User:Kezzle/sandbox

Bez Shahriari is a Scottish board game designer and mental health advocate.

She has designed over 50 games, most of which are self published under her brand Stuff by Bez. Her most commercially successful game is In a Bind, which was picked up by Gigamic who rebranded it as Yogi which has been published in over 20 languages.

A mental health advocate, Shahriari has written extensively about her own experiences and used her platform to speak out about the importance of mental health awareness and support.

Bez is a courageous and compassionate person who uses her platform to make the world a better, more inclusive place.

https://www.twitch.tv/stuffbybez

https://www.youtube.com/@StuffByBez

Wibbell++ / ELL deck
Wibbell++ later renamed "ELL deck" is a multi-game game system consisting of a deck of 48 cards.

Launched on Kickstarter in 2018 Wibbell++ was released as a games system with 6 games but continues to grow. It was renamed the ELL deck in 2021 and has a facebook group which hosts annual game design and typography contests. From the annual along with Bez's own contributions as of Nov 2023 there are downloadable rules for 31 approved games.

Stuff by Bez
Bez has self published the following games under her Stuff by Bez brand:


 * #DrawnTogetherGame (2023) - current Kickstarter campaign
 * A game about auctioning cubes after winning an auction to become the auctioneer (2023)
 * A game about counting cats' shapes and colours, that keeps getting trickier. (2022)
 * A game about Cute Comical Creatures and trying to identify them after someone makes noises. (2022)
 * A game about deciding which cards to use before the game, technically known as 'deck construction', designed basically just for one event. (2023)
 * A game about drawing creatures, complimenting the drawings, then complimenting the compliments. (2022)
 * A game about making wordy connections. (2023)
 * A game about quickly grabbing cards and judging them against three descriptions. (2022)
 * A game about quickly grabbing creatures that are totally different and counting your RADISHES! (2022)
 * A game about quickly grabbing creatures that are totally different, and watching out for turnips. (2022)
 * A game about quickly matching words to pictures but never words to words or pictures to pictures. (2022)
 * A game about selecting seven cards, speedily searching for synergies. (2022)
 * A game about seriously surreal creatures and trying to identify them after someone makes noises. (2023)
 * A game about setting scenarios that people would do for different lengths of time. (2022)
 * A game about stuffing balloons as a team, without talking. But it's a card game - there are no actual balloons. (2022)
 * A Game About Writing Words, Aiming to Match Other Folk Exactly 3 Times. (2022)
 * A game, wherein you blether (a Scottish word meaning to talk at length at a fast rate; ranting, hypothesising, narrating or speaking in some other manner, without necessarily making very much sense) just for a single minute; mainly designed by [truncated] Full name: A game, wherein you blether (a Scottish word meaning to talk at length, at a fast rate, without necessarily making very much sense); using as many word cards as possible as you spout a stream-of-consciousness, trying to finish before the time runs out; keeping those cards you used and discarding those you did not; with 5 cards being apportioned between 2 bletherers each turn to denote their relative merit; more cards being collected and making the game increasingly difficult for everyone involved as the blethers get more and more furious and the game culminates in a final blether-off wherein the 2 players with the most cards blether and everyone else distributes their entire deck amongst the finalists; mainly designed by Bez (Behrooz Bahman Shahriari) and originally inspired by a short list of long tabletop game names (with an associated competition to find the longest game name), which Bez wilfully misinterpreted as a challenge to create that game with the longest name (although it would be some time before a suitable game would be invented); first conceived, imagined and discussed with the lovely JP Treen in summer 2015 after a sweaty day out in the steamy park, as we realised that simply using plenty of words