Designer Profile: Darrell Hardy

A peek into the mind of the designer of Runebound and other games and expansions.

Darrell Hardy

2 minute read

Image by Tim Mensch
There’s a light in my eyes, the only light in an otherwise darkened room. Somewhere in the darkness, somewhere nearby, Tim is whispering in my ear: “Tell us about yourself, Darrell. Our readers want to know all about you.”

Hello, world. My name is Darrell and my favorite color is, judging from my wardrobe, black. I have two cats and –

“Not that! No one cares about your cats! Tell us about the game design stuff.”

In that case, my story starts in high school, when I fell in love with tabletop gaming. Board games, roleplaying games, card games… I love ‘em all. I started designing them professionally as a freelancer while in college, then as a developer with Fantasy Flight Games. A few years ago, I transitioned into video games, designing online trading card games for Sony Online Entertainment. Now I’m freelance again, splitting my time between games on the table and games on the screen.

“Good, good. Now tell them about the new game.”

I’ve been straddling the space between tabletop and video games for a while, so when Tim came to me with his idea for a tabletop game you play on a tablet, I was intrigued. The more I learned of what he was trying to accomplish, the more excited I got. This was a chance to distill some of my favorite tabletop gaming experiences into an accessible digital product.

“And now? What are you doing now?”

I’m… working on the game. At least I was, before I woke up in your basement with the light in my eyes. If anyone wants to see what I’m up to, they can follow me on Twitter at @HardyTales or check out my website at www.darrellhardy.com.

“Thanks, you’ve been a lovely guest. Care for a breakfast burrito?”

That sounds great. Please pass the hot sauce.

Darrell was a designer on the adventure board game Runebound, as well as a number of other games and expansions. He’s working with QuickCharge to create a digital board game with innovative controls.

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