Who is Ignacy Trzewiczek?
I am CEO of Portal Games, games company located in Poland. I am also a game designer, I designed games like Robinson Crusoe or Imperial Settlers.
How long have you designed boardgames
My first published game would be Neuroshima RPG in 2002. Before that I was writer, I was writing RPG adventures and articles about running games since 1997. That would be more that 20 years…
Robinson Crusoe adventures on the cursed island is one of my very favorite COOP games. Why did you use that particular thematic?
Thank you. I always loved the book, it is my favorite book from my childhood. A chance to design a board game adaptation of this novel was a great adventure and a great challenge for me!
I recently pre-ordered Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game and I am really looking forward to it. What was your inspiration for this game?
I was inspired by a Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective game which is a brilliant design and I love it. We wanted to create a game that offers similiar feel and experience, but has a stronger structure. Detective is a card game, it uses a time mechanism, where each card has a time value and players must make a difficult choices deciding which clues to follow.
Are you concerned about the great amount of games that comes out these days or do you think the market will «normalize»?
Yes, I am. The market is growing, the whole industry is growing, there is more and more gamers, but the number of new games and new projects on KS is growing faster. We are in a great times, but at the same time, very dangerous times for a smaller publishers. It is hard for them to get through the noise of all those press releases and new games.
Do you have a favorite game (your own design or other designer)?
Of course! I am gamer, I love games, I have a pretty decent collection and a few years ago I promised my fans recording my Top50 games of all time. At some point I must do the video. It’s been a long time!
Do you ever get to play games just for fun anymore or is it play testing all day long?
Absolutely!
There is a time for work and intense play-testing and there is a time to relax and enjoy my hobby. Each Monday we have afterhours at the office and we play with our friends all sort of our fav games. No play-testing on Mondays! 🙂
First Martian Adventure on the Red Planet is a very solid game, but if you could change one thing what would it be?
That is an interesting question. I guess I’ll make it a little simplier. That was a very ambitious project, with a huge research in science and we’ve got a great reviews from people who appreciate that approach, but at the same time, the game was probably too complex and too close to the simulation of setting the base on Mars, than actual a game. Yes, I’d make it a bit simplier if I start today.
Whom is the better crokinole player, You or Steven?
It is clearly me. Each year at The Dice Tower con we play a Crockinole match, I lost my last game and Stephen is a running champion, but it won’t last long! 🙂
Going to Essen this year?
Of course! We release a Monolith Arena, a great tactival game set in the fantasy universe. A great game based on the mechanism of our old classic, Neuroshima Hex.
One of my «missions» is to get great games available in norwegian. Would you consider having norwegian rules, if someone translated them, in pdf form on portal games.pl?
Absolutely!
Are you as excited over the new expansion for Robinson Crusoe Mystery Tales as I am?
I guess, I am as tired, as you excited, how about that? 🙂
This is effort of my whole dev team and many months of work.
Almost 300 new cards, new missions, few new mechanism, this is a massive project.
We hope Robinson Crusoe fans will love it.
I am impressed that portal games is one of the game production companies with the best social media presence. Is it very important for your company?
We are very passionate about our work and the chance to discuss it with our fans, and show them our work (through vlog Portal Games Informant) or chat with them (on Twitter) is a super fun time. We are very active at conventions too, but of course, the social media and doing fun stuff on Facebook or YouTube is the easiest way to interact with fans from all over the world. We find it fascinating when talking about our releases with fans from all different countries.
Asmoready is a term Steven Bounacore uses quite often on Boardgame Insider. Are you really Asmoready or is it an inside joke?
It is inside joke. I am not sure if we are Asmoready 🙂
Thank you for the interview!
I was sitting in my livingroom with no one to play with, contemplating what to do. Roaming the internet relentlessly as I often do when I am bored. Suddenly an idea popped up. What if I could have an Q &A with different game designers. I sent an email to Jamey Stegmaier hoping, but being quite sure it was gong to be put in the wastebasket. Less than a minute later I recieved an email from a very friendly 37 year old game designer in St. Louis. A couple of emails later I had my Q&A. I think I will try to make it a series.
