Life & Work with Nicholas Engel of Mesa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Engel

Hi Nicholas, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always had an itch for creating games.
I grew up in Michigan, moved to Arizona to go to UAT (University of Advancing Technology)

My goal was to be a video game designer. I got my bachelors degree, but wasn’t finding much luck getting a job in the industry. It was a tough industry at the time, but I still had an itch to be a designer. I would use in-game map editors to create, but eventually I came to start designing board games.

I found a love of table top games because the in person interactions felt more meaningful and enjoyable than online. I created a few different games, but they were only really played by me and my friends.

While working at Fry’s Electronics I met the love of my life. In 2011 (11/11/11) we got married and bought a house. She has been the drive that I needed. She inspired me to put more time and effort into my passion of creating games. We do everything together, we match as much as possible, we lean on each other, we depend on each other.

In 2019, after about 5 years of play-testing, rebranding, and really pouring every bit of my passion into my first project (Evil Upheaval), we had successfully kickstarted my first game. I saw we, because my wife was always there, demoing, testing, going to conventions, keeping me on track. I couldn’t have done it without her. It was a long process to learn everything on my own and be completely independent, but it was worth it.

After just over 11 years of marriage, and after giving up hope of kids, we were surprised to find out we were pregnant. Every day we are reminded how lucky we are. We now have an 8 month old that we take everywhere with us as well. He even helps us at conventions.

I have 2 different games I’m working on at the moment. I like to challenge myself when it comes to designing. I don’t want all my games to be the same type or reskin. I want diversity in my games. I want different styles, different themes, different mechanics. Overall the idea is to create something fun for most ages.

I start with a theme, Theme really sets the mood of a game in my opinion. As I design I constantly ask myself if something makes sense in the theme. The next part is fun. The game has to be fun. Every time something “feels bad” I have to redesign it. I also like to flip the script on my games. Looking outside the box, playing the game as the villains, or seeing the world from a different perspective.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s been a long, slow, patient road. Luckily I’m a very patient person. I like to take my time with things. I’d rather have something I’m proud of and it take 5 years, than 5 things I’m ashamed of. I’ve accepted I’d rather do things myself, so I’ve had to learn everything I know as I went. The toughest part of this is not knowing what you don’t know.

Knowing all the struggles I have had, I’m always willing to help other designers I meet. I let them know I’m an open book and would give them any advice that I’ve learned over the years. The best things about the gaming culture is that it’s so welcoming. We are all in this together and other game designers are not competition, they are family.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Evil Upheaval was my first game (and only so far), but I’m very proud of it. I hope to be as proud with my other games as I am this. I think what sets me apart from others is that creating games isn’t a job for me. I’m not trying to get rich quick. I’m not even doing it for the money. It’s a passion of mine and I just want to share it.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Giving a rating on boardgamegeek.com is always helpful. Being completely independent makes it hard to be seen.
Play my games and share them with friends/family. If you’re an artist, I might need art for a game. If you like games you can always help play-test. I test prototypes of games I’m working on and I help other designers test their games at the Silver Key Lounge (dobson/guadalupe) almost every Wednesday night. Getting new perspectives and different levels of gamers to test your prototype is one of the biggest challenges while creating a game.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.luckytrollgames.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luckytrollgames/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LuckyTrollGames