The quest for tabletop sustainability might begin with a zine

In the crowded hall of Gen Con, at Booth 241, I stand next to Tony Vasinda. A large, bearded man, covered in tattoos, one could easily mistake Vasinda for a punk rock Santa—an image he leaned into heavily later that night. While accepting a Judge’s spotlight award at the ENNIEs for Plus One EXP’s The Wassailing of Claus Manor, he handed out rock candy, reindeer antlers, and Santa hats. 

The booth he stewards is equally filled with personality. Plus One EXP’s slogan is as accurate as it is simplistic: “Weird Indie Games.” Like something from an old pharmacy’s pulp section, two spinning racks are filled with zines published through the publisher’s Zine Club—a monthly subscription service where both established and up-and-coming designers have the opportunity to develop and distribute their games that might otherwise be relegated to self-published marketplaces like itch.io. On the table is a massive tome with a whale on the front drawn in classic americana tattoo style. Among the stacks proudly displayed for all to see are boxes of Narcan, life-saving medication for people experiencing opioid overdoses.

Among the chaos and cacophony of the convention floor, I spoke with Vasinda about creating a sustainable publishing arm (even through an unexpected bout of chronic pain), Zine Club’s value to designers who might not get their games published anywhere else, and how the company uses actual play as an extension of the company’s marketing arm, an accessible educational tool for their games, and the final steps of a designer’s development process.

This interview has been edited for clarity, length, and flow.