The logo is black & white to represent the clarity of our vision and the uncompromising stance we take. We do not make or play games that attempt to appeal to everyone. We crave a different experience. We will only create tabletop gaming content that strictly adheres to our vision of quality.
The skull was chosen as a stark symbol of death, failure, and challenge. It's a nod to our design tenants that our games are always challenging and raise the stakes to the utmost.
It also represents the emotional experience that is brought forth during our games — terror. Terror is complex and covers a wider range of more simple emotions: fear, excitement, apprehension, panic, awe. DEFY DANGER wants every player to be terrified by something at least once in every game. It is through that shared, heightened emotional state that we can forge real emotional connections with our fellow players at the table.
Lastly, the combination of jawless skull with gem eyes is a nod to the classic D&D adventure S1: Tomb of Horrors and its chief villain, the demi-lich Acererak. People may debate the merits and quality of that adventure, but no one can doubt that it changed the way roleplaying games were played from then on by subverting the norm. When it was written in 1975, it did exactly what DEFY DANGER is shooting for — it defied expectations.
Moving forward, this will be the stated mission of DEFY DANGER
- inspire creativity and fresh ideas in the tabletop gaming world
- elicit strong emotional connections in face-to-face gaming by subjecting players to shared terror
- present intellectually challenging scenarios to promote lateral thinking and a sense of true accomplishment