might make sense of a ridiculously-long title; mocked up and tried with Robin Harris, founder of Playtest UK, and Mike Ibeji (who both said it could be a hit); talked about with others I respect such as Ben Neumann (whom I usually call 'American Ben' due to his nationality); briefly shown to Andy Hopwood, along with Heather Ramsden (when each card still only had one word) during a party in Birmingham that was celebrating the launch of my first published game - In A Bind (now better known as Yogi); had its name influenced by Dan (during a testing session with Daniel Barker, Gwen Mott and Leo Marshall) when Dan declared that the 'blethering' should be pointed out as a key factor; commented upon by the smart, intelligent, analytical David Brain (who hates this sort of game but is still willing to play and critique them), Paul Mansfield and various others (at various occasions in the Royal Festival Hall during the regular daytime playtests that we organise); enjoyed by friends Gokce Balkan (with whom I now live), Tus Pham (with whom I found an intense bond, before she wanted to leave my life, an event I still don't understand) and Gerald Mousset (whom I miss and should get back in touch with) by a tree on a sunny day (and the idea of dedicated topic cards to guide the blethers was born) before we improvised music with each other; mutated into having individual decks for each player for simplicity of book-keeping – a difficult decision given that it would massively increase the production cost; was shared with wonderful friends Kieran Symington and Jennifer Witt (who turned out to be a natural bletherer) at their new home; was stuck to as part of a 'business plan' wherein Bez decided that there should be a new game every year and that this would be the game to Kickstart in 2017 (although the plans for its actual release would later change); tested by peers Hugh 'ban the papal parrots' Simpson, Konrad Borowiecki, Vicki Dalton and Ian Vincent (who presented a great idea for the finale – allowing everyone to distribute their entire deck after a final blether off, turning it into a communal voting system and making the victor the “people's champion”) at Alan and Charlie Paull's designer day; shown to Andrew Harman, Andy Yiangou and Dave Cousins (who – though it wasn't their usual kind of game – couldn't help but laugh) at one of many playtest evenings in Enfield; had the rules read through by Henry Weston, John Brieger and Ben Walker in the pub on a Monday evening to test their ability to convey information; was then further 'blind tested' by William T.F. Miles and Brad Torres (who is super-awesome at editing and suggesting rulebook tweaks); was shown at Dragondaze via blindtesting and played first by Mike Morelli, Liam Bean and Marta Borowicka (who unfortunately was given the false impression that it was meant to be a storytelling game, instigating my (arguably excessive) use of the words 'blether', 'bletherer' and 'blethering' to distinguish this from such games and set correct expectations) and then by the enthusiastic Mia Ertughrul, Dr. Mike Reddy and his daughter Hester Jones-Reddy (who struggled slightly with some of the words as she was still only 9 years old); was laughed at, marvelled at and discussed by Mark Cooke, Andrew Sheerin, Brett Gilbert (who suggested the instructions on the turn marker card, removing the 'confrontation deck' that used to exist) and Sarah Kennington (who suggested a Kickstarter for an audiobook version of the comprehensive rules as my verbosity used to spill into the rules) at a fun industry event; was blind-tested, implementing Brett's rule, by Mike Nudd, Fabio Lopiano and Giovanni Poeti at the Jugged Hare on Vauxhall Bridge Road, where we playtest our games thrice a month; had some feedback thrown into the mix by Jen Freeman, Mark McKinnon (of Wreck and Ruin fame) and Ian Brocklebank (who instigated the two words per side; not just one) at Airecon3 (the best convention I've ever been at, although I'm biased - thanks to the event that birthed 'In A Big Bind', a giant version of my early game, involving even-more-ridiculous challenges), was heartily enjoyed by Patrick Burke, Karen Davies, Hugh 'now impartial regarding papal parrots' Simpson at a housewarming; was tested at another Sunday Jugged Hare meetup by Brieger, Ibeji, Greg Szulzit, Joost Dantuma and Dave Wetherall (who suggested that the topics be put onto the word cards rather than being a separate deck, so that there could be hundreds of the topics rather than just 16 or so - an idea that I was then almost-certain would be overly graphically busy); had some graphical experimentation done as I thought that maybe this might just work; was then taken to Glasgow Games Festival (run by Nick Pitman) with a quick set of three-hundred-something illustrations and entertained Evengelos, Maria Anapliotii and Roy Shearer (joyous drummer), the (subsequently) flatteringly-charming hosts of Meeples Anonymous (Ross Bingham, Kayleigh Bingham, Steesh and G - who later amazed me with his magical sleight-of-hand), Mitch Mackay, Fee, Neil 'Bowser' Milne and Justin Jones (who suggested that cards be put to the back rather than ever 'given up on' and discarded, essentially finalising the rules of the game); was taken to Dragonmeet 2016 (now 'focus-testing' to determine whether a sand timer might be a worthy inclusion) and enjoyed (essentially in its final form) by Gokce (my wonderful friend, helping me demo In A Bind), along with general convention-goers such as Max McDonald, Stelio Passaris, Matthew, Josh, Justine (who generously gave me very tasty frozen strawberry treats), Jason Hodgson, Sanchit Sharma (a cute adorable puppy-person), Hannah Ward, Steffi van Essen and Adam The Watcher (who all heartily enjoyed it and agreed that the sandtimer wouldn't be worth the cost); was played - for the first time - entirely for pleasure around the turn of the year at a shindig by Bowser, Paris and Brun; was showcased one night at Peter Blenkharn's office, whilst Angie Han, Nick Smith, Andrew 'Lasblast' Dennison, Kate Brown and Hugh 'no mention of papal parrots' Simpson enjoyed a few games of it; was heartily enjoyed by Oscar, Olly and Elynor at London Anime Gaming Convention whilst Chris watched on and suggested lewd additions; was shared with friends Danny Parker, Lynn Parker, Alex Pass, Edmund Kapusniak, Mona Bozdog and Gary - and had more ideas for topics suggested - when Bez visited Dundee for a reunion after 6 years' absence; was showcased at Geek Retreat and specially enjoyed by Connor Moir, Daniel Espinoza and Billie Spalding; was shown off at a 'preview party' in Edinburgh to Stew Allen, Joel Tangham, Rebecca, Mitch, JL Brady, Berti, Sarah and several others, whilst Bez recorded video footage to assemble later; was showcased in Glasgow for Bowser, Brian, Vince, Mark McKinnon (of ever-increasing Wreck and Ruin fame), Danny, Lynn and Kerry; was showcased at the Library Pot (a charming boardgame cafe in Richmond with a great big ball pit), Airecon 4 (another wonderful convention from the folk who brought you Airecon 3) and Conpulsion (a lovely convention in Edinburgh where Bez was surprised and delighted to be invited as a guest); was admired for the potential 'mass market appeal' at a toy industry event run by Playtime PR; had more suggestions for new topics given at Draughts (a boardgame cafe in London) during Draughts' first public playtest event; was hauled to Cardiff when Bez attended the Rules of Play International Tabletop Day event (when longer topics were experimented with and immediately found to be something worth pursuing); ... ...and will be Kickstarted at some point in the future ...hopefully resulting in an amusing game, to make you laugh, titter, chuckle and guffaw, that is basically about allowing ladies, gentlemen and any who do not wish to be so defined, to watch and listen to other folk prattling, babbling, jibbering, jabbering, going on, running on, rattling on or away, yap-yap-yapping, chattering, pattering and just having a bit of a blether. source: boardgamegeek game page
 * Growbot Smash (2022)
 * A game about WEE WHIMSICAL CREATURES and trying to identify them after someone makes noises. (2021)
 * Make a wordsearch (2021)
 * Kitty Cataclysm (2019)
 * Kitty Cataclysm Purrsonality (2019)
 * In A Bind Jr (2016)
 * In a Bind (2015)

Game designer
Bez also designed the following published games:


 * Yogi from Gigamic
 * Flowers in towers as part of Dice & Ink: A Roll & Write Anthology from Inkwell Games
 * Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom from Surprised Stare Games