Today, we get to know one of the founders of Greater Than Games, Paul Bender! Paul, let’s learn a little bit more about you.

What did you do before you got into the board gaming industry?

In college, I started a company with some friends that I ran for a while. Then, I worked as a software engineer before finally starting Greater Than Games with Christopher and Adam.

What got you into board games in general?

I played some games as a kid, but what really got me into it was this group of friends. In high school, I had friends who went to Gen Con every year. I also played D&D and stuff like that with them, of course. Going to Gen Con, though, is what really got me into board gaming.

How did you start out in the industry?

I started in the industry when I started the company with Christopher and Adam. Christopher and I met in the summer of ‘08 when we were both doing a medieval reenactment group. That’s where we become friends. Christopher and Adam had been friends before that, so that’s how I met Adam. In 2010, Christopher made Sentinels. Then we played it. I had started a company before and knew how distribution worked and other technical stuff, so I said I’ll do all the business stuff to make this game.

What Greater Than Games game do you love and what did you contribute to it?

Spirit Island. I worked extensively on the development of it. I played it and worked on it for the core game a ton. It was really cool.

What are some of your hobbies outside of the job?

I like singing folk songs in bars. I like cooking. I recently made a chocolate cake from scratch for my niece’s birthday. I also recently made a really good sirloin roast. And I like reading a lot. I just finished reading The Stormlight Archive, which is a thousand pages of fantasy. 

If you had to identify yourself with a day of the week what would it be?

Thursday. The reason why: there are several of them. Vibes wise, on Thursday, you get a bunch of stuff done still but you're anticipating the weekend which is starting pretty quickly. Second reason is that Thursday is when the weekly singing happens. Third reason associated with the calendar on the wall of my kindergarten, which was Thursday and purple.

Thank you so much, Paul for letting us get to know you! Tune in next time where we’ll get to know Matt Kroll, our project manager for design.