I clicked link to a video…
From 2007 and Neuroshima Hex to 2025 and Age of Galaxy, at Portal Games, we’ve always been science fiction nerds, and our catalog has made that pretty obvious over the years.
So when I got an email about a game where you play a bohemian artist in Paris in the 19th century… I wasn’t exactly thrilled.
I was about to write my standard reply — the one I use when replying to designers who pitch me games for kids, families, abstract puzzles, and all those other projects that are just blasted to every publisher under the sun.
Then I noticed a link to a video in the email.
I clicked it.
And that changed everything.
The video showed the designer presenting his game. And it was different.
He was not telling me, “This is a deckbuilder with a unique twist on resource management.”
He wasn’t talking about “an innovative scoring system” or explaining that “it uses an open draft market mechanism for purchasing cards.”
He didn’t use any of the phrases designers always drop into a pitch.
He did the exact opposite.
He just played a round, narrating what was happening. He told me that in each round player would play four cards — one for morning, afternoon, evening, and night. It represents what the character was doing throughout the day. One of those cards, he explained, should be a “job” card, because I’d need to go to work. But if I didn’t feel like working that day, I could skip it and just draw a Hardship card instead — wonderfully awesome things like Hunger, Poverty, or Anxiety.
He then showed how you gain inspiration by matching icons on the cards – it represents the right mood and flow. You spend Inspiration to learn something new as an artist — he pointed to the market of cards. “Look, I met a new mentor,” he said, adding a card from the market to his discard pile.
Still no “deckbuilding” jargon. No discussion on mechanics whatsoever. Just a day in the life of an artist.
This guy was good. Damn good.
He hit Ignacy “Board Games That Tell Stories” Trzewiczek right between the eyes with a tale about a struggling dreamer in 19th-century Paris — a story I would have sworn for my kid’s life I had zero interest in.
And believe me, he picked my interest.
Man, he was good.
***
I met Jasper at Essen Spiel 2024. We played a round of Bohemians, and he left the prototype with me to test back in Poland. I played it with my testing group. Then I played it with Greg, our CEO. I played it again. And again. And every time — it was just freaking good. Two weeks later, we signed the contract.
***
From 2007 and Neuroshima Hex to 2025 and Bohemians, here at Portal, we’ve always been Board Games That Tell Stories people — our catalog has made that pretty obvious over the years.
When you first heard about this game — life of a bohemian artist in Paris — you weren’t exactly thrilled.
But you will.
Because damn… It’s good.
I strongly believe that good board game is the one that tells a good story. You play it and suddenly you are sucked into it, you feel chills on the skin. Emotions grow. In a moment you defend castle. You hear roar of warriors. You smell boiling oil. You are into it.
That's how I design my games. I always want to tell a good story. I want players to be into it. As deep as possible.
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