Building the Foundation: Core Systems and Structure

Meet Sean Fletcher, the Lead Mechanics Designer for Gambit as he discusses the unique challenge of adapting board games as characters. Want to know more about his design philosophy? Join the discussion on Discord and ask away!

In the second chapter of the Gambit design diary, veteran designer Fletch (with 15+ years of experience designing games like Magic: The Gathering, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, and Disney Lorcana) breaks down the creative process behind blending iconic tabletop IPs into a single, unified gameplay experience.

• A Designer with Deep Roots:
  Fletch’s resume spans major collectible games and licensed properties—bringing experience translating beloved characters and worlds into tight, emotional gameplay.

• The Unique Challenge of Gambit:
  Instead of adapting a movie or TV show into a game, Gambit requires adapting entire board games—like Champions of Midgard and Wingspan—into cohesive characters with motivations, attitudes, and mechanics.

• Translating Essence into Play:
  The key is capturing the emotional experience of the original game: what it feels like to play it, and how to preserve that feeling even within an entirely different rule set.

• Tabletop Face-Offs With a Twist:
  What happens when two wildly different games operate under one shared system? What happens when modern board games go up against a legendary classic like chess? These are the kinds of questions driving the design.

• What’s Next:
  Fletch teases deeper dives into Gambit’s mechanics in future diaries—how the team builds a framework flexible enough to serve diverse gameplay identities, while still being fast, fun, and strategic.