40 GAMES WORLD^ OF PUZZLES^ | june 2019
Y
ou’re reading GAMES WORLD OF PUZZLES magazine;
it’s likely you enjoy playing games. It’s even possible
that you’ve occasionally had a great idea for a game.
But the reality of trying to get a game from conception to
production may have proven too daunting. Not so for Robin
McEntire. He has spent four decades creating, developing,
and producing a role-playing game called Beyonder.
McEntire’s quest to bring Beyonder to fruition began
in college, continued on the night of his honeymoon with
his wife Judy, and was added to over time by each of his
three sons, Simon, Jacob, and Caleb, as well as friends and
others who learned to play the game. All told, the McEntire
clan has spent thousands of hours—and dollars—bringing
Beyonder into being.
By vocation, McEntire is a computer scientist focused
on the application of advanced technology and AI for well-
defined business problems. By avocation, he is the Ur-force
behind the game Beyonder. McEntire is quick to laugh, but
he’s also the type of fellow who frequently appears to be
absorbed in thought. There is something of a Tolkienesque
character to his nature, which is fitting given that he is an
unabashed fan of the beloved fantasy author.
In college, McEntire combined his love of Tolkien’s works
and war games such as Blitzkrieg and Risk to lay the
foundations of Beyonder, which is set on the planet Ethem.
He drew some maps, made up some rules, and a lifetime
quest was born. He tested an early version of the game
with his college buddies and then continued to tinker with
it. As the years passed, McEntire developed more formal
game mechanics and a set of character types. Like the
physical universe, the universe of Beyonder has continued
to expand over time; today players can visit new and ever-
changing worlds.
Along with his wife Judy, he would play with family and
friends. One of the big games each year was at Fire Island,
New York. McEntire recalls: “We were with anywhere from
six to a dozen cousins and uncles and aunts, and everybody
loved playing. We all have memories of games lasting
through the night and watching the sun rise the next day.”
According to McEntire, Beyonder is about exploration. He
says, “It’s a game of finding yourself inside a world that is,
in some ways, very familiar to you, but, in many ways, quite
different. Players explore the creatures and places of this
world and figure out how to navigate by working with friends
to set goals and conquer challenges.”
Beyonder is not necessarily about winning or losing.
It’s about discovery, storytelling, creativity, scientific
questioning, systems analysis, and a certain degree of
heroic fantasy—there is some fighting involved.+ǗǣǠȰǣǞǥȳ&ȨǘǘȨǚ1ǝǗǙȨǘǚȳǜ
The world of Beyonder has been shaped in large measure
by the Guilds, which are socio-political entities that shape
the planet Ethem. According to McEntire, “The Guilds haveBy Jonathan Schmalzbach