Thread by @elizhargrave

I'm exhausted but I have some things I want to say before I'm on an airplane all day tomorrow. This year has blown me away -- the Kennerspiel is the icing on an already pretty amazing cake.

(thread starts w thank yous but there's other stuff too)

I tend to get most of the credit as the designer but in fact there are so, so many people involved in making a game a reality. It took 5 years for Wingspan to become the game that became an overnight success. I owe many thanks to dozens of playtesters over that time.

2/x

Weekly playtests with @blackoakgames and @StudleyGamer were my rock through many ups and downs and I can only repay them with my undying gratitude and affection.

3/x

The folks at Break My Game, Table Treasures, and @theUnpub were far too many to name (look on the box!) but also invaluable.

Half the work of game design is finding a solid playtesting community and the DC/Baltimore region has that in spades.

4/x

And of course, thanks to @stonemaiergames for taking a chance on a new designer and an unusual theme, and then going all-in to make that untested combination successful. I hope it will be an inspiration to more publishers to do the same.

5/x

And to @jameystegmaier in particular for a development process that was basically a year-long mentorship in game design. His input shaped the game in significant ways, but he also trusted my vision as the designer and let me implement those ideas as I saw fit.

6/x

Once we had the design, there was a whole team that made this game a reality.

There's no way Wingspan would have gotten so much attention without the art of Natalia Rojas, Ana Maria Jaramillo and @beth_sobel. Each card is a work of art and the whole just blows people away.

7/x

The Automa team led by @StudleyGamer stepped in and made such a wonderful solo version of Wingspan. I was blown away by how they captured the tense feeling of going after the round-end goals, just by flipping over a few masterfully-designed cards.

8/x

Also the uncredited people who were key in the off-the-charts table presence of Wingspan: Graphic designer Christine Santana. Some people whose names I don’t even know, like whoever sculpted the eggs and made my wonky handmade birdfeeder dice tower into a real thing.

9/x

And then, all the publishers around the world who have translated the game and brought it to more people.

The KdJ is for games in German, so this literally could not have happened without @FeuerlandSpiele taking Wingspan and making it into Flugelschlag.

10/x

This award is going to mean a lot to a lot of Wingspan fans, and it’s been so awesome to hear from so many people today.

It’s especially going to mean a lot to people who want to see more women in gaming and in game design.

11/x

I want to ask industry folks to think about what you could do to find a new designer from a different background: a woman, a person of color, someone who’s LGBTQ, someone with a disability.

What could you do to mentor them, to help them bring their ideas into the world?

12/x

I don’t just say this to be nice, or political, or because it would make me feel better to go to more design events where there are more people who look like me. Though it is true that I am tired of being one of the only woman in the room.

13/x

Diversifying is how we are going to keep growing this hobby. I started on Wingspan because I wasn’t interested in castles and spaceships. I wanted a game about something I loved.

And the result was so unusual that it’s bringing new people in.
(And they're skewing female.)

14/x

I want to see us do that over and over again.

Find the new designers that bring a new vision to what board games should be about.

Find new artists that bring a new vision to what board games could look like.

Each one of them will bring new people into the hobby.

15/x

Some people have said that Wingspan could be a turning point for diversity in game design. And I’m just going to keep bothering everybody about it until that becomes true.

16/x

In the meantime, thank you all again so much for your support and kind words. I want our world to be better but that doesn’t take away from my deep appreciation for all of Wingspan’s success.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

17/17