Sharang Biswas is an Indian American designer/writer of

tabletop role-playing games A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

and

interactive media Interactive media refers to digital experiences that dynamically respond to user input, delivering content such as Text (literary theory), text, images, animations, video, Sound, audio, and even Artificial intelligence, AI-driven interactions. O ...

, a writer of

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

, an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

game studies A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

NYU Game Center The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch i ...

, and a freelance games journalist. His work focuses on

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

and science fiction and fantasy themes. Biswas has won multiple awards for his game writing work as both a solo designer and a collaborator: one

IndieCade IndieCade is an international juried festival of independent games. Game types include video games, live-action games, and tabletop games. Independent game developers are selected to demo, screen, and promote their work at the annual IndieCade fe ...

award, four

ENNIE Awards The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World ...

, and two

Indie Game Developer Network The Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) is a trade association for developers of indie role-playing games, board games, card games, and LARPs. They present the annual Indie Groundbreaker Awards at Gen Con. Their other programs include a scholarsh ...

awards. He was an

Artist in Residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

at the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Am ...

Games and interactive media design

Biswas designed ''Feast'', a game that takes place during a meal and uses eating as a game mechanic. ''Feast'' was featured in an exhibition at the

Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum in Philadelphia. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated t ...

. ''Feast'' won the 2017 IndieCade "Dark Horse" award and the 2020 "Most Innovative"

Award. Biswas has won four ENNIE Awards for game writing: the 2024 Silver for "Best RPG Related Product" for ''KOBOLD Guide to Roleplaying,'' the 2023 Gold for "Best Family Game/Product" and "Best Rules" for Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game, and the 2023 Judges' Spotlight Award for ''Moonlight on Roseville Beach: A Queer Game of Disco and Cosmic Horror.'' In addition to ''Feast,'' Biswas won the 2019 Indie Game Developer Network "Most Innovative" award for ''Verdure.'' ''An Elegy for the Hive Witches'' from The Gauntlet's Codex

Zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

was also nominated for the IGDN "Most Innovative Award," in 2020. Biswas' game ''Hex Ed'' appeared in the anthology ''You and I: Roleplaying Games for Two'', which was nominated for an IGDN "Most Innovative Award" in 2019. In 2020, Biswas co-designed a LARP adaptation of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance for the

, using puppets and other props from the museum's exhibit of the show's character design. In 2021, Biswas became an Artist in Residence at the Museum of the Moving Image. He has continued to produce interactive installations for the museum. Biswas was co-editor with

Lucian Kahn Lucian Kahn is an American role-playing game writer/designer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on LGBT, Jewish, and subcultural themes, typically utilizing satire and farce. His games include '' Visigoths vs. Mall Goths,'' '' If I We ...

for the

Pelgrane Press Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game (pen and paper), role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is co-owned by Simon J Rogers and Cat Tobin. It currently produces GUMSHOE System RPGs, ''13th Age'', ...

LARP A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique featur ...

anthology Honey & Hot Wax in 2020, which was nominated for an

award and an

award for "Game of the Year." Biswas contributed a game to the anthology called "The Echo of the Unsaid" about sexual tension between heterosexual male college roommates. Biswas co-edited ''Strange Lusts'', an online anthology of interactive fiction about sex and sexuality, which was published in 2021 by

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online magazine, online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and non-fiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in S ...

. He wrote ''Absolution in Brass: A Game of Guilty Steampunk Zombie-Cyborgs'' for

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

's ''The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book''. He wrote an adventure in ''Shadow of Operations'', the official one-shots book for

Grant Howitt Grant Howitt is a tabletop role-playing game designer, publisher, and journalist. He won six ENNIE Awards for his game ''Heart: The City Beneath''. His game ''Honey Heist'', which inspired an online trend of self-published games with one-page rul ...

