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A little bit ago, I wrote a quick preview about the game, SMÄK! The Card Game, and I noted that I was in the process of getting an interview with the developers set up to talk about the process that they had with creating the game. Unfortunately, as life often does, it got in the way of actually having a virtual interview with the developers, but I was able to send some questions over to the team to discuss the creative process and what went into making the game.
I know that making a game and attempting to promote it on Kickstarter as a first-time developer can be really intimidating, so with my interactions with the fantastic team over at Team SMÄK, I knew that I wanted to dive into a bit of what the creation process looks like. As I personally know, making a game isn't an easy thing to do and there's a lot of blood, sweat, tears, playtesting, rebuilding and prepping that goes into it.
It's not an easy process and I really wanted to connect with Marc and Charlie about what went into making this wild and crazy card game that is live on Kickstarter until August 10th. With the questions being posed over emails back and forth, I attempted to really get a general idea of what makes the team tick and what went into the creation of the game as well digging into what went into the creative process when making the game.
Several questions and answers have been edited for clarity either due to me breaking apart an answer or asking the question in an odd manner.
Q: You mention on the Kickstarter page that Uno, Crazy Eights, and Mau Mau! (which looks remarkably similar), but were there any other games that inspired the creation of SMÄK?
A: We are both very much into games and especially card games. Even though we both love board games that take longer to play, we are especially huge fans of fast and easy games that can be played while hanging out with friends. We always played the same games but changing the rules and coming up with entertaining ways to make the evenings more fun, for example mixing Yahtzee with MauMau.
Q: When you were making the game, were there any additional inspirations that you took from other games when making it?
A: [For] other inspiration goes for the design, we have always loved good anime, cartoons and comics - to just name a few, for example Rick and Morty, Studio Ghibli movies or Saga.
Q: How did you settle on Jan Erika for the artist of the game? The artwork is great and I'm curious to know how you connected with Jan about doing the art for the game?
A: We actually started a small challenge in a forum on the website deviantart.com. In this challenge we asked artists to come up with design ideas for a cartoon-like unicorn getting SMÄK!ed. Jan Erika was one of the artists that took part and we just loved her style and how she drew the unicorns.
Q: Obviously, everyone loves unicorns, but where did you come up with the idea of “SMÄK”ing them down? That’s such a unique idea of utilizing the unicorns as the “naughty” cards that I can’t help but wonder what led to that idea?
A: The first idea was to create a mechanism where one would be able to defend oneself from penalties like drawing cards. Then the second idea were cute magical creatures which brought you annoying penalties. And finally the last idea was to physically SMÄK! those pesky unicorns to visualize the defense. The name SMÄK! came later, we actually called it slapping first - and the game used to be called Game of Horns 
Q: What other unused concepts were there for the various ways that you can "SMAK" the unicorns? I find it really interesting that there's a fairly violent version of the game with the unicorns being removed in fairly intense ways. Was this always a design choice for the SMAK cards, or was that something that grew out of the gameplay as you built and playtested the game?
A: From the very beginning we were set on the idea of having this glaring contrast between ultra-cute characters (that annoy you and slow you down) and getting rid of them in a graphic way. However, during the play tests we received so much feedback from parents - about how much fun this game is for families - that we decided to add the kid-friendly cards as well. Now we are totally in love with both versions of the game.
Q: Were there any mechanics or cards in the original design of the game that you thought sounded great, but upon playtesting went "woah, that doesn't work at all?"
A: There were a few ideas for unicorn action cards that didn't work or that slowed down the gameplay too much. And there were lots of little game mechanics to figure out, for example in an early version of game testing, we allowed SMÄK! cards being played on top of each other, but this resulted in unclear game situations and made playing a SMÄK! card much less exciting.
Q: What are your favorite games to play? What are some games that you haven’t tried but would love to get to the table? What’s your favorite genre of games?
A: We love all kind of games. Fast and action packed games are great, but sometime we love really getting into the nitty gritty of the bigger games as well. We have also been enjoying the co-op games a lot. To just name a few, we really enjoyed playing Dice Throne, Carcasonne and Hero Quest. And we look forward to playing Dune - War for Arrakis, Here to Slay, Keep The Heroes Out, and Frosthaven.
Q: This is your first game on Kickstarter, so what have been the biggest challenge with launching a game Kickstarter?
A: This is our first game on Kickstarter or anywhere else, so the learning curve of how to develop a game, get prototypes made, write a rulebook, play test the game was huge. Everything is a challenge but also a lot of fun! We also took a really long time to develop the game because we wanted everything to be just right: the design, the rules and the game play.
Q: With half the team in Europe and half the team in the US, what has been the hardest part about developing the game?
A: It worked out pretty well, we would have late night / early morning meetings all the time (one of us after their work day was done, one of us starting their day later). Video calls are the best!
Q: Were there any logistical challenges in putting the game together?
A: The biggest challenge logistically was the physical games and how to decide on card stock, print quality and all that. But since we have known each other for a very long time, we trust each other completely. We just both had to find local printers and get prototypes made. It’s also a shame that we haven’t play tested the latest prototypes together. An advantage was that we had both completely different circles of friends to test the game with.
Q: Are there any plans for a follow up game, or expansion for SMÄK after the campaign ends?
A: We definitely want to bring out an expansion sometime in the future. We have many more ideas for new unicorn action cards. We are also thinking colorful and glittery dice and additional kid-friendly SMÄK! cards. In the ideal SMÄK! world, people pick and choose their unicorn action cards and modify the game according to their mood and what style of play they want.
Q: What advice would you offer new creators when launching a new game?
A: Our advice for new creators would be to do your research well, then write a huge to-do list and get everything done. Don’t launch too early, really try to be ready for everything. And finally, make sure you have time running the campaign, it takes a lot of time to manage the campaign pre-launch and while it’s live.
Q: Finally - If you were a tough cookie, what kind of cookie would you be?
A: Oreo and Ginger Snap.
A huge "Thank You!" to both Mark and Charlie for reaching out to me regarding their game and promotion and for taking the time to answer my questions. It's been an honor to help promote the game and I hope that your campaign really picks up the final few days on Kickstarter.
There's still a bit of time to back if you are looking for a fun little card game and you can do that here on the Kickstarter page.
Give me your thoughts:Have you ever thought about developing a game of your own? If you have, what have been the biggest challenges of doing so? What have been some games that have caught your eye on any crowdfunding platform in the last few months?
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