Josh Cappel: A Man of Many Hats

The name Josh Cappel is synonymous with variety. If you have a shelf of board games, it's likely that at least one of them has been touched by Cappel

- Justin Spicer

He is a designer, artist, and publisher - and despite these many hats, Cappel finds the time to keep family close to mind as evident with his latest design, Diced Veggies.

We caught up with Cappel in the midst of a busy storm. Not only was Diced Veggies on the horizon, but the crowdfunding launch of Endeavor: Deep Sea, a collaboration between his Burnt Island publishing imprint and Grand Gamers Guild, was well underway.

The Genesis of Design

"I think I started designing games before I really thought of myself as a board gamer," begins Cappel. "Playing games just makes me want to make games. I fill up with ideas whenever I play something new. How could this be better? What if you could do this, too?"

As with any gamer turned designer, the influence of that first imprinting experience is the rabbit hole moment to delve deeper and go further. "My first game obsession was Avalon Hill classic Axis & Allies. A friend and I revamped the rules, created dozens of new unit types, chopped the board up to quadruple the zones, and built a massive 4-by-8-foot prototype. It took us months of several-hour sessions to play one game. It was glorious."

Cappel's journey began as a hobby, but his first jobs in the industry were as an artist. "It definitely helped me get my foot in the door. I had a few art credits under my belt with Z-Man Games, and one day I got up the courage to write Zev (Shlasinger, former head of Z-Man) and say 'Hey, I have this game you're going to want to publish.' So, Zev gave me my break both as a game artist, and as a game designer. I basically owe the guy my whole career; don't tell him I said that."

Of course, even as Cappel started designing, he encountered the same feelings of doubt many do when striking out on their own.