The Kickstarter funding campaign is in full swing for Big Bad Con, the sweetest tabletop gaming convention on the West Coast. We quickly funded our basic goals on Day 1, and have been blowing past many stretch goals since. Several of these stretch goals allow us to bring great guests to the convention, to host games, speak on panels, etc. Today’s guest interview is with Dev Purkayastha.
Could you introduce yourself? What would you like the Big Bad Con attendees to know about you?
My name is Dev Purkayastha, and I’m a creator of small-press story games, working with Laura Simpson as Sweet Potato Press. I’ve published The Dance and the Dawn, and will be publishing Love Commander soon. I’m also a fan of digital games and board games — I just love the power of what all kinds of games can bring to people. It’s really important to me find games and communities that are inclusive and welcoming, and this is what drew me to Big Bad Con.
What are you favourite kinds of games? Why?
I love small-press story games and tabletop RPGs. In the last several years there’s been such a tremendous explosion of innovative, interesting games that explore new themes (and revisit classic ones), while establishing new mechanical formats that can benefit the players. So I particularly love trying out a new game, and getting to see how its unique mechanics work in concert with its theme. That said, my tastes are broad and I enjoy many different games!
What do you see as trends in the tabletop gaming community? Where do you see it going over the next few years? (You pick the scale and the definition of gaming community!)
Some themes I’m interested in are the continued evolution of freeform/structured-freeform games (both LARP and tabletop), as well as the proliferation of games based on some awesome and maturing systems (Apocalypse Engine and Cortex Prime, for example). These have both been going on for some years, and it’s getting better and better. Beyond that, I hope to see continued experimentation with format, both digital-first story games and board/card-based story games. Both of those open up better ways for players to interface with the game, and the methods for digital and physical production are more accessible than ever.
If you have been to Big Bad Con before, how would you describe it? If you have never attended it before, what have you heard about the event?
I’ve never been there before, but everything I hear about Big Bad Con is great: a positive, welcoming environment for people who love games.
How do you plan to occupy your time at Big Bad Con this year?
When I’m not running our own games, I want to play several different games and meet new awesome people.
Any parting words for our readers?
If you’re coming to Big Bad Con, please say hi!
The Reef 
One of these years I’m going to do my damnedest to attend (inspired purely by your posts so it’s clearly all your fault), but I suspect this year will not be the one. Plates, full, spinning (pick your metaphor)… But congrats on totally blowing that KS out of the water – 16k as I checked just now.