Denis Kurdiukov
From working in construction to a full-time career in print-and-play games – Denis’ journey inspires me in epic proportions.Â
I recently got to know Denis while trying out Doomsday Manager, a game that was successfully funded on Kickstarter in April 2025. More than the brilliant game Denis crafted, it was his inspiring journey to fulfill a long-held dream of becoming a game designer that truly moved me. I made a vow to share his story with as many people as possible through our special segment, Minds Behind Games.
So here we are!
What inspired you to start designing games, and how did your journey begin?
I used to draw and make indie video games a lot after my wife gave me my first Wacom tablet back in 2010. But after moving to New Zealand in 2016 for a better future, I didn’t have much time for it anymore: a typical immigrant’s life began. I had to work full-time, first as a dishwasher, barman, and later a construction worker. I never gave up drawing though, and even published a mobile game and made a couple of board game prototypes over those years. In 2022, when I finally settled well in New Zealand and had more free time, I tried to launch my first Kickstarter campaign: Feral State, a PnP game.
Can you share the biggest challenge you faced while designing your first game and how you overcame it?
In 2022, my first project, Feral State, failed. I realized that without proper marketing, it’s not possible to succeed in a crowdfunding project, so I forgot about the idea for about or a year. At the end of 2023, I was cleaning out my drawers when I found a copy of Feral State. I decided to play it with my son one last time, but we loved it so much that I left it on the table to rethink my decisions. I thought it would be a shame to let it perish, so I re-launched the KS campaign with a very low funding goal – just to make sure it would succeed and others could play it too. It worked, and within a few months, I released two more chapters and game expansions. I loved the idea of making it my new full-time job. Besides, by that time, I had received my NZ residency papers and was free from my employer, able to do any job. Over the next few months, I gradually shifted from construction back to what I really love to do – making games.
What's your design process when creating a new game?
Creating a new game is a very interesting process – very hard and challenging, but also very rewarding. It usually has two phases: the creative phase and the engineering phase. I often take a bunch of mechanics, throw them on a piece of paper, mix and shuffle them, until I see the potential. A random mix of dice, fields, and hexes starts to merge into a system. This is where the creative phase ends and the engineering phase begins. At this point, I often change the initial game setting completely, remove the odd mechanisms, and add new ones more precisely until the first prototype becomes playable.
Doomsday Manager had a great campaign on Kickstarter. What key factors contributed to its success?
The success of Doomsday Manager was somewhat expected – I know my audience, and I know what they like. It’s a typical Nukazombee game in a comic book style with a dramatic and twisted setting (asteroid apocalypse + bureaucracy), unique mechanisms, and an hour-long playtime. I think it’s my video gaming (and game-making) past that makes me want to create something beyond a classic lightweight PnP game. An engaging game, in my opinion, must have a mood that, combined with matching background music, creates an immersive experience.
Tasliman: I’d just like to add a bit. Denis is being very humble! He has curated an amazing fan following through his Instagram account, where you can get to see his amazing artworks, alongside regular updates on the games he’s creating. That played an instrumental part in his success. Take notes, everyone!
Are there any upcoming projects or games you're excited about?
What advice would you offer to aspiring game designers considering a full-time career in game design?
I can’t advise anything specific, as I believe each situation is unique, but there’s something common for all: a full-time career in PnP games is a good idea only if you genuinely enjoy the process and would do it for free – the reward is not guaranteed and is very limited compared to the video games/boxed games industries. If you’re a creative person, get ready to do a lot of boring tasks – marketing, emails, fulfillment, print tests, never-ending repetitive playtests, and so on.
Take my advice with a grain of salt, though. I see some talented designers doing it the classic way: crafting large projects with a popular theme, longer development time, lots of tweaking, participating in competitions, intensive playtesting, extensive marketing, and incredible sales as a result. I’m a simple guy with no proper education, career, or social skills, but with a tough background, a long story of gaming addiction, and a mix of creative skills – so my approach is not for every game designer. I think of my games as unique experiences that aren’t trivial or overused in other games. Maybe even too niche for the mass market, but I’m happy I found my audience, and I see a lot of new and returning backers during each campaign.
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Tasliman is a board game developer based in Bangladesh, with the dream of exploring the world of games and introducing it to anyone new to it. He is the founder of Kraftz, a brand that develops board games commercially, as well as with reputed entities like BRAC and The Gates Foundation.
