Game On Ask Adam Hogg ’08 what he does for a living and he’ll tell you that he’s an accountant. “I like numbers,” he admits unassumingly. And while it’s true that his days are mostly spent analyzing statistics and evaluating spreadsheets at DataPath, Inc., what he doesn’t always immediately mention are the multitude of other hats he wears when he’s not in the office — musician, magician, stand-up comedian and, now, game designer. People-Person!, a strategy card game playfully based on the personality traits of 74 colorful, fictional characters (and a few real people), is his latest and most ambitious creative endeavor yet. Hogg spent nearly two and a half years creating and testing the game’s complex structure before finally sending it off to be manufactured. “The algorithm had to work, the math had to all fit,” he explains. But it wasn’t just the math that interested Hogg, who earned a master’s in accounting at Hendrix. “The joy was in the cards,” he says. Each of the game’s 194 playing cards features work by artists that he commissioned specifically for the project. Players utilize the combined point values of these illustrated “friend” and “family” attribute cards to react to event cards that are drawn at every new turn. “The event cards represent the good, bad and sometimes ugly things that can and probably will happen to you in your
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lifetime,” he jokes. Production of the vibrant, intricately designed game set was funded mostly through a campaign that Hogg created on the popular crowdfunding website Indiegogo, which allows supporters to financially back projects in exchange for exclusive perks. Indiegogo and other crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, GoFundMe! and Rockethub have experienced a massive spike in popularity in recent years. The campaign eventually raised 115 percent of its goal by its closing date in March. One look at the perks list on his Indiegogo page makes it clear that Hogg knows the importance of making waves in a pool that is becoming more crowded every day. For backers in higher giving tiers, he even promised to come to their houses and personally show them how to play the game. Hogg honed his skills as a businessman at Hendrix. Through the Odyssey Program, he researched music marketing and got the opportunity to record, manufacture and sell an album he wrote with his band. “I wanted to start a record label. I would
have hypothetical spreadsheets for a five-year span,” he laughs, poking fun at himself. Hogg’s research experience at Hendrix would greatly influence the creation and financing of People-Person! “I had always wanted to do this,” he says. “I approached this game like I approached the music.” Music is still a major part of Hogg’s life. He’s the front man and pianist for the Little Rockbased pop/rock four-piece Collin vs. Adam, whose sophomore album Bloodsucker was released in late summer. His love of writing piano music can also be traced back to his days at Hendrix. “The piano rooms (in Trieschmann Fine Arts Center) were my favorite,” he says. When he’s not playing shows with the band, he dabbles in close-up magic and can be seen hosting a weekly stand-up comedy show, irreverently-titled “Hogging the Mic,” at The Joint in North Little Rock. These days, Hogg spends much of his free time fulfilling orders of People-Person! and seeking out new distribution venues for the game. He is himself a people-person, amiably saying hello to people as he sits in a booth at Pizza D’Action in Little Rock handing out copies of the game. His advice for those seeking to find their own success in crowdfunding? “You’ve got to do as much groundwork as you can without the money in order to convince them to give you the money,” he says. “It’s all about follow-through. People that go to Hendrix know that.” Story by Collin Buchanan, Staff Writer
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Photo by Collin Buchanan
Alumnus finds winning formula with crowd-funded campaign