Indie Game Studios

Sydney Engelstein’s Expedition To Excellence

Jon-Paul Décosse, OffDutyNinja

Throughout the landscape of today’s board game industry, most professionals are wearing multiple hats to keep their gears spinning as part of the larger engine. One of the most prominent examples of this multi-tasking mayhem is Sydney Engelstein, who is celebrating a full decade of game design experience. Sydney’s design debut was the cooperative mini-game starship adventure from 2012, Space Cadets. Ten years after publishing this title with Stronghold Games, Engelstein now holds the position of Director of Game Development for Indie Game Studios, the umbrella company the houses both Stronghold and Indie Boards & Cards.

In speaking with the Board Game BBQ Podcast, Sydney describes her role with Indie Game Studios primarily as one that is “making sure to look over all the projects from conception to the factory.” No small feat on its own, Engelstein has also kept her game design tools sharp by working on the Aeon’s End line of products, in addition to the wildly popular Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition.

Maybe for the part about Ares, just say codesigned with nick little and based on the original game by, since his name is on the box but he’s not really a codesigner

Based on the original Terraforming Mars game by Jacob Fryxelius, Sydney codesigned this card-driven sequel with Nick Little, Indie Game Studios’ Vice President of Game Development and Manufacturing. Ares Expedition offers players a more compact and time-efficient opportunity to transform Mars into a habitable planet for humankind, and much like its older sibling, Ares Expedition casts players as corporate executives looking to manipulate the environment (altering the temperature as well raising the levels of oxygen and water) to create the perfect conditions to sustain life. Only one corporation will make it into the headlines as the one that broke the code and brought new hope to our species!

In a recent visit with The Game Design Roundtable podcast, Sydney describes Ares Expedition as “a simultaneous phased structure, where the players decide which phases they’re going to play that generation,” and in explaining the differences between it and the original Terraforming Mars game, she says “we took out the board and focused on the engine building between the cards!”

The new Collector’s Edition of Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition borrows a handful of elements from the wildly successful Kickstarter campaign (dual-layered boards, cube trays, and spot UV coating), offering hobby retailers the opportunity to provide customers with a deluxe product at an affordable price!

Starting with her first design of Space Cadets, carrying through to today’s smash hits for Stronghold Games and Indie Boards & Cards, Sydney Engelstein brings a creative spirit and years of experience to every product she touches. Retailers and customers alike can know they are holding a quality product when the see Sydney’s name on the box!