Meet Fertessa Allyse | Game Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Fertessa Allyse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Fertessa, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
Boardgames have been around for a long time, and right now, they’re thriving. Hundreds of new board games are created each year, birthed from independent designers who have manifested their ideas into products. Personally, I never thought about where boardgames came from. They were just on the shelf of whatever store I went to, and I could purchase them. Then one day a friend of mine said she wanted to create a boardgame, and I realized that was something a person had to sit and create. It was the catalyst to the start of my boardgame career.

The Boardgame industry is similar to creative industries in that you can pursue it as a hobby or as a profession, and in fact, one may lead to the other. There are game designers who come up with the idea for the game and turn it into a physical product. There are also developers who playtest and hone games until they are marketable products. You have publishers who look for these games to sign to their company and fund the creation of these games. You also have graphic designers, artists, writers, editors, and cultural consultants who get hired to help bring a game to life.

Within the industry there is space for content creators as well, who review or play through games, as well as interview the people involved in making them. The boardgaming industry is present worldwide, and yet it has a community which still feels quite small and intimate. It is a unique industry because the more people that enter it and succeed, the more it expands and builds into something more.

If you enjoy boardgames, and you’re looking to enter a creative industry, then look into modern boardgames. Find a local gaming meetup group or one of the many local board game conventions to see if it’s something you enjoy. If so, you may find a career path in the board game industry. I started four years ago, and was able to find my way into the board game profession. It wasn’t easy, and it took alot of work on my part, but it was attainable. There’s no degree necessary, just a passion for games, the spirit of persistence and research, and a willingness to build and be a part of the gaming community.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started designing games as a hobby four years ago. I always loved boardgames, but was unaware of modern boardgames and just how huge the hobby was. Many independent designers can spend years, even a decade perfecting one game to their satisfaction. Despite that, it often takes several tries and failures before a designer can sign their first game. I was able to sign my very first game, and in three years, was able to sign three games. The end of the third year, I was given the opportunity to interview for a position at Funko Games as a Game Producer, and was able to go from a contractor to full time game producer by the end of that year.

It was not easy, but it was fun. When I started designing, I was working a corporate job that didn’t challenge me mentally or creatively. I was deeply depressed, and trying to find a way to change my life. When I was inspired to start my first game, I tapped into a creativity that had slowly been dying in me, and it invigorated me. Taking baby steps and acting on my thoughts led me on a whole journey.

I’m an introvert and a homebody, but my game led me around the city, meeting so many new people in this hobby I thought I was relatively alone in. I found that mental and creative stimulation I craved and chased after it. I listened to every podcast I could, made social media accounts to document my design journey and connect with other gamers in the hobby, and constantly pushed myself out of my comfort zone to find a nd play new games. I drove thirty and forty minutes to gaming meetups after work. I stayed up till two am to work on prototypes that I would play with new and old friends alike.

I had to learn to market myself and my game in order to get people to play it. I also had to learn how to protect the heart of my game while listening and acting on feedback to build it into something better. All the skills that had been gathering dust were used to create my first game. The two years of research, trial and error, networking paved the way for my next two games to be created and signed in the following year.

The biggest lesson learned, is follow your passion. After college, I struggled for years trying to break into another creative industry I wasn’t passionate about. I was good at it, but I was stagnant. I didn’t care about reading articles or watching videos to stay up to date on the newest techniques. It felt like a chore when I tried to do things for my portfolio, and even though I went to networking events, they were always awkward and painful for me. Some adult had said to me you should always be in a state of learning for your career of choice, and I never understood that until I got into boardgaming.

I didn’t start designing a game with the intention of making it a profession. I didn’t even believe that was something in my power. I did it just to see if I could. Through the encouragement of friends and family, and the many kind gaming extroverts who adopted me and introduced me to their networks, I was able to get this far. Through following my passion and not allowing my internal voice to hold me back, I was able to grow mentally and go further than any bar I had dared to set for myself. My success wasn’t planned, but it was intentional. Find your passion and move intentionally once you do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend were visiting Atlanta, I’d plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday breakfast would be Nana’s Chicken and Waffles in Conyers, and Homegrown Restaurant for a good southern breakfast in Atlanta. Lunch would be some staple chains, Jim N Nicks BBQ on Saturday and Grindhouse Killer Burgers on Sunday. For Saturday dinner I’d take us to Buford Highway to La Pastorcita for some legit eats, then end the night with private karaoke and drinks at Haengbok Karaoke. For Sunday I would take us to Jeju Sauna or Spaland for the best body scrub you’ll ever get, and eat in the foodcourt there. For general walk-around places, I’d recommend downtown Decatur. It’s alot of small shops and places to eat bunched together it’s it’s really nice for an outing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
David Lupo, Jason Stone, Noelle Rose, L.M. Spencer, Hope Smith, Carla Kopp, Cassandra Witiver Tabletop Network New Voices Scholarship, IGDN Metatopia Sponsorship, Our Family Plays Games, My parents and sibs.

Website: www.fertessa.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fertessa/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fertessa