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About Maxine "MJ" Newman
Maxine “MJ” Newman joins me to chat about her leap from lawyering to senior game designer at Fantasy Flight Games. As a game designer at Fantasy Flight, MJ serves as the co-lead designer for the popular Arkham Horror card game and is also a developer on the Lord of the Rings card game. We discuss everything from her dad sparking her game design love to the Arkham Horror card game and its teamwork-boosting twists. Outside of her work, MJ is also a self-published novelist and contributing writer to publications like Dragon magazine. MJ discusses the creative differences between her career as a game designer and her work as an author, comparing the solitude of book writing to the team effort of game creation. If you're into stories of passion projects turning into careers, storytelling within card games, and how game jams can spark creativity, you'll love this talk. Tune in to hear how she's making her mark in the gaming world and beyond. Enjoy!
Ah-ha! Justin’s Takeaways
Swoop-in mechanics. Creating "swoop-in" moments in cooperative games, such as Arkham Horror, enhances the experience through the use of thematic cards like "Get Behind Me," which allow players to protect others from peril. These mechanics increase the game's cooperative experience and create heightened moments that people will not only remember but want to experience again.
Do not let your self-worth get tied up in your productivity. Similar to my journey, MJ embarked on a legal career, uncertain of her true calling. The lesson here is that the value of crafting games with passion and for personal enjoyment cannot be overstated. After dedicating years to crafting and enjoying games in her free time, MJ's love for design culminated in a career at Fantasy Flight Games. The lesson is that the work itself, not just the success of the work, is significant because it may lead to success down the road.
Fantasy Flight Games Annual Game Jam. MJ describes an event where the entire company is divided into teams to craft a game within three days. Team members select or are assigned a prompt, such as "Game where you feel like you are getting away with something," encouraging innovation right from the start.
Teams of 5-7 people are created from different divisions of the company in order to mix up skills and perspectives. Teams are given a unique prompt. The objective is simple: create something new. Awards are given out based on the creativity and effectiveness of how each team utilizes their prompt.
The game jam is a catalyst for creativity and an incredible exercise in game design. It offers everyone from across the company a chance to collaborate on a creative project, exploring new perspectives.
Show Notes
Science, Law, and Game Design (00:00:00 - 00:13:15)
“I went into law school and did three years of law school, graduated, passed the bar on the first try, and then I was like, you know what? I don't actually want to do this.”
The episode kicks off by exploring MJ's origin story, starting with her father's career in game design, followed by her academic pursuits in East Asian studies and law school. This all leads to her eventual career at Fantasy Flight Games, where she merges her passion with her profession. We discuss what it takes to find that perfect blend of what you love to do, what there’s a market for, and what you can make money at—elements that MJ and I both found in the realm of game design.
Designing living card games (00:13:15 - 00:21:32)
“LCGs (living card games) have a huge element of creativity, customization, and personal expression that a lot of board games don't have because they tend to be like, here's the curated experience that we made for you.”
In this segment, we discuss working for Fantasy Flight Games, followed by digging into the worlds of Trading Card Games (TCG) as well as Living Card Games (LCG). We explore the intricacies of designing, building, and playing these games, offering insights into both the creative process and the gaming experience.
If you’re unfamiliar with these types of games, the key differences between a Living Card Game (LCG) and a Trading Card Game (TCG) revolve around distribution model, collectibility, and strategy. LCGs tend to offer a more predictable and potentially less costly way to collect cards and enjoy the game, focusing on strategy and deck-building skills. TCGs, on the other hand, emphasize the excitement of collecting and the thrill of opening packs to find rare cards, with a potentially higher cost to stay competitive.
Swoop-in Mechanics and Collaborative Game Designs (00:21:32 - 00:45:15)
"We have quite a few cards in Arkham that are very specifically designed to capture a moment of someone swooping in to help someone else.”
Next, MJ shares insights into the design philosophy behind card games like Arkham Horror, talking about the collaborative nature of gameplay. She highlights the design of cards that evoke moments where players can swoop in to assist each other, such as the cards "Get Behind Me" and "I'll Handle This One." MJ points out how these cards are crafted to encourage players to take attacks meant for others or to intervene by drawing encounter cards on behalf of teammates. We’ve discussed this marriage of theme and mechanics to enhance player experience numerous times, and MJ’s work on Arkham Horror is a perfect example. This “swoop-in mechanic” strengthens the communal and cooperative aspects of the game, making way for an awesome player experience.
Fantasy Flight Game Jam (00:45:15 - 00:51:25)
“It's really just about breaking out of your normal job role and working with a team on something completely different. We all choose prompts from a list and then just run with it. It's not about creating something that's necessarily going to be the next big hit; it's about innovation, creativity, and, honestly, just having fun and seeing what we can come up with together.”
In this section, we discuss the FFG Game Jam, an awesome event in which company roles are shaken up, and each team is asked to create a game using the skills they have and a unique prompt. You can read more about my thoughts on this above in the Ah-Ha moments section.
Creativity: Writing Books Versus Making Games (00:51:25 - 01:05:37)
“Writing this book was a passion project for me, something I was doing on the side, and it became a significant part of my life, especially during the early pandemic. […] The biggest difference for me was doing it all by myself, without a company's oversight or checks and balances.”
In this final segment, MJ discusses her book, The Key and the Crescent, sharing her creative experience, from writing in her free time to finishing the book. She emphasizes the contrast between developing games and authoring a book, highlighting the absence of a team for authors. MJ points out that while games offer a personalized interactive experience, a book presents a singular journey that changes your creative approach. She offers insights into the challenges and rewards of pursuing a passion project.
MJ’s Links:
Website: www.bewaretheblackcat.com
Twitter: @NatsunoYoru
Instagram: natsunoai
Maxine "MJ" Newman — Leading Arkham Horror into New Realms, Unveiling Cooperative Game Magic, and Navigating Career Crossroads (#60)