Entrevista com Bruno Faidutti

O obstáculo da língua Alemã e a distância a que me sinto dos valores culturais norte-americanos sempre me fez procurar outros meios de acesso à informação para além do mui nobre e famoso BoardGameGeek.

A França é também uma "potência" na área da edição de jogos de tabuleiro.

Bruno Faidutti desde cedo constitui para mim uma referência. Um farol no meio de vários que tem impedido que encalhe num jogo menos bom.

Partilho agora convosco uma entrevista que conduzi ao longo de Março com Bruno.

Foi para mim muito interessante descobrir facetas do homem que "não gosta de jogos de estratégia".

Pode ler a entrevista no nosso novo espaço destinado a entrevistas, aqui.

Não hesite em colocar o seu comentário.

You may read our interview with Bruno Faidutti following this link.

Please be wellcome to post any comment.

Interview with Mr. Rüdiger Dorn

JogoEu (JE) - When do you began playing? Do you remember the games that you played that time?

Rüdiger Dorn (RD) - I began playing games in my childhood when I was about 10 years old. There was exactly one day per year – the birthday of my dad - I played with my parents. The other days I must play alone or with my friends. My first games were “Europareise”, “Stratego” and “Halma”.

JE - What are the things that give you more pleasure in life? Why?

RD - The gift to live some time on earth, the proudness to made the right job-decision (against the will of my parents) after the bank-training, the luck to meet my wife, the wonder of the birth of our children, the chance to have the talent to create games.

JE - Which level of luck is acceptable for you, in a game?

RD - I play many games to have a feeling of actual game designing. If I play a game with some luck, it´s absolute ok. What I do not like are games without luck, because I often feel, that some guys must show how fantastic brainers they are. I also do not like games which pretend tactical moves, but at the end of the game it´s 90% luck if you win or loose. The best example recently of pretending is the game “café international” the game of year 1989, which I played 2 days ago.

JE - In the inventive process of a new game, what makes you most excited?

RD - To have the inventive idea, to connect the small first spark with other interesting sparks and to play that new game in my head, again and again. It´s a fantastic feeling ….

JE - What are the "ingredients" that you like the most in a game?

RD - First the ingredients I do not like – war and fighting.

I love to manage with resources to acquire advantages.

Agricola from Uwe Rosenberg is a perfect example of a constructive game, where people create their own little world with inhabitants, animals, houses, vegetables,…..

JE - What kind of mechanics do you prefer to focus on the development of your games?

RD - I have no special “mechanic”. I like a certain amount of clever resource-management-system. Actually I like the “mechanic” of “filling action fields”.

JE - Tell us which game you like the most. Why?

RD - My all-time favourite is Magic the Gathering. If you have invested some money J, you have a giant pool of intelligent combinations. It´s a very glorious feeling that every game takes a different course, if you do not play with a turnier deck.

JE - What’s your favourite creator? Why?

RD - I think it´s recently Martin Wallace. I love to explore new mechanism and Martin Wallaces` games have often these (hidden) inspiring ideas.

JE - Can you make a game using a pre-theme determined by a publisher?

RD - I tried two times to transcribe a theme into a game – the journey into the middle of the earth and cartagena-the gold island.

JE - From every moment that gives origin to a new game - creation, editing and publishing - which is the most pleasant? Why?

RD - Every step has exciting moments. The creation phase is fascinating because of the new sparks of ideas. The editing is interesting because of optimizing. The publishing is thrilling because of the equipment. At the moment i´m very curious of the new edition of “the traders of genoa” by filosofia games.

JE - What do you think about the use of boardgames with an educational purpose?

RD - I do not like games with an educational purpose. I´m very happy if my students or my colleages playing games and have fun. So I hope, I infect them and they play more times.

JE - Is the election of the new president of the USA a good theme for a game?

RD - Uargh! I hate policy, so never, never. If I want to play a political game, I would play “Die Macher”.

JE - How is a typical day of Rüdiger Dorn?

RD - Sleeping, drinking, working, playing, thinking, testing, music listening, eating, again sleeping, ….

JE - Your family participates in your adventure to create new games or are you a lonely creator?

RD - My wife is my one and only participate in the early phase. She is very critical, but I need an antipole, who demonstrate weakening things of games. In later phases i have some seasoned persons.

JE - What do you want to do but have not yet had an opportunity? (in general)

RD - It would be nice, if I have enough money (to be independent), to live by game designing.

JE - What kind of games do you use when you are facing inexperienced players?

RD - Games where people must not think too much, but have much fun.

e.g. “Was´n das” from ravensburger, “danger 13”, ubongo, einfach genial, bluff

JE - How did the idea to create Goa came up?

RD - I want to design a development game, where I must optimize my resources in a limited number of actions. Before that I was searching for an interesting system, where I get the resources.

JE - How do you define your newest game - Diamonds Club? Who is the target audience?

RD - Everybody could play this game, who is not unskilled in game playing, because it has an intuitive game play. I create a system where to get resources by placing coins. But the coins are only a means to an end. You transform coins into jewels and technical advances to create a profitable garden.

JE - Which games suit you the most in the last Essen 2008?

RD - Diamonds club – I know i´m prejudiced. I enjoyed the great feedback in essen 2008. Many gamers were surprised, that a game from ravensburger had such a high poