{"id":54,"date":"2025-08-19T20:28:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T20:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/?page_id=54"},"modified":"2025-08-20T02:50:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T02:50:38","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/?page_id=54","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My Game Design Journey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the year 2000, I was already weaving homebrew rules into most games I played. That year, I realized I wanted to create something bigger than myself\u2014something that could outlast me and bring joy to people long after I\u2019m gone. I knew my strengths were in writing and game design, and I committed to chasing that dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began with one game that evolved through countless revisions over the years. I poured more than 5,000 hours into it, testing with friends and acquaintances, learning with every step. Along the way, I experimented with other ideas\u2014a sports game, a Survivor-style card game with its own AI system\u2014but my main project always called me back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, passion alone couldn\u2019t be my full-time job, so I pursued a career that would eventually give me the freedom to create. After working more than twenty different jobs, I found my path in corrections. Over twenty years, I built a career that allowed me to retire with a pension, giving me the opportunity to focus fully on game design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During those two decades, I earned the rank of sergeant early on and worked in some of the toughest environments, including nine years in maximum security. In 2013, I was honored as Correctional Officer of the Year. My work wasn\u2019t just about security\u2014it was about change. I helped shift a facility once known for the highest use-of-force rates in the nation into something safer and more progressive. I created programs, facilitated hundreds of groups, and even built a unique honor lodge where incarcerated youth learned structure, accountability, and social skills. Hearing from residents years later about how those programs changed their lives remains one of my proudest achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, a critical incident changed my trajectory. While responding to a life-threatening situation, I intervened to protect a fellow officer, disarming an inmate armed with a shiv. The event left me injured, leading to surgery and ultimately early retirement through medical disability. It wasn\u2019t the ending I expected, but it opened the door for the next chapter of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through disability insurance, I entered a vocational program that encouraged me to pursue a new career path. When I told them I wanted to focus on publishing games, they did their best to guide me\u2014even though they had no blueprint for such a goal. I returned to my first game, but under the program\u2019s pressure, I felt I needed to challenge myself with something fresh and manageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Gen Con 2023, inspiration struck. I heard an ad for a beauty pageant and realized its structure\u2014three rounds, each with unique dynamics\u2014could translate into a fun, competitive, and creative tabletop experience. Walkway challenges, talent showcases, and Q&A rounds became the foundation for what would become Beauty Pageant<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first drafts were promising but costly to produce. So, I drew from ideas I had been crafting since 2000, streamlining mechanics and layering in depth. That\u2019s when the game clicked. Suddenly, I could see its potential\u2014not only as a core game, but as something expandable, with new cards and mechanics that could be fashioned<\/em> to keep players engaged for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I\u2019ve committed myself fully to Beauty Pageant<\/em>. Despite coming up with other game concepts, I made a promise: finish one game before starting another. Through setbacks, late nights, and the challenges of building a website and preparing for blind playtesting, I\u2019ve pushed through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I\u2019m closer than ever to realizing the dream I had back in 2000. My goal isn\u2019t just to publish a game\u2014it\u2019s to create something lasting. A game that will outlive me, bring people together, and be enjoyed for generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Game Design Journey By the year 2000, I was already weaving homebrew rules into most games I played. That year, I realized I wanted to create something bigger than myself\u2014something that could outlast me and bring joy to people long after I\u2019m gone. I knew my strengths were in writing and game design, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66,"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/66"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dengames.games\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}