Note: the answers to questions from this interview are from Carrie and Grace from Snowbright Studio and are posted by TTRPGkids with her permission

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You can find out more about the Snowbright Studio projects mentioned below here on their website, via DriveThruRPG, or through other TTRPGkids articles highlighting Snowbright Studio!  You can also find their latest crowdfunding project, Time Tails, here!

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Carrie

Absolutely! I’m Carrie Linden, the Communications Manager at Snowbright Studio. I cut my teeth on video games like BC Quest for Tires and Spy Hunter plus board games like Stratego (I’m aging myself). I made the jump into esports and then tabletop games after spending several years as a middle school teacher in California. I’m in good company at Snowbright – not only are we staffed by some amazing artists and programmers but we do have a very strong background in education with several of us having been educators.

Grace

I’m Grace! I write a lot of our adventures and also manage the day to day work at Snowbright. I’ve taught at a number of levels, from middle school to university, and previously led game development at the Smithsonian Institution and led games and education policy at the US Department of Education. I loved being a “Fed”, but things do move pretty slow there. It’s great to be in such a nimble startup like Snowbright which has had an opportunity to run wild with creativity and new ideas.

When did you start playing TTRPGs?

Carrie

I personally started playing TTRPGs as a teen. My friends played Dungeons and Dragons. I was an avid reader at the time. I had just finished reading a book and wasn’t really ready to leave the vibe it had, so I somehow convinced them to let me build them a one shot set in a very similar sci-fiI world. I even GM’d for them. Since then I’ve been a bit cursed, often getting stuck at “Session Zero”. But Grace insists that not getting past session one or two is in fact part of the TTRPG experience. Grace is probably our most active TTRPG fan so I tend to believe them.

Grace

Same for me really. I had a friend who played D&D 3rd edition after it just came out. I joined him and quickly transitioned into DMing for D&D and then later GMing in Call of Cthulhu. That was all back in middle school and high school. By the time that I got to college I found out what a “Forever GM” is and have been GMing pretty much exclusively since then. Maybe someone will invite me to a game as a player sometime?? The secret to getting past “Session Zero” is running your own adventure, apparently!

What is one of your favorite TTRPG moments?

Carrie

I recently had the chance to hop in on a one shot with a group that was one of the first to play our RPG ink. We were all approaching a Greater Fiend (a big bad boss!) and the GM got really quiet, and then very unsure of what he was “seeing” said “is this really about to happen??”. I was trying so hard not to laugh as I listened to him come to the full realization that he was about to unleash a total party kill. Now this is a key leveling mechanic of the ink RPG, but at that time few people had experienced GMing ink and we didn’t really know how people would react to it. It was very cool being there as he and the rest of the party experienced this surprising turn of events, and to see him beautifully end our session as a “new beginning”. It was really well handled and just a great experience for me as part of the games dev team.

Grace

We had been playing a Numenera campaign for about three years. My players were all max tier by then and basically god-like beings. In a final stroke of luck, they were able to defeat a deity and then make their way through a Zerg-like alien infested spaceship to escape into the wild black yonder of space. As they took off, aliens falling off of their ship below, they started to get the feeling that something was wrong. Their fears were confirmed when I said “…and you sailed off into space, happily ever after. The end.” There was outrage! How could it be over! RPGs don’t end? I explained that after 3 years of play, defeating a god, and max leveling, there wasn’t much more to do! Time for a new campaign. When I tell that story to other players, they’re sometimes surprised to hear it too. A campaign that actually ended! Fulfilling for sure, but cooler still was seeing that the players wanted to keep playing – not for the levels but for the companionship!

Can you tell us a bit about Snowbright Studio?  

Carrie

Snowbright is an LGBTQ+ game studio dedicated to creating heartwarming games that spark imagination and inspire action. We are artists, writers, coders, dreamers, pet parents, hot beverage lovers, and cozy mystery readers who love to bring new worlds to life. 

We are probably best known for the tabletop games that we make, but we are also very active behind the scenes on other games and education related projects. I guess we are kind of like an iceberg, you see what is above the water but deeper down we have a very strong connection to education and a focus on creating positive change for the youth of tomorrow.

Grace

We do a lot of things for sure! Sometimes we’re a little bit surprised at what we get ourselves into!