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14 Questions for Jamey Stegmaier:
Q: Who is Jamey Stegmaier?
A: Jamey Stegmaier is me. I’m a 37-year-old game designer and publisher who runs Stonemaier Games in St. Louis.
Q: How long have you designed board games?
A: Since I was around 8 or 9 years old. I’ve been pursuing them as more than a hobby since
Q: Which game made you a gamer and designer for life?
A: That’s difficult to answer…I played a lot of games in my youth that got me hooked on gaming. Perhaps I should mention Magic: The Gathering, though, as it’s a rare game that I played as a teenager and still play–and learn from playing–as an adult.
Q: Cats, Dogs or both?
A: I love both, but I only own cats.
Q: How do you think the insanely huge amount of new games affect the business. Is it positive or negative?
A: For the consumer, I think it’s mostly a good thing. We’re seeing a tidal wave of innovation in gaming. From a publisher perspective, it means that we’ll see smaller print runs of new games due to the plethora of options, which sometimes results in a first print run being much smaller than actual demand if the game is hot.
Q: I first noticed your company well after the KS campaign for Scythe. I bought scythe without knowing anything except loving the art. It blew me away. Later the same evening the game itself did the same. How important has Jakub Rozalski`s art been for Scythes success?
A: Jakub’s art and worldbuilding provide a huge hook to catch a person’s eye and make them want to learn more, exactly like your experience. I think the sheer amount of art in the game affirms a person’s choice to buy the game when they open the box. And from a design perspective, I think it had a hugely positive impact on the game to have a strong theme to work from.
Q: My Little Scythe seems like it is for both kids and adult who wants to bring kids into board gaming. Or is it a case of a wolf in sheeps clothing?
A: That’s an excellent way to put it! The first sentence, that is. 🙂 It’s a family-friendly game that can certainly serve as a gateway game (though I think existing gamers of all ages will have fun with it too).
Q: You seem to just as happy to pimp your games as I am. Do you think that some of the success you enjoy is because you release new content for your games. Both promos like coins and new cards. Most recently visit from Rhine Valley for Viticulture?
A: Oh yes, I highly value the tactile and aesthetic experience of playing games. I try to make all of our games feel like premium games, but we also offer certain enhancements, like promos, our realistic resource tokens, and expansions.
Q: In Norway there is a problem getting good games in norwegian. Mostly mainstream games here (some exceptions like splendor, century, ttr and so on). Would you release norwegian translations on your webpage as pdfs if some one translated them for you?
A: Yes, absolutely. We have a great team of volunteer translators (we pay them a little bit), and we do have a Norwegian translator among them. However, because they’re volunteers, they sometimes simply choose not to translate the projects I send them.
Q: What about board game design gives you the most joy?
A: I would say it’s the joy itself that gives me the most joy–I love to see happy people playing games. As for the process of designing games, I really enjoy the brainstorming stage, as it’s the point that anything is possible.
Q: Charterstone is one of my favourite legacy games, will there be more games like this or was the one enough?
A: Thank you! While I don’t have any plans to design other games that feature permanence–the defining aspect of legacy games–there are certain elements inspired by legacy games that I will continue to explore, like discovery.
Q: Do you get to play as many games as you want to or is the business side of gaming take up all your time.
A: I work a lot (70-80 hours a week), but fortunately that still gives me plenty of time to play games. Not only do I love to play a variety of games from other designers, but I also find those games to be really helpful for me as a designer.
Q: Which game is your baby. Or is it impossible to pic one.
A: The answer I like to give are the games we publish that I helped to develop but didn’t design myself: Between Two Cities and My Little Scythe. There are several others on the way!
Q: Thank you so much for taking the time! Do you wish to say anything to your norwegian fans?
A: My pleasure! Thank you to the people of Norway for inspiring the Nordic faction in Scythe. It’s one of my favorites. 🙂
Thats all folks. Thank you to Jamey for being a sport!
The Rise of the Fenris can be ordered from Grimfield games
Grimfield Games ia a friendly local boardgameshop in Grimstad. They have a discount policy for several gaming clubs. Check if your gameclub has a discount deal there.
Other non US retailers:
US Customers can order it here