Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Rogers.
Hi Scott, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I attended Cal State Long Beach to earn degrees in Illustration and Film Production and upon graduation, I found myself working in video games as an artist. After a few years doing this, I realized that my interests and talents were better suited for game design. I was fortunate enough to have another game designer take me under his wing and we ended up working on several games together including Oddworld: Abe’s Odysee, Pac-Man and Maximo. After that I went on to work for Sony and THQ on games such as God of War, Darksiders, Drawn to Life and lots of Spongebob Squarepants. I delivered a talk at the Game Developer’s Conference in 2009 entitled “Everything I learned about Level Design I learned from Disneyland” which got the attention of Walt Disney Imagineering who hired me to create interactive experiences for the theme parks. The talk also led to a book deal with Wiley & Sons who published “Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design” and “Swipe This! The Guide to Great Touchscreen Game Design”. I also taught game design at the University of Southern California’s prestigious school of Interactive Media and at the New York Film Academy. Recently, I’ve returned to passion for tabletop game design, having published the following titles: Rayguns & Rocketships, Pantone the Game, ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo and the upcoming Marvel Villainous: We are Venom and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Game. My board game career (so far) was covered in the 2020 documentary Gamemaster
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being creative for a living is always a challenge. The act of creation requires knowledge, craft, patience and perseverance. You are not only competing against other creative teams for contracts but you need to be aware of trends as well as the desires and whims of publishers. There are technical challenges as well. The video game industry is always evolving as new gaming systems and associated technologies must be learned to keep up with the state of the art. Board game design, while offering a much more stable environment in terms of tools and components, is also evolving, often guided by the tastes of the gaming public. As my friend, game designer Rob Daviau says, “Game design is like fashion” as in one year something might be “in” and the next it is “out”. I’ve had my ups and downs, just like everyone else, so I try to celebrate the successes and learn from the mistakes.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have been proud to put “game designer” on my tax return for the last 30 years. I have designed video games, board games, VR games, and games for theme parks and other interactive experiences. I have lectured about game design and written two well-received books (with more on the way). In video games, I specialize in character-based action games, in board games, I like to create games with story, miniatures and modular elements. In VR, I specialized in “Location-based experiences (LBE) which are a hybrid of virtual reality and theme-park design. I’m most well-known for my game design book “Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design”, my talk “Everything I learned about level design I learned from Disneyland” and my board game design of ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo. What am I most proud of? To paraphrase Pablo Picasso: “The next one.” I think my depth of knowledge on gaming, my sense of humor and my interest in world-building sets my work apart from others. I’ve been proud to help create three major video game franchises and that the characters I’ve helped create have been recreated in everything from action figures to cosplay.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
As someone who was a “salaryman” for a large part of his career, working remotely during the COVID-19 crisis taught me that I could “strike out” on my own and make a living job to job. Granted, I have a pretty good resume and years of experience that helped me get work, but I was never sure if I could “make it” without the safety net of a company. It really boosted myself confidence and was a surprising benefit of what was otherwise a pretty terrible time.
Contact Info:
- Website: mrbossdesign.blogspot.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mightybedbug/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMightyBedbug
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mightybedbug
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ScottRogersMightyBedbug/videos
Image Credits
Personal Photo: Scott Rogers Photo 1: Brian Merlonghi Photo 2: Brenda Lee Rogers Photo 3: Danielle Digrado Ramondelli Photo 4: Scott Rogers
