Not everything has to be mass produced.
