How Hiroken Designed Eternal Decks (Exclusive Interview)

Inside Eternal Decks with Hiroken! (Check the timestamps below!) Welcome to Tokyo Board Game Club! In today’s episode, we sit down with highly acclaimed Japanese indie board game designer Hiroken, the mastermind behind Eternal Decks, and TRICKTAKERs Games. We dive deep into his creative journey, his unique philosophy on game design, and take a look at his upcoming release: Eternal Sevens! Hiroken shares how an obsession with asymmetric mechanics and the physical tactile experience of tabletop gaming shapes his worlds. If you've ever been curious about what goes into balancing complex rules, collaborating with artists, or designing the perfect board game box, this interview is packed with brilliant insights! Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 01:03 - From player to designer: How the game “Root” inspired Hiroken 02:03 - The TRICKTAKERs arc and expanding to international editions 03:43 - Rule design philosophy: Shifting between creator and player perspectives 06:21 - The Art of "Danshari": Cutting and polishing mechanics in playtesting 07:35 - Eternal Decks Deep Dive: Balancing smooth pacing and team communication 12:18 - How to design Defeat: Staging a good loss to make wins feel better 18:21 - The secret of the Communication discs as "External memory" 23:05 - Modernizing the traditional Japanese version of "Sevens" with Eternal Sevens 25:50 - Why components matter: Tactile feel, microfiber mats and box Design 38:28 - Final message: Designing what is fun and delivering an experience TRICKTAKERs Games Games on Board Game Geek: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepu... TRICKTAKERs Games / Hiroken X (Twitter) account: https://x.com/tricktakers – We’re Tokyo Board Game Club, an English/Japanese bilingual channel showcasing Japanese board games and their creators. Powered by Esper Game Studio. ~FOLLOW US HERE~ Website: https://www.esper.games/ Online shop: https://espergames.shop/ Instagram:   / esper.bgs   Twitter/X (Japanese): https://x.com/esper_bdg Threads: https://www.threads.com/@esper.bgs Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/esperbgs.bsk... BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepu...