Inspiring Conversations with Halo Grey of Grey Halo Games, LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Halo Grey

Hi Halo, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
About two years ago I was playing a board game with a few of my friends and I found that I was critiquing the game and mentioning things that I would change. True to fashion, one of my friends said ” oh yea? If you think you can do it better, why don’t you make your own game?” and I said “Fine, I will”!

I had no clue what I was getting myself into!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
This entire process has been a HUGE learning curve for me. I had no idea what actually went into game development…and now I have a whole new respect for board games! From the art on the cards and boards to the music; every little detail matters. I have had to learn how to direct artists, speak to musicians and composers, figure out how board game conventions work, which are VERY different from the tattoo conventions I was used to attending, even the board game rule book language is something I have had to learn.

There is also production companies, marketing professionals, distribution, and even figuring out how to translate the game into different languages! All of these things are something most don’t really think about when they buy a game, literally from a board game to a video game, the teams behind these projects work so hard and there’s so much we just don’t see or think about. It’s incredible, but it is SO much work!

Most of my days start at 5am and end around 10pm or 11pm. That’s seven days week. I meet with people all around the world from Greece to China! So coordinating everyone’s schedules is a job within itself! I also do a lot of art in the game, to date, I have done over 500 paintings for the game! I do all the video and audio editing for the game as well…so, down time isn’t really something I have had in two years because every spare second or moment alone is spent painting or editing something! It can be really tiring some days but seeing the game come to life and finding this new incredible passion and career is what keeps me going! I never thought in a million years that I would be a game designer and love it so much, but here we are!

We’ve been impressed with Grey Halo Games, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In 2022 I started “Grey Halo Games”. It is a board game development company. We are currently working on first project “Oath to Embers”. It is a campaign fantasy game for 1-4 players, to answer the Kings call in a desperate time. It has a very deep story that is fully voice acted with over 20 chapters that allow the players to choose different paths that lead to different outcomes that change the path of their journey and also allows no two playthroughs to be the same! I have also developed a unique card mechanic to ensures different ways to play your cards every time! All of these things allow for endless replayability!

I definitely am a nerd. Since I was a kid I’ve always been into fantasy board games and fantasy art. I’ve been tattooing now for 18 years and playing games like Magic the Gathering for over 20+. I remember looking at magic cards when I was a kid and that was the first time I can remember ever being completely inspired by art in general. There were times when I would completely forget it was my turn because I was enthralled by the art. Finally I get to mix both of my passions together in this passion project.

I have always felt like board games were some of my favorite things to play because it gave me the opportunity to delve into a world with friends of mine. I either felt like the story was a little bit lacking or the story was great but the mechanics were bad. And if both of those things were fine I felt like there wasn’t enough variety in what my character did. I found myself wanting a little something of each game I enjoyed.

At the end of this I hope to be able to offer this, I want to give people a really rich storyline, I want you to be able to have combat mechanics that are constantly changing and fun, I want the game to be easy enough for people to learn in the beginning, so that this can open up the door to fantasy board gaming for people who are intimidated by the rules, but complicated enough tactics for die hards later as you progress, I want you to have to choose your own adventure and have complete replayability depending on which road you go down and really feel like your choices matter and are not just part of a binary path.

This is my goal, and with a little help and support I can make this dream and passion project of mine come to life.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oathtoembers.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oathtoembers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Oath-To-Embers-Fantasy-Board-Game-100088905263057/?_rdr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@oathtoembers