Joe: Before we dive into new ideas, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and the games you make?
Questiny: Thanks for having me here! I’m Leon and I’ve spent most of my adult life as a performing wizard and experience Designer, who’s path through the pandemic (likely for many others!) led me to board game design.
It’s actually a challenge that I have always wanted to take on, as it combines so many of the things that I love: storytelling, social bonding and bringing fantastical worlds and adventures to life! Plus I have a very thinky brain that loves getting my head around game mechanics and how they can be integrated to best add to the experience. It’s been an absolute blast so far!
Joe: love your backstory! I don’t have enough wizards in my life!
Leon: What makes a new idea really stick for you?
Joe: I think it’s something to do with it being novel. I love seeing new ideas take shape. I also think it’s quite incredible that these ideas seem to come from nowhere (or everywhere depending on your frame of reference).
But my very favourite sort of idea is one where complexity and beauty is born from simplicity. When someone takes one or two ideas, adds a little creative glue and the new, never-before-existing, thing turns up as a product of the two. It’s a like a rainbow, water and light are cool, but put them together and boom, Rainbow.
Leon: Ooooh yes to rainbow powered creativity, I love that! 🌈🤘
Joe: What about you? What makes things stick for you?
Leon: As for me, put simply the ideas that stick are the ones that feel the most exciting. I’m a very intuitive designer, so as soon as I get a new idea that feels good and inspires me to grab a bunch of card and pens and jump into scribbling and crafting and playing, then I know it’s probably a safe bet for further exploration. If the process of exploring a new idea feels playful, intuitive and exciting in of itself, then with a little shaping and developing it’s likely that those feelings can bleed right into the design and help to enchant it with the spirit of play.
I say all of this almost painfully right now, as I’m experiencing all of the above with a new idea that’s burning inside of me and desperately wants to come out.. but at the same time I still have so much to do and really can’t afford any distractions!..
How do you manage your creative flow with new ideas, without losing track of what you are currently focusing on?
Joe: I take notes. I try and commit everything to paper as soon as I can. Because I know that if I don’t, those ideas won’t stick around. Unfortunately, I’m also good at losing notebooks, or writing ideas down on pieces of paper that end up getting lost!
The other day I had a really cool idea for a new card in my game, but I didn’t write it down. And now all I’m left with is a vague memory of having a good idea instead of the actual idea.
I think Rick Rubin sums this sort of thing up nicely in his book The Creative Act – “If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.”
I like this way of looking at ideas, because it makes me feel OK with the ones I fail to hang on to.
Leon: I love that at least those ideas might have a chance to make it out there anyway. but ideally it’s also great to be able to breathe life into them and see them through yourself. There are only so many hours in the day though after all!
Joe: I know you dreamt a game up recently, what was that experience like?
Leon: I did indeed dream about Questiny: At Sea, which was an amazing experience! The game itself would be a sequel to my current adventure, and luckily I woke up and jumped straight into making notes, which turned into 2 hours of notes, surprisingly coherent notes that already mapped out most of the framework and some new mechanics that I’m really excited to explore.
It was interesting too as it is technically a return to the original version of Questiny, which was also on water. So I think that idea had just been floating about in my subconscious until it couldn’t wait any longer to weigh anchor and set sail back into my full consciousness. Let’s just hope it doesn’t now commit mutiny!
Have you got any ideas scribbled down that you are also really excited to explore in the future?
Joe: I’ve got a weird list on my phone of game titles, it currently includes… Dead Catting ( a game about political subterfuge), The Overton Window (another game about the changing politics of a country), Cloud Bursting (I only have the title), Wattle Up (a game all about chickens), and Cloud Bursting (something to do with clouds). The inspiration from each came from the world around me – some from the area I live in, others from cultural touchpoints and UK politics! I’ve also got a game title called – Last on on the Dancefloor, the inspiration from that came from playing Kite (the game with the sand timers).
Leon: Loving the variations of your titles and themes, the title for a game can be so tough!
Joe: If you look back at the Questiny: At Sea dream, can you see where it came from, can you draw the lines that start in reality, trace through your brain and then out into the new idea?
Leon: I mentioned the theme was already something that I had previously explored a little, so it’s still definitely been kicking around in there somewhere since. Specifically I had it one night after playing The Adventures of Robin Hood and I think some of that really bled into the inspiration – particularly having more of an ‘open map’ for movement and exploration- which I really loved. So I went to bed feeling very inspired and then it seems like my brain just got to developing during the night. I’m genuinely so surprised and excited that it all made so much sense, usually dreams can just melt away or not make any real sense when you start to re-tell them or write them down, but most of the mechanics and even some of the rule book now already exist, so that’s a great start! 🏴☠️
Joe: I love the power of sleep for doing wonderful creative work on our behalf without us even being aware of it!
Leon: Do you have any ideas or themes you would love to bring to life if money wasn’t a factor?
Joe: Yeah. There’s one game that a few friends of mine were playing around with during lockdown. It involves some tetrahedral chickens that are sewn together, like bean bags. I played with them for many hours with my kids.
We briefly had a look at what it would take to get them to a Kickstarter, but because they are essentially soft toys the level of safety testing needed was insane – making it hard to see how you’d ever get them made without making a huge loss. Maybe one day, if I can build enough people who are interested in my games there might be a place for some cute chickens!
Leon: You had me at tetrahedral chickens! Hahaha I can’t wait to see this come to life some day.
Joe: Finally, can I have your top five tips for finding creativity and inspiration?
Okay here’s my big 5:
- “Playful curiosity” – keeping this as a general mindset always helps me to stay open and let the creativity and inspiration flow from anywhere and everywhere.
- Think it, make it – rapid prototyping. Create a prototype as soon as possible and get playing. Physically experimenting with ideas not only helps develop them, but often helps generates others.
- Play as much as possible. Play with your own ideas, other games, humans, animals, your food, your clothing choices, and your childlike sense of wonder, it all helps.
- Take notes, full notes! Magical moments of inspiration can hit at any time, so be ready to write those golden nuggets down. Take your time as you might not get a chance to come back to them for a while, so make sure they make sense – future you will love you for it.
- Don’t force it. We all know creativity can slow right down and even pause sometimes, unfortunately it’s all part of the process. Take a break, get out and take a walk, immerse yourself in nature, dance, laugh, eat well, rest, all these things definitely help to cultivate and inspire your wonderful, creative mind.
Thanks so much for this chat Joe, it’s been so wonderful to dive into this with you and I really appreciate the opportunity to step inside your mind for a bit and to splurge some of mine too.
Here’s to happy creative adventures all round 🤘
Joe here, you know the drill. First, go and find Leon on Instagram, because you need more wizards in your life. Then find his website and get yourself subscribed to updates. Finally, if you enjoyed this post, then subscribe below please! Then head back to the instagram post and let us know what your thoughts on creativity and inspiration!
