Brush, Rinse, Repeat: Crafting Smiles with BITEWING GAMES & Reiner Knizia

A bitewing X-ray provides dentists with a clear and focused view to identify key areas for improvement.

- Natalie Rodriguez

Similarly, for Bitewing Games, dentists Kyle Spackman and Nick Murray focus on the key mechanics in board game development to avoid unnecessary complexity. Co-founders Nick and Kyle have also learned to drill down their role in the development process to what they are best at and let others fill in the talent gaps.

Nick and Kyle bonded over board games in dental school at Ohio State University. Nick continued designing games and soon drew Kyle into the hobby. Kyle was fascinated when Nick showed him a board game he designed himself. “I had literally never considered that a game could be created. I assumed they somehow just always existed. I toyed with my designs but kept finding more amazing games others had made and fell in love with the world of fun and unique games,” Kyle recalls.

Kyle and Nick realized they wanted to create their own games, but they soon discovered the challenges of doing so without a fan base and became content creators first. Nick posted blog entries and videos about games, while Kyle created YouTube tutorials. In addition to continuing to produce content, Kyle works in a dental practice for 36 hours a week. He works on Bitewing's graphics, photography, and marketing duties, as well as crowdfunding campaigns, in the evenings and on weekends. Nick works part-time in dentistry and on Bitewing's operations. Both Nick and Kyle work on game development with their corporate partners. They partnered with AllPlay for most operational needs and count the people from AllPlay as mentors when growing Bitewing.

Filling the Design Void