Shem, who used American-based crowd funding website Kickstarter to launch and fund his first board game Linwood in 2007, a simple roll and move game exploring a forest set with hidden element stones, currently has 12 published board games to his name.
According to the Garphill Games owner and Paraparaumu local, his designs are thematic and easy to learn, though still armed with depth and replayability.
"As with all concepts, Linwood started out as a small idea and slowly grew into something bigger," says Shem, whose games often stem from a theme or back story, or new gaming mechanism.
Thanks to Kickstarter, which only became available in New Zealand around three years ago, Shem went from printing small amounts of games locally to breaking full force into the international market.
"For my last Kickstarter campaign, I sold close to 10,000 units, with fewer than 0.2 per cent of those sales coming from within New Zealand."
Launching his sixth campaign this evening, for his game Bethel Woods, the husband and father thanks the online platform for allowing him to compete against some of the biggest names in the industry.
"Kickstarter isn't necessarily a good tool for all businesses, but it's proven to be a great one for board game publishers.
"The website almost acts as a store for some consumers, at least for board games, seeing people actively browse the site to find new and interesting games, which they might never find in their local stores."
Bethel Woods, a co-operative game where all players win or lose together, is set in the sci-fi universe Hours, a story by Jessy Ribordy of Oregon indie/rock band Falling Up.
"The game uses a Mancala-like (a maths game) mechanism for moving workers around a mysterious forest, fixing gigantic machines and uncovering spies.
"Players are working together to keep everything under control, while also trying to construct a new machine to save all the inhabitants of Bethel Woods."
A longtime lover of board games and puzzles, the self-proclaimed maths nerd combined his analytical skills with a deep appreciation for art.
Having boosted his production knowledge by studying snippets of business and accounting, Shem also thanks his mother Lyn Rigg and brother Sam Phillips, each "insanely talented local artists" for their creative influence.
"Having some skill in graphic design is very important as I do all my own design work, which saves a lot of time and money.
"I still outsource for illustrative work though as not all designers are equipped to also be publishers.
"Designing and publishing require two very different sets of skills and that's where the mix of creativity and production work well in my situation."
Surprisingly, he says, one board game takes around 18 months to two years to shift from its initial concept to the hands of customers.
"The design side is usually around six months to a year.
"It's the publishing, manufacture and logistics that takes a long time and there are also other aspects to consider like hiring artists and testing and creating promotional material."
He says despite a few hurdles that got in his way, as he learnt more about international shipping and distribution, the overall experience had been great.
"I'm seeing a lot of growth and my fan base continues to support me."
Also working at Print Mighty in Paraparaumu, he hopes to eventually fall into fulltime work as a game designer, as part of a five-year plan.
According to Shem, it is the right time to be involved in the thriving New Zealand gaming scene, which has grown considerably over the past five years.
"We're seeing a lot of small board game related stores opening up all over the country and there's even board game cafes open in a few cities."
Another big part of the industry was gaming conventions, with more than 500 attending New Zealand's largest event, Wellycon, each year.
"It's a great community to be a part of. As well as enjoying the design element of my job, I love getting feedback from players.
"It's very satisfying to see my games being enjoyed all over the world."
¦For more information on Garphill games, visit garphill.com
