Forrest Gowen
Today we are featuring Forrest Gowen, co-designer of the game Sea-dogs. Forrest attended Stumptown Game Summit last year and will be joining us for the first time this year in Designer Alley.
THREE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT FORREST:
He is attending the chiropractic school here in Portland
Forrest spent the summer living in Peru
He really got into board gaming about 5 years ago. It started with Shadows over Camelot.
Questions by Kimberly Revia (KR), answers by Forrest Gowen (FG).
THREE BOARD GAME RELATED QUESTIONS:
KR: What part of the design process has brought you the most joy so far?
FG: I really enjoy seeing how the game progresses over time. I also like to look back on previous decisions we made and realize how bad those renditions were. With Seadogs, we are striving for simplicity and intuitive game mechanics. It’s fun to continue discussing how to maintain the fun aspects while decreasing the complexity.
KR: How did you initially get into game design?
FG: In the summer of 2017 I was working as a temp in Salt Lake with my brother. We had been playing the board game Swashbuckled a lot and the house rules eventually evolved into its own game. In the down-time at work, we started prototyping our game with cardboard and pennies, slowly evolving more and more, until we got our current product.
KR: Is there any other designer, publisher or artist you would really love to work with one day?
FG: Ryan Laukat has always produced really great and simple games while also having fantastic artwork. It seems like he has really perfected the blend between simplicity, story, atmosphere, and mechanics.
THREE QUESTIONS JUST FOR FUN:
KR: What hobbies do you enjoy outside of board games?
FG: I spend A LOT of time at 1,000 acres with my dog. I also love cooking, baking, and reading.
KR: Is there any fictional universe you would love to see a game set in?
FG: I think a Zelda Breath of the Wild board game would be amazing. I don’t know how that would be possible, but an open-world board game would be a really fun idea. I guess you could do a Zelda themed D&D campaign, but a board game would be cool.
KR: If you could have any one super power, what would you choose and why?
FG: Easy. I’d turn myself inside out. Wanna get out of work early? Turn yourself inside out. Wanna end a board game early so you don’t lose? Boom, turn yourself inside out. Want to get out of a bad first date? All of these problems can be solved by turning yourself inside out.
If you’d like to find more info about the game Seadogs, you can do so by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/seadogsboardgame
