An interview with Asian American, Board Game Designer, Ben Moy (Your Friend Ben Moy Designs Board Games).
My husband, Brian and I enjoy playing board games (FYI: He loves them a little more than I do)
In 2013, when Brian and I were dating, we started going on double dates with one of my best friends and her boyfriend (now husband).
We started a tradition of hosting at each others’ places to play board games.
Settlers of Catan was often the game of choice.
There were nights where we would play twice. The first round would often take an arduous 3 hours as each player’s turn would become unbearably long with meticulous trading, building, and sabotaging.
The second round (usually suggested by the runner-up) would take half the time as players grew weary and competition waned.
Usually, around 1 or 2 am, with bellies full of chocolate biscuits and salty chips, Brian and I would drive home either celebrating one’s victory or plotting our revenge.
I’d like to say we fell in love while forging alliances in the game of Catan.
Jump forward several years and game nights have become less frequent with the busyness of parenthood; however, Brian and I still make time to have friends over for a good old game.
We’re always in the lookout for new and upcoming games, whatever our sleep-deprived brains can handle.
So when I stumbled upon Ben’s Facebook page, I was excited to ask him about his journey, diving deep into the creative mind that it takes to build and design board games.
1. How did you get into creating your own board games? Was there a specific game that inspired you?
I like to think I have always been a creator/designer at heart; when I was young I would make up my own superheroes, and when I got a little older I would make my own Pokémon, trying to put some real thought into their design.
It wasn’t until university that I was introduced to the modern board game hobby, a whole world of experiences that weren’t just Monopoly and Scrabble.
I would say our family friend Chris brought a game over called King of Tokyo that really captured my imagination and it was soon after that that I began trying my hand at it myself.
2. How would you describe the boardgame community? What’s the culture like?
The board game community has been nothing but warm and kind to me.
As a whole, people of all backgrounds come together to engage themselves in competitive puzzles and cooperative adventures that I really love and haven’t quite found anywhere else.
It turns out too that a lot of people who enjoy games also “geek out” over other shared interest, like TV, activities, etc., which means making friends is pretty effortless.
One last thing that sets it apart is how friendly the industry is;
just about everyone is willing to offer advice if someone was looking to enter from the business side.A popular phrase that goes around is “a rising tide lifts all ships”, meaning that the more people who enter the hobby, as a player, publisher, designer, etc., the better it is for everyone and the more it can grow. 🙂
3. Let’s talk about competition. Have you ever “flipped the table” or lost a friendship? If yes, what happened? If not, what are your thoughts on someone who may have lost friends because of a game? Any advice?
Competition is great!
I may have had a fit in my younger years when I didn’t get my way, and I have seen some upset players (usually because they’ve been playing for too long with too little rest or too little to eat), but I thankfully cannot say that I have lost any friends from playing a board game.
Usually, the culprit is the aforementioned scenario or the result of when another player can ruin what you have invested most of the game into.
One example might be when you have already been sitting at the table for 45 minutes setting up an amazing town and another player decides to target you with a nuclear warhead for the fun of it – undoing all of your hard work and preparation.
My advice to avoid a situation like this is to simply check what mood you are in and pick a game that suits it.
So if you have gotten a full night’s rest and will be attentive, open up the 2+ hour game, but if you want to have a conversation while playing, maybe go for something lighter that can play in 20 minutes.
4. What about making romantic connections? Do you think board games are a good way to find love and connection? Or is it “every man for himself”?
What a lovely question!
I would say it is very possible for a relationship to grow stronger through board games; in fact, at every convention I attend, there are always husbands, wives, partners, families, and friends, all playing games together.
Sharing in a clear goal can foster all kinds of positive skills that can be utilized in daily life, like teamwork, weighing decisions, presentation, and plenty more.
I absolutely believe that games count as quality time spent with loved ones, celebrating successes and creating stories and memories to retell and think back on fondly.
There are plenty of people passionate about games waiting to be found, so yes, board games are without a doubt a viable hobby to meet other amazing people!
5. What’s next for “Your Friend Ben Moy Designs Board Games“?
Thank you for asking, Katharine. 🙂
I will continue to design games as inspiration strikes; the one I am currently pursuing is a social card game called “Happy Hong Bao!”, where players will be putting money cards into envelopes in hopes of ending up with the one that has the highest amount inside.
However, every dollar value has two powers associated with it, so everyone around the table has an idea about what you’ve put into your pocket but won’t know for sure until they take a peek!
I am looking to launch a small-scale crowdfunding campaign on a print-on-demand platform called The Game Crafter, perhaps at the end of the summer, and after that, I will play with the next big idea!
I really am so grateful for this hobby, who it’s allowed me to meet, and who it’s allowed me to become.
I can’t encourage everyone enough to try out a “modern” board game and see if they like it; with so many themes and intellectual properties, I’m sure there is one we can agree on to sit down and play together!
I love the idea of using red pockets as part of a game because instead of focusing on its monetary aspect, it helps promote fun, strategy and most importantly, spending quality time with one another.
And when our daughter is older, we’re excited to share our passion with her as a family and continue our tradition of board game nights.
But don’t think I’m going to go easy on her. Her dad and I forged alliances well before she came along. We put our marriage first before the kid.
So she’s going to need to learn fast, be resourceful and learn good sportsmanship (or is it board gamesmanship?) when the time comes.
Do you enjoy playing board games? Did you make friends or lost friendships along the way?
You can follow Ben’s journey:
