M. Allen Hall, creator of Godspark and Sprinkles is missing, on experimental design and the state of the TTRPG industry

Continuing my series of interviews with tabletop designers, I move from the therapeutic model of design to M. Allen Hall, a more recent entrant into the market. Starting out as a fantasy author, he was able to share insights on the differences in competition and production in the markets, and a surprising advantage to RPG publication: while being a niche interest limits the audience, it also reduces the number of designers who are able to take the time away from their day jobs to create games. He maintains a personal connection to his work and his audience that is often difficult to manage when creating a product with a wider scale, which needs to see a higher return to justify existing in the first place. The lower scale of projects affords him greater leeway to explore his narrative and mechanical interests, leading to the upcoming Godspark.

 

Coming to Kickstarter in a few weeks, Godspark is a solo adventure that sees you exploring an afterlife full of dead gods and chances to be destroyed yourself. With a greater focus on combat and exploration than the journaling of most solo games, it will be a shorter but more replayable experience  with many design features I have never come across before. Adding to his varied ouvre of fantasy adventure Sprinkles is Missing, about a group of school children looking for their lost mascot, M. Allen Hall is committed to using RPG design as an avenue for personal discovery. Listen below to hear his thoughts yourself.

You can follow his work at his website, Instagram, or Twitter (I’m not calling it X). You can also sign up for the Godspark campaign to be notified when it goes live later in the month.