Delightful Games of Gum-Size

I’m not good at winning games. I get too distracted. I’d rather meet all the racers than finish a race. I’d rather slink through every secret passage than capture the murderer. I’d rather hoard all the sheep, and have a hilarious moment where everyone is like “Where are all the sheep!?” than ensure the people of Kevsylvania survive the harsh winters of Catan.

That being said, making games is something I very much enjoy. But my natural puckishness gets in the way of designing games that are balanced. I need to be paired up with a solid game designer, someone who gets as excited about proper mechanics and good balance as I get about making sure all the characters have fun hats. Fortunately for me, I met Chris Handy!

Since 2014, Chris has run a game company called Perplext. You may have come across their Pack-O-Game sets in stores or online, clever little chewing-gum sized games that can be played anywhere. Chris thought my art might be a good match for two games he was designing, and I heartily accepted—soon after, I started plying my craft.

The Game of FAR

FAR is a high-stakes game where you match terrains to build out your Kingdom. It can be played with up to four players, which means you don’t have to exclude your cousin Janet, who always feels left out when you play games that require 2-3 players. Aunt Zelda thinks you buy games like that on purpose. Uncle Brad says he agrees, but he’s so focused on his horseracing lately, I doubt he’s really listening.

Here’s some of the art I made for FAR!

Sometimes You Feel Like NUT

NUT is a game where you match acorns to gain points, thus setting you up to win the game. Points are an important part of game playing, I’m told. I rarely play games to earn points and win, though. As I mentioned, I’m just a curious fellow who quickly gets bored playing to win, and just starts trying to do interesting things. See how many times my explorer can get hit by the fireball. Do a ventriloquist act with my hippo. Swallow all the hotels. You know — PLAY! Or at least I call it play. It seems to make everyone else very angry.

Here’s a look at the art I created for NUT:

If you like games, and are interested in owning a thing I worked on, I suggest you head on over to Perplext and order yourself FAR and NUT (or better yet, the whole Pack-O-Game Set Three) right away! Then assemble two to three friends as well as your cousin Janet for some wholesome, good-times-had-by-all fun. And, if you see me out there playing a game, give me a wave! Or, if you see the other players angrily working out their personal frustrations on ME, a guy just having a little fun, please feel free to step in and punch a jaw or two for your old friend Kev, who told you about these games after all!