This interview was a bit of a scramble, as our counterpart threw us into it at the last minute. I had considered declining in light of this, particularly regarding the 'work ethics' in Bangkok, which are far from professional to say the least.

Preceding the interview, there was no mention of a word limit, and before the questions were received I suspected we were going to have to do most of the legwork to get the necessary information across, which is unfortunately an accepted norm in Bangkok (something that seems to illicit a chuckle in those who could actually influence change in the matter.)

Regardless, please find the original unedited email interview with Guru Magazine (Bangkok Post) below.

Eric: To start off, introduce yourselves to our readers.

Carol: I'm Carol Blackmon, one of the co-creators and art director of Too Many Heroes, by night. By day, I work as a freelance brand designer and creative art director.

Sacha: I'm Sacha P. Nathan an independent director/filmmaker, author/writer, I'm the writer and one of the three co-creators of the Too Many Heroes. Sunny Sachdev makes up the third of our trinity, as co-creator, game designer and community manager.

Eric: What made you want to introduce your card game, Too Many Heroes, to Thailand? What was your connection to Thailand?

Sacha: Being half-British half-Thai and currently being based in Bangkok mainly. Ultimately my focus is global, especially in the digital age where it's less to do with nationality or ethnicity, rather more about shared interests and cross-over cultures. With superheroes in particular, characters like Superman, Batman and Spider-man have been household names spanning decades and resonating with people across different demographics. From my experience in Bangkok; having a conversation with a cab driver in a pre-social media world about Christopher Reeve's Superman, to meeting folks from the DC and Marvel Fan Club communities. Additionally meeting a wide range of people from the board game community during our playtest tour. It was, and is still fantastic to share the game with both comic fans and those who aren't into superheroes, and seeing how it resonates with them in different ways.

Carol: Same as Sacha, living and working in Thailand as a American 'halfie' as well as being part of Bangkok's truly international culture. We were not content to keep the Too Many Heroes board game to Thailand specifically. Rather we wanted to include as much of the global community as possible, which is why our heroes come from many different countries, backgrounds, and orientations. After all, I think experiences and stories should be shared by everyone, it's how we grew as a society, tribe and culture, by sharing.

Eric: Can you give us the lowdown of what Too Many Heroes is about You've got a very rich universe that you've created for this game.

Sacha: Too Many Heroes is set in a sister universe to our own, taking place at a time of critical turmoil and opportunity, a world experiencing an uncontrolled glut of heroes, inevitably erupting in catastrophe. In the aftermath, 'heroes' are considered illegal unless officially licensed, which is not without its perks for both hero and corporate entities.

Carol: In the game, the player takes the role of a corporation in the pursuit of being the first to license the most heroes. Set in a world where the governments are trying to crack down on heroes running rampant around the globe.

Our game features 100 unique and fully realized heroes to use as assets. As a corporation, you can use your heroes, lawsuits, sponsors, and other set pieces at your disposal to help your hero team get licensed first, while also tripping up rival competitors. In the meantime the game throws chaotic villains, events, and scenarios that could completely make or break your game plan. This is not a strategist's game but one of chaos tactics.

Sacha: Its a universe where we explore socio-political and philosophical narratives, dissecting the nature of reality, to the intent of restoring a correction to the times in the form of positive realignment, which the world seems naturally veering towards, but needs a little help in said direction.

Eric: Why was it necessary to create this? Do you plan on expanding it in the future?

Sacha: It was necessitated in the nature of what we do, and a responsibility to deliver substance and quality, to be truthful to the material and represent it as if it were real, free of paper dragons and popcorn logic. And to continue the work of those before us, exploring universal themes of our existence. Not simply because something is popular or trending.

When Sunny first came to me with the idea, "How about making a card game with 100 Heroes?" It sounded a bit mental, but I dug it. Bombastic. For me it was imperative that it was not a parody, but a living breathing universe filled with 'real' characters and entities. I constructed a cosmology, a literal universe sprawling from the dawn of time with each character fully realised and existing within it, complete with their own personal history and timeline, in some cases spanning lineages and bloodlines.

From its inception we planned for growth into different media in order to further explore the universe and characters. As a result one of the early phrases we still maintain is "The Universe comes first," as it's at the foundation and very core of informing gameplay, mechanics, narratives, design, amongst other assets and developments.

At present we're currently developing streaming web content tying directly into the point of upheaval in the universe, 'imagine if you will' a 'Hero Twilight Zone.' A series giving viewers a further taste of the Too Many Heroes Universe, entailing the myriad of socio-political complexities of a world overrun with 'Too Many Heroes.'

With future phases looking to pool global talent to tell stories they otherwise couldn't, using this sister universe to tell their story. In many ways a third party or proxy narrative which allows for a greater truth to be told, something we once saw in sci-fi of old.

Carol: For me, creating the universe was extremely necessary for this project, not just as a guide for expanding into other mediums, but also from an experience designing aspect. I think that it helps us as a team, and myself as a designer to have to have a clear vision of what this game is about and how we reflect that in every aspect of our game. Weather it is in the game mechanics, writing voice, graphic design, or marketing. It gives us a concrete "why" we choose a certain design, look, mood, or tone over another.

