Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Peter Schultz, owner of Cobblestone Games, via email between February 1st and February 6th, 2024. Some questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
Briefly describe your faith journey.
My faith journey started at an early age without a lot of fanfare. I grew up in a Christian home, was raised learning about God and Jesus, reading the Bible, and praying, and accepted Jesus as my savior around the age of four. Obviously, at that time my faith was childlike, but grew over time. I recommitted myself to the Lord as a teenager. However, like many people I drifted some during my college years, never truly doubting, but not on fire either.
In my early 20’s I was hanging out one night with one of my best friends who was in a similar state, drifting a bit further than I, and the topic of conversation turned to God and if He is there. As my friend voiced his doubts, the front door to my apartment suddenly swung open. Now, I lived ghetto-adjacent at the time and religiously locked my door, so this startled us. We checked out front and neither the landlord nor anybody else was visible. There was not even a touch of a breeze either.
While I was sure I had locked the door (deadbolt and all), we assumed I must have forgotten. We closed, locked, and bolted the door. As we turned and started to head back to the couch, the door opened again. This time God left no room for doubt, and it helped to reinvigorate my work for the kingdom.
Interesting! God sends us a variety of signs to lead us back to faith in him.
Things continued over the next decade, as I met my future wife, helped to bring her to Christ, and later got married and had two beautiful girls. Then, my wife was tragically taken from us at too young of an age. I’ve seen it go both ways. Following great loss, I leaned into the Lord, and he rewarded me with comfort.
Later, he further rewarded me by leading me to my current wife, who was not only a strong Christian herself, but even chose to legally adopt my girls. As they say, God is good.
That is quite a powerful story. And so sorry to hear about the loss of your first wife, but I’m glad to hear how God has comforted you with your new wife. How did you get into board gaming?
I got into board games in the late 90’s, after the earliest waves of euro games, but while the top games were still all coming from European designers. Growing up I enjoyed all manner of games, be it traditional board games, card games, RPGs, or miniature gaming. Over the years traditional board games had dropped off as they became stale. I stumbled across BGG one day and my eyes were opened to a whole new world of possibilities. My wife and I enjoyed several games that played well at 2 players (even a couple cooperative ones). As my daughters have grown, we’ve introduced them both to games as well. We hold a weekly game night every Friday, with a rotating game pick.
My wife and I also enjoy playing board games (especially cooperative ones like Pandemic). Why did you create The Acts?
As any Christian board game enthusiast knows, there is a dearth of good Christian game titles available. When I started working on The Acts, nearly all Christian games on the market were either trivia related or a Christian theme thinly pasted onto an existing game. I had just finished my first board game, Builders of Blankenburg, and wanted to create a Christian game, even though I wasn’t sure there was a market for it.
As a Christian in the digital age, I felt board games were a great way to encourage community and fellowship. These are two things often lacking in life (and the church) today. For The Acts, I wanted to create a game that was mechanically solid and enjoyable to play, so Christians could subtly introduce non-believing gamer friends to the gospel through it.
Likewise, I wanted it true to the Bible and authentic, so gamers could introduce Christians to the beauty of board gaming. It was originally going to be called The Great Commission, but as we were wrapping up playtesting, Commissioned came out on Kickstarter. I decided to change the name even though the two games are completely different.
I think it’s great you found a balance between the theme (making it faithful to the Bible) and game mechanics. Both are important aspects to any good board game. Describe your creation process.
With each game I design, the creation process is a bit different. With The Acts, I felt called to build a game tied to the growth of the early church. As a Biblical game, I felt accuracy to the Bible and a thematic connection to gameplay were of utmost importance. As in real life, all the disciples in the game begin in Judea, but you must spread to the ends of the earth to truly succeed in adding believers. To encourage spreading out, there are richer returns as you get farther from Judea. This mirrors reality in that the farther the disciples moved from Jesus’ ministry grounds, the more unreached people were encountered.
