Pharmacist earns celebrity status designing board games

A relief pharmacist for 10 years, primarily for the Jean Coutu banner, Maxime Tardif loves his job because it allows him to see different working styles, manage his schedule and travel often. It also gives him the time to indulge his true passion: designing board games. “Making good board games takes a lot of time and energy,” he says.The 37-year-old pharmacist says it all began during an exchange trip to Belgium in 2009. “Board games were already very popular in Europe, much more than here in North America,” he says. In 2013, Tardif returned to Europe for a pharmacy study session, this time near Grenoble, France: “I discovered that there were even more board games than I thought and, in returning to Quebec, I started to really get interested in buying them and finally creating some myself.”He self-produced his first family game, Fourmidable, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, and never looked back. Today, more than 10 years later, he has designed 14 games, including his latest, the highly popular game called Earth.Read: Kara O'Keefe is taking the scenic route“When the pandemic arrived in 2020, I had nothing left to do so instead of wasting my time on Netflix, I thought, ‘Why not develop a more strategic board game that I enjoy?’” He looked at what was missing from his collection of more than 400 board games and then invested all his time into developing Earth. He describes the strategy game as an engine-building one where players aim to get as many victory points as possible to develop the most beautiful of ecosystems.Using a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, Earth managed to raise $730,000—compared to some $100,000 raised for typical campaigns run by his game's publisher, Inside Up Games. “The craze is certainly multifactorial,” says Tardif, noting that the theme itself is a popular topic these days, and people are already familiar with his previous games.Before launching a campaign on Kickstarter, Tardif says the publisher released Earth online so people could try it and start a buzz. "I had already created other games before and so managed to mobilize the community that followed me,” he adds.Published in the first quarter of 2023, Earth has already been translated into 20 languages and earned the 2023 Solo Award for the best solo experience from the International Gamers Awards. Out of stock for part of the year, the publisher had to reprint copies in time for Christmas. His celebrity status is catching on in the pharmacy world too. At work, Tardif signs autographs, sometimes several times a week. “The day before yesterday, a customer arrived looking for medicine. He recognized me, we chatted a little, and he went back home to get his copy of the game so that I could sign it,” says Tardif. His colleagues bring him copies of the game to sign too. “Even some pharmacists sometimes recognize me on the phone!” For now, the pharmacist has no plans to abandon his day job to become a full-time game designer. “Board games allow my creative side to express itself better than in the pharmacy,” he says smiling. “I'm currently working on an expansion for Earth, and I have other projects in the works.”That said, he has reduced his pharmacy work hours, which he says allows him to feel more refreshed and available to his patients. “You arrive at work, you’re burned out, irritable, stressed. This new rhythm allows me to have a more rested head, even if I also stress about not knowing whether I will sell my next project or not!” This article was translated from French and originally ran in our sister publication Profession Santé.

Pharmacist earns celebrity status designing board games

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics