Kill Switch Bunker Games

Recently I sat down with a friend, Susan Hogue and interviewed her about her entrepreneurial endeavors. Have you ever been playing a board game or some other type of game and thought about how the maker came up with it and what it would take to make a game of your own? Or maybe you wished there was a game that pertained to a certain subject that you are interested in but you couldn’t find one? Susan had such an experience and she did something about it.

      Before I go into my story any farther I have to get a little legality out of the way. This story contains a link to purchase Susan’s game. If you use this link and make a purchase I could earn a commission but this does not affect the price that you pay.

One year just before the Christmas season Susan was trying to figure out what to buy as a present for her brother. Her brother is very interested in the survivalist movement, also known as being a prepper. Susan wanted to get him a game with the prepper theme. She found that there wasn’t any such game available. She couldn’t purchase what wasn’t on the market. (Doesn’t that make you wonder what ideas or dreams you may have that aren’t on the market yet? Someone could be looking for just that product.)

When Susan and her brother got together they talked about the fact that there wasn’t a prepper themed game. The two of them talked about what might happen if an event happened that shut down society as we know it. What if, when the *beep* hits the fan you are in the city working? You know you need to get to your cabin in the country. What would you do? What would you need to get you there? This was the beginning of the G.O.O.D. (get out of dodge) game.

Together, they drew out a rough draft of a game board on poster board. The map on the board is based on the topography of the state of Washington because this was an area that they were familiar with. It made her “journey” to the cabin more realistic. She could imagine what each consecutive step would be to get to the cabin.

Most board games consist of tokens or pieces that players move around the map on the board. The G.O.O.D. Game does not include such tokens. Having to come up with an item to use as your token is your first act of improvisation in your journey. Once you have decided on a token to mark your space on the board you must start your journey by a combination of rolling a die and reading the instructions on the board and on the cards.

The game took four years to complete. Susan learned a lot about the process of making a board game. There are only a few companies in the United States that manufacture board games and you can’t just walk in and ask them to make you 500 games. They want big orders such as a half million games. There are so many questions that have to be answered just to get the deck of playing cards made. Did they want rounded corners? What color will they be printed in? What size would you like them to be? These obstacles may be why there isn’t another game about prepping. As it would turn out, some players have voiced their opinion that the cards should be larger and stiffer so that they are easier to shuffle.

There were a few other things that she learned during the creation process. The size and shape of a game box can be very important. If you have ever tried to stack up a bunch of games you know how the size and shape can make a big difference. It’s also a battle to decrease the size of the box so that shipping can be more affordable. A major determinate in packaging is how big the game board is and how it fits in the box. One of the many ways to change the size of the box is to change how the board is folded.

Susan enjoys talking to other game creators about the whole process. They can share “war stories” with each other and each one has a little something to lend to the brain pool. They can share obstacles, victories and tips on how to make the process easier.

Susan’s next project will be a more kid friendly version of the current survivalist game. It will be a card game instead of a board game. The name of the new game will be Stock Your Bunker Jr. for ages 6 and up. If you check out Susan’s Face book page “Kill Switch Bunker Games” you will see that she has already been experimenting with different types of graphic for the new game.

The following is an affiliate link. Basically, that means if you click on the picture it will take you to Amazon to purchase the game and if you purchase the game or any other product while on that page I may receive compensation. It does not affect the price you pay at all and it doesn’t affect the amount that Susan receives for the game purchases. 

You can find Kill Switch Bunker Games on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, Instagram and at www.killswitchbunkergames.com.