Play Again Games boasts a colorful, chaotic, and cute new card game called “Fluff Fluff Boom.” Creatively designed by Troy Wayland, this game features an explosively adorable cast of stuffed animals known as “Fluffs.” In the gameplay, you try to bomb your opponents Fluffs while collecting and healing your own Fluffs all in fast-paced 15 second rounds.
Troy attests the spark of creativity that started Fluff Fluff Boom to what he likes to call a “peanut butter dream.” According to Troy, a little peanut butter before bed makes his dreams take a creative turn, which set the stage for this game’s creation. Troy was inspired by fast and fun games like UNO and Spoons and brought his own unique theme of stuffed animals to create a brand new game.
The ease of learning and general speed of the game was an important factor in the game’s creation. Reflecting upon his gaming influence growing up, Troy commented with a laugh, “Monopoly was great, but honestly it was a little bit too long.” He explained that with his friends, they loved the fun and somewhat chaotic gameplay that was brought to the table with games like Cards Against Humanity and Apples to Apples. “It’s what I like to call stupid, simple fun,” Troy explained, which is exactly the energy that went into creating Fluff Fluff Boom. He wanted something fun and easy to play that would bring the people who might not typically reach for a card game together.
The stars of the show in Fluff Fluff Boom are the 42 different and unique Fluffs. While all the little stuffed animals are adorably well-designed, there was certainly a process to getting them to their final form. Troy professes that he does not claim to be an artist and that most of the Fluffs started as doodles on crumpled up sticky notes. “Some of the horrors I've created, I feel bad for the artist when I hand them off,” Troy explained with a laugh. However, despite the artistic challenges, after trying out a few different artists, Troy found someone that could bring his concepts to light, and the Fluffs to life as we know them. Troy’s personal favorite Fluff is the one that started it all, a little creature accurately dubbed the “Bomblebee.”
Not all challenges Fluff Fluff Boom faced were of the artistic and creative nature. In fact, Troy explained that most of the challenges were found in the manufacturing process. During the pre-production stage, the first printing of the Fluff Fluff Boom cards had the graphics off-set from the center by half an inch. Later on in the process, the boxes were missing the half-moon cuts on the sides making them much more difficult to open. For each of these production issues Troy would have to get in touch with the manufacturers and start the lengthy process of fixing the errors. Many setbacks can occur in production, Troy explained, which is why it can take a couple years or more to get a game out as a small creator.
For Troy, creating games is a great creative outlet to keep his mind engaged amidst working a less-creative corporate job. He also loves the added benefit of bringing fun “stupid simple games” to others to enjoy. Troy enjoys the whole process of game creation, from the creative to logistical aspects. Using his corporate experience Troy says he enjoys the “back-end business” aspect of game creation as well. He explains what keeps the energy going in his game creation is the long term goal to push away from corporate into a more creative space and start a team of people that he can ensure are treated right in the small business setting.
Troy’s advice to any upcoming card game creators is to “Enjoy the journey, because it is a long one” since there is so much to the process of creating a game. He shares that the board and card game community is almost always willing to help for those who reach out. Troy found that on his own journey creating Fluff Fluff Boom, the card game community was extremely encouraging and helpful, sharing successes and failures. Troy also recommended keeping in mind the financial investment that it takes to create a game. He also suggested that you can also pitch to a publisher (like Play Again Games), and they can help with the process of getting the game created as well!
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