Psychologist by day, supervillain by night
Skidmore professor Hassan L贸pez leads a diabolical, 鈥淢aniacal鈥� double life.
After he grades his exams, makes sure the lab rats are fed, and hangs up his lab coat, L贸pez sends his henchmen to build a floating fortress of doom in South America, plots the theft of a nuclear warhead in Europe, and devises sinister schemes to become a warlord in Asia.
L贸pez, an associate professor in Skidmore鈥檚 Neuroscience Program, is also a successful game developer. His second board game 鈥� 鈥淢aniacal,鈥� a strategy game for aspiring supervillains 鈥� is set for release this spring.
At Skidmore, L贸pez, who teaches Introduction to Neuroscience, Hormones and Behavior, Physiological Psychology, and Psychopharmacology, bears little resemblance to Dr. Hominoid, the supervillain scientist, featured on the game cover.
He acknowledges that his research interests 鈥� the role of the endocannabinoid system in regulation of social behavior, the neurochemical basis of sexual motivation and the use of cannabidiol in treatment of seizure disorders 鈥� also have little to do with game design.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of the point. I need something else to stimulate me and grow,鈥� he said, adding that Skidmore offers an environment where creativity can flourish. 鈥淟iberal arts colleges like Skidmore, in contrast to pure research institutions, are unique in that they afford professors the time and space to delve into personal interests.
鈥淗aving a hobby makes us better people and better professors. We model what it means to be well-rounded.鈥�
However, the Skidmore professor, who completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard and his doctorate at the University of California Santa Barbara, has lectured on game design and one day hopes to teach a course on the topic.
Featured on Kickstarter, 鈥淢aniacal鈥� achieved its funding goal of $25,000 in just two days with support from more than 500 backers.
Adding to the appeal, Rob Guillory, an Eissner Award winner, known for his art on Image Comics' long-running series CHEW, illustrated the game, which features beasts, criminals, mercenaries and, of course, scientists as henchmen.
L贸pez鈥檚 2015 fantasy steampunk war game, 鈥淐lockwork Wars,鈥� sold out. L贸pez, describes that game as 鈥淩isk on steroids.鈥� It features hybrid creatures fighting for territory with the help of armies, currency, espionage, sorcery and even science.
L贸pez says he designed 鈥淢aniacal鈥� to be more family-friendly than 鈥淐lockwork Wars.鈥� The new board game is 鈥渢ongue-in-cheek with the villains being bumblers to a degree. Players will see humor in it.鈥�
L贸pez鈥檚 daughter, Inara, 7, helped her father come up with some of the character names. L贸pez loves the idea that 鈥渂oard games can replace screen time鈥� for kids.
L贸pez grew up playing historically themed war games with his brother in Binghamton, N.Y., where his father also was a professor. He likes the idea that he鈥檚 continuing a family tradition.
In the short term, L贸pez is looking forward to selling 鈥淢aniacal鈥� and playing against Inara, who also is a character in the game. L贸pez acknowledges, however, that she may be a few years away from world domination.
