Monopoly isn't "the only option any more," says Justin Blaske.
The Lincoln-based table-top game designer was one of hundreds of gamers playing one of over 1,000 board games at the Great Plains Gaming Festival Sunday morning.
"There is so much out there. There really is a game for everyone," Blaske said.
The Great Plains Gaming Project has hosted the gaming festival for the past five years to bring gamers and designers together to spread awareness of table-top gaming.
"It’s good to get to know the community, see what they want in games in order to make sure we’re moving in the right direction," said Blaske, a computer programmer by day and a game designer by night.
He likes the problem-solving aspects of both careers, he said.
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That was his primary reason for designing his initial game, Mint Works, in the first place.
A post was published on the Board Game Geeks online forum challenging users to develop a game that could fit inside of a mint tin, Blaske said.
So, he did just that.
"It's kind of a natural progression. If you play them enough, you're kind of like, 'I could do that. I could make one of these,'" he said.
His knowledge of game mechanics and his understanding of what the Lincoln gaming community enjoyed helped him to develop not only a portable game, but a fun one.
“The game shouldn't be boring after a few plays. I wanted something that would be re-playable. Something that, once you got the initial concepts down, you could start to really dig in with other players,†Blaske wrote on the Mint Works Kickstarter page.
Both his Kickstarter campaigns for Mint Works and Mint Delivery — another tiny-sized, on-the-go game — raised a combined total of over $250,000.
The Lincoln gaming community has been backing his games for years. The people in town are always some of the first to support his projects, he said.
He had friends and members of the community test-run the game before it launched. Their feedback helped him to perfect the game’s rules and mechanics.
The funding goal for the Mint Works campaign was $5,000. The Kickstarter sits shy of $90,000 now.
The unexpected success of his first game inspired him to make its successor, Mint Delivery. Blaske set a goal of $10,000, and quickly donations flew in from backers shooting the funding upwards of $175,000.
"Table-top games have grown so much more than what people typically think of," he said.
The community around board games in Lincoln is growing due largely in part of the Great Plains Gaming Project and its events.
Designers like Justin Blaske and the success of his games prove that gamers aren't only throwing Monopoly money at their hobby.
"You don't realize how much there really is out there," Blaske said.