When working on the initial designs of Escape Land, I was able to share that with my best friends, Frisco and Ricky - who also live in the cardboard world, to get their first impressions of it. Based on that feedback, and the overwhelmingly positive words they were using – fun, easy, more than meets the eye, surprised by the complexity based on the game engine, and excited to see and play with more cards – I felt like Escape Land could finally fulfill that dream I’ve always had; sharing a game I’ve designed with the whole world and turning it into my full-time job.

I had been in a similar position before, but this time around I had learned the lessons from my past venture – the main one being that you need courage. You need to be willing to put yourself out there into the indie gaming space, build relationships with new people, ask questions to people who know more, ask for help or advice, participate in discussions in multiple discords, reach out to creators you look up to, and of course have the courage to put your work out there every single day – regardless of what comes back in return.

If it wasn’t for being more courageous this time around, I never would have messaged Jett Yates about completing the art for Escape Land, I never would have met Zak Swanson aka Zilla who did all of the graphic design work for the rulebook, packaging, and even created the card back, I never would have struck up conversations with Kevincrackscards, 2Lainz from Card Game Crypt, TMX Comics, and countless other amazing creators, and I never would have reached out to WJPC and forced myself into an uncomfortable position where I had to learn so many skills to get to the point today where I am sharing this card with you, in its final form.

Every step of this journey has been so fulfilling, not just because I have a product, I am ready to share with the world, but more so because I’ve learned to be courageous and its led to so many amazing new friendships that have led to exactly where I am today.


Ch. 3 - A key ingredient for bringing your HTCG to life