's game ''Spire.'' He wrote the adventure "Who Says Witches Don't Like Chinese Food?" for the Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall scenarios book.Chan, Banana. Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall. Haunted Tales. Wet Ink Games, 2021. pp. 124 He was on the writing teams for

Tanya DePass Tanya DePass (born 1973), also known by her username Cypheroftyr, is an American journalist, activist and streamer. She is the founder of the non-profit organization I Need Diverse Games, which she established in 2016. Early life DePass grew ...

's game ''Into the Motherlands'' and

Green Ronin Publishing Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos, they have published several role-playing game–related products. They won several awards for their games includi ...

's ''Cthulhu Awakens.''

Speculative fiction

Biswas' speculative fiction has been featured in Fantasy Magazine,

Lightspeed (magazine) ''Lightspeed'' is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine edited and published by John Joseph Adams. The first issue was published in June 2010 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since. The magazine published four o ...

, Nightmare Magazine, and

. Charles Payseur for Locus reviewed Biswas' short story "Season of Weddings", which was published in Lightspeed: "Biswas keeps the tone and feel of the story flirty and fun, and painting an interesting picture of a shared and expansive collection of pantheons all interacting, being messy, and, for all their immortality, very human. It’s delightful!" Paula Guran for Locus reviewed Biswas' story "Waiting for Jonah", which was published in Nightmare Magazine: "it’s a good story that employs an unusual use of some equally unusual fairies."

Academia

As of September 2024, Biswas is an adjunct faculty member of

. Biswas was a visiting film and media studies professor at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, where he co-organized a collaborative

project between authors and Dartmouth science faculty. He has also taught games studies courses at Fordham University. Biswas wrote the chapter "Sex and Game Design (Part 2): Mechanics and Verbs" in the book ''Passion and Play: A Guide to Designing Sexual Content in Games'' by Michelle Clough. He wrote a 2019 article for the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

's Games Institute about the use of

live action role-playing games A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique featur ...

for building queer community. He was interviewed about LARP for the academic journal ''Analog Game Studies.'' While working with Tech Kids Unlimited, Biswas collaborated with researchers and autistic students to assess the potential of video game design workshops in empowering autistic youth. Biswas holds a Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) from

Interactive Telecommunications Program The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

and a B.A. and B.E. in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering from Dartmouth College.

Talks

Biswas was a special guest at Flame Con 2024. He was a 2024 guest of honor at Ropecon. He gave a talk at the 2024

Brooklyn Book Festival The Brooklyn Book Festival is an annual book fair held in the fall in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It was begun in 2006 by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, co-producers Liz Koch and Carolyn Greer who wanted to showcase the "B ...

about games adapted from literature. He gave a talk at the

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

about portrayals of sex in video games. He spoke on the game designer panel "Playing with Identity: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Queer Power Self-Definition" at Flame Con 2019, discussing the impacts of

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

identity on game design and play.

Journalism

Biswas also works in games journalism. Biswas has been a frequent contributor to

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

. He has also written articles for

Kill Screen Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...

and

Dicebreaker Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...

. He was a judge for the 2022 Dicebreaker Tabletop Awards.

Personal life

Biswas grew up in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

and originally emigrated to the United States to study

bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number ...

at Dartmouth College. He discovered game design while taking a "fun class" with the designer and games researcher

Mary Flanagan Mary Flanagan is an American artist, author, educator, and designer in the field of game studies. She is the founding director of the research laboratory and design studio Tiltfactor Lab at Dartmouth College. She is the author of scholarly books ...

to offset his engineering prerequisites. Biswas is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

Works

Game Writing/Design Credits

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Sharang American game designers American LGBTQ academics American writers of Indian descent American gay writers Emirati emigrants to the United States Emirati people of Indian descent Emirati writers ENnies winners Gay academics Gay journalists IGDN Winners Indie role-playing game designers IndieCade winners Live-action role-playing game designers Living people Role-playing game designers Year of birth missing (living people) American artists of Indian descent