Independent Game Designer Interview With Emily Vincent Of Pink Hawk Games From Origins Game Fair — CultureSlate (2024)

CS: How did you come up with the name Pink Hawk Games?

EV: I’ve had a pink mohawk for the past 10 years. At this point, I refer to pink as my natural hair color, so when I was looking for a name for my company it seemed like a perfect fit. It’s something that represents me and has personal significance, so from that Pink Hawk was born. The company’s logo includes a hawk with a pink mohawk. My pink mohawk is special to me because it represents a key moment in my life, when I started making decisions based on what I wanted rather than what I felt was expected. A decade ago, I went through intensive treatment for breast cancer, including chemotherapy. When I went to grow my hair back, I decided to go for the hair that I’d always been too scared to try. I wanted to present my authentic self, one that I’d been hiding with the goal of appearing “professional.” Changing my hair was just the first step on that journey and in the grand scheme of things wasn’t even the biggest change I made. But it was the first choice and one of the most visible, so it holds a special place in my heart.

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CS: Why did you decide to get into board game design?

EV: I’ve always been a creator, a storyteller, and a gamer. Over the years I’ve picked up various hobbies that bring these passions together. I’d wanted to get into game design for a while but had other projects going on that were taking my attention. A couple of years ago, I realized that it was a great time to dust off the idea of game design and give it a try. I designed my first game that day. Part of the reason I chose game design was that I’d just come back from PAX East and realized that I wasn’t seeing the types of games I most wanted to play. I thought there was room for more delightful games with whimsical themes, beautiful components, and light strategic gameplay. I decided to design the kinds of games that I wanted to play. This was during the pandemic, and I found that I just couldn’t bring myself to play another heavy game with a heavy theme. I was looking for a 60-minute experience that was strategically interesting and challenging but didn’t have the emotional weight of trying to save the world, win a war, or conquer the galaxy.

CS: Tell me a little about your game.

EV: Pirates of the High Teas is a set collection game of piracy and pastries! It’s based on the “historical fact” that pirates loved afternoon tea, so you play as pirates trying to earn your Captain’s treasure by serving them the very best afternoon tea. You’re building sets of three dishes paired with a matching tea and serving the Captain as many times as possible to win the most treasure. It’s set in a pastiche world where piracy stopped each day for afternoon tea and the foods served with tea were much more global. To get your dishes and tea, there’s a worker placement mechanic where you’re deploying your pirate into different compartments of the ship to claim cards and tokens. The mechanic ends up changing the turn order each round so that when you pick your action you’re considering what you want to do this round as well as the next round. There are some fun tradeoffs and players have really been enjoying that part of the puzzle. Of course, as you play, you can’t forget that we’re pirates! One of the most fun pirate mechanics is “smashing,” where you can smash multiple dishes together while serving them to the Captain in order to perfectly match your tea. This creates fun (and funny) dish combinations like an Arugula Pesto Petit Four or a Strawberry Shortcake Ham Sandwich. Players are having rousing debates regarding the merits of these culinary creations. You’ve also got monkeys that can steal dishes for you, parrots that can fly dishes directly to the Captain, and a cannon that you can use to blow up all the face up cards. Overall it’s a pretty whimsical story that you’re telling but with a surprising amount of strategic depth in the gameplay.

CS: Where can people find it in the future?

EV: The Pirates of the High Teas Kickstarter preview page is up: www.kickstarter.com/projects/pinkhawkgames/pirates-of-the-high-teas. The plan is to launch this fall, likely in September or October. Hopefully, after that, I’ll be able to get it into friendly local game stores in 2025.

CS: What has been your favorite part about game design?

EV: I love how the process of game design unwinds, it feels almost magical to me. It has all of these ups and downs, which are an emotional roller coaster. But there’s something amazing about knowing that if I keep pushing through the tough moments, eventually I’ll have some sort of insightful “ah ha” moment. Every time I hit that low point, I tell myself that if I keep at it I’ll eventually come out the other side. And it always happens! Even though I told myself it would happen and I’ve seen it happen, it’s still a surprise each time.I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the friends I’ve made along the way. The game design community has been so welcoming, and I’ve got this huge network of other amazing people working in this field. I had no idea how big this community is and how open and supportive they are to newcomers. I’m so excited to have made so many new friends from around the world.

CS: Do you have any exciting projects coming up?

EV: My first published game, Knitting Circle, has recently been announced and will be debuting at Gen Con! Flatout Games is publishing Knitting Circle as a part of their Calico line. I couldn’t be more excited about it, it’s been an absolute dream to work with the team at Flatout. They’ve taken such care with the game and really polished it until it shone. They’ve also brought their keen sense of crunchy gameplay to it, such that I think it’s really become a fantastic game. I can’t wait for people to get it to their table. I’ve also continued working on new games as well. My newest game is called Cutting Flowers,a game of sending insulting flower bouquets based on the Victorian language of flowers. It’s been a blast to work on something as silly as Victorian insults and also a real challenge to create an engaging game that plays in under 20 minutes. I’m excited to see how that one turns out!

CS: Where can people find you?

EV: I’ll be at PAX Unplugged, although I’m not sure if I’ll be working a booth there or just hanging out in the Unpub area. I’m also a co-host of the Building the Game podcast. You can also follow me on social media: TikTok and Instagram @pinkhawkgames,Bluesky, and Discord @emilykeepskitties. And you can follow my journey on my website, www.pinkhawkgames.com where you can also join my monthly mailing list.

It was such a pleasure to talk to Emily about the great games and hopes for the future.

Stay tuned for some more amazing interviews from independent game designers and learn more about their games and creative processes to bring them to the world.

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