Infinite Jonathans Interview

November 21, 2020 at 6:30pm
By Jason Stettner

Interview with Kurt “Kurtiswow” Bieg & Ian Reed, Creators of the game

A staple I do in all interviews in order to start things off is to ask that you elaborate a bit about your game (s) that people might not know?

Kurt: Kurt is a well known game designer and owner of Simple Machine. He has released mobile hits like Pop the Lock (over 25 million downloads), Calculator: The Game and Smove. You can catch him live on Twitch or check out his music on SoundCloud.

Ian: Ian is one of Breaking Games' top game developers, having had a hand in creating smash hits like We're Doomed!, Something Wicked and his very own game, Convert.

Looking at Infinite Jonathans, how did they all end up in the same dimension? What’s the story here?

Both: The digital game (link) is a unique interactive fiction where instead of playing one story over and over, you play Jonathan’s life over and over. When he dies (which happens relatively quickly) you start again with a new baby Jonathan, trying to get him to become an astronaut, or a candy crime lord, or a judge who will decide the ultimate case, is it gif or jif (we all know it’s gif). So when we set out to create the card game, we decided to make it one of these stories you’d find in the game.

Could you tell us the just of how the game is played for those curious about it?

Sure, for starters, you and all your “friends” find yourself in a world where somehow all the Jonathans from other dimensions have accidentally appeared. In fact, you and everyone at the table is a Jonathan too! Unfortunately, there can be only one Jonathan Prime, so we created this handy game so you can lie, cheat, and steal your way to becoming the one true Jonathan. The simplest way to do that is to defeat Jonathans and use their bodies as trophies! Collect 4 before the other players do and you could be the lucky winner of this dimension.

If you wondering how the game is played, there are 4 decks of cards on the table. Each deck has useful items, Jon-ergy (Jonathan Energry), and other useful cards for players to collect. Each turn starts with players secretly choosing which deck they are going for. Each deck has specific requirements to win their cards though. For example, to win the card on the first deck, only one player can choose it, if more than one player goes for deck 1, then no one wins the card.

You can see where this is going, it’s like musical chairs, but with Jonathans, and you can die.

Oh and when players die, they don’t just lose. They turn into ghosts and haunt the living players. Haunt them enough times and you can come back to life and still win the game.

Of course the real game here is backstabbing, lying, and out maneuvering your opponents each round when you secretly make your choice.

I really like the visual elements of the cards, are there some fun stories that you would be interested in sharing on their creation? To build on the art aspect, are they thumbs?

Both: It’s funny you asked that, for a while we were trying to make a prototype where you put “Jona-thumbs” on your thumbs and you voted thumbs up or down! We soon realized that the choosing mechanic needed to allow players to make more choices, which led Ian to make the “Jonoscope”. But, in answer to your question, no he is not a thumb, lol.

When we set out to make Jonathan I knew I wanted him to be … different than the people in the world, since the story revolves around him and his infinite selves. So he looks a little alien or off, but also, derpy, and capable of really selling the ridiculous and hilarious moments of this world by being the infinite straight guy.

A further fun type of question, why Jonathans? What’s the story behind that?

Why not? Honestly, I don’t know. When I started this project a few years ago with my friend (and all around brilliant person) Jordan Ephron, it was this grand idea of a living interactive fiction where people logged in each day and impacted this fantasy kingdom … yeah … then Jordan got a job and we had 2 weeks to take all this and turn it into something.

So I came up with the idea of it being a person’s life replayed over and over. I have no idea how I landed on Jonathan as the name, but whenever I told local game devs I was working on “Infinite Jonathans” that laughed and I knew I had a great name.

I understand mobile versions are coming, anything you’d like to mention in that regard? Would you have interest in porting it to consoles or PC as well later on?

Both: It’s out for iOS, Google Play coming very soon! (https://apps.apple.com/tt/app/infinite-jonathans/id1445567442). As I said, it’s not the same game as the card game, but you can see what all the other Jonos are up to! It’s fully voiced too!

And we are currently making a Tabletop Simulator version where I’ll be hosting live games on my Twitch channel (http://twitch.tv/kurtiswow) and giving away copies of the game in December!!! That I am so freaking excited for!!!

What was the process like designing the game, and how did the concept come along?

Both: Ian Reed and myself we’re working on a very different concept for almost a year. It was a a cooperative game where you built Jonathan’s life from baby to adult. Players would see two cards and vote thumbs up or down (using the “Jona-Thumbs” mentioned above) to pick the next moment.

We worked for months on this idea, even going so far as to have my artists mock up the board and cards, etc.

Then, last year we took the prototype to PAX Unplugged to finally get some outside players to try it out. It … didn’t go well … actually it was really bad. Within 10 minutes of the playtest players were looking bored, confused, and we could see that this ship was sinking.

We sat there a bit while the playtesters suggested some improvements, but it was apparent this version was DOA.

I had this idea for a game a looooong time ago where players were secretly voting for 3 - 4 options but it was fantasy themed and … I was making it as a bar game like quiz night. For some reason I felt like it could work, so I grabbed some blank cards, started scribbling furiously and we played one round with the playtesters and it was instant fire. They were super invested, already starting to backstab each other, and one player started doing side bets trying to undermine the others.

Somehow it went from the worst playtest ever, to the best playtest ever.

Ian had the brilliant idea of not trying to make the prototype fit the Jonathan universe, but to solely treat it as a generic fantasy theme so we could make it easier to explore game mechanics and telegraph to players how different cards worked.

It was a smash hit prototype. By the time we were leaving PAX Unplugged we had players writing down their info to find out when it would launch.

Honestly, one of the stand out moments of my game design experiences!

The next 3 - 4 months we spent refining the mechanics, playtesting, and prepping the assets for print!

View our Interviews Hub
View our Board Games Hub
Read our Infinite Jonathans Review