Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers. Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before. If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!
| Name: | Matt Yen |
|---|---|
| Email: | Matthew.V.Yen@gmail.com |
| Location: | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Day Job: | Starting a job as an administrative assistant. |
| Designing: | Less than six months. |
| Find my games at: |
Matt Yen
Interviewed on: 1/11/2019 12:40:09
Let me introduce you to Matt Yen, a new designer with big aspirations. Matt is currently working on several games, including a war game that can be played over great distances or time through email correspondence. He also has a number of other projects and ideas in the works, so keep your eye on Matt to see what he has coming up!
Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.
How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Less than six months.
Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I've always wanted to. After a lot of encouragement from people in the industry that I met at conventions, as well as family and friends, I realized that there was no reason to keep delaying. I've had several good playtests and had great feedback from those, so I definitely plan on continuing.
What game or games are you currently working on?
I'm in playtest and revision stage for my second game, my first unfortunately needed to be put on hold. I definitely want to revisit it, though. The game I'm currently working on is a strategy-based, hidden movement game, with a slight military theme. I'm working on expanding it to multiple players, as well as adding a little more depth to it.
Have you designed any games that have been published?
Not yet, but here's hoping!
What is your day job?
Starting a job as an administrative assistant.
Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.
Where do you prefer to play games?
With friends at someone's house / apartment. Game libraries are also great, and of course conventions too.
Who do you normally game with?
Friends who are more into board games than video games.
If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
Dominion is one of the big hits with my current group. Cards Against Humanity with an earlier group. There's quite a few that make the rounds. Party games are also popular. Tokaido was a lovely new find. Mahjong is usually pretty popular.
And what snacks would you eat?
Pizza was pretty common.
Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
I personally don't care, but if others wanted to then great.
What's your favorite FLGS?
Currently don't have one :(
What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Hmmm. It's a toss up between a few: Dominion-Prosperity, Settlers of Catan, Iron Dragon, and Century: Spice Road. Honorable mention goes to Dark Souls, both the board game and card game. CAH is something I played to death in college so I really have to be in the mood for it, which isn't often. Usually I play something else with others who don't like it. Worst game I ever played is hard to say, nothing really stands out. Anything where the rules are obtuse, contradictory, or otherwise unclear is not something I'm liable to enjoy.
What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Not really a mechanic but I love games that have a high replay value. Anything where the initial mechanics and strategy are simple but the game itself can be vastly different depending on who you play with. I'm not a fan of artificially inflating that with RNG, however. I definitely don't like games that break the 4th wall and ask personal information, make you do things, etc. This can vary, of course.
What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
Iron Dragon. I don't have it, for one, but even if I did, not everyone is keen on a train game that takes an hour to learn and 3 hours to play.
What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, Video Games, Other Games?
Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games, Card Games
OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
Not if I can avoid it. Reasoning in prior answers.
You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.
When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it for me. Sometimes I'm thinking about an idea for a mechanic and I develop it, add new ones. All of a sudden I realize I have two games, or even three. That can also happen when trying to add theme to mechanic. On the flip side, I'll be going about my day, not thinking about games at all, when I'll notice or hear or think about something and all of a sudden it's a light bulb moment.
Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
No to both, but I'd like to change that!
Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
I think a lot of design lessons in general can be learned from bad games or from good video games. So Hidetaka Miyazaki, if I had to pick.
Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
See three questions ago. I actually got the idea I'm currently working on from a dream. It looks very different now, but still.
How do you go about playtesting your games?
Until I have something presentable, I playtest by myself or with family / friends. Once I do, I bring a functional prototype to my local playtest group. I do want to learn Tabletop Simulator, which can be really useful I hear.
Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
I mostly work alone for the bulk of the design. I step back for a bit and come back to polish it when I have a fresher perspective.
What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
That first publish. I'm going to go with a publisher, and not self-publish. I haven't finished polishing my game yet so it's not quite ready for a pitch, but almost there!
If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
Legend of Korra or Dark Souls. The current Dark Souls games (by Gearbox I believe) are fantastic. There are a few great Korra games out there, but there's so much more that could be done.
What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
JUST DO IT. You'll never make a game if you don't sit down and make one.
What advice would you like to share about designing games?
See above. Also don't be afraid of failure or criticism. That's what will make you a better designer. Don't ignore it, but don't let it bring you down.
Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Games that I'm playtesting are: Turn-based, hidden-movement strategy game. Vague military theme. As mentioned above, looking to add more features and players. This can be played one turn at a time over any length of time, or played by players who live far away from one another.
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are: A city-building game where you have an effective time limit (# of rounds) to accomplish your character's quest.
And games that are still in the very early idea phase are: A lot. No really, like 15.
Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Protospiel, and some local game development meetups.
And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!
Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Star Wars, Sprite, and Laserdisc.
What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Video games and Ninja Warrior.
What is something you learned in the last week?
How addicted I am to ice cream. I think I was going through withdrawal.
Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Not big on music, but fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction are usually a good bet. Anything by Neil Gaiman, and almost anything my Michael Crichton and Jim Butcher. Movies--Contracorriente, Ip Man, El Laberinto del Fauno, Primer. First three are not in English, fyi. Last one might as well not be. Honorable mention to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I was absolutely blown away.
What was the last book you read?
Sphere by Michael Crichton.
Do you play any musical instruments?
Not a one.
Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I'm faceblind. Not severely, but much more than "oh, haha I'm ALSO bad with faces."
What would you do if you had a time machine?
Not get student loan debt.
Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Introvert. Like, a lot.
If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
Is the Avatar a superhero? I think so.
Have any pets?
With cats, you ARE the pet. And I love it.
Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions! Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?
Go make some games, even if you've never done it before!
Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html
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