Our theme for the month of June is “Celebrities and Me.” Writers were asked to select and write about a celebrity with whom they feel some connection.

“Celebrity” is likely a stretch, but here we go. 

There’s no question that, for me, Paul Peterson has celebrity, or perhaps folk-hero, status. Google, however, seems to disagree, as a search of just his name only turns up a funk singer and some old actor. 

But I’m referring to the tabletop game designer, noteworthy in particular for designing a game that has changed my life in significant and unexpected ways. 

I’ve already established my love for games, tabletop games in particular. While playing card and board games has been a lifelong hobby of mine, my interest in tabletop gaming in the more modern sense didn’t really begin until I played my first game of Settlers of Catan in 2010, and even then didn’t really take on its full force until 2018, when I was at my local game shop with my friend Jackson, and I casually picked up the core set of a card game called Smash Up. 

I bought it, and back at Jackson’s place I taught him how to play. He won our first game (Robot/Ninjas defeated Alien/Wizards), and we were both hooked. The next day, we went back to the same game shop, where he bought the core set and an expansion, and I bought a different expansion.

A few years later, all of the game’s expansions I’ve collected barely fit in one box (and it’s a big box). Paul Peterson’s Smash Up has become my most played game, and one I’ve taught to as many friends as I can. The game only takes about three minutes to learn. Players choose a combination of two themed decks of cards, such as Kitty Cats and Mad Scientists or Disco Dancers and Dinosaurs, and smash them together. Players then use their smashed up decks to play minions and actions, which help them vie for control of different bases king-of-the-hill style.

Smash Up has a unique beauty in tabletop gaming. It sits in the perfect middle ground between complex and casual. On one hand, players, like myself, who love strategy games can find great complexity and depth in all the faction interactions and combos; on the other hand, players who just want to goof around and have fun can find delight in the game’s silliness and comical design. Sure, Mythic Greeks/Steampunks is a potent combo, but come on, Bear Cavalry/Penguins? That’s hilarious. 

So the game’s great. But beyond making a great game, what makes Paul Peterson so special? I recently watched an interview with Peterson, in which he discussed his beginnings as a game designer. He shared that for him, it started as just a hobby. He was working for Microsoft when he started playing Magic: The Gathering. Evidently, he would frequent online forums where players would ask questions about Magic’s multitudinous and often confusing rules. He began as an asker of questions, receiving answers from more experienced players, but eventually he became the one responding, resolving question after question posed to the forum. Eventually, his demonstration of knowledge of the game caught the attention of Wizards of the Coast, and they approached him to be a game designer. Several designs down the road, he came up with that one great idea that would go on to become Smash Up, a game that retained the feel of a deck construction game like Magic without the barriers and costs of actually assembling your own deck from scratch. 

A sense of kinship with Paul isn’t so much something I feel, but something I wish for. Since youth, I’ve cradled the desire to create. Dreams of creating music or literature have always felt far off, something for which I would need additional talents and skills I don’t have. But a story about a nerd who loved a game and memorized its rules … that could actually be me. I do that. And somewhere deep that creates an impossible feeling. 

More recently, my love of Smash Up led me to Jim Price, another nerd-turned-designer. I follow his YouTube channel and have been working with him and his team playtesting a new game of his design. While calling myself a game designer would be both arrogant and inaccurate, I can’t help but hold on to the thought that, perhaps someday down the road, I’ll see my own name on a game box that will have changed someone’s life.

Note: I am not affiliated in any way with AEG or Smash Up. I’m a fan who loves the game. I am affiliated with Brigand Games and Erudia: Battle of Birthrights as a playtester, but I don’t gain a commission or any monetary compensation. Most self-published games are passion projects–if you’re looking to make money, you’re probably in the wrong place. 

Alex Westenbroek

Alex Westenbroek (’14) works as a speech language pathologist for WordPlay Speech and Language, a small company serving charter schools, grades K-12, in the Twin Cities metro area. Alex enjoys many things, including collecting and listening to vinyl records and playing board games. He lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.