Alex Roberts (game designer)
{{Short description|Canadian role-playing game designer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alex Roberts
| image = Alex Roberts at PAX Unplugged.jpg
| caption = Roberts at PAX Unplugged (2023) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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| birth_date =
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| nationality = Canadian
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| notable_works = For the Queen (game), Star Crossed (game)
| education =
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| occupation = Game designer
| website = {{URL | 1=https://www.helloalexroberts.com/}}
}}
Alex Roberts is a Canadian tabletop role-playing game designer. Her games typically lack a gamemaster (GM) and include romantic themes. Her games include For the Queen and Star Crossed.
Career
Roberts was the host of the role-playing games podcast "Backstory" on the One Shot Podcast Network from 2016 to 2019.{{Cite web |title=Backstory |url=http://oneshotpodcast.com/interview-discussion/backstory/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309213130/http://oneshotpodcast.com/interview-discussion/backstory/ |archive-date=March 9, 2023 |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Oneshot Podcast Network}}
= Games =
Roberts made Star Crossed, published by Bully Pulpit Games in 2019, a game about forbidden romantic pairings. It was funded via a Kickstarter campaign.{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charlie |date=May 7, 2018 |title=Star Crossed is the tabletop RPG for shippers everywhere |url=https://www.polygon.com/2018/5/7/17328112/star-crossed-shipper-tabletop-game-kickstarter |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} The game won the 2019 Diana Jones Award.{{Cite web |date=August 1, 2019 |title=The 2019 Award |url=https://www.dianajonesaward.org/the-2019-award/ |website=The Diana Jones Award}} The use of a Jenga tower as a game mechanic to heighten tension was inspired by the horror role-playing game Dread.{{Cite web |title=One Good Thing: A game that turns romance into a teetering tower, doomed to fall |url=https://www.vox.com/22900077/star-crossed-rpg-game-valentine |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=www.vox.com |language=en}}
Roberts designed For the Queen, a GM-less storytelling card game that initiated the genre of games called "Descended from the Queen."{{Cite web |last=D'Amato |first=James |date=March 13, 2023 |title=Pivot your D&D group to a different system built with role-play — not combat — in mind |url=https://www.polygon.com/what-to-play/23632869/dnd-dungeons-dragons-alternatives-role-play-storytelling |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Polygon}}{{Cite web |last=St. James |first=Emily |date=April 3, 2020 |title=Beyond Dungeons & Dragons: A guide to the vast, exciting world of tabletop RPGs |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/3/21191762/tabletop-rpgs-guide-how-to-role-playing-games-dnd-dungeons-and-dragons-online |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Vox |language=en}} For the Queen was first published by Evil Hat Productions in 2019, then an updated version was published by Critical Role's imprint Darrington Press in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Tasha |date=2024-05-23 |title=For the Queen’s creator on the new edition, her many copycats, and her balloon-kink RPG |url=https://www.polygon.com/tabletop-games/24161224/for-the-queen-second-edition-changes-darrington-press-descended-games |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} Emily St. James, for Vox, stated in 2020 that "Roberts is one of the RPG creators whose work most excites me right now, and For the Queen is her best game"; in 2022, she called Roberts "one of the best RPG designers working right now".{{Cite web |last=St. James |first=Emily |date=February 8, 2022 |title=One Good Thing: A game that turns romance into a teetering tower, doomed to fall |url=https://www.vox.com/22900077/star-crossed-rpg-game-valentine |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Vox |language=en}}
Roberts designed the game Pop! in 2020 for the LARP anthology Honey & Hot Wax. In a 2024 interview with Polygon, Roberts said, "The best game I’ve ever made is Pop! It’s a live-action game about a community of balloon fetishists." She created the two player play-by-post game Our Time on Earth in 2021.{{Cite news |last=Yūe |first=Sebastian |date=February 17, 2022 |title=Meet the homegrown game designers making the tabletop games we can't wait to play |url=https://www.cbc.ca/life/culture/meet-the-homegrown-game-designers-making-the-tabletop-games-we-can-t-wait-to-play-1.6355938 |access-date=March 21, 2023 |work=CBC Life}}
Roberts contributed design work for Till the Last Gasp (2023), a 2-player dueling game published by Darrington Press.{{Cite web |date=December 16, 2022 |title=Critical Role publisher announces two-player cinematic storytelling game |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/till-the-last-gasp/news/till-last-gasp-board-game |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Dicebreaker}}{{Cite web |date=December 21, 2022 |title=Critical Role Announces New Board Game |url=https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/critical-role-till-the-last-gasp-darrington-press-game/ |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=ComicBook.com}} Linda Codega for Io9 described Till the Last Gasp as a blend of Will Hindmarch's tactical, mathematical design approach with Alex Roberts' "established" experience "designing immersive two-player games".{{Cite web |last=Codega |first=Linda |date=March 17, 2023 |title=Till the Last Gasp Is a Two-Player Duel of Missteps and Drama |url=https://gizmodo.com/till-the-last-gasp-review-board-game-critical-role-1850237418 |access-date=March 21, 2023 |website=Gizmodo |language=en}}
= Counseling =
In addition to working as a game designer, Roberts runs a counseling service.{{Cite web |last=Meehan |first=Alex |date=2024-05-16 |title=“You don't know when something profound is going to happen”: Designer behind Critical Role's new RPG on the therapeutic potential of tabletop games |url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/for-the-queen-second-edition/feature/alex-roberts-interview |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=Dicebreaker |language=en}}