AMA (Tuesday noon, April 28): Mike Selinker, your 2015 ENnie Awards host, ex-D&D creative director, and creator of the RPG/card game hybrid Apocrypha

[Mike Selinker]

You have some awesome people at Lone Shark Games. That makes me want to see you all succeed, which in turn makes me wonder what success is... in an interesting industry.

What kinds of measuring sticks and goals does your company set for itself? Is it something like number of games or something related to employee compensation/hires? Is it types of games and impact on the industry? Are there any ceilings or industry underpinnings you want to break/change?

We do have awesome people at Lone Shark! Success is: they all get to stay at Lone Shark and are happy to continue doing so.

I am particularly interested in having a mix of ages and genders in our design team. I'm particularly happy with the fact that two of my closest partners, Paizo and Wizards of the Coast, have made that a priority too. At last count, the three of us had hired eight female game designers in the past year or so. That kind of diversity can only make for better games.

We of course try to make the most innovative things. It is especially gratifying to be given an award like the 2015 Vanguard Award for making the most innovative game.

 

[Staffan]

Which would you rather fight: a hundred puppy-sized elephants or one elephant-sized puppy?

 

[Monkey King]

I hear you like Shakespeare mixed with games, sometimes. So...

Which is Shakespeare's best play?
Which Shakespeare play really really really should be a board game?
Puck or Falstaff?

 

[Mike Selinker]

Which would you rather fight: a hundred puppy-sized elephants or one elephant-sized puppy?

I can stand the sight of worms and look at microscopic germs but technicolor pachyderms is really too much for me.
[video=youtube;RoysQe-2HS4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoysQe-2HS4[/video]

So I'll take Clifford mano-a-doggo.

 

[Mike Selinker]

Which is Shakespeare's best play?

The default answer for me is King Lear, but okay, the ending kinda blows. Pure satisfaction start to finish: The Tempest. Everything clicks in that one. Plus monsters and stuff.

Which Shakespeare play really really really should be a board game?

The Merchant of Venice: "Your ships are at sea, facing ravaging storms. Will you win the spice trade without losing your pound of flesh to Shylock? For 3-6 players. Contents: Board, 6 pawns, 150 cubes, anti-Semitism."

Puck or Falstaff?

Puck would put a girdle 'round Falstaff in 40 minutes. Really, it would take that long.