Eric B. Vogel

As a Doctor of Psychology, Vogel was a professor at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California from 2002 to 2021.[1] Since 2021 he has been a professor in the John F. Kennedy School of Psychology at National University[2] in Pleasant Hill, California, and since 2023 he has been a professor in the California Northstate University College of Psychology in Rancho Cordova, California.[3] He is the 2009 winner of the Eugene Benjamin Sagan award for Outstanding Teaching in Psychology.[4] His research has been published in the Journal of Phenomenological Psychology[5] [6]and The International Journal of Sport Psychology.[7]

Vogel's game design career began in 2004 with Land of Psymon published by The Creative Therapy Store, a psychotherapeutic game intended to teach children Cognitive behavioral therapy skills by showing them how to defend against psychological monsters ("psymon") that represent negative thinking and common cognitive distortions.[8] The Spanish edition, El Planeta di los Psimon was published by TEA in 2010.[9]

He subsequently switched from designing psychotherapeutic board games to tabletop hobby games. To date, his most successful game has been The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, which raised over a half-a-million dollars in a Kickstarter campaign. The game won the 2018 Silver ENnie for Best RPG Related Product.[10] This was produced as part of an ongoing partnership with Evil Hat Productions that has resulted in several releases.[11]^: 323 The Dresden Files has had 5 published expansions,[12] as well as an electronic version by Hidden Achievement released for Android, IOS, Kindle, Mac, Nintendo Swtich, and Windows.[13]

His other published games include: Cambria[14] and Hibernia[15] published in 2011 by Closet Nerd Games, Romans Go Home[16] published in 2014 by Lui-Meme, Zeppelin Attack[17] published in 2014 by Evil Hat Productions, Don't Turn Your Back[18] published in 2015 by Evil Hat Productions, Kaiju Incorporated[19] published in 2016 by Evil Hat Productions, Kitara[20] published in 2020 by Iello, and First Empires[21] published in 2022 by Sand Castle Games. Kitara won the 2021 UK Games Expo Best New Boardgame American-Style Judge's Award and People's Choice.[22]