Enter Africa Lagos Interviews: Kenechukwu Ogbuagu, Board Game Designer and Founder of NIBCARD Games
The board game designer and founder of NIBCARD Games tells Adefoyeke Ajao about the goals he hopes to achieve as a game designer and how he navigates the industry’s analogue-digital dichotomy.
Tell us a little about yourself…
My name is Kenechukwu Ogbuagu (KC); I am a board game designer and the founder of NIBCARD Games.
How and why did you get into game development? What inspired you to make your own games and start NIBCARD Games?
At first, it was boredom - I designed my first game because a friend and I were bored during the ASUU strike in 2013. However, in 2015, it became ‘something’ more than just a game I played a few times. I had just seen new board and card games that I had never seen in Nigeria. So I quickly went online and saw more games than ever before. That was the journey that led to establishing NIBCARD Games.
Is there a certain type of game you prefer to work on and do you have a design philosophy?
I love creating tabletop games; I just love the wonders of playing with people physically even with the advent of technology. I also adapt to tech however the concept of laying everything on the table and having fun just doesn’t get old. I always want to create a game that has a bit of Nigeria - or an African component - in it. I guess that’s my philosophy.
What did you learn from publishing your first game and how have those lessons helped you so far?
A lot! And the lessons are continuous. One thing I love to share from my experience is because of our realities - our economy, our society - I usually do not wait to make a perfect product at first. However, the team and I continue to work towards perfection. This lesson has helped greatly.
What’s the story behind your board game café? Who does it cater to and what should visitors look forward to?
We also opened the first board game café in Nigeria - with over 300 foreign games and over 30 Nigerian games. The café was a result of need. We wanted people to play the games I designed. At first, we went to lounges, bars, schools (we still do); but in 2018, we thought to have a home of anything and everything board games. We ran a campaign on Kickstarter and offered to reward backers with some or all of our games at the time and we were successful. It was one of the best nights in my life.
The café is for anyone who loves tabletop games - board games, card games, role play games, dice games. Anyone visiting should look forward to seeing so many games under the same roof and having a great time playing some of them.
What do you think is a good mark of success in the world of tabletop games? What goals do you hope to achieve as a game designer?
As a designer, I want to create games that tell a part of the Nigerian story, and I want people to have the best fun playing those games too. As an enthusiast in the industry, I want Nigeria to be more active in designing, manufacturing and playing tabletop games. This is something we are doing at NIBCARD Games. It is what we are doing with the café, the school projects and the African Boardgame Convention (AB Con).
Considering the prevalence of digital entertainment forms, including video games, do you encounter any challenges in bringing your games to the market/marketing your games? How do you navigate the analogue-digital dichotomy?
There will always be alternatives to entertainment and it’s a good thing. The digital world is complementing the tabletop games industry and vice versa. You can create your own tabletop games on platforms such as Tabletopia or Tabletop Simulator. It enables you have the feel of playing actual tabletop games and you get to play with other people miles away. You can also play some party card games on any streaming platform.
With average marketing skills, you can sell your games through the various online groups and even collaborate with people who are not in the same location as you are; so tech is a good thing!
Describe your ideal game night. What games would you play and who would you play with?
At the café, an ideal game night is a full room with people playing different games. At first, it starts with different groups playing 4 - 5 player games and at some point, there is always one social card game that brings everyone together - like Gidi words, Concentration Concentration, Soundicolous, Yogi, Dixit or Na the Matter.
What resources would you recommend to aspiring game designers?
I would recommend our Designing Kit - it’s a set with different components. We created it to support new designers with components - including a foldable board and miniatures - so they have a first feel of what their game could look like. I also recommend joining online board game groups, joining Boardgame Geek.
What are you currently working on? Any upcoming events or projects we should look forward to?
We are working on a couple of new releases. They are coming out in OCTOBER - fingers crossed! One of them is Village War; The Calamity - it is a sequel and themed after the Igbo mythology, folklore, history and fantasy. We also have The Battle of Adrica which is a make-believe world of what could have been if the scramble of Africa wasn’t peaceful. We will announce the release date for them soon.
To know more about Kenechukwu Ogbuagu (KC) and his work, follow him on Twitter @nibcardgames and on Instagram @nibcardgamesng or visit his website nibcardgames.com.
This interview series is part of Nigeria’s Gaming Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Practices, an Enter Africa Lagos project supported by Goethe-Institut Nigeria.
