Tell us a little about yourself and your company:
Analog Game Studios is a publisher of beautiful board games for everyone, by tabletop game designers from all over the world. More specifically, we publish casual games, including family games, party games, light strategy games, gateway games and card games. The company is based on Toronto, Canada.
Richard MacRae is President and publisher and Elisa Prashad is Designer, both personal profiles can be found at this link:
The questions that followed were really directed at Elisa, designer of ‘On Pointe’ and so she provided the answers below.
What inspired you to design a board game?
I’ve danced ballet since I was a young girl. I noticed that board games have overwhelmingly male heroes and wanted to give girls a strong hero too. Plus ballet is such a gorgeous rich theme to draw from.
What are your goals and hopes with this game?
To bring more girls and women into board games. I think this game can be a good gateway game in that regard. Also, to give children a step-up from the overly simple games they are currently playing. On Pointe has light strategy and the game grows and the kids playing it are able to develop their skills with strategy.
What do you think will set you apart in the industry?
Well the theme for sure, there are no ballet games on the market currently. Plus it’s quite girly and with a female heroine, it’s overall quite distinct. The dance movement mechanic is uniquely suited to the theme, in that the movement card chosen by a player, from the available options is always an actual ballet move, such as Jeté, Glissade, Assemblé or Grand Jeté, for instance.
What was the first game you remember playing as a kid?
Hmm, Mille Bournes, Mastermind and Sorry.
What games (if any) inspired this one?
To be honest it was more the lack of games in the girl category. Truly. However I was also involved in the development of Centrix, which then got me thinking about a potential game that I could design.
What is your ideal game night?
Games, group size, snacks, etc: 3 games max, tortillas and salsa (cider too) and a mix of old and new friends.
So about the current Kickstarter- What are the details?
We’ve just funded so we’re happy about that. 15 days to go so next we’ll be thinking about possible stretch goals. I’s been funny to see that 75 % of backers are actually male and many of those are what we call “Dance Dads”, meaning Dads who have daughters who are into ballet. Very heart-warming for me.
Any extra information you’d love to share?
We’re also printing a junior dance game – a 2 player card game called #demidancer and it’s likewise a dance themed game, but for younger girls that plays in just a couple of minutes, but comes a a cute little blue, shiny bag. It will be available this Spring also.
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