Games

Hold That Face was my first published game. I pitched it to Hasbro in 2016 and it was published the following year as part of their subscription box program. It is a party game where players guess which scenario their teammate is reacting to based solely on their facial expression. Scenarios are drawn from the Happy, Sad, Scared or Mad decks.

Buy Hold That Face:

Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

My second game is Act Fast, published by Outset Media in 2020. It is a fast paced charades game with one guesser and multiple players acting out words at the same time. Each actor has a timer and flips it if their word is guessed correctly. The guesser keeps going until one of the actors' timers runs out. I was inspired by classic video games like Tapper and Popeye where you try to catch things before they fall.

Buy Act Fast:

Amazon.com
Amazon.ca

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I talk about board game design and share the ups and downs of being an independent board game designer.

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Media

Video

News stories

Bringing people together one round at a time

Alumna Pam Walls BA'07 shares her journey to becoming a board game designer

University of Calgary News, November 6, 2019

"Dice, pawns, cards, timers, and tokens. Are you thinking board games yet? Board games can bring people together to laugh and play and these attributes continue to drive Pam Walls to do the work that she loves. Pam Walls BA’07, designs board games—party games to be precise." Read more...

Proto T.O. 2019

Daily Worker Placement, October 2, 2019

"Games take time to develop. From the first spark of an idea to a complete game hitting store shelves, there is a whole journey of false starts, scrapped ideas, and countless hours of play testing. Anyone who has ever tried to create a game has had to rely on family and friends to try it over and over again, finding its flaws and pointing out its strengths." Read more...

It’s all fun and games at annual ProtoTO game-testing convention

Toronto Star, October 1, 2018

"Game designer Pam Walls closes her eyes and uses a marker to draw what looks like a cowboy — leaning over a stick figure on a table — on the erasable white board she is holding in her hand, while the other players seated near her watch intently." Read more…

ProtoTO Incubating Genius

Daily Worker Placement, October 3, 2018

"For a community to thrive and grow, it requires opportunities to meet and recruit new members. To say that Toronto’s design community is thriving would be a bit of an understatement. Games designed in the Six and the surrounding area are going on to gain attention and acclaim around the world." Read more…

ProtoTO September 2017

Daily Worker Placement, October 4, 2017

"I know how strong and thriving the board game scene is in Toronto, but even so, I was impressed when I walked into the Ralph Thornton Centre last weekend. ProtoTO is one of the best events in the city for aspiring and accomplished designers alike and the latest gathering was the best yet." Read more…

Designing Toronto: ProtoTO

Daily Worker Placement, August 30, 2016

"If you’ve ever tried to design a game, you know how critical playtesting is to the process. Without a group of people around willing to try your prototype and help you refine your vision into a workable game, very few titles would be realized. Toronto is a paradise for board game fans and designers alike." Read more…

Board game developers roll the dice on getting discovered

Orlando Sentinel, February 21, 2016

“Pam Walls of Toronto heard about the convention through the Facebook page Board Game Broads, which brings together female designers.

‘I have a trivia game I presented Friday, then reworked it all day yesterday in my hotel room and showed it again last night,’ Walls said. ‘Today, I’m doing ‘Let’s Face It’, which is like charades with no acting and no moving – just facial expressions.’" Read more…