Chris Anderson
Today we are featuring Chris Anderson, designer of the soon to be published In Vito Morte. In Vito Morte will be coming to Kickstarter this Summer from Button Shy Games. I personally had the pleasure of meeting Chris at the Tabletop Gamer’s Alliance's quarterly meet-up last weekend, and playing In Vino Morte. I would highly recommend both the game and the meet-up. Chris resides in Massachusetts with his wife Mary, their dog Buddy, and their three cats: Koshka, Krypton, and Argon. He runs a high school television studio and teaches animation. Make sure to play this up and coming Button Shy Game on Saturday April 8th at noon on Table C.
THREE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT CHRIS:
When Chris and Mary took in Koshka (a stray) they didn't know she was hiding Krypton, Argon, Helium, Xenon, and Neon in her belly. It was quite the surprise when they found out she was due in a week. Helium, Xenon, and Neon have since found new homes.
He worked on a low budget horror film in New Hampshire.
Chris doesn't like strawberries.
Questions by Kimberly Revia (KR), answers by Chris Anderson (CA).
THREE BOARD GAME DESIGN RELATED QUESTIONS:
KR: What games are you demoing at G2S? What is your elevator pitch for them?
CA: In Vino Morte - Pour your friends a drink. It could be wine or it could be poison, they don’t know. They’ll have to decide how much they trust you. They can swap drinks with another player or take their life in their hands and drink up. Anyone who drinks poison is out of the game. A new player distributes drinks and play continues until only one person is left alive. Coming to Kickstarter in July from Button Shy Games.
Pod People - You’re a group of humans trying to complete missions to save yourselves from the pod people invasion, at least you’re pretty sure you’re a group of humans. Jack has been acting pretty suspicious.
Players go on missions in pairs, they must trust each other to complete the mission, but if you trust a pod person you become a pod person. Try to figure out who your allies are before the entire group is taken over.
In development.
KR: How did you get into designing board games?
CA: I've played Magic: the Gathering for most of my life. Through that I met a lot of gamers, and was introduced to hobby board games.
One night in April of 2014 I played Eclipse with some friends. I was inspired by how Eclipse organizes so much information. I thought I could design a board game like that. Turns out I was wrong, but I've gotten better.
KR: How many game designs are you currently working on?
CA: I'm currently working on 10 game designs:
Along the River
Space Station Disaster
The Mines of Mi Otal
Pod People
Energy Barons: 1900
Darkness
Idol Island
Traders & Traitors
Untitled Big Box Game
Untitled Roll and Write
THREE QUESTIONS JUST FOR FUN:
KR: What are a few of your favorite board games?
CA: Sheriff of Nottingham
Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King
Race for the Galaxy
KR: Is there any theme you would like to see used more often in board games?
CA: I'd like to see more mundane themes. Everyday things raised to an interesting level of strategy. Maybe a route building game about your daily commute. I guess I'm working on 11 games now.
KR: What is your favorite place in NH?
CA: The Granite Games Summit, obviously. (Chris is a wise man)
You can find Chris and more information about his games at the links below:
Board Game Design
https://twitter.com/BlueCubeBGs
https://www.facebook.com/BlueCubeBoardGames/
https://boardgamegeek.com/user/BlueCubeBoardGames
My Podcast: The Board Game Workshop
https://twitter.com/TheBGWorkshop
