Independent Game Designer Interview With Samuel Ronan From Origins Game Fair
mage Source: Samuel Ronan
In a previous article, we introduced some independent board game designers that we met at Origins Game Fair. The next creator we talked to was Samuel Ronan who is the creator of Esotera, the Awakening.
CS: How did you come up with the name Esotera, the Awakening?
SR: This actually took a lot of brainstorming, and research. I wanted a name that had a way to mix culture, religion, society, aliens, fantasy, and sci fi all in one idea or concept. This led me to learning about a lot of different cultures, and ways that other cultures refer to belief systems. What came across many of them was the idea that Higher Beliefs are esoteric in nature and that most religions have a concept of Awakening to spiritual awareness. I double-checked to see if Esotera existed as a game, or as a business, and when I saw the all-clear I ran with it!
CS: Why did you decide to get into board game design?
SR: It was an accident as it turns out. I was laid off and had plenty of time on my hands, a powerful computer, and a creative itch. What happened next was looking into 3D design software and if I could make anything interesting from them. After a while it turned into less of a hobby and more of a fully fleshed-out idea to create... a competitor to Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K! I realized quickly that 3D printing models was not as easy as it seemed, never mind at a scale that could compete with an existing business. I looked into using the characters I created and how I could re-imagine them in a way that I could reasonably market. I remembered one of my favorite mini-games from FFXIV: Triple Triad. I studied the mechanics of the game, how the values were determined, and realized that the same 3D design software was a powerful rendering tool as well.
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Image Source: Samuel Ronan
CS: Tell me a little about your game.
SR: Esotera, the Awakening is a Deck Building, Trick Taking, and Card Battler based off of the mechanics of Triple Triad from FFXIV and FFVIII respectively. The similarities stop there because a digital game that can exist in 3 unique states is incredibly difficult to re-imagine in a 2 state (front and back) system that real players could use. There was also a distinct lack of replayability with the Final Fantasy games because the whole goal was to play other NPCs to take their cards, with the absolute best cards at your disposal. This wouldn't be fun, or strategic. It also meant there needed to be justification to use the other cards that were designed, which led to the High > Low > High, and Low > High > Low play formats. Aside from the nitty gritty, you get to build a deck of 40 cards, and since each deck of Esotera comes with 101 playable cards, it's possible to play with a friend for just one deck! This makes the game of Esotera extremely accessible, and competitive with other TCGs and LCGs on the market, which was one of our primary concerns with design, and pricing.
CS: What has been your favorite part about game design?
SR: Honestly, the character design. I may lack artistic abilities, but I can dress up a figure to look pretty cool! The other part of posing, learning about lighting, integrating characters into backgrounds, and bringing them to life, and making them feel like photographs was a very fun challenge for me throughout the process!
Image Source: Samuel Ronan
CS: Do you have any exciting projects coming up?
SR: Currently we are working to get listed on DriveThruRPG so that we can have Print on Demand cards, and market test what the community is most interested in. We are also communicating with several different vendors, creators, and retailers to see how we can work together. It is our hope that these relationships will blossom into something that can help Esotera, and their respective endeavors grow!
CS: Where can people find Esotera, the Awakening in the future?
SR: Currently the game is for sale on our website, but after having met a bunch of wonderful and talented people at Origins, we are very keen on getting a Kickstarter up and running with interested backers for special treats for Day 1 backers!
Image Source: Samuel Ronan
CS: Where can people find you?
SR: Once we got to Origins, it was apparent that we had to learn more about the demographic, and kind of player that attends Origins, vs other conventions such as Galaxy Con. For now, we are going to focus on B2B relationship building, and PoD designs as well. Once we have more solid footing for our game, we absolutely intend to go to all of the Ohio Conventions, and Midwestern Game Conventions such as Gen Con!
It was such a pleasure to talk to Samuel about his great game and hopes for the future. We wish him luck in his endeavors!
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