Meet One of the Creative Minds Behind ‘Hexaquest’, a Brand-New Trivia Board Game Launching on Kickstarter – ourcommunitynow.com

Meet Martin Soederhamn, founder of Tumbling Heads. Tumbling Heads, a board game development company, is preparing for the upcoming Kickstarter launch of its new trivia board game, Hexaquest. Check out our interview with Martin below to learn more about howHexaquestcame to be, his hopes for the future of the game, and so much more.

Martin Soederhamn, founder of Tumbling Heads

Tumbling Heads was originally founded way back in 2011 as an iOS app development company. We released a couple of games on that platform but learned that our true passion was more in the development of physical games. Today, our sole focus is on board game development, and were currently in the final stages of production of Hexaquest. Its currently just two of us, myselfand my business partner, Dylan.

Dylan served in the U.S. Air Force along with a previous roommate of ours, and Dylan moved in when he moved out. We became really close friends and although we have dramatically different personalities, we share a lot of the same passions. He showed a lot of interest in Hexaquest and it became apparent that, as a team, we would really be able to make an impact. Dylan has an incredible sense of organization from his time in the Air Force, as well as from having worked as an area manager at Amazon. That experience has been really useful in helping us to set up Tumbling Heads for a sustainable, long-term future.

Hexaquest, Courtesy of Tumbling Heads

Hexaquest, in itsbasic form, is a trivia board game with six fun categories. It comes with 60 hexagons that form the playing board, as well as 300 cards with a total of 1500 questions.

You know, its a bit of a crazy story. I actually came up with the idea 15 years ago as I was sitting playing Trivial Pursuit in Thailand, where I was working as a scuba divinginstructor. The idea stuck with me and I started chipping away at the logistical challenges. Sometimes, I would hit roadblocks that would put the project on pause, but I always knew that Hexaquest would get itschance one day. Now, 15 years later, that day is getting mighty close. Were beyond excited about how the game is looking and feeling at this point. Although the concept has remained the same at itscore, every element of the game is far superior to what I dreamt of in the past.

Well, its partly in the name. Its called HexaquestThe Strategic Trivia Game. In the past, Id always been frustrated with how other trivia games were set up. You never seemed to have much control over the gaming experience, and thats something I wanted to change. I wanted to get rid of the dice, get rid of the board, reduce the randomness of difficulty, and introduce strategic elements, while, at the same time, offering players a variety of ways to customize how they play. Im proud to say that I managed to design a game that does all of that and then some. You can choose which categories you like and ignore the ones you dont. If you only want to play with the "Backpacker" and "Gourmet"categories, go for it. Its your game to play as you like. You can add expansion packs with new fun categories that can be played standalone or added to the main game. You can have as many players as you want and players can even join in the middle of a game. You have control of either how hard questions will be or which category theyll be in. And these are just some of the core aspects of Hexaquest that I think make it unique and ensures itslongevity.

As a kid, I was always hoping for board games when my birthday or Christmas came around. It would usually be a family friend showing up with a board game, but never necessarily the ones that I wanted. You can only play so much Monopoly, right? Even early on, I gravitated towards deeper, strategic experiences, and I remember really enjoying games that had a bit more depth. I remember one of my favorite games being Scotland Yard, a classic game of cat and mouse where you tryto expose criminals in London through strategic thinking. Thirty-five years later, Scotland Yard is still around, so I guess thats a testament to how good of a game it is. I actually just picked one up at a yard sale, so that should be fun to revisit.

The world of board games has changed in so many incredible ways in the last couple of decades. There are so many clever games out there that really push the boundaries for what a board game can be. I still definitely like getting deep and nerdy with games like Terraforming Mars and Star Wars Rebellion. They easily end up taking the better part of a day to play though, which is why I often steer towards the gateway games that offer a bit more of a relaxed experience. As a game designer, I believe that its much harder to make a simple yet strategic game than a deeply complex one. I have a few more ideas up my sleeve for the future and they all follow that same train of thought. Well always aim for truly innovative ideas that are sure to rock the board game industry a little.

Weve been taking our time polishing the game, playtesting, and ensuring that every little aspect is 100-percent readyand today, it is. The preproduction process is complete and our manufacturer is ready to hit the button, so to speak, as soon as we give the go-ahead. Were partnering with Panda Game Manufacturing, which is one of the absolute best manufacturers in the industry. The production quality has always been paramount to me, and honestly, it's one of the reasons that its taken such a long time to dial in how to produce it to the level of quality that I wanted. I want Hexaquest to be something that people want to show off to their friends and family, and in the case of the FoundersEdition, hopefully, something that will be passed on for generations to come.

Hexaquest, Courtesy of Tumbling Heads

Yes, absolutely! The limited FoundersEdition is a token of appreciation for the Kickstarter backers. I wanted to offer a true collectors item; the ultimate version of Hexaquest. It comes in a beautiful, custom wooden box with a slick neoprene insert that holds the full base game, as well as six expansion packs. The production is limited to just 80 copies, with 75 of those being made available to the public. When we had the first final version of the box, it almost brought me to tears. Its really something to behold and I have a feeling that fans will be all over it once the Kickstarter gets rolling. First come, first serve!

Well, of course, in the near future Id love to see a successful Kickstarter campaign. Weve worked extremely hard on setting up a campaign thats really attractive to backers. We have some really cool stuff up our sleeves as the campaign moves along and with a bit of success, well even start unlocking expansion packs.

Looking a bit further, I seeand always have seengreat potential for the evolution of Hexaquest, not just as a singular game, but as an entire ecosystem that allows people to customize their trivia experience to their liking. Id like to see a huge variety of expansion packs, getting into the real nitty-gritty and exploring more and more niche subjects, making sure that theres something for everyone! A good example of that would be the "Conductor" category, which caters to the classical music lover. To me, this category would be nearly impossible to do well at, but for others, it might be a breeze. I personally love the "Backpacker" category. Im quite good at it as a result of having traveled extensively with my wife, Amy, filming documentaries for our YouTube channel, Adventure Calls.

We have some pretty wild and exciting plans for the future of Hexaquest, some of which we arent quite ready to discuss just yet. Trust me, were far from doneeven after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Translation/localization will eventually be pursued, and were also working on offering customized expansion packs for businesses, among other things. Im hopeful that people will believe in us and support us, and we ensure that well continue to bring fresh and fun entertainment your way!

Were currently a couple of months away from launching our Kickstarter campaign. The best way to support us right now, and to really get a good feel for what will be offered during the campaign, is to sign up for our newsletter. And make sure to check out our Instagram (@hexaquest) where we do daily quizzes, giveaways, and other fun stuff. So far, the response has been extremely encouraging and were having a lot of fun building our community!

What do you think ofHexaquest? Will this become your new favorite board game? Sound off in the comments below.

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Meet One of the Creative Minds Behind 'Hexaquest', a Brand-New Trivia Board Game Launching on Kickstarter - ourcommunitynow.com