Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast · Bedroom Battlefields

What Turns a Miniature Game Enthusiast Into a Game Designer? Robey Jenkins (Horizon Wars) Re-Roll From 2021

·1 hr 3 min·5 clips

Why are many game designers surprisingly bad at playing the games they create?

This episode features host Matthew and guest Roby Jenkins, a game designer known for the Horizon Wars series and the Precinct Amiga podcast. They explore the transition from playing miniature wargames to designing them. Jenkins identifies a common theme where many game designers are not highly competitive players, being more invested in mechanics than exploiting rules for victory. He mentions designers like Gav Thorpe, Jake Thornton, and Ivan Sorensen, while noting Alessio Cavatore as an exception who was a skilled player first. Jenkins details his Horizon Wars series, starting with its 2016 Osprey Games publication as a 6mm sci-fi battle game. He followed it with Horizon Wars Zero Dark, a 28mm skirmish game released in 2020, and later Horizon Wars Infinite Dark, a spaceship combat title. These games are miniatures-agnostic, offering detailed settings that Jenkins developed partly as an alternative to writing fiction. He contrasts this approach with games like Open Combat or A Song of Blades and Heroes, which provide almost no setting, arguing that some structure helps player creativity. A key insight is the challenge of translating a clear tabletop rule into written text, as Jenkins experienced with Horizon Wars' core dice-grouping mechanic. He discusses the future potential of hybrid games that blend physical tabletops with digital augmentation, suggesting this could allow for complex character progression. Jenkins praises specific game mechanics, like Infinity's reactive "Awareness" roll-off and the grid-less movement system in Rogue Planet. He critiques the overuse of D6 dice in systems like Warhammer 40,000 for their statistical limitations and repetitive processes. Jenkins also explores solo and cooperative wargaming design, emphasizing the narrative potential beyond simply mimicking player-versus-player experiences. The conversation is conversational and educational, driven by Jenkins' articulate reflections on design philosophy and industry trends. This episode will appeal to miniature wargamers interested in game design theory and the hobby's future. Listeners seeking only painting tutorials or battle reports might find it less directly relevant.

As heard by us

A grounded hobby interview about how play becomes design.

This episode follows a familiar but worthwhile question: what carries someone from playing games into designing them. Roby Jenkins brings practical, grounded commentary to that shift, keeping the conversation tied to the work of writing and building systems instead of treating…

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Why you'd press play

A calm look at how a miniature gamer becomes a designer.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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