My Journey as a Female Board Game Designer

     Board gaming for me has been a life long passion. As a girl I played Risk, Monopoloy, Clue, Scrabble, Battleships, Stratego, Life, and any other classic American kids game I could get my hands on. By the time I went to college at Berkeley I dabbled in card games, Backgammon and Chess. I was eager to try more complex games but had no idea that the world of modern board games was taking shape in Europe and would soon take the USA by storm.

     1999 I started my freshman year at UC Berkeley. Walking the halls of my freshman dorm, I happened upon a group of classmates playing Illuminati, the card game. I sat in on a few rounds and my world was changed. My classmates directed me to "Games of Berkeley" where I purchased Settlers of Catan and started my board game addiction... and the rest is history.
     To the right is my "Shelfie."My board game collection includes close to 80 titles now, I've formed and played in many game groups, and count board game players as the best sort of people in the entire planet. Conventions for me are happy places where I can meet other people like me and play games ALL DAY. And as I say to my friends, "I'm happy the moment you sit down to play games with me."

    After having 2 children, my life changed a lot. I took a break from being a full time nurse to staying home with my kids as a full time mom. During this time at home with my kids, I decided to use my downtime to do something for myself and design a board game.
   So far, the process of making a game has been the absolute joy of my life. I'm excited and eager to share my experience with all of you.
     Over the coarse of the next few months I will share my process for creating my first title "Plunder and Duel." I will cover the research, prototyping, mechanics testing, playtesting, rule book editing, art collaboration, marketing, kickstarting, and all of the ups and downs that go along with all of the aforementioned. Most of all, I'm excited to be able to share the most amazing experience in the world... designing a board game!