The Joy of Gaming: Women Game Designers - Red Dragon Inn

Women's History Month: 

A Joy of Gaming Tribute to 

Women Game Designers

#WomensHistoryMonth

Colleen Skadl (with spouse and partner)

Red Dragon Inn (2007)

Red Dragon Inn is clearly a popular game. Just check Board Game Geek and see how many expansions it has and I know from personal experience it has high brand recognition among gamers. It is, for all intents and purposes, a game for a crowd and involves hilarity, gambling, and "drinking." Each player has their own character and character deck. There is a drink deck where drinks are distributed and you have a fortitude tracker. (How hearty a drinker are you?) Drink cards are passed around, you have 4 cards from your deck to play and then your character drinks. Lather, rinse, repeat. The cards are humorous, the art inspired, and the gameplay is fun for the whole table, if you can invest yourself in being that level of silly. When my husband and I talk about the game, it is hard not to compare it to Munchkin with its light quality and ubiquitousness in game shops, so that is how I will always categorize the game in my mind. There is currently a Kickstarter up for Red Dragon Inn 7: The Tavern Crew (which is not designed by Colleen Skadl).

Along with her husband and a friend, Colleen Skadl designed Red Dragon Inn. She works for Slugfest Games and is still an active participant in the game design process. After much digging, I was able to find that she is an educator, which she says is the greatest job in the world (I must agree... I think!). One of her passions is LARP and she is part of Winged Throne Productions, which provide LARPing experiences for those inclined to participate. Another source says that she was responsible for bringing LARP and other geeky things to ICon, which was a Sci-Fi-Fantasy convention in Israeli. ICon is no more due to disputes from the inner-workings. It has now become two festivals. Skadl is very active in the geek and gaming community and continues to leave her mark, especially with what has become an incredibly popular game, Red Dragon Inn.