Siege Engine Blog 1.2 Founders Edition

To begin our second blog post, I think it might be good to get to know the talented people on our team a little better. So please, pull up a chair, get you favorite mood music on, and let’s get into it!

For our first interview, we will be with one of our founding members and CEO of Siege Engine Games, Bretton Hibler.

Hello Brett, and welcome to the blog.

Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here!

I’ll start off with some company and personal history. When did you first hatch the idea for Siege Engine and Eternal Kingdoms?

The game’s ancestor was a class project that my cofounder spearheaded way back in 2016, during our fall semester. I just thought it was a cool idea and we ran with it. I had no idea of the journey that would follow.

As for the company, it came about in early 2018 in preparation of our entry into the IdeaLabs business competition.

Where are you from?

Born and raised a Clevelander and an Ohioan.

What other games do you like?

I’m big into strategy games—for board games, I mostly play Axis and Allies with my friends, but I’m certainly not opposed to playing other games or genres. For video games, I’m big into empire-building. We’re talking Total War, Civ, Age of Empires, etc.

Let’s move on to some questions about your role as a cofounder. Is this your first time working on making a board game?

Board games, yes. But I’ve worked on a number of modest video game projects that helped me understand the fundamentals of game design, plus those in my college courses. Video games are a different medium for sure, but a lot of the questions and the development process are similar enough.

What has been your favorite aspect of working on Eternal Kingdoms thus far?

Just being able to make something that didn’t exist before…like starting with only an idea then making it into reality.

Has anything been challenging during the making of Eternal Kingdoms?

Honestly, very little about the game hasn’t been challenging. The reality is that Eternal Kingdoms is a very complex game to boil down, and to make the mechanics intuitive and as easy as possible. You’ve literally got two-games-in-one between the Campaign and Battles, and there’s so much that has to be balanced and interact well together. I think the team has done a fantastic job making that happen, and couldn’t be happier with how Eternal Kingdoms has turned out.

What was your experience in leading a project like this?

It’s hard leading a team with such diverse personalities. Everyone has their pro and cons— certainly myself included—and you have to balance all that out. You’ll make decisions that someone in the group won’t agree with, but you’ve got to approach it in a way that keeps them engaged and not afraid to keep contributing. Managing all that takes up a lot of mental bandwidth, however, when done successfully it keeps the team chugging along nicely.

What do you think players will enjoy most when playing the game?

I think it’s the re-playability—every game is going to be different. It’s not just the ever-changing map layout or who you bring to the table—but rather that every player continues to evolve as they play. They go home afterwards and wonder, “What could have I done differently?” So when they sit down again, there’s a whole new strategy being tested.

What’s the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Well now, that depends. Is it African or European?

Alright, thank you for your time, Brett and we will definitely be having you on the blog again in the future for updates on the game!

Anytime, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you all.

Next up, we will be chatting with another cofounder of Siege Engine Games, Alexander Mace. Glad to have you here Alex.

Glad to be here Al!

Well, let’s hop right in, shall we? When did you first jump into the adventure that is Siege Engine Games?

Well, I was in the same game design class as Brett, so that would be sometime before 2017.

Where are you from?

I’m from Strongsville, Ohio.

What other games do you like?

I like to play ARPGs, MMORPGs, Simulation and Builder games.

What made you initially interested in the project?

I created the earliest prototypes for Eternal Kingdoms. Our development team then took what Brett and I came up with, and turned it into the game we know today.

What has been your favorite aspect of working on the game thus far?

My favorite part has been watching the transformation from where it started in 2017 to where it is now. Who knows where it will go from here!

Can you tell us more about using Kickstarter to help with our first project?

We’re a startup business and Eternal Kingdoms is our first release. While we raised some initial funds to continue development of the game, Kickstarter will help us raise the necessary funds for manufacturing, shipping, etc.

What’s your favorite food?

Pizza.

Cats or dogs?

Cats, definitely.

Any parting words for our readers?

We hope that you take the time to enjoy our first release of Eternal Kingdoms, and that there will be many more to come!

Thanks again Alex, for taking some time to talk to all of us.

Anytime! See you all at the Kickstarter.

Well, that wraps us up for this session. Please be sure to join us in the next few days for interviews with the rest of the team!