A Boatload of Opportunity - Emily Willix & the Small Box Challenge

Since opening Pine Island up for submissions, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with, interacting with, and learning about a score of members of our community. Their experience has ranged from passionate hobbyists pitching their first games, to seasoned industry veterans with tens of published games under their belt.

But few have stood out like Emily Willix. 

Emily is the founder of game design company Small Furry Games and designer of Battle Dentale, which she signed with Bright Eye Games in the UK. There is a lot that stands out about Emily. She lives and travels on a sailboat (check out her youtube channel), is engaging, is an eco-conscious consumer & game designer, and loves small furry animals just as much as we do.

I've always been a bit of a minimalist, but moving aboard a sailboat 5 years ago really amplified that. I'm really conscious of my storage space, waste, and energy consumption. My partner and I don't usually buy things unless we need them. But we really enjoy board games! Even though our living space is only about as big as a school bus, we've found a way to pack in all the things we like, including about 30 board games (though I usually repackage them to save space, and I definitely lean toward small-box games). Living this way has made me really intentional about what I create and consume. So it was natural for that to spill over into my game design philosophy.

What resonates with me is Emily’s philosophy around gaming, game design and community. Emily believes that games are about bringing people together, and building community, not just for players, but designers, too.

Connecting people to other people is something I've always found joy in, in my work, hobbies, and personal life. None of us has all the answers, and no one can do everything themselves. So I give what I'm good at to as many people as possible. Then when I need help, that help makes its way back to me. In game design, that started with rulebook editing as much as I could, but I guess it has become a lot more than that, now.

I want to highlight two projects that Emily is working on to bring people together and elevate other designers.

Small Box Competition

Emily recently organized a month-long event called "Crashtest Cohorts" which connected designers and playtesters within committed groups to playtest and reiterate games more quickly. Shortly after, she announced that Small Furry Games would host The Game Crafter's next design contest, called the #SmallBoxChallenge.

Emily reached out to 9 other designers, developers, and publishers to not only judge the contest, but to offer mentorship and help to the finalists get their games published [Note: I am a Small Box Challenge judge].  

Entering a contest was what really launched me into game design, and I wanted to do that for other people. I thought, instead of just the award, what if we could help people take their games to the next level, too? The judges for this contest have lots of advice and experience, so my goal is to reach out to each finalist and learn about their goals for their game. Then I'll pair them up with an expert to help them with their rulebook, or planning a crowdfunding campaign, or answering questions about how to self-publish... I hope it leaves the participants feeling empowered, and feeling like winning the challenge is just one step on the path to getting their game out to even more players.

Submissions for the Small Box Challenge are open through September 30th. The “challenge is about utilizing The Game Crafter's Small Stout Box and a limited selection of components to create big fun in a small package.”

To learn more check out the Game Crafter landing page.

Holiday Game Book 

A fascination of Emily’s is efficient use of components, and packing a lot of games in a small space. What if you could fit, say, thirty games, by great designers in a single book? 

The Big Holiday Game Book is Emily’s other current project. Her goal is to assemble a collection of December-themed games by various designers, all in one spiral-bound book with a small bag of mostly wooden components. 

The idea is that someone could buy this one book, and have a bunch of games they could share with their family, friends, or roommates over the course of the month. Just quick, easy games to get people to slow down and connect with each other over the holiday season, day-by-day. I want to make it compact enough that you could take it along to your relatives' houses during the holidays, or pack it up with your decorations at the end of the year. Then you could get it out the next year, and it could be a tradition. Bring the family closer, via games, year after year."

Each game will appear on a two-page spread in the book—a format similar to the recent Community Anthology hosted by The Game Crafter. The goal is to create great games that are fun for the whole family (2-6 players) that play in 30 minutes, and that showcase newer and unpublished designers. 

This collection is my way of cramming all the things I love—helping the game design community, designing in small packages, thinking about sustainability, and of creating simple, social games for people to play together—into one fun project. It's become a lot more work than I originally thought, but I'm very excited about it.

Emily plans to playtest all the games alongside the designers, give feedback, and assist with editing and graphic design. She will commission a professional artist to give all of the games a similar look and feel, and will either crowdfund the project under Small Furry Games, or find a publisher who could take the project to a bigger market. 

If you have a game that might be a good fit, you can reach out to Emily directly at smallfurrygames@gmail.com, or check out the project page.