‘Only Then Studios’ co-owners Jessica and Jamison Klagman with their new game, Wicked Cribbage. Courtesy photo

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Cribbage has been a significant part of Jamison and Jessica Klagmann’s lives since graduate school in Alaksa, where they fell in love while playing rounds of this 400-year-old card game. Jump forward in time and cribbage popped up again to influence their lives.

Jamison said in 2020, during the COVID lockdown, he and Jessica, who now live in Los Alamos, would take hikes on local trails and during these hikes, the idea of starting an indie game company was born. Jamison immediately began teaching himself coding and Jessica revived her illustration skills.

It advanced from an idea to an actual business, Only Then Studios, and earlier this month, a Kickstarter campaign was established for the company’s first product, which is a cribbage spinoff called Wicked Cribbage. The campaign, which will continue through May 30, surpassed its $7,500 goal in the first two hours of launching. As of Tuesday, the campaign has raised more than $23,000. It also has 505 backers. Jamison emphasized he and Jessica are so thankful for how well it has gone.

The amount people can pledge to the campaign varies, as does the rewards received for their pledge. A $20 pledge buys a core game, and a $30 pledge earns people a deluxe set, which includes the core game as well as two game expansion packs. A $50 pledge includes the deluxe set as well as a custom-made art print. Finally, a $75 pledge buys a cribbage starter set, which will include the game, the expansion packs, specialty playing cards and a cribbage board.

Even though the campaign is ongoing, Jamison said supporters’ feedback is already influencing the game’s design. For instance, originally the game was just for two players; however, after hearing from many supporters that they’d like to see the game extended to include more, it can now accommodate three to four players. Right now, the best way to support this new Los Alamos business is to make a pledge on Kickstarter before May 30. Jamison added he and Jessica will host a cribbage-inspired event to thank their local supporters once the game is released, which is expected in early 2025. Following the Kickstarter campaign, the game will be available for sale on Only Then Studios’ website, https://www.onlythenstudios.com/, and Jessica said they hope to sell the game at Mesa Top Games and Toys as well as Samizdat Book Store and Teahouse.

So, what is cribbage? How is it played? The objective is to strategically play cards that score points, which are tracked on a peg board. Whoever gets 121 points first on the board wins. Cribbage is called a classic game, but Wicked Cribbage stirs things up. Besides the deck of traditional playing cards, there are two additional decks – one is called Twinklers and the other is called Luggers. These cards mix things up and allow for unexpected plays that add luck, strategy, and mischief.

Jamison describes regular cribbage as “tactile” and “fast paced”.

“It is a very social game,” he said. “It really is a testament to the greatness of cribbage that, even though it’s such a simple game, it continues to be played. It is something that is passed down from generation to generation.”

The name Wicked Cribbage is in homage to when players get a perfect set of cards, which is called awesome or wicked. Only Then Studios is more than just a passion project; Jamison and Jessica left their careers at Los Alamos National Laboratory to pursue this dream.

“For me, it is a lot scarier than I thought it would be,” Jessica said. “We’re both very disciplined when it comes to completing a project … but having to deal with this level of uncertainty is nerve-wracking.”

Jamison said they spent four years preparing to establish this business, but it is scary not knowing if it will succeed.

The work doesn’t stop at Wicked Cribbage. Jamison said Only Then Studio’s second project will be a video card game that wraps story and strategy into one. The game is based on the fairy tale of Snow White. Only in this version, the queen is tricked by the mirror, and it’s up to the players to uncover why.

To support the Kickstarter campaign, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/onlythenstudios/wicked-cribbage