What is unique about the games that Snowbright Studio makes? 

Carrie

When we started making games we looked around to see what was out there, mainly lots of games that let you fight foes and slay dragons. We decided there needed to be more cozy in tabletop, as well as more safe spaces for queer and disabled folks. So we set out to make cozy games, with wholesome queer representation. Games where someone who is hard of hearing or neurodiverse would be able to see themselves in the characters they meet. 

We also make games meant to spark imagination and learning. Our long background in education shines through in much of our content. Whether it’s social emotional learning in Teatime Adventures or citizen science in Cozy Companion or even computer science and civics in Time Tails (at the time of this article, it is live on Kickstarter here!), our games present learning opportunities as well as grand adventures.

Grace

We really do make games that speak to us. That have meaning for us. That may not always be the best strategy from a marketing standpoint, but there’s an authenticity in our games that’s really unique and special. We hope that inspires others to create worlds that are unique to them, because we could all use something a little different than a rehash of more dragons meandering around in mazes, so to speak.

Can you highlight a game or two from Snowbright Studio?  What makes it special?

Carrie

Our very first Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG) was Teatime Adventures. Teatime is special for us because it was our first real time building out a universe that fans could play in and change. We slowly filled it with all of the things that we wanted to see in the world. Things like wholesome and heartwarming queer stories and nonviolent conflict resolution. We got to pour our hearts and imagination into the world and watch as a charming game took shape. Even more special was watching players’ reactions to Teatime Adventures once it made its way to the public. Seeing people resonate with its cozy vibe, seeing families cook recipes together, and hearing people just so excited to see themselves represented in the NPCs in the game was magical.

We actually ran a follow up campaign for the new edition of Teatime Adventures, which included a whole new way to play where you build sanctuaries for these adorable critters called Tea Pets. We’ve been really excited to see how well that has been doing too.

Grace

I am really proud of what we are doing with Cozy Companion, our cozy games and fiction magazine. I was a huge fan of Dungeon magazine, Dragon magazine, Realms of Fantasy, and all of those other print magazines back in the day. And then the internet came and they kind of died out? But if you see peoples’ faces when they pick up a physical copy of Cozy Companion and see the art in it, see how nice the thick paper feels, flip through and don’t see ad after ad… It brings them a lot of joy. People like to hold nice, whimsical things, and here’s a little drop of wonder sent every other month. It’s been so much fun stuffing those full of adventures and lore and recipes and crafts and science articles and fiction and just all of these things that make them special. It feels like we’re saving a dying art. How many other studios out there still produce full color magazines? I love that Cozy Companion can be something special that people look forward to getting in the mail.

What advice do you have for people who are new to TTRPGs or who are looking to introduce a new player (kids, teens, or adults)?

Carrie

Since I’m TTRPG cursed, I feel like this a great time to tag in Grace who somehow manages to play consistently. Over to you Grace!

Grace

Libraries! Libraries are a great place to meet up with other kids in RPG groups. You may already have a group in your neighborhood that you don’t know about! Librarians make for wicked awesome GMs.

But at home, the best advice is: just start. We live in an age where there is so much content out there for RPGs. Go online and find a one page RPG like John Harper’s Laser and Feelings. It takes 5 minutes to learn and you’re off to the races. Make up your own scenarios. These don’t have to be epic campaigns that take months to plan. Just start imagining together. The stories will come out naturally.

Particularly for your own kids, one piece of advice that I’ve tried to take to heart is that adults tend to overplan for kids. Give kids control, give them the power. Say: we have an hour together and you get to decide what we do. You might start slow, but by the end of that hour you both will be in the thick of things. That can be a great and empowering moment. You can’t necessarily “plan” bonding or special moments with your kids, but you can provide opportunities for it to happen. The more opportunities that you take to sit down, listen, and let them drive (so to speak… don’t put them behind the actual wheel until they’re older!) the more opportunities that you have to connect and understand them better. They’re only kids once, so take the time to be with them.

Thank you Carrie and Grace for sharing your XP!

You can find out more about Snowbright Studio projects here on their website or on DriveThruRPG!  You can also find their latest crowdfunding project, Time Tails, here!

And check out these other TTRPGkids articles about games from Snowbright Studio!
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