Lauren Woolsey:     00:09          Hello and welcome back to Playability, where we hold conversations at the crossroads of gameplay and accessibility. I'm your host. Lauren Woolsey. And I'm here today with Omari Akil, one of the designers of Rap Godz.

Omari Akil:         00:21          Hey, how's it going?

Lauren Woolsey:     00:23          It's going great. So tell me a little bit about this game's backstory.

Omari Akil:         00:27          So it's an interesting backstory. Basically it is kind of the random creation of a game. During one of my brother's visits to North Carolina, we had no intentions of creating a game or anything like that. I was just really into games and because I was really into them, I just made them play a bunch of games with me. And while we were doing that, he started telling me about this idea he had a long time ago for a hip hop board game. And I was like, oh, tell me more. [Lauren: laughs] Yeah, that and that conversation. It just kind of spiraled into a weekend of like for neither of us having designed a game, it was kind of a crash course for both of us in what game design actually could look and feel like and we just jumped into it all in and he, he immediately when he got back to New Orleans made a prototype like right now just based off some of the conversations we had and, and that was the beginning of Rap Godz and it was like, oh well I guess we came this far. I guess we got to keep going.

Lauren Woolsey:     01:37          I guess you gotta, yeah. So talk me through since the two of you are separated by quite a long distance, talk me through the play testing process that you had.

Omari Akil:         01:49          Yeah, I mean it was interesting and I think for that first round we were just trying to figure it out. It was like, well I guess we're just going to make two identical prototypes and both with our respective like friends and family and then see what happens. And we would, you know, kind of talk about what our experiences were with people. It was a little easier for me having had a community of Gamers, it was a little harder for him, but I think it still worked out well. He was able to get some tests and I would get some tests in. We would talk, we would make changes and you know, I would create a document and then put it on our Google drive and be like, all right, print that out and use that instead. It was just a lot of that back and forth. But technology is so cool now. Like it's way easier than you might expect.

Lauren Woolsey:     02:44          Yeah, it sounds like it. [Omari: Yeah.] All right. So for Rap Godz, what are the primary goals of the players?

Omari Akil:         02:52          Well, the primary goal of the players to earn most points via record sales plaques. That's kind of our victory token in the game. And so a lot of activities throughout the course of the game are going to give you records plaques. Every time you play a card, which is an event in your career or your life, that's going to get you a couple plaques. And then there's also some like goals and objectives that you have as a player, like personal goals and then there's some public goals. So you're just trying to meet and achieve all those things. And ultimately all of those things are going to give you plaques.

Lauren Woolsey:     03:31          Awesome. What would you say is the primary mechanism or mechanics that stand out in this game?

Omari Akil:         03:38          Oh, it's um, it's actually interesting. I think one of the things that we focused on when we were trying to create this game was kind of what we feel like with the core of hip hop, which is storytelling. That's not an easy thing to put in board games typically. Um, I think that's a conversation I've had a lot with people about how to get more narrative into games, more interesting narrative. And we were really trying to do that. And so we created what has been called kind of a tableau builder mechanic where you're playing cards, but the cards, you've laid them out in front of you a timeline. So at the end you can see kind of a story of your life and of your career.

Lauren Woolsey:     04:21          Oh yeah, very cool.

Omari Akil:         04:22          Yeah, I think that's, that was a really different approach to sort of this tableau building mechanic that they, you see in a lot of games. Um, and if it feels good when you get to the end and one of the sort of, I say optional, my brother says is not optional. At the end of the game, whoever wins has to tell their story. And so you basically just reading out the cards in the order that you played them. But because we use tiered the decks of cards that you're playing from, it really, it starts out in the beginning, it's very low key, no kind of up and coming artists. And then by the end you're doing much more extravagant things in your life, in your career. So when you read it all, it actually sounds like a cool little little hip hop story.

Lauren Woolsey:     05:08          Yeah, and it really like builds on itself. That's awesome. [Omari: Yeah.] Now we should go ahead and turn to our question that we ask all of our guests, which is what does accessibility and inclusion mean to you?

