Ethan Michaels

Hi there! I’m Ethan Michaels, a Producer and Game Designer from Northern California. I like games with rich systems and deep mechanical texture. I love the ones that tell a great story along the way.

In 2024 I graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Games and Playable Media. When I’m not making games, I enjoy baking, disc golf, and Tabletop games in my spare time. I currently live in Los Angeles along with my three (3) statues of crabs, who live on my coffee table.

Projects

A landscape shot of a desert, with several spires of rock clawing out of the sandy dunes.
A landscape shot of a desert, with several spires of rock clawing out of the sandy dunes.

Desert Dreams

Production Tabletop Game Design

The Wanderer’s Guide to Prosgia is a 40+ page campaign setting and one-shot adventure for D&D 5th Edition. Set in an arid yet vibrant desert continent, the supplement contains new subclasses, monsters, and magical items for players to encounter in their adventures, as well as a short pre-written adventure to introduce players to the setting.

Hindsight

Production Systems Design Tabletop Game Design

A single-player legacy card about the prioritization of relationships under finite time. Players draw, erase, and answer questions on sets of cards, but can only hold on to so many. Themed around Dunbar’s Number.

Pokemon Digital Board Game Adaptation

Production Systems Design Tabletop Game Design

A board game adaptation of classic Pokemon games. Players explore the Spork and Spoon region: catching Pokemon, fighting in gym battles, and strutting their stuff in contests. Out of all of your friends, who will be the very best?

A map made up of hexagon tiles. 7 green islands contain tiles for water, food, and crafting materials. Tiles with letters from A-G connect islands together. A sea of gray tiles fills up the space between islands.
A map made up of hexagon tiles. 7 green islands contain tiles for water, food, and crafting materials. Tiles with letters from A-G connect islands together. A sea of gray tiles fills up the space between islands.

Untitled Pirate Board Game

Systems Design Tabletop Game Design

A light and casual hex-based survival game for two players. Pirates compete over scarce resources on a series of small islands. Made in 2 weeks under strict tile count and game-piece constraints.

Sushi-Go Rebalancing

Systems Design Tabletop Game Design

A brief inspection of the card drafting game Sushi-Go, along with some rules modifications to allow for a wider variety of viable strategies.