If the board game world has its own renaissance men, then Lukasz “Wookie” Wozniak has to be one of them.
He records videos for his Youtube channel with game reviews and new game sessions since 2009. He also designs his own games like “King & Assassins”, “Nehemiah”, “Mercurius” or “7 Days of Westerplatte”. Lukasz manages his own board game shop and has recently created a crowdfunding platform for financing board game projects – a polish site called Zagramw.to (meaning “I’ll play that”).
Wozniak’s latest project debuted in January on his platform and quickly became one of the biggest success stories on local crowdfunding market. “Valhalla”, a board game in a world of nordic mythology, collected 527 763 polish zlotys (USD 155 000) which was the 1056% of its initial funding goal.
Kick.Agency: Valhalla is a huge success of our local crowdfunding. Did such warm reception and quick success surprise you?
Lukasz Wozniak: A LOT. In the company, we had a talk that collecting 100-150 000 would be considered a huge success, so getting to 500 000 was almost unbelievable and far above anyone’s expectations.
KA: Does such a big number of backers make planning new stretch goals harder? Or maybe you had all of them planned in advance?
LW: I had most of them planned and some of the expansions were “work in progress”. On the other hand we had plenty of expansions and rewards suggested by the players. Everyday we kept testing ideas and new solutions for the game that the backers submitted. Some were hit or miss but many had effect on the final version of the game.
KA: What was first? Gameplay mechanics or wanting to make a game in the world of vikings?
LW: Both mechanics and the viking theme. From the very beginning the game was about vikings getting to Valhalla, and was heavily based on dice and card game mechanics. So: the “core” of the game never changed during all the work, and stayed with me for 4 years till the end :).
Picture from Valhallas campaign on zagramw.to
KA: What made you pick a nordic theme? Do you like it?
LW: Nordic theme fits the game perfectly, from the gameplay to emotions sparked by it. My preferences weren’t that important. Making a good game was what mattered the most :). I really like the viking setting though, and often pick games with this type of atmosphere. The mythology itself is filled with interesting legends and concepts.
KA: The work on the game took over 3 years. How does it feel to work on one project for so long?
LW: It’s tiring, but at the same time very developmental. Such a long period of working on one game makes you attached to the project and it’s harder to take criticism. On the other hand, after so many tests, the game changed a lot and I knew its every nook and cranny. I could confront various new ideas with what i had tested before. I knew all possible variants and feel that we’ve created the best version of this dice-card gameplay possible.
Picture from Valhallas campaign on zagramw.to
KA: You have created plenty of board games yourself. Working on which one did you enjoy the most?
LW: That’s a difficult question, so my answer is: “it depends”. It’s nice to work on something when the results appear fast. It’s also nice when a gameplay mechanic sparks emotions for testers. Same when the chosen theme has lots of developmental potential. Valhalla is for sure one of the least enjoyable (because of time it took) and the most enjoyable (because of mechanics and the theme chosen) projects, that I have worked on.
KA: Do you have some favourite board games that you keep returning to?
LW: Yes. But there are too many, and I have too little time to play them on a regular basis. No matter what happens, I always come back to the “Race for the Galaxy” with my wife.
KA: Apart from making new games you’re also a reviewer. Does it help you when looking for inspiration?
LW: Playing new games helps me for sure. To be honest: reviewing games for 9 years forced me to learn so many mechanics and titles, that I “accidentally” learned what each aspiring author should know. I think that every designer should study new games on the market and keep in touch with what other creators make.
KA: Are you planning to hit Kickstarter now that you’ve achieved success in Poland?
LW: We haven’t decided yet. We plan to sit down and think about that the very moment we finalize Valhalla’s development. 🙂
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