Christopher Wiley
We are excited to be welcoming Christopher Wiley back to this year’s Designer Alley at #G2S2025!
A little bit about Christopher, written in his own words.
Growing up in the 70’s we had the standard board games that everyone had. Monopoly, Life, Clue the usual suspects. Sit down, set up, play, “Dad, why do you have 3 $100.000 bills tucked under the couch?!”, win or lose, and pack up. I enjoyed these experiences, but it wasn’t like I got pulled into the experience of being a Lawyer with 3 kids, and reaching retirement with all 4 insurances, talked about it afterward. Those plays came and went. Then in 6th grade I was given the Dungeons and Dragons boxed set.
My father learned the rules, even wrote his own adventure for it (which impresses me now more even than it did back then), and taught us to play. I was totally hooked, as were numerous others at the time. As a scrawny, non-athletic kid, I got to feel like I was something else. There was a rush stepping into that first village, opening that first dungeon door, standing up to some hulking creature and rolling that first 20 sider. Honestly being more than I felt I was. When I started a group with my friends, the stories we started within the game, continued outside of the game. It impacted us, inspired us, it was, if not all of ours, my team sport. I continued playing D&D for years afterward.
In 2011 I reconnected with board gaming. I had not been following the hobby, and the realization that it had continued and grown excited me like those original sessions of D&D. I bought into the hobby again, and though I was impressed with the offerings, my initial experiences fell short. I thought maybe I could make something that would spark that feeling in me again. This was the beginning of my exploration into game design, and chasing that rush. I have been lucky enough to be able to keep this crazy hobby up for the past 14 years, to meet fellow players and designers, and to have folks play, and enjoy, my offerings.
THREE RANDOM FACTS ABOUT CHRISTOPHER:
Christopher still has the original boxed Dungeons & Dragons set he got in 6th grade, including the dice.
He tries to take a moment of gratitude every morning before starting his day.
Christopher has a Spotify playlist with 4,458 songs, 308 hr 23 min of music. (happy to share his favorites)
CHRISTOPHER WILL BE SHOWING OFF HIS GAME AIRLOCK: ESCAPE HORIZON IN DESIGNER ALLEY AT #G2S2025
AirLock: Escape Horizon: “Welcome aboard the UFRV Horizon, a long range scientific exploration and research vessel. Our mission will take the Horizon to the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond to gather important data for the benefit of the Earth’s population and future longevity. Please report to the cryo-stasis cabin and prepare for hibernation protocols. The system will awaken you upon arrival at our destination…”
Take control of a Trooper / Civilian pair and navigate the ship, fending off the xenos threat, in an attempt to reach the escape pods and leave. The ship is variable, and is randomly built from 5 decks of cards. Threats increase in difficulty as the game progresses. Once each cabin is successfully cleared of threats, each player receives a random equipment card which. may provide weapons, healing items, hazard mediation, or possibly threats. Beneficial cards provide a buff, ways to manage action points, or tools to negate hazardous conditions in the cabins.
The ship deck is created by stacking two cabins from each of the green, orange, red, black, & white cabin cards. The threat numbers on these cards get progressively higher, increasing the threat of the cabins as you move through the ship.
All players start with an identical deck which consists of 6 cards 1, 2, & 3 Action Points, and 1 Maneuver Card. Each player's Trooper/ Civilian pair occupy one quadrant of the current cabin. Action Points are used to attempt to meet the threat level of the player’s quadrant. Maneuver cards are used to change the facing of your Trooper/ Civilian pair to assist with or address the threat in a different quadrant.
Deal 4 cards from your deck each turn, and attempt to overcome the threats of the current cabin by generating enough action points to meet the threat number of your quadrant. Weapons and items can allow you to multiply action points, direct them to assist another player, or negate a hazard in the current cabin. Healing items can restore health to a Trooper or Civilian.
AirLock: Escape Horizon is currently in Beta-Testing.
