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!

Today's Interview is with:

John de Campos
Interviewed on: 8/29/2022

John de Campos burst onto the tabletop game design scene a few years ago with an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm. You've probably seen his Token Terrors game, or his artwork, or experienced his general willingness to help out and provide advice. John is currently running a Kickstarter for his latest game, Black Mold, which uses a unique mechanic where players have to hold their breath during the game! John is also a sponsor of the 2022 Extra Life Charity Auction and has a whole set of his Token Terrors titles donated to support Children's MIracle Network Hospitals. Read on to learn more about this all-around great game designer!

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
Five to ten years.

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
We started out with an idea for a new and different kind of gaming miniature - a dice-sized one that would be plentiful and affordable to be used in games like Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and dragons. we were tired of cost-prohibitive minis that can get broken or bent. once we looked at our lineup of mini-monsters we thought it wise to compliment them with a board game. thinking it would only take 6 months or so - 3 years later we hit Kickstarter. It's now been around 7 years since the idea to get into this industry happened and we are approaching our 3rd original release on Kickstarter.

What game or games are you currently working on?
Right now we are preparing to launch our co-op till it's not, survival horror escape - BLACK MOLD. In Black Mold, players are prisoners in a presumed abandoned subterranean prison that has been completely overgrown with undulating black fungal growths emitting poisonous, mind-altering black spore clouds into the air. In order to make your escape you must limit your exposure to the toxic environment. This is simulated in the game by limiting a player's turn duration to how long they can physically hold their breath.

Have you designed any games that have been published?
YES! - Token Terrors Battlegrounds (core and deluxe editions) and 6 token terrors solo adventures - Goblin Nitro Run, Wyverns Rescue, Rotten Rampage, The Gauntlet, Combat Protocols, and First Hunt. We also published REPUGNANT - the world's most Disgusting TTRPG.

What is your day job?
Illustrator

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
anywhere really.

Who do you normally game with?
My wife and best friend meet every Friday night - we usually have 2 or 3 alternates join us from week to week.

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
If we're not playtesting one of our games I would play Veiled Fate, Townsfolk Tussle, Inis, Escape the Dark Sector, or Kleos

And what snacks would you eat?
We don't really eat while we play - we enjoy drinks tho =)

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
YES - it depends on the game, I was recently listening to Tanaka, a 70's era city pop/jazz fusion artist.

What’s your favorite FLGS?
No Land Beyond!!

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
I really love playing Token Terrors - I Love Magic the Gathering as well. Worst game I ever played? Dungeon Party - it's a game with just poorly written rules. It was disappointing.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Dice placement, Drafting, engine builders, worker placement - not a huge fan of overly complex euro/point salad games.

What’s your favorite game that you just can’t ever seem to get to the table?
KLEOS - it's a great game but my player group isn't into area control games.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games, Video Games

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
No

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?
It depends - in the case of Black mold the title and breathing mechanic came first, all at once - then we designed around the breath-holding thing. With Token Terrors we made the minis first and designed a game around them. sometimes mechanism prompts a design and we form fit the theme - it's a bit different all the time. There is no formula here at Terrible games except that we want all our games to be artist-led.

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
nope

Do you have a current favorite game designer?
nah

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
I'm an artist and musician so my mind is always working so it comes from different things, places and activities - inspiration strikes when you least expect it - I once came up with a game while taking a poop. It's called Dicetroy the Castle and it's solid.

How do you go about playtesting your games?
Our Friday game group is real cool about testing stuff - I also partnered with No Land Beyond and they regularly host us for playtest events.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
I work best when collaborating though I do have this habit of bringing people in to work on things at the start of a design - they help with core mechanism design and once we have a playable rough concept i just explode off the starting line and run with it and sprint towards a polished prototype.

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
Marketing.

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
I really wanna make a game celebrating the 80s cult classic The Monster Squad.

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
nothing really comes to mind.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Start small. Cut your teeth on a game that is containable and small - a deck of cards maybe. Then build up from there.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have: Token Terrors Battlegrounds.
Goblin Nitro Run
First Hunt
Combat Protocols
Wyverns Rescue
The Gauntlet
Rotten Rampage
REPUGNANT the World's Most Disgusting TTRPG
Games that will soon be published are: VALKA
Token Terrors Season 2 TERROR RISING
This is what I have currently crowdfunding: Black Mold & Black Mold: Solitude
Currently looking for a publisher I have: I would actually love to sell one of our unpublished designs to a publisher.
Games I feel are in the final development and tweaking stage are: Dicetroy the Castle
Gemicorn Rainbow Poops
Kyodai Na Robotto
Warhorn
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are: Shark Bytes
And games that are still in the very early idea phase are: Gothic Tower

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker’s Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Board game design lab

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?
Wars, Coke, VHS

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Musician

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Metal, comic, Horror

What was the last book you read?
Batman

Do you play any musical instruments?
yes, drums and guitar

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I have 3 titanium plates fused to the left side of my skull.

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I will jump off a tall thing into water if I see someone else do it first.

Who is your idol or hero?
Andrew WK

What would you do if you had a time machine?
First I would think very long and hard about the precise time I should go back to so I could try and create a secular world free of religion - or at least set some cultural boundaries that would inform a world where one's faith has no impact on the lives of others. Also maybe see if we could influence a form of democratic socialism in the early stages of nation forming that is functional and immune from corruption- honestly, all the colonization and genocide that's happened throughout human history would be something I would wanna alter. There really shouldn't be borders, we live on an edible planet and we have the resources and knowledge to take care of everyone - we could all be chilling by waterfalls eating sweet fruit but we all have to work and witness constant injustice and suffering and its pretty messed up imo.

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
depends on the day.

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be and why?
Wolverine/Logan/James Howlett - I don't really care about the claws or animal keen senses - it's all about that healing factor. Assuming I would remain exactly who I am and exist in our reality, it would be one of the most helpful but also easily hidden powers that would have a direct impact on the lives of me and my loved ones without me shouldering an ability that would render me power mad like telepathy or super strength. Being in peak physical condition and never being sick or really fatigued in a real way would allow me to work harder and be more present and reliable in every part of my life. Outliving loved ones would be hard but I'd also like to live til the age of 500 or so I think.

Have any pets?
yes, 3 cats and one dog

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
Given its ubiquity and general greatness, I would wanna see MTG survive. The entire GOP should lay down under an asteroid.

Thanks for answering all my crazy questions!

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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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