Perhaps when you think of siblings and games, your first thought is rivalry – well that’s not the case with Chris and Johnny O’Neal, the founders of Brotherwise Games. The pair have gone from a small but incredibly popular game in Boss Monster, to foster a community of gamers who enjoy the same game nostalgia, fandoms, and fantasy tales, and to release games such as Call To Adventure, Unearth, and Overboss. With five new games in the pipeline this year alone, we settled down to speak to them about how Brotherwise Games became what it is today.
KEY GAMES FOR BROTHERWISE
“In 2009, we found ourselves living within a few miles of each after a couple decades apart due to school and work,” said Chris O’Neal, “gaming had always been a shared passion, so despite being busy with work and family, we made it a point to find time to get together and game. From that came the inevitable gamer thoughts of ‘we could make this game better’. And a few years later, we followed up on that, staking a wager on who could create the first working game prototype. I won the bet, but it was Johnny’s design that went on to become the hit card game Boss Monster.”
The one that started it all… BOSS MONSTER (2013) £25
Despite finally living locally, it wasn’t until 2012 that Brotherwise Games was established, almost under the name Chrome Cricket Games. “There were a couple other names that were real contenders, but ultimately the Brothers went with Brotherwise, and we’re glad we did. It’s hard to imagine another name working better at this point,” says O’Neal. After its creation, they immediately began the Kickstarter project for the aforementioned Boss Monster. With a target of $12,000, it raised $215,056, an incredible amount especially considering it was a first game from a new studio. It would be easy to shrug this off as the intended path, but it wasn’t.