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Brainy Hearty

A tabletop game studio from 0 → 1

Founded and bootstrapped an educational tabletop game company. I designed 5 original games through heavy playtesting and took them worldwide through publishing and licensing deals.

Founder & CEO2024 – Present

Strategy & OpsGTM

Outcomes

original games launched
5
Since 2024
playtests per game
30–50
Before launch decisions
development costs
−65%
With AI-powered design workflows
worldwide publishing + licensing deals
2 + 3
North America, Europe, China, Brazil
revenue
0 → six figures
Within 2 years
Ionah Nguyen holding the Chuồn Chuồn game box at a table of smiling players, with dragonfly pieces balanced on bamboo stands
Playing Chuồn Chuồn with players at a game fair.

How it fit together

  1. 01 · Concept

    Original game idea

    Educational and fun, both at once

  2. 02 · Prototype

    AI-assisted design

    Claude Code for design, play simulation, and rulebooks

    −65% dev cost

  3. 03 · Playtest

    Validate with players

    Refine the design between sessions

    30–50 sessions

  4. 04 · Decide

    Launch decision

    Launch through DTC, e-commerce, conventions, or a partner

    5 games launched

Playtest → refine repeats until the design holds up2 publishing + 3 licensing deals
The design loop: every game went through 30–50 playtests before a launch decision.

Context

Brainy Hearty is a bootstrapped company making educational tabletop games. I founded it and lead a 7-person team across product development, operations, marketing, sales, and partnerships.

Challenge

Make educational games people actually love to play, prove each concept before spending on production, and reach players around the world on a bootstrapped budget.

Approach & key decisions

  1. Treat playtesting as user research

    Step 1

    I ran 30–50 playtesting sessions for each game to validate concepts, refine designs, and decide whether to launch.

  2. Use AI in the design workflow

    Step 2

    I built AI-powered workflows with Claude Code for game design, play simulation, and rulebook writing, which cut development costs by 65% and sped up prototyping.

  3. Go to market across several channels

    Step 3

    I combined direct-to-consumer sales, e-commerce, gaming conventions, and publishing partnerships to find customers and reach new markets.

  4. Use licensing to expand

    Step 4

    I negotiated worldwide publishing and licensing agreements to reach new regions without building distribution ourselves.

Execution & collaboration

  • Built and lead a 7-person team across product, ops, marketing, sales, and partnerships.
  • Ran the product portfolio strategy across 5 original games.
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