Tim Blank
Today we are featuring Tim Blank, the designer of Oh My Gods. Tim will be joining us on October 22nd and showcasing his game. Tim is also the President of the Boston Game Maker's Guild, and the VP of Tabletop Curation for BostonFIG. Being the VP of Tabletop Curation means that he runs the showcase portion of the show. Most of the tabletop floor at BostonFIG is dedicated to games that are in the showcase. First and foremost, Tim thinks of himself as a game designer, even though he wears many hats within the community.
THREE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT TIM:
Tim has 11 brothers and sisters. He is the youngest.
In college, Tim minored in music performance; he plays all of the woodwind instruments and has written a symphony.
He is a reality TV junkie. Go figure, he is also a game designer.
Questions by Kimberly Bullock (KB), answers by Tim Blank (TB).
THREE BOARD GAME RELATED QUESTIONS:
KB: How long have you been designing board games, and what was your first design?
TB: I've been designing games for some time. I remember in middle school, my friends and I made a game based on dice that was very miniature-esque. The face on the die represented its life, but they were also your pieces that you move on the board to attack each other.
KB: Do you often have just one design you are focusing on or are there typically multiple designs in progress?
TB: I tend to have a lot of designs always kicking around in my head, but I focus on one at a time. I have a rule: I'll work on a game for a few weeks, then back-burner it. Then as I finish up one design, I re-visit my old ones. If I'm still excited about it, then I'll follow it through.
KB: Is there any mechanic and/or theme you would really like to design a game around sometime?
TB: I think there's a great space for games to tell important and controversial stories, to get people thinking, to teach players about issues and put them inside of these issues. I'd love to have a game or line of games that do this, but that's something you can really only do once you're a more established designer.
THREE QUESTIONS THAT ARE JUST FOR FUN:
KB: Do you have a designer whose games are insta-buys for you?
TB: Really, only my friends' games.
KB: What would your perfect game day be?
TB: That's a tough one. It would include a giant group of my friends, all together, playing all different games, eating and drinking, and just having fun.
KB: Is there any animal you don’t think has been featured enough in board games?
TB: African animals. Perhaps I'll be coming out with a game soon that features them. ;)
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