Tim Schuetz
Today’s featured designer is Tim Schuetz, designer of Interstellar Fabricators. Tim was lucky enough to grow up with geeky parents and spent much of his life playing board games, video games and RPGs. Music was also a major influence in his life and his tastes are eclectic. Tim met his wife in college in Albany, NY, and when it came time for them to come back home on break, they discovered they were from the same area of NH. They had even gone to rival high schools. Fortunately they didn’t let that animosity get in their way, and they are now happily married, with an adorable intelligent daughter and a second baby on the way. You can play Tim’s game Interstellar Fabricators on Table B at 4 p.m. on Saturday April 8th.
THREE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT TIM:
He has memorized Pi to about 50 decimal places. It hasn't been useful yet.
For a time in college, Tim was playing in or GMing a tabletop RPG literally every night of the week and twice on Sundays.
He started a juggling club in high school before he knew how to juggle.
Questions by Kimberly Revia (KR), answers by Tim Shuetz (TS).
THREE BOARD GAME DESIGN RELATED QUESTIONS:
KR: What game are you demoing at G2S? What is your elevator pitch for it?
TS: I'm demoing Interstellar Fabricators. What if aliens did build the pyramids? Why would they do it, and what else might be attributed to them? My game takes a whimsical answer and assumes they're a bunch of rival construction contractors, trying to build monuments for earthly leaders. You play as one of these alien companies, and you're in it for the money, trying to amass the largest fortune by the end of the game. It features a unique 3D tile-laying mechanic along with some bidding and something close to worker placement.
KR: How did you get into designing board games?
TS: It's always been an interest in the back of my mind, experiencing so many different games, I've often wondered if I could leave my own mark in this vast, ever-expanding universe that I've enjoyed so much. I've been fortunate in my career to have continued exposure to the industry, and have gained a much greater understanding and appreciation of what goes on behind the scenes. This is my first title that I feel is getting close to ready to submit to a publisher.
KR: How many game designs are you currently working on?
TS: I've got 2 other games that have physical prototypes, maybe 1 or 2 others that are nascent ideas. They definitely need some work, and I don't have a lot of time to devote to development at this point, but I keep my files open and jot down notes when I think of something.
THREE QUESTIONS JUST FOR FUN:
KR: Is there any game you played once and never need to play again?
TS: Kingdom Death: Monster (at least with 6 players, with the rules as written). I actually like most of what the game does, and it matches theme and mechanics and atmosphere very well, but I don't like brutal difficulty for difficulties’ sake, especially when it comes down to "if you don't roll improbably well, you lose, even if you make no wrong decisions".
KR: What is your favorite game to play with a large group?
TS: My go-to games for a large group on an average night would be 7 Wonders and Citadels. However, if planned in advance so you have time to finish, Twilight Imperium (3rd Ed) is fantastic.
KR: How did you find out about Granite Game Summit?
TS: The "WeGottaPair" email group, mostly a bunch of southern NH gamers that play together (or have at one point).
You can reach Tim at: MeeplePrime@gmail.com