Omari Akil:         05:21          That's a great question and I think it means a couple of different things in a few different contexts, but in terms of playing games, I think for me it means removing as many obstacles as possible for as many people as possible so that they can both be able to play but also have fun and enjoy whatever game that you're talking about. Man, that can take a lot of different forms from, do you know anyone who has any physical impairments and limitations? Trying to overcome that if you can when designing a game to visual or auditory. I think all of those things can produce and create obstacles and game design. And so just thinking about those things and where you can try to make accommodations and make your game more accessible.

Lauren Woolsey:     06:13          Mm-hmm. Were there specific decisions that you made in the game design process with accessibility in mind?

Omari Akil:         06:20          Um, we absolutely tried to address any visual components that we could, we dealt with just instead of only depending on colors. For a lot of art game mechanics, we tried to include symbols as well for anyone. We have difficulty with certain colors. We definitely tried to get the text sizes so that they were legible for all the symbols and numbers because the numbers are kind of important in terms of how everything works. So yeah, I think those were the main ways we were trying to address that. Yeah. We do have a few little kind of fiddily bits when it comes to just moving things around that resource track. I wish we could have gotten those things like a little bit larger, but it would expand the game probably outside of what we could do with the fun.

Lauren Woolsey:     07:14          Yeah, you certainly do what you can and hope for the best. I remember seeing this game when it was first starting to launch and the artwork was so striking to me because it was so interesting. What pushed your art design choices?

Omari Akil:         07:30          Well my brother, he is the lead artist and art director for our company and I kind of leave as much as I can up to him in terms of how things are going to look. We had a conversation initially and what I, when I kind of described, I was like, well if we're gonna call it Rap Godz, the art needs to be kind of larger than life. And that was, that was really my only description for what I want it to look like. And I think for him he chose a style that he was most comfortable with. His art has always been kind of this very raw looking cartoon illustration. And I was like cool. And I think because he was so comfortable kind of with that style specifically, he could really go all out and create designs that really kind of reflected that like larger than life, this rap god feel. And I think he did such a good job every time I look at it.

Omari Akil:         08:30          You know, some of the art in the beginning where we were like trying to figure out what things look like and then just to watch that progression and see how everything kind of came together. The last few months even, we had to refine a lot and change a lot. Just cause you - when you're working on a game for two years, you have an idea and I think he did such a great job of creating like what the core of our art was [Lauren: mm-hmm] right. Every time we would do something new, I think she, in his mind it would also, the art would evolve a little bit. So at the end we had some art in the beginning that looked very different. So we ended up really bringing the quality of all the art up in the last, uh, I would say six months or so, after Kickstarter even. So, um, we're, we're all done with that now. Thankfully. Things are over a manufacturer and we're so happy to be finally feel like we're done.

Lauren Woolsey:     09:32          That's definitely a good feeling. [Omari: Yeah.] Now taking into consideration the games, the mechanics and everything, who would you say is the target audience?

Omari Akil:         09:42          Well, for us, we know very specifically we have two different target audiences and I think the one of them is my community - and so I've been in the board gaming world now for five years and I spent, you know three days a week getting some time playing and games and that community, I think that is our target audience in that they are always looking for games that are new and different and hitting different themes and providing different experiences. And I think this game absolutely does that. And then my brother's community, which is, you know, being kind of a local New Orleanean, it's a very diverse community, but I don't know that the board games with all the other things that are available in that town board games have not really taken off. And I think for him he wants to introduce board games, using Rap Godz too. There's a huge hip hop community in New Orleans, that huge black community. And I think for him that that's important and we want to be able to bringing this game to the local record shops and the barber shops and be like, hey, this is something new and different. It's not the board games like you're used to should definitely try this out. And that's what he's really excited about. So I know for both of us where we feel like it is a good fit in both places and that's our approach to it, what it's going to be.

Lauren Woolsey:     11:14          Yeah, that's fabulous. What do you think makes the game most memorable for players? You mentioned the telling the story at the end and that does seem like it would be very memorable afterwards, but what else do you think it really sticks with the players after they leave the game?

