Ben Morayta

fun playing all the board games in my collection right hand vs. left. If only I knew about more nerdy games back then! While trying to entertain myself, I designed my own games since I was an itty bitty school kid, circa 1980 – with awesome titles like "Feet" (a somewhat reskin of the game of Life, but you play a foot), and "Miner" (suspiciously similar to Minecraft... *note to self: sue Mojang*) Just a couple years ago, I discovered there was this thing called “solo games”, finally realizing I wasn’t that much of a weird bug (on this, at least) and what I entertained myself with was an actual thing people do! I discovered them right after my game design itch was re-kindled, this time a little more seriously, prompting me to join all the awesome designer communities. As a side effect, I discovered all the board gaming groups, too, expanding my view of the board game universe to infinity! ...and beyond! – sorry, couldn’t help it... I found BGG, then the game design contests, and then I started biting more than I can chew. Not knowing what I’m doing (as per my usual self), I joined the 2019 PnP solitaire contest, and never in a million years I thought that I could win my very first contest! In 2022, finally, I joined the ranks of published designers with Mechanical Beast! It was produced by Side Room Games, and I couldn’t be happier with my choice to sign with them! I haven’t stopped designing and entering contests, often using up more time than I have, and I doubt it will stop soon... If you're curious about all my designs, you can take a peek at the Ben Morayta's WIP entries geeklist. Anyway... Back to the introductions. :) My name is Ben Morayta. My full name is Benjamin Morayta Franklin (no middle name, two last names, as used in Mexico and Spain, both of which I’m a citizen of). In my day job I claim to be an Enterprise Architect, looking after the internal software platform for a multinational company that’s based in Mexico. Mainly, for the family, “do software”. I live in the Midwest in the US, with my wife, 2 kids (boy and girl twins), 2 dogs, 3 cats, a hamster, a bearded dragon and a few fish. Sadly, none of all those inhabitants are as obsessed with board games as I am, so I play mostly solo. But this means I get to keep my Solo Gamer badge, and that’s the most important thing! Right? Right..? As a weird twist of fate, I don't always design solo games, or games with a solo mode. When inspiration comes, who am I to question it? That, however, makes it hard to playtest and move the designs forward, but I like the challenge, and since I don't mind playing Right hand vs. Left, it's not as bad as it sounds. I have social anxiety, which makes it hard for me to meet new people or enter new circles, but I have to say, in this very, very short time that I’ve been part of a few solo gamers and designers communities, all of you gamers have become my second (equally dysfunctional) family! All of you are awesome, and warm, and welcoming, and I’m truly happy to have found you, and that you took me in as one of your own! My wallet is not as happy as me, but what does she know? :P I'm proud to have been Sock Puppet of the Week #162 for the 1-Player Guild, and a guest in the Solosaurus podcast (episode 80), and I've been hosting the Solitaire PnP Contest on 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, and the 1-Card PnP Contest on 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. I look forward to see where this board game journey takes me!