As part of our July Spotlight on Pixel Lincoln, we like to provide extra tidbits surrounding the game. While we’re waiting for the game to load though, we thought we’d pass the time by sharing our latest Q&A with you. This one is with game creator Jason Tagmire. We promise it to be Luchadore-free.
Round One Questions
What was your Gateway Game?
Zooloretto. My wife and I fell in love with it instantly. We bought the expansions and never looked back. The gameplay was fun and unique, but it was the product quality and attention to detail that made the biggest impression on me.
What was the last game you really enjoyed playing (besides Pixel Lincoln)?
I played a killer game of The Resistance at DexCon last weekend. It was hosted by Michael Keller (designer of City Hall and Captains of Industry), who is an absolute blast to play with. He is so intense, and so vocal, which is exactly how this game should be played.
How big is your game collection?
I would describe it as a virus that has spread throughout the entire house. On the second floor is my main collection, which is a mix of retail games and prototypes. There’s probably 150 up there. Then the basement has another 50 older games that don’t really make it to the table, plus 5 bins of Heroscape and a few tubs of CCG’s.
What is your favorite type of game to play?
My standard group is pretty light so I like short games (one hour or less), with lots of interactivity, and extreme themes. Survive!, Escape: The Curse of the Temple, Smash Up, and King of Tokyo all go over very well in my house.
How do you feel about Monopoly?
I don’t hate it. We did a multi-iPad pass-and-play speed session on Christmas with Pitch Car / Disc Drivin’, Monopoly and Can’t Stop. It was the first time I’d played Monopoly in years, and it was surprisingly enjoyable because 1) the slower parts of the gameplay were sped up, and 2) we had something to keep us busy during our opponents’ turns.
On Pixel Lincoln
Pixel Lincoln is a labor of love to the console games of old. Which one did you log the most hours on growing up?
I was really into Super Mario World. I tried so hard to 100% the levels, and I have no clue if I ever did it. The internet wasn’t really much of a thing back then. Other games that ate up my youth were: Megaman 2, Skate or Die 2, Adventure Island, Bionic Commando and Earthbound. My favorite games were slightly quirky and adventurous, and that style has stuck with me for 20+ years.
What made you want to take the idea of side scrollers into an analog format?
It was early in my days of messing around with board games, and I thought it would be fun to emulate my favorite video games. . . I’m a bitter old man when it comes to video games. I only want to play NES/SNES era games, or Super Smash Bros. So, I made a grid on the cards and used a penny to move around. It was kind of video gamey, so I went deeper into it with pixel art and eventually made the very first version of Pixel Lincoln. Not quite what it is today but a nice stepping stone in the right direction.
The game received a decent amount of buzz during the Kickstarter campaign. Now that it’s finally out, what would you say is the one thing you wished you knew at the beginning that you know now?
I wish we knew how exactly long production would take. We were about 6-7 [months] past our Kickstarter delivery date, and it was a bummer more than anything. People are really excited to get the game, but it’s just a little bit later than I hoped. The quality is a bit higher than I hoped too, so hopefully it balances out when everyone has the game in their hands.
There was a lot of extras made for this game (custom cards, promo coins, etc.) One thing we thought would have been great was a soundtrack. We have to resort to singing Super Mario ourselves. Was that a consideration during the planning at all?
Haha, we kind of have one already! Pixel Lincoln is currently being made as a PC/Mac game. It has tons of awesome music, created by Chipocrite. He’s a chiptunes musician that nails the era we were going for. I can’t wait for everyone to hear the music.
What makes Pixel Lincoln’s Beardarang work? We’re trying to recreate that power in real life and could some pointers.
His chin has a natural magnetism. It makes it hurt slightly less when pulling the beard off, but it’s very effective in making it return. But if you are trying at home, you need to pull it off like a band-aid. One quick pull.
Lastly, are there any future adventures for our pixelated president we should be aware of?
A PC/Mac game is coming soon enough. The guys at Island Officials have been all over showing it off, so hopefully you will have your hands on that sometime soon. We’re also doing a few fun things with the Deckbuilding game to get more cards out there. Keep an eye out!
For those curious, this is one such example of the game he is referring to:
We’ll be sure to keep an eye on that project. And check back here soon for more stuff about the currently-playable Pixel Lincoln Deck-building game!
Editor’s Note: Jason’s advice about pulling the beard off with one good tug does not actually work well for anyone who doesn’t have a magnetic chin. We found this out the hard way.
Photo Credits: Pixel Lincoln artwork by Island Officials.