The daily Astorian., December 18, 2015, Image 22

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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015
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ODDITY
Pick a card
Made just for his
kids, professor’s
card game is now
taking Àight
By COLLIN BINKLEY
Associated Press
BOSTON — When Darren Kis-
gen decided to make a game, his only
goal was to entertain his family. But
oYer the past few months, the ¿nance
professor at Boston College has seen
his game selling thousands of copies
around the world and winning a big
prize.
“I’m surprised by all of this,” said
Kisgen, a former Wall Street invest-
ment banker who now lives outside
Boston. “Frankly, it’s been a lot of
fun.”
Called Dragonwood, the game
borrows ideas from poker and rum-
my but blends them into a fantasy
world of dragons and goblins. By
drawing a strong hand, players can
boost their chances of “capturing”
mythical creatures in a ¿ctional for-
est, which helps them win the game.
It’s advertised for anyone 8 years old
and up.
The idea struck Kisgen two years
ago after he found that most fantasy
games were too complicated or vio-
lent for his two children, who were 5
and 7 at the time.
“I felt like I was missing a game
that I would want to play with them,
so I decided to try to come up with
that game myself,” he said.
Dragons, trolls and ogres
He called it Forest Quest, built
with ordinary playing cards and
dice. But over time, Kisgen thought
it would be more fun with colorful
cards illustrating the dragons, trolls
and ogres. So he sent a prototype to a
nearby game publisher, Gamewright,
which provided art for the cards and
began selling it as Dragonwood ear-
lier this year.
The game has sold more than
20,000 copies since summer, Game-
wright said, making it one of the
top-selling games from the Massa-
chusetts publisher.
It also won a top gaming prize
from Mensa, a society for people
with high IQs. Once a year, mem-
bers of Mensa meet for a weekend
to test dozens of new board games
and recognize those seen as original,
challenging and well-designed. This
year, Kisgen’s game was one of ¿ve
winners out of more than 60 they
tested.
Greg Webster, the event’s chief
judge, praised Dragonwood for its
simplicity but said it also lets players
employ a variety of strategies that
can lead to victory.
“It makes it interesting to play
when you’ve got different options
and you’re not locked in,” he said.
In recent years, Webster added,
it has become more common to see
popular games that started out as
a casual idea in someone’s living
room.
“They say this is the golden age
of board gaming, and I think that’s
true,” he said. “There are so many
ways for someone who has an idea
for a board game to pull it together.”
An educational tool
The game is also winning nods
as an educational tool that can teach
kids about arithmetic, number pat-
terns and probability.
Kisgen, who grew up in Omaha,
Nebraska, said he remembers devis-
ing games for his brother and sister
as a kid. But there’s little overlap
between gaming and his ¿nance ca-
reer.
“To design a game takes some
logic, takes understanding strategy,
and this game has a lot of numbers
in it,” he said. “But that’s where it
ends.”
After hearing feedback from
players around the world, Kisgen
said he’s already thinking of ways to
expand the game but not too much.
He still wants to keep it simple.
Steven Senne/AP Photo
Boston College professor Darren Kisgen sits for a portrait Monday in his office with the game he created
called “Dragonwood.” Kisgen designed the board game purely to entertain his kids, but suddenly the finance
professor’s creation is winning awards from Mensa and other groups, and gaining a global following.
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