Sophia Ricciardi on what makes a concept right for Gray Matters Games

Sophia, it’s great to connect. To kick us off, how did you find your way into the world of games? Was it always part of the plan?
Hi Billy! I actually grew up playing all kinds of games with my family – from Wii games to board games, to just a simple deck of cards… They’ve always been a part of my life. I didn’t consider going into graphic design until my senior year of high school, and even then, designing board games as a career never crossed my mind.

That changed in my sophomore year of college when I met Joe from Gray Matters Games and helped him sell games at a convention. For the first time, I realised this could actually be a path for me. I’ve been working with Joe for three years now, and it’s been an absolute blast! I recently reached out to my old college to encourage them to start a class on designing games, since it teaches so many valuable skills. I think it’s important for more students to know that designing board games is a future career option!

Absolutely! And as well as being Head Graphic Designer, part of your roleat Gray Matters Games is engaging with inventors – so why is this community important to the company?
Inventors are essential to Gray Matters Games – they’re the ones bringing us our next big ideas when we’re not developing internally. It’s always exciting to meet people from all over the world who are so passionate about a game concept and eager to see it come to life.

Can you recall your first engagement with the inventor community?
I got my first taste of that energy about three years ago at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair. They host an inventor conference right before the main convention, and it’s basically speed dating for game ideas. Inventors sign up to meet with us, and we rotate every 30 minutes. It’s non-stop, but so much fun!

What do you look for from game inventors? What makes something right for you guys?
At Gray Matters Games, we publish adult and family party games, so that’s exactly what we’re looking for from inventors. More specifically, we want games with strong marketability – a catchy name, a visual hook that would play well on video, or a physical component we haven’t seen before.

We have a sheet on our website for inventors outlining what we are and aren’t looking for. Since we already have two trivia games, two word games, and two minute-to-win-it style games in our line, we’re especially interested in something fresh that fills a gap. If it’s unlike anything we’ve released so far, we want to see it!

Terrific. And what do you feel are some key ingredients to successful inventor/publisher collaborations?
I think the foundation of any good inventor/publisher relationship is mutual respect, especially for each other’s time. That’s why we provide a detailed sheet before our meetings outlining exactly what we’re looking for. It helps inventors get a sense of what might be a good fit for us, so they can focus their energy on games that have a real chance with our line.

I love when inventors take that info and run with it, putting together a curated selection of games they genuinely think could work for Gray Matters. It makes the whole process more efficient and exciting for everyone involved.

Before we start to wrap up, what fuels your creativity? What helps you have ideas?
As cheesy as it may sound, the world fuels my creativity! I’m constantly taking photos of colour combinations, brand designs, interesting shapes in nature or architecture – basically anything that catches my eye. I organise it all on Pinterest into different design boards so I can circle back to it later.

Beyond design, I also feed my creativity through cooking, baking, and all kinds of random crafts. I scrapbook, work with clay, crochet, paint- pretty much anything I can get my hands on. Cooking/baking is my favourite, though. And yes, I’ve got a pretty extensive collection of recipes and food inspiration to match my design boards!

Last question! What do you feel is Gray Matters Games’ most underrated game? We’ll give it some love here!
I’d have to say The Game of Wolf. It was the first game Gray Matters ever gifted me, and interestingly enough, my boyfriend’s family actually owned a copy of it years before I even started working for the company.

It’s such a great game for everyone. Yes, it’s trivia-based, but the magic is in the team dynamic- each round you work together with different teammates to answer each question. So even if trivia isn’t your strong suit, the real fun is getting to know the people you’re playing with and having them help you through it. It turns knowledge into connection!

Great pick. Huge thanks Sophia! Let’s tie-in again soon.

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