As part of our February Spotlight on What’s He Building In There?, we strive to inform the readers of little extra tidbits surrounding the game. Games are made by people, and one of those tidbits we enjoy is learning a little bit more about the people behind them. Considering this is a game where you’re each secretly working on your own objectives, any extra information you can gather is a good thing, right? In the case of WHBIT (which is just a fun acronym to say), we have that in the form of designer Sean Scott.
What’s He Building follows mad scientists as they try to outwit their competition and outmaneuver the police who may be getting wise to their ambitions. It takes a lot of work, and as you scheme your way through this worker placement game, that point will be all the more apparent. Being an evil genius isn’t supposed to be easy, after all. We pulled Sean away from his own laboratory briefly to find out more about the mind behind creating a race to be be best damn Evil Doctor you can be.
Round One Questions
CR: What was your Gateway Game?
The first game I played with true elements of strategy was Risk, but it faded quickly for me because of the huge luck factor. I later came back to gaming because of Settlers.
CR: What was the last game you really enjoyed playing (besides What’s He Building)?
The game that I want to play right now if I could is Game of Thrones – but the first edition, because I hate the art in 2nd edition.
CR: How big is your game collection?
Not huge, as one might expect. probably about 60 games. But between my group of game-playing friends, hundreds.
Definitely the heavier strategy type games. I don’t mind some element of luck, but I enjoy the challenge when it doesn’t determine outcomes.
CR: How do you feel about Monopoly?
I like it. My biggest problem with it is that players can be knocked out hours before the end of the game.
On What’s He Building In There
CR: This game is certainly on the heftier side of the worker placement game spectrum. Was that a deliberate choice or sort of where the game ended up in development?
It wasn’t aimed at any end of any hefty spectrum. It ended up there as it developed.
CR: This has some flavor overlap with your previous game, Good Help, and it is billed as a thematic sequel of sorts. What sort of specific nods are there to the previous game, if any?
It is set in the same game world. The evil doctors have graduated onto bigger and better things. There are really no specific ties to Good Help in the game play, though.
The “Evil Doctor Trilogy” finale will be another story, however…
If only we could invent a teleporter too.
CR: You’ve released games previously, but this was your first foray into Kickstarting a project. What sort of things did you learn during the campaign that you wished you had known when you started?
The shipping is a huge undertaking. Not that I took it lightly, but I’ll do some things differently next time. And it’s bloody expensive.
CR: One of the stretch goals was for an upgraded Evil Doctor token, while the henchmen remained nameless, faceless pawns. Were they considered for an upgrade as well, or was there a conscious decision to keep them as interchangeable and expendable as possible?
Oh, the henchmen were purposely kept as pawns. As they should be.
CR: There are some entertaining Doomsday Weapons in this game. Which one would you be the most concerned about seeing built – relatively speaking?
The Death Ray is always troubling, but the Neuterizing Bomb seems somehow more insidious. (There is some concern that the IQ-reducing Idiotifier has already been unleashed on some of the public…)
CR: Lastly – favorite choice for evil mastermind. What makes him or her stand out?
Probably Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies. He loved what he was doing and had a sense of humor about it all. Otherwise I would have picked Dr. No.
Are you ready to jump on in and become an Evil Doctor yourself? Sean’s evil crafting has created an outlet for you to do just that. You’ll have to start at the beginning and work your way up to become the best evil genius of all time though. And where to start? Why by entering for the chance at a free copy of the game! Check it out here.
Photo Credits: Artwork by Baksha Games.