Physical Projects
Over the years I have done some work outside the digital realm with different styles of board games and even a little bit of LARP. Though I have always been more occupied with digital experiences, there is a certain charm to sitting around a table in physicaility that can’t be beat. I tend to gravitate towards games that demand a bit more of the player or explore other systems than just throwing dice and moving pieces – which I think is somewhat reflected here.
February 2022
Internship - 50Clues w/ Jeppe Norsker
In my final semester I had a full-time internship under Jeppe Norsker, an acclaimed board game designer. I was tasked to help him develop the narrative universe for upcoming entries in his 50Clues series. The games up until then had been entirely focused on the crime genre, and Jeppe wanted to expand into other territories and demographics. I developed an expanded universe and wrote story outlines for 6 upcoming trilogies and assisted Jeppe in designing mechanics and puzzles that fit the narrative and style.
The internship was a fantastic opportunity in testing my skills in a professional setting. Even though I was just an intern, there was a great deal of respect between Jeppe and I, which led to many exchanges of experience and techniques – as well as professional sparring. It only took a few weeks for me to adapt to Jeppe’s established narrative style and implement it in the work I was doing for him. Though the genre and style wasn’t exactly my own, I found immense value in working and being creative for the sake of someone else’s project and ideas. It was a pleasure to work with and learn from Jeppe Norsker.
May 2021
SlattenPatten
During an intensive course on experimental design, we were tasked with rapidly prototyping our way towards a game with some kind of unique mechanic. We were immediately fascinated with the idea of translating some of the core ideas of a horror game – being chased, hiding and the feeling of dread – to a board game. Inspired by Scandinavian folklore, we created a co-op game where two players try to outsmart a primitive AI that roams the game world, getting progressively harder to avoid as they progress.
The features two hikers lost in a Scandinavian birch forest. There they find themselves unable to leave, due to a spell cast by the witch that resides in the woods. They must navigate the maze-like forest and destroy her totems to break the spell and escape. Every totem destroyed enrages her further and her chase will become more relentless and fierce. The witch is controlled using a deck of cards. If the players pay attention, they will be able to predict her movements to a degree and move tactically to avoid her as she patrols the forest.
Credits
Jakob Bang
Game design
Card design and art
Sofia Holm Poulsen
Game Design
Board Design and art
From spring 2019
Teaching Dnd Freelance
Since spring 2019 I have been teaching Dungeons and Dragons as a freelancer for Vallekilde Højskole and others. I’ve offered single day courses and weekly classes, all meant to introduce all kinds of people to tabletop roleplaying and demystifying the game. In my experience, anyone can be a dungeon master or player – even the simplest story or one-shot is fun, as it is not necessarily the story and dungeons that matter most, but the interaction and improvisation between players that provide the experience. To introduce the players to the rules, I created a simplified version of 5E to avoid overwhelming them with rules and allowing them to get right into it!
Over the years I’ve actually grown more fond of teaching Dungeons and Dragons and getting people into it, than playing it myself. Back when I played the game actively, I was always the dungeon master and only ran homemade campaigns. I think a lot of my passion for telling stories stems from playing TRPGs with my friends and experiencing my own story unfolding, getting destroyed or transforming before my eyes. It definitely opened my eyes to the joy of creating experiences for others.
Fall 2018
Real time Werewolf
During my stay at Vallekilde Højskole, I hosted two massive scale games of werewolf. Each game had 40+ players and took place in real time over 7 days. To accommodate the large amount of players, I created three factions with unique abilities to make sure the game moved a reasonable pace. From 9 pm to 6 am, the evil factions could kill players by hanging a symbol on the door of their victims. In the morning all deaths would be announced and a meeting would be held in the evening to determine who was a suspect and who would be hanged. The game was extremely intense and got progressively more interesting as the lines between real life and the game became blurred until they eventually disappeared.
For the two games I tried to prepare for everything as gamemaster. I crafted invitations by hand and made sure everyone was familiar with all the roles and what they did. For me, the biggest challenge was dealing with all the problems that would arise when you ask 40+ people to read rules and interpret how they worked. I would constantly have to keep a close eye on the different factions progress and even hunt down cheaters to make sure the game was balanced correctly. The humans prevailed in both games, but the second time around was decided by a round of traditional werewolf with the handful of remaining players. Eventually only two humans and one werewolf remained, resulting in one person having the deciding vote on whether to believe one player or the other. The experience was incredible.
2016
Handmade Secret Hitler
As the deception game Secret Hitler went viral, I was desperate to play the game for myself. I had however not released yet in Denmark and was sold out at most international retailers. I decided to create a version of the game by hand, so that I could enjoy it with my friends. Though there was nothing particularly original about recreating a game I saw online, I decided to feature it here because I think it shows off something about me as a developer. I enjoy putting my own spin on things and often prioritize charm and personality over taking the easy way out. I think a good product takes effort and that the effort put in is ultimately felt by the players who experience the final product.
