Philippe Keyaerts

AboutPhilippe Keyaerts

My gaming experience started a long time ago. I grew up with five brothers and sisters – almost a gaming club in its own right! – and a grandmother that played Black Jack for candies… I played chess and collected puzzles for many years before finding players for Full Metal Planete, The Settlers of Catan, and other games.

I went to the University where I obtained a Master’s degree in Mathematics, and also studied computer science, painting and drawing, which turns out to be very useful to create game prototypes.

I live in Brussels with my wife and my son. When I’m not playing games, I teach Mathematics to young foreign students, read (mostly detective novels) or cook.

The creation of a game always comes from the desire to play a game that doesn’t exist. I turn and kick it around in my head for some time, then I draft a first game prototype, which I play test alone by myself. Then I play test the game with friends – I always try to give them a game prototype that works. Then, I tweak, and test, and tweak again and again until I get a great game – it is a long and difficult process.

However, in the end, a new game sees the light, and seeing new players enjoying it is always a real pleasure!