Hi, Chris! Tell us a little about Tempest Workshop and your role there.

My name is Chris Rowlands and I am the Studio Director for Tempest Workshop, a new board game design and development studio startup that I co-founded along with some of my the folks I worked with while at Forrest-Pruzan Creative, Prospero Hall, and Funko Games. My co-founders are Korby Sears and Isaias Vallejo, and we’re also collaborating on some projects with our former colleagues Tyler Hill, David Iezzi, Josh Manderville, Thomas Ramey, Estefania Rodriguez, Daniel Stoltlenberg, Stephanie Straw, and Ernest Ziegenfelder. We have experience working together to bring over 250 titles to market — including some of the most critically-acclaimed licensed signature games of all time. We started Tempest Workshop because we believe in the power to positively change lives through human connection and play.

Do you have a mantra that you live by?

I don’t know if I have a mantra per se, but my two core personal values are empathy and optimism. So far they’ve served me well. Especially in this industry, cultivating and practicing empathy goes a long way in providing us the skills and tools to make the best possible products we can!

Why and how did you get into the Toy and Game industry?

I’ve been around games from a very young age, and it all started with my discovery of Dungeons & Dragons in elementary school during the early 90s. That led me to local game stores and this entire world and community of people that I was able to meet. Some of my dearest friends to this day were met around gaming tables. Because of this, I’ve seen first hand the impact that games can have on the lives of people. Face-to-face interaction, especially at a time when social media is trying incredibly hard to command our intention, is something that I personally believe is vastly important to celebrate. Games can save lives, and I wanted as many people as possible to have a chance to experience that for themselves.

When I decided that it was something I wanted to do, it was a bit of a grind. I started a podcast and a YouTube channel where we made content about games and game design, and was working my normal job doing marketing and branding for one of the premiere game stores in the US. From there, I had a chance to interview and take on a role as a contractor at the legendary inventor studio Forrest-Pruzan Creative. In truth, it was my content that acted as sort of a “resume” which gave them the confidence to extend me an offer. Eventually I worked my way to becoming the Game Development Team Lead after our studio had been acquired by Funko, and I oversaw the day-to-day game development there until my departure when the studio assets were purchased by Goliath.

What are you working on now?

Tempest Workshop is the new studio I co-founded alongside former Forrest-Pruzan Creative and Funko Games alumni Korby Sears and Isaias Vallejo. We’re a startup, so right now the big focus is on getting things up and running, letting folks that we’ve worked with in the past know that some of the team they're familiar with is back together, and meeting new people that have audacious ideas and are looking for design and development help. It’s a lot of meetings, and it’s all good stuff…please keep reaching out to us if you believe that games can change the world! But I must admit that I am looking forward to rolling up  my sleeves again and getting back to doing the thing I love the most – which is making games alongside this incredibly talented team.

What was your favorite project to date?

It’s really difficult to choose a favorite project, because my favorite aspect of my career thus far has been working collaboratively with the other people in the studio. We had a very unusual method of invention and designing that really emphasized everyone being a part of every project. If I had to choose from design projects I led, I think Funkoverse is something I am incredibly proud of. Growing up as a kid who loved miniatures games and finally getting the chance to make one for a new audience was really amazing. More So than the product itself however, it just signified a very special time in my life and career.  So special in fact that I have a component from the game tattooed on my arm!

What trends do you see in toys or games that excite or worry you?

Like many creatives, I am both excited and worried about the emergence of generative AI in day-to-day creation. Excited that it provides folks with new tools to achieve the things they had only been able to imagine in the past, but worried that we’re giving up the human touches that make the things we create magical. When somebody plays with a toy, or sits down at a table to play a game, the experience they have was created by a human – potentially thousands of miles away or decades apart – but human nonetheless. That is something that all art does. It allows us to exist in a shared humanity and I’m nervous that folks are too quick to reduce art to the shallowness of a commodity rather than celebrate it for how wonderful it is that somebody, somewhere, CREATED the thing you’re experiencing. A human being did that.

What advice do you have for people starting in the industry?

I adopted a saying while I was with Forrest-Pruzan that was my take on the phrase “fake it till you make it.” Except mine is “make it till you make it.” You just have to start somewhere, with something. Keep making things. Make things to figure out what your good ideas are and perhaps more importantly what your bad ideas are. Never stop making things and everything else comes from that.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

At the moment the most rewarding part of my job is taking care of my team the best way I can. I’m honored to have been a catalyst for this new endeavor, but it comes with a lot of responsibility as well. Giving people a chance to do what they love, with people they love –  that’s rewarding to me.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had and what did you learn from it?

It’s maybe not a fair answer because I haven’t had any really bad jobs, but I was a restaurant server and a bartender when I was younger. I learned that there is no such thing as unskilled labor. That when you care about something, and especially care about doing something well, it’s hard work. Everybody is doing their best and deserves credit for giving their best.

Where do you come up with your best ideas and how do you jumpstart your creativity when you find yourself stalled?

I try and experience life. In the field of game design, there is a lot of value placed on expertise and experience as a game designer, and while I think that is an aspect of the toolbox, I also believe being a well-rounded person is vastly underrated. In my eyes, what made our studio to be able to be so prolific and engaging was that we all came from different backgrounds. Musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, engineers, etc. Get outside, go to a restaurant, play a video game, listen to an album, text a friend, go on a road trip, walk a farmer’s market, learn to skateboard. Anything. Be human.

There’s a great book by David Epstein called Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World and it goes a lot into why people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives are able to look at challenges and problems from different lenses. So for me, I just try my best to have range in my life as well.

What was the last thing that made you laugh or cry?

The people that know me know I’m a big laugher and cryer. I do both quite often. Most recently I cried because I was really proud of a friend and wanted them to know that I was really proud of them. I most recently laughed because I turned on the lights when I went into a room and that same friend startled me. I literally fell to the floor because I was laughing so hard. Emotions are good, I do both often.

I’m lucky that….

I have friends and family that believe in me, and always have. I’m lucky to be surrounded by love. Lucky to have nieces and nephews, sisters, and parents that always supported me. Lucky to have friends that I can turn to when I’m not doing well or not living up to my values. Lucky to have people that will help me be the person I hope to be. Lucky to have a team at Tempest Workshop that loves and cares about one another. Lucky to have a chance to answer these questions! We’re all here on this earth for such a fleeting time, and I’m lucky to be able to use some of my time to put a smile on some other people’s faces.