The Design Journey (2022)

Phalanx was born from necessity during a rainy afternoon at Camp Tesomas. As an Eagle Scout, I’ve spent plenty of time in the woods, but this particular day was a choice between getting soaked in the freezing rain or hanging out in my tent.

With no phone and no distractions, I found myself wishing I’d brought my Magic: The Gathering cards for a tournament later that week. It sparked a challenge: could I capture the deep, back-and-forth tactical tension of collectible dueling giants like Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or Disney Lorcana—games that often require expensive, specialized decks—using only what we had in abundance at camp?

I grabbed a pen and a notebook I’d packed from home and started writing. For the cards, I made a trip to the Trading Post to pick up an official Camp Tesomas deck. For the rest of the week, that book and those cards went everywhere with me. I jotted notes, sketched formations, and eventually convinced everyone who would entertain the notion to sit down for a match. That field testing proved the concept: the game wasn’t just functional; it was fun. These photos capture that original notebook exactly as it looked when I got home.