Virginia Beach graphic designer Nathan Fyffe always had an interest in the 1920s.
But after doing some research, he realized there weren’t many games from that era on the market. So, he decided to create one of his own.
The Ohio native moved to Hampton Roads six years ago and works as a senior designer at Studio Center. He started working on his Prohibition-themed card game, Bootleg, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was looking for a creative outlet, wanted something to do in my spare time and thought like, gosh, instead a lot of people paint or draw, but I thought a board game would be like a big project I could take on,” Fyffe said.
The goal of the game is to collect three sets of booze cards, a vehicle card and a drop-off card. Players can also steal cards from each other, use gangster cards and participate in underground casino side games with dice.
Bootleg is designed for two to five players and takes about 30 minutes to an hour to complete.
After being approached by his publisher, Oak Lounge Games, Fyffe’s card game officially launched in 2022.
“What was nice is I was able to maintain creative control — that was important to me,” he said.
During the development process, Fyffe said he frequently had his family act as “guinea pigs” and test Bootleg during family game nights. At the same time, Fyffe was also working to make the game’s art true to the era.
“It’s very gritty and it very much represents that era better than like, a cartoony version or something like that,” he said.
Bootleg is Fyffe’s first game to publish. Since its launch, the card game has been sold in 22 states and five countries, and just recently started being carried in The Mob Museum gift shop in Las Vegas.
Bootleg can also be found at Oakloungegames.com or Tilth & Oak in Town Center of Virginia Beach. Looking forward, Fyffe said he would like to continue to create games and eventually have Bootleg sold at a big-box company.
“Games have kind of been on the side (for me), but it’s so much fun. That would be like my dream — is to just do that full-time,” he said.
Gabby Jimenez, [email protected]
