17-Year Old Game Designer Q&A

ElevatorUp card game — Ready for some Ups and Downs?

How did your teenagers spend last summer when the world was shut down because of COVID-19?

Did they spend more time in front of a screen or did they find something more constructive to do with their time like Harrison Brooks?

Who is Harrison Brooks?

Well, he’s a 17-year old that designed and published a new card game called ElevatorUp and started selling it on Amazon.com last summer.

How’s that for making the most of summer vacation?

So we asked Harrison a few questions about the game, what prompted him to create it, and what the process was like. Here’s some of his story:

Question: What is the game ElevatorUp all about?

ElevatorUp is the card game that keeps the whole family smiling through Ups, Downs, and even getting Stuck!

The game itself revolves around taking the elevator up floors in a building, but the soul of ElevatorUp is about screen-free fun and making memories during Family Game Night.

Question: How did you come up with the idea for ElevatorUp?

I originally came up with the idea for ElevatorUp when I was around 12 years old. I have loved creating things my whole life and also loved to play, so making games felt like it came naturally.

Back when I first created it, the game was very different from what it is today. I didn’t have the elevator theme yet and it was just made out of hand drawings on pieces of printer paper. After years of refinement, I finally felt like my game was ready for primetime, so I paired it with the elevator theme (being a city kid myself) and started on the designs.

Question: What tools did you use to create the game?

To make the designs, I used Google Drawings, which I would describe as Google’s version of Microsoft Paint, so it’s far from being a professional tool. But I was self-taught and didn’t have applications like Photoshop yet, so I practiced, improved, and then made the designs.

Question: Who is the ideal audience for ElevatorUp?

The ideal audience is families with kids 7+. The designs are geared to younger audiences, but the game mechanics are fun for all ages.

ElevatorUp uses a “Three Chapter Gameplay” system:

Playing with cards in your hand that only you can see.
Playing with cards face up on the table that everyone can see.
Playing with cards face down on the table that are a complete surprise.

Each player moves through these at their own pace, contributing to the fast paced nature of the game. The first two chapters involve simple strategy, planning each move and choosing which card to discard, but the final chapter is mainly chance. This creates some real excitement and suspense and can also act as a good equalizer: if someone takes the lead early in the game, this can close the gap.

Question: What was the game development process like?

It was a lot of fun!

Since this started as just a little game I’d invented, it was able to have a long development, testing, and refining stage (around 4.5 years!). Starting the development around the age of the target audience and then continued through when I was closer to how adults would feel playing has allowed me to have the experience of all of the parties involved, allowing me to make necessary changes.

Question: Was the process difficult to get your game sold on Amazon?

It was very difficult to get it listed. There were tons of forms and other roadblocks, but once it was listed, seeing my own product on a site like Amazon felt super validating. My initial plan was centered around in-person demos at mom-and-pop stores, but with the pandemic, I had to shift to e-commerce, making Amazon the best option.

Question: What do you like about games in general?

I love that games allow for screen-free fun and inter-personal connection. When playing a card game, you’re spending time with people face to face, being competitive, giggling, and having fun. We need more of that, especially during these screen-filled times.

Question: We’d guess that you also enjoy watching shows and playing video games. What do you do to make sure you maintain a healthy balance of screen time

It is certainly a struggle to maintain that balance of not having too much screen time, especially with school being on the computer and having to interact with friends primarily through the screen as well. But I have found creativity and play to be my escape from screens. Making art, playing games, doodling, or anything that can let my mind run wild.