Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Manzano. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Jason is a lifetime creative with a decent sense of business who is always finding new ways to express himself (music, film, photography, digital art, storytelling). Justin is a lifetime gamer who understands the processes and logistics it takes to make and produce a game.
Initially, making a card game was just a passion project that gave us an excuse to get together and have a beer. We wanted to try our hand at making something that fit our own off-color sense of humor while giving us a creative outlet in a way that showcased what we saw as the best part of game night; laughing and having fun with your friends.
“One Drunk Night…” is the result of 9 years of fun and challenges. We both love board gaming, but it wasn’t until we started play-testing that we realized how much people could enjoy this. To answer the obvious question: Yes, the “…” is part of the name which references both the game structure and the cliffhanger element of the cards. The Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style of storytelling allows people to tell a story that fits their own humor. Each player can tell the story they desire whether adventurous or bland, innocent or dark, long or short, chaotic or realistic – all depending on how they combine the story elements. We ended up designing a game with a flexible play time that people COULD walk away from after a few minutes of play, but more often they get so wrapped up in the adventure and humor that they end up playing for hours. That was the point we confirmed “One Drunk Night…” could be more than something we just did for fun and for our friends.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our first major challenge was creating over 700 unique cards. Each card represents a story element and must work cohesively in any way the players might choose to put them together. Grammar and punctuation were a nightmare. This part alone took us over 2 years of constant editing and tweaking during our late-night sessions squeezed between careers and families.
Then we had to get the game produced. We had a first failed attempt to crowdfund. The Kickstarter platform wasn’t really something we fully understood; we just went for it. We made a lot of mistakes that we now understand are typical for first-timers, but the knowledge we gained from our mistakes was valuable. We then spent a year trying to sell it to publishers before we ultimately revisited the crowdfunding route and were able to successfully fund and manufacture our game just before the pandemic.
Our next challenge was how to sell a social game during a time when social interactions were highly discouraged. We turned to online sales to move some of our inventory instead of the convention route that we had intended. We eventually did see some success here and are now starting to sell through channels that are more in line with the game such as local breweries.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are Jason and Justin and we are <crowd goes wild> Atomic Children. We started the company officially in 2016, but our first game One Drunk Night… has been in development for over 9 years. We love board game nights. Justin personally owns over 200 games and Jason is working toward that number very quickly. We both attend gaming conventions such as Dragon Con, Board Game Geek, and PAX. I think it is official, we are gamers.
When not gaming Jason freelances in the film industry as a sound mixer for film/television, brews, is a woodworker, a great father, globe trotter, and non-stop extrovert.
Justin works in biotech as a business analyst, is proud to be a huge science fiction and fantasy nerd loves adventuring in whatever form it comes in, and is liable to roll his eyes at you if you don’t get his incessant movie/TV/book quotes.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
About our game: Inspired by the epically over-embellished, socially lubricated stories friends often share, One Drunk Night… is a dark humor story-building game where players crowdsource cards to craft a drunken adventure. The result is unpredictable and frequently crude with potential catastrophic moral repercussions on your psyche.
One Drunk Night… has one released expansion titled N.S.F.S (Not. Safe. For. Society.) and includes cards too dark for the original game. Plus a soon to be released Sci-Fi/Fantasy expansion bringing the world of fandom and geekery to the game while maintaining a dark twist on the theme.
Pricing:
- Game $35
- N.S.F.S. expansion $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.OneDrunkNight.com
- Instagram: @onedrunknight
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/OneDrunkNight
- Other: tiktok @onedrunknightgame
