About Us

My intro to gaming was early on playing Sonic on Sega Genesis, Pokemon on Gameboy, and eventually Final Fantasy and Grand Theft Auto on Playstation 2. After that, my attention focused on Sports games, some first person shooters, but less story. I just wanted to compete. And then games fell out of my life for a long time, with the occasional Fifa game with a friend. Until one day, but we will get there. Trust me, I will get back to the point. I do this.


I didn’t read too much growing up. I had a 5th grade teacher read me Harry Potter. I loved the Cirque Du Freak series. My mom made sure to bring us to the library. I was always obsessed with Mythology and Atlases. But all through High School, I fought it. I spark noted 1984 and Animal Farm (such a short read). I actually read Life of Pi and really liked that. But nothing scratched the itch to interest me too much in getting lost in a story if it wasn’t on TV or in the movies. 


I didn’t pick a book up in college unless it was a textbook (and I barely did that) until my last semester. I had gotten a Lit credit in High school (ironic) and never had to take a class in college. Except I did need to take Lit 2. So I signed up for a summer class, in a room full of student athletes, just passing the day until they could get outside. With a teacher who was killing time (and making money) for Law School. That combination led to a pretty chill class.


But we had to read. And we had to read a book a week. Because it was short. And I had to pass. And so did all of them. So he worked with us, and made a list of books that he thought would interest us


CS Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism

Rabbit, Run by John Updike (I wasn’t sold and still haven’t gone back and read this one)

Joan Didion, Play it as it Lays (still not sold)

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (and this one did it for me)

Ernest Hemmingway, The Sun Also Rises
Jack Kerouach, On The Road


Since then, I tend to read 20 to 30 books per year. From classics, to SciFi. My favorite authors are Terry Pratchett, Ursula K Le Guain, Hunter S. Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut to name a few. I love the series Hyperion, A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), and Dungeon Crawler Carl. Classics like 100 Years of Solitude, Brave New World, and all of the wacky stuff that came from the Beat generation. At this point, I can’t get enough. I love the escapism of books, the creative boost, the time passing, the great feeling of finishing something. Since I was 23 (12 years ago at this point), books have been my absolute creative outlet, a way to express myself. And I love to get lost in an Audio book, to help keep my busy mind at bay.


I guess I should save this for the “recommendations” section. But this is about me and what brought me to write these games. But I am still connecting dots. 


I don’t like to use the word nerd, but it was easy to use in my generation and I am proud of my “nerd” hobbies. My first step into this was watching X-Men and Justice League cartoons with my brother. We weren’t as close growing up, but as the Marvel movies first came out, we made it a point to go to every one. It became our thing to bond over and helped nurture our relationship and help what it has become today (we game together once every week or 2). As my girlfriend (and now wife) wanted to branch out and make new friends, we started playing board games. And I could start to feel that creative itch coming.


And then I played Pathfinder. I wish I could say I was hooked right away. I was a murder hobo who just wanted to play pretend with my friends and ruin the GMs plans. Not the best gamer, but our group had fun and our GM rolled with the bunches. One day, I decided to learn how I could be better at the game. Probably 5 sessions in, I felt like my Goblin Bard was hitting a wall. And then I listened to the Glass Cannon Podcast. An actual play of Pathfinder. I started to listen mainly to learn the rules better. And that was what hooked me. I added a subclass at level up, got some great items, and thoroughly enjoyed our campaign. 


And since then I have played dozens of games with so many amazing groups. I have listened to thousands of hours of podcasts of people playing pretend. I started running games, home brewing worlds, adjusting systems to fit my needs, and loving every second of the creative process of running a ttrpg for my friends 


 And with ALL of that background, I am here today.


Well actually, I was at a book store in Chattanooga and saw a dozen little pamphlet games, super rules light, super fun. I bought one (Camp Snallygaster, which I highly recommend) and thought, I want to do this. So I spent 10 hours on a road trip, while my toddler was an angel in the back, making a plan for Make Your Own Odyssey. Most likely because we just finished Circe and were actively listening to Stephen Fry’s Odyssey. 


And that brought me here today. Applying this background and sets of strange ideas into a gaming company.


I should also mention I work in the coffee industry (in tech), I have owned a surf and skate shop, and have a background in eCommerce and marketing. SO then when I combined everything together I got this brand. Play Pretend Games. For now, this is somewhere I can pour my creative heart into and, to offer games and fun things to do with your friends. Maybe someday I can merchandise and combine the rest of my passions here.


For now, I leave you with my favorite quote by one of my favorite others.


“If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is”

  • Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.