Accessibility & Depth: Dominic Crapuchettes on Gaming & Writing

According to game designer Dominic Crapuchettes, everyone should play games.  Not just writers.  Crapuchettes is the founding president of North Star Games, which produces the games Cruzzle, Wits & Wagers, and Say Anything.  Crapuchettes contributed an essay on Apples to Apples to Family Games: The 100 Best, the anthology by James Lowder that inspired this Booklifenow.com series on gaming and writing.

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Are designing games and writing similar?

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Dominic Crapuchettes: My approach to writing, composition, and designing games are all very similar.  I think about the first time someone experiences my work.  My goal is to make my work as easily accessible as possible, and with as much depth as possible.  Depth creates a long term relationship with the person and accessibility means the work is more likely to touch a lot of people.

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Is there a game every writer should try?

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Dominic Crapuchettes: I wouldn’t say that it is more important for a writer to try a game over any other person, but here are some games that I think everyone should try: Celebrities, Wits & Wagers, and Apples to Apples.

I suppose if there were a game that writers in specific should try, it would be Werewolf.  You will need to play the game about five times with roughly the same players in order to get a great experience.  This game is in the genre of what I call “psychological thrillers”.  This means the players will experience an emotionally charged drama.  It’s cool to see how different people react in different circumstances.

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In what ways does playing games enhance your creativity?

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Dominic Crapuchettes: Games can enhance many different aspects of a person’s humanity from their intellect, to their social skills, to their emotions, to their dexterity.  Playing games can enhance a person’s creativity as well.  Say Anything and Eat Poop You Cat are probably two of the best games on the market for helping the creative juices flow.

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Jeremy L. C. Jones is a freelance writer, editor, and teacher.  He is the staff Interviewer for Clarkesworld Magazine and a frequent contributor to Kobold Quarterly.  He teaches at Wofford College and Montessori Academy in Spartanburg, SC.  He is also the director of Shared Worlds, a creative writing and world-building camp for teenagers that he and Jeff VanderMeer designed in 2006.