PopCap co-founder forms new tabletop firm
Jason Kapalka teams up with Eagle Games founder to create Forbidden Games
The co-founder of the firm behind Bejewelled, Peggle and Plants Vs Zombies is branching out to focus on tabletop experiences as well as video games.
Forbidden Games is the new Illinois-based board game company co-founded by Jason Kapalka, PopCap's former chief game designer.
He is joined by Glenn Drover, founder of board game publisher Eagle Games. Drover has also designed various tabletop adaptations of notable games franchises, including Railroad Tycoon and Age of Empires.
Kapalka spent more than 13 years at PopCap, co-founding the firm in late 2000 and departing at the start of 2014. Since then, he has been working at quirky surprise delivery firm The Mysterious Package Company and is currently still creating games at indie studio Blue Wizard Digital. He also owns Storm Crow Taven, which he describes as "Vancouver's premier nerd bar."
In a statement, Kapalka declares that the goal of Forbidden Games is similar to that of PopCap when he first helped form the company: "To treat so-called 'casual' games not as disposable junk, but as gems to polish with all the care and craft of an AAA title."
In the world of board games, this translates to creating products that can be "as elegantly designed as multi-hour miniatures-fest", with Kapalka hoping to appeal to both casual and hardcore board game fans.
"We believe a great board game is something you should treasure and play for years to come," he said.