We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vincent Baker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Vincent, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

Most people in the tabletop space enjoy what is commonly referred to as “Euro-style games.” These games are known for being largely absent of theme and using indirect conflict, little elements of luck, and is a competition over resources or points.

Conversely there’s “Ameritrash” style games, which are games that play up their themes more and often are associated with being more casual friendly.

An example would be King of Tokyo, which puts you in the role as a giant monster (Kaiju) as you wreck the city with weapons and powers.

With Vindicated, we not only believe in building at themes, but in uniquely having a shared universe of characters and lore that players can begin to learn and connect with, but won’t be in the way of them from enjoying the game.

An example of this is Mario or Final Fantasy. Both vastly different video game franchises, but both have endearing characters, fantastical worlds, and themes that carry throughout their game entries.

People that love imaginative takes, themes, and characters should check out what we do at Vindicated Entertainment.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Vincent Baker. I’m a game designer who creates games, characters, and stories with a goal to change the way people experience tabletop gaming.

Cards, dice, boards, and otherwise.

People that play Vindicated #critdifferent.

I was raised on JRPGs and TCGs. My father even paid a pro $20/hour back in 2003 to tutor Vincent to play TCGs professionally!

In High School, I was nominated student entrepreneur of the year and won his school business competition.

I’ve since been asked to represent Entrepreneurship for areas in SC and to speak at schools across the state. I’ve also worked with 2K for a Borderlands Event at PAX East, and with premier gaming groups Hunters Entertainment and MAMS Gaming.

Through Vindicated, I’ve has published over a dozen tabletop games and expansions including Otherworlds, Spellslingers, Ghoullotine, and more!

You’ll also probably hear me talk about Final Fantasy and niche anime.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

When I was in high school, I was mostly known for being involved with skateboarding and being into music (namely metal). My best friend at the time was disappointed when he went to see his favorite band and they didn’t stick around to sign his album. Fast forward to nearly a decade later and the same thing happened to me.

It really leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

And at that time, my friends told me, “You know Vincent, you’d never do that. You’d stay in line until you’ve got to meet every single person in line.”

I’m not sure how someone can not be that way, but what’s helped build my reputation is genuinely caring about my community. When they join, I personally welcome them. Every last one. As long as I’m getting hundreds of comments, I respond to every one of them.

I’m very personal with emails and I share in a very open and honest way that I think people connect with.

I’m not corporate. I’m personal.

And in a world where we’re constantly numbers to corporations, I think there are people waking up and realizing how much better it feels to be valued.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Without getting into the specifics of what company it was, one of, if not the biggest shark in my industry legally strongarmed me, throwing their weight around in the form of money.

I had to endure, knowing a multi-billion dollar company was doing this. A company I was previously a pretty big fan of.

It was tough. I was woken up several mornings from phone calls, interrupted during dates with my wife or time with my family.

It really taught me a lot about how important self care is. Connecting to the present moment and the idea of banding with smaller companies and the community as a whole to defend against giant corporations.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.vindicatedentertainment.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vindicatedentertainment
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vindicatedentertainment
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/vindicatedent
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/vincentbakergames

Image Credits
Patrick McGill (Primary Photo)