This then lends itself to designing the player experience as well. Even if they never read the intro to the universe or notice the universe they can still experience through the choices we made in the artwork, iconography, and flavour text. Other wise its just playing though mechanics and being told what to do on some paper.

Eric: Superheroes, of course, are nothing new in today's pop culture. What makes the heroes of your game different?

Sacha: As with the grounding in the universe, the characters have to be genuine and 'real,' which is not to be misconstrued as edgy, dark or gritty, a character can still be real and a complete goofball. Primarily we approach the characters as if they were real people, needing to live and survive, and telling their stories, not forcing stories upon them.

In a lot of cases our heroes don't have super powers, or what people would expect of a hero with 'costumes,' in several cases a number of the characters aren't what normally would be considered a hero by even the loosest of definitions. Rather acquiring that 'status' of 'hero,' through fame, fortune, politics or even hijacking and manipulating narratives.

Similarly with the hero licensing and registration, an idea which has been around a long time, something comic fans are quite fans are quite familiar with, my take on it was how this would actually take place in the 'real world,' particularly in regards to international law and operations, in a sense Hero Teams akin to Private Military Corporations.

Super heroes are a cultural idiom, effectively a modern mythology, a means of communicating ideas and stories, ones that can be very small and personal, to larger than life and seemingly ridiculous. However I feel what has been lost in the mix is a sense of humanity, falling into a pastiche or trivialised notions, and the connotations of how a hero is defined. A unfortunate by product of the mainstream, whereby a majority of the content still clings onto the infantile and juvenile power fantasy aspects without the intellect and growth that was rooted in many of the comic books leading into the turn of the century.

Carol: I think mainstream media is just coming to terms with the idea that heroes are no longer our idealized messiahs coming to save us from disaster and bad hair days. But they are humans as well, with human problems, human stories, and vices. Although this concept is thoroughly explored in the form of comic books like Watchmen, I think there's still room to play in that concept.

For example one of the heroes in our game is actually more like a villain rather than a hero, but through money and influence bought his way into being a hero to further his own gains. To me his story plays with the idea of perception and how easy it is to manipulate situations with enough production value.

And as Sacha, said eventually we want to create a platform where other people could use our universe as a safe space to tell their own stories.

Eric: What in your opinion is the most overrated super power? Most underrated?

Sacha: The most overrated super power, this could most likely be invisibility, especially in today's world, most people are glued to their phones, its easy to ninja about.

Carol: Super strength, everyone usually wants invisibility or super strength.

I know that the Super Hero community will crucify me for this but, I think if you had super strength you would be a huge liability to the public in general. You would need to equally as careful as you are strong, I know with great power comes great responsibility and all that but, its going to be a pretty craptastic life. If you're strong enough that you can leap and propel yourself into space, you are a property damage lawsuit waiting to happen.

Sacha: For most underrated power, it's difficult not to sound slightly pretentious with this one. There isn't strictly a single word to encapsulate it, but I would describe it as unyielding virtue, as expressed through compassion and honour.

Carol: As for the most underrated power... I would say, being able to create a feeling of general uneasiness to the people are around you. You could clear a crowded square and no one would know why.

Sacha: So basically extreme British cringe humour?

Carol: Yeah! No just kidding, I think the most underrated super power is probably charisma. You can use charisma to have power over people. Help them make choices for the betterment of their lives, or to yours. With enough charisma, you could use other people's resources or super powers, without any of the backlash. Since it was their choice to listen to you. You didn't force them, and with enough charisma you could make it seem like it was their idea all along.

Eric: What do you think is a great superpower to help you survive here in Bangkok?

Carol: Humour, because I think there are some situations that you can either find the humour in it or go crazy trying to understand it.

Sacha: Beyond a super-heroic resistance to pollutants? A superheroic dose of Zen-like calm; tone down the noise and static of the world around you, centre yourself and ultimately reflect this, sharing the calm with others. Effectively being a vessel for a natural healing force, allowing for perspective and clarity in alignment for the betterment of humanity and its necessary evolution.

Eric: What do you want people to experience and take away from playing Too Many Heroes?

Carol: Enjoyment in chaos, and good natured mean-ness.

I guess I personally I've never really enjoyed playing most board games because the focus was always on trying to win, and I never saw much point in "winning." Like, big deal here's some cake.

So what I do enjoy about Too Many Heroes, is that I can play without concerning myself with winning. There are a lot of elements in the game that forces players to play devastating cards, and things that will completely destroy any strategy one might have had in the start of the game. I think its hilarious to see the social interactions of when you have to put down a card that basically wipes everyone's team off the table, and their reactions.

Sacha: A sense of catharsis and fun, away from the daily grind and forgetting whatever baggage they may have, embracing the chaotic fun and relishing it together as people destroy each other's rival hero teams. And in the process finding interest in the characters and world.

Eric: When is it available and where can people buy it?

Sacha: For more, stay tuned to @TooManyHeroesGame on instagram.

<-- Previous Page - "What Could Have Been." | Next Page - "Introduction." -->

What Could Have Been

Interview - Guru Magazine

TOO MANY HEROES - PRIMARY UNIVERSE BIBLE

Introduction

Regarding This Document

Ultimate Mission Statement: The Great Correction

The Importance of Franchise From Universe

Phase 2.5 -- A Truly Global Voice

Too Many Heroes