Omari Akil:         11:29          I think especially for people who are playing the game for the first time, a lot of people come away or and have a similar comment and just that it's like, oh wow, you guys really got a lot of what hip hop is into a board game. And I think just that idea at first glance, people wouldn't necessarily know what to expect and how we could have gotten some of the culture and some of the concepts and ideas into a game. And I think it's just very surprising to people that we were able to get as much as we could into it. And Yeah, from a local Durham artist, his comment was like, oh wow. Like I, I came away from this game feeling like, like I AM an artist and now I feel like, oh yeah, I could do this. Like this feels real. And you know, in a lot of ways. And so that was that kind of feedback and just people saying, yeah, you really captured something here, yeah, is really cool.

Lauren Woolsey:     12:32          Yeah, that's, that's a great feeling. Especially when there's so many games out there that the themes feel almost interchangeable or disconnected. The fact that players leave with such a rich experience is really awesome.

Omari Akil:         12:45          Yeah. And we are like very much just very theme focused in our game design. So I feel like all of our games are gonna be almost as dependent on theme to be successful.

Lauren Woolsey:     12:57          Yeah, perfect. I was just about to ask what other games are you working on right now?

Omari Akil:         13:02          So hoo, that's a big question. There's one I guess that's almost done and like ready for us to start putting out there more publicly is called Graffiti Knights. And that game is really interesting because it's a two to five player, like 15-20 minute game. Um, and you're controlling graffiti crews and sending them out at night to take over spots. And there's sometimes police interference. It's just, it's a really, really small quick game. Um, but I think it, it has some really interesting elements. Uh, and I think it fits the theme, well too.

Lauren Woolsey:     13:48          Perfect. Now, for our listeners interested in getting a copy of Rap Godz, which you said is pretty much finished and ready to go, where can they find that?

Omari Akil:         13:58          So right now it isn't readily available. So as soon as we are, we're going to be gearing up to deliver it to our Kickstarter backers and that's going to happen near the end of August. And anyone who is interested, should we go to our Instagram, Twitter, we have links to go and sign up for our newsletter and then they'll know exactly what that is cause we're going to be doing another round of orders and we're going to be letting people order again near the end of August. So yeah, if you're interested, BGBrothas is our tag for Instagram and Twitter and uh, you'll find us at Board Game Brothas on Facebook, too. And you can get to the newsletter sign up from all of those places.

Lauren Woolsey:     14:43          Perfect. We'll make sure we have links in the description of the episode. And then if our listeners are interested in trying out Graffiti Knights, what game conventions are you planning to attend in the next couple of months?

Omari Akil:         14:56          Yeah, so we have quite a few actually. The next one is going to be Gen Con. So we'll be at Gen Con and we'll be in the Double Exposure Playtest Hall with Graffiti Knights. I don't have the time slots yet, but hopefully I'll have those available and we'll send that stuff out in our newsletter and be posting it on social media too. But we will be there. And then we'll also be at PAX Unplugged and I'm hoping by the time PAX Unplugged rolls around you can play Graffiti Knights but also buy Rap Godz, too.

Lauren Woolsey:     15:25          That'd be perfect. And then mentioned the social media for your company. Are there any other ways that people can reach you that you want to share with us?

Omari Akil:         15:36          No, that's primarily it. There is the Instagram for Rap Godz, but me and my brother joke that that's kind of a, are just like historical, like we just want to be able to look back at that and just watch everything that happened. And Board Game Brothas, it's really where we're doing all of our outreach and really talking about everything.

Lauren Woolsey:     15:55          Cool. Yeah, the Rap Godz Instagram I bet would be a really cool look back in time, so...

Omari Akil:         15:59          Yeah, yeah. I can't wait for like 10 years from now we're just like remember that thing we made.

Lauren Woolsey:     16:07          [Laughs] Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on today. This was a fabulous conversation.

Omari Akil:         16:12          Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it.

Lauren Woolsey:     16:15          Awesome. Have a great one.

Omari Akil:         16:17          You too! Bye.

Lauren Woolsey:     16:18          For more information about the topics that we discussed in this episode and the links that we just mentioned, we'll have those in the about this episode section on our website at playabilitypod.com and if our listeners have any questions or comments that you'd like to share with us, please email us playabilitypod gmail.com and find us on major social media platforms as @playabilitypod. Thanks again for listening, play with a new perspective.