Lucy Gellman Photo
Three months ago, web developer and self-described “dork” Alex Wilkinson had an idea: build a space-oriented board game, like the ones he played growing up, to get out of his web-developy head and back to a world where people communicated with each other in real time, using words and eye contact. Inspired by friend and fellow gamer Alex Cutler-Freese, he ordered game pieces, looked into gaming prototypes, and began planning out his strategy for a cooperative game that didn’t, in any iteration, use a computer.
A year ago, he wouldn’t have had the support system to make it catch on in New Haven. Now, he will.
Saturday morning, Wilkinson and hundreds of presenters like him will congregate this on Chapel Street for Connecticut’s first-ever Festival of Indie Games, intended to celebrate a tabletop board game renaissance that is sweeping both the state and the country. The event takes place at The Grove Coworking Space and Happiness Lab from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“The CT Festival of Indie Games is 100 percent dedicated to independent designers of games — board games, card games, pretty much anything tabletop,” said festival founder Jason Miceli, who works in user experience design during the day and creates games at night. “There are countless — a surprising number, actually, to me — independent designers across Connecticut and certainly surrounding state … We have a design, we have an idea, maybe we have a prototype, maybe we’ve ordered some early copies to play with the community, but there’s very little funds. There’s not a lot of established businesses … this isn’t these guys’ jobs for the most part. It’s just like, these people with dreams, that just want to see their dreams in front of people, and see the results, and see the happy, smiling faces on the other side of the table. That’s what the festival is really all about.”
Cutler-Freese, Wilkinson and Miceli preparing for the festival at Happiness Lab.
Wilkinson, who moved to New Haven from New York City three years ago, will be one of those smiling faces. His game, still untitled, employs teamwork to reach a common goal: get back to earth as a space team stranded in the galaxy. There are different roles — captain, pilot, science officer, like another space reference from the 20th century—providing different pieces of information. Ultimately, the group decides what its next move is going to be.
“I was excited to make a cooperative game that insisted on everyone participating, and not everyone dominating the group, so that everyone would have a role to play and information to give,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “I think that motivates a lot of game designers — you play a lot of games that you love, you find the reasons you love them, and you find the things you don’t love as much, that you’d love to do better.”
“I was always fascinated by space as a kid,” he added when asked about the game’s content. “It was definitely a dream of mine to do something creative in that theme … what’s amazing about the board game design hobby is it’s never been easier to acquire prototype materials and start actually having a physical prototype for not that much money, actually start to see your idea being actualized. It’s inherently social, so it’s been really fun working … to bounce ideas back and forth, not have a completely solo activity.”
He’s far from alone. Hundreds of developers, like Wilkinson’s friend Alexander Cutler-Freese, have popped out of New Haven’s woodwork in the past months, since Elm City Games set up a permanent home at the Happiness Lab and started game development meetups twice a week, on Monday and Thursday evenings. For Cutler-Freese, maker of a game called Expancity and founder of Let’s Make Games Connecticut, that kind of network has proved indispensable.
“It’s really important in the prototyping process to sort of play your game over and over and over to see what works and what doesn’t, to fix, things,” he said. “That can sometimes be difficult when you’re just trying to rope your friends into it, who maybe aren’t as into board games as you are. It’s nice to have that organized, concerted effort … I would describe it as a writers’ workshop for game designers.”
Wilkinson displays a typical box of prototype materials.
That’s how Expancity, which combines a sort of urban planning savvy (think Monopoly, but less classist and more wonky), was born.
“It’s semi-cooperative, so the players are all working in the same shared space, laying down city blocks,” he said. “… But even though you’re working on this shared city with other players, you might have slightly different goals that you’re trying to go after. You have to figure out what other people are working on, and you can work collaboratively to both satisfy your goals or individually to mess other people’s plans up.”
He added that he’s excited to see what new complexities Saturday’s festival, which allows gamers the chance to speak with exhibitors and try out prototypes, brings to the proverbial table.
“These festivals are fantastic for networking and getting to know the community,” he said. “I was shocked when I moved here and realized how many people were doing the same thing I was doing. Board game design — it starts as a solo project often, and you’re not actually aware of how many people are in the exact same boat. Now that it’s becoming a little bit more of a mainstream pursuit … games are inherently social, and having that social aspect brought to the forefront is really great.”
To listen to an episode of WNHH’s “Law, Life and Culture” about gaming in New Haven, click on or download the audio above.