The game also features diminishing returns as you preach in the same region. Again, this makes sense, since preaching the message over and over in the same place has a lessening impact. Some people have already believed and others have hardened their hearts.
On the flipside, the impact of prayer in the game increases over time as there is a larger gathering of the Saints. I also made sure to pull all the miracles directly from the pages of The Acts, utilize appropriate scripture passages on the cards, and ensure the spiritual gifts were balanced and aligned well with their in-game abilities.
On a more practical note, play testing is a family affair for the first few dozen iterations. I always try to focus on gameplay in my designs. Your playtesting involves a barebones mock-up with almost non-existent art. This way if the game is enjoyable while lacking aesthetic value, I know it’ll be great once everything comes together at the end.
I love how you include Bible verses on the cards and it’s neat how the game itself begins in Judea. How do you get inspired (in creating your board games)?
The inspiration for my games beyond The Acts has all come from the pages of history. Builders of Blankenburg takes place in medieval Germany (what was the Holy Roman Empire at the time). Flight of Icarus is based on the famous Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus. Quatermain is taken from King Solomon’s Mines and the other adventure tales by H. Rider Haggard during the turn of the century. I’m a big fan of history, especially ancient history, and feel there are near limitless stories to be told through board games.
Other ideas I have planned include a game about the Viking invasions of England, succession in Rome following the death of the emperor, and an archaeological dig (a more modern theme literally about digging up history).
History certainly gives us many examples of great stories to tell (and play out) in board games. What are your top five favorite board games to play.
In no particular order: With a larger group, I still love 7 Wonders – I received Encyclopedia for Christmas and enjoy its interesting scoring mechanisms – Through the Ages remains an all-time favorite for a game weekend (instead of game night) – Our family always enjoys Serenissima as a good mix of player interaction – For classic worker placement, Agricola or Settlers so many different strategies to employ.
I’ve heard good things about Agricola and Settlers of Catan is one of my favorites. How do you think board gaming can have a positive impact on today’s society?
I mentioned a bit earlier about the beauty of board games and how they promote community and fellowship. The importance of that cannot be overstated. When you sit down at a table with others to play a game, you’re generally eating, drinking, chatting, and sharing in each other’s lives as you play. I feel fellowship is lacking in the church today, but even in broader society interacting in person is becoming a lost art, especially among the younger generations.
In addition to the sense of community, board games are also very educational. People today are more frequently taught what to think and have forgotten how to think. Board games encourage critical thinking, observational skills, practical application of probability and cost-benefit analysis, and more depending on the specifics of the game.
Agreed! Board games are a great way to develop friendships and form community. It was awesome to learn about your work and faith journey Peter. Where can my audience find your work?
All my games can be found at my website, CobblestoneGames.net, as well as through distribution, including a few brick-and-mortar game stores and online ventures. My latest project, Letters from Rome, is exclusively available through Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cobblestonegames/the-acts-letters-from-rome-christian-strategy-board-game?ref=dxwd4y The Kickstarter campaign runs through February 15th. At present, several exclusive bonuses have been unlocked, including custom metal coins for all Kickstarter backers.
About Peter
Peter Schultz is the owner of Cobblestone Games. He is a Christian, husband, father, and longtime avid gamer, whether with board, card, miniatures or RPG. Modern publishing options have finally made sharing some of his creative game ideas a possibility. His designs are always rooted in strategy, but allow for some level of luck to ensure they’re enjoyable for casual gamers as well. When not designing games, Peter holds down a day job in the financial services industry. Being a numbers guy, gaming and its basis in probability became a favored hobby of his. Peter loves playing games with his family (they have a weekly game night), and his children provide an extra insight into what makes games enjoyable for a younger audience. He has created four base games, multiple expansions, and two decks of custom playing cards. A student of history and voracious reader, many of his games are set in past time periods and feature famous tales from long ago. Though gameplay is his primary pursuit, a heavy focus on theme leads to immersive games that the entire family can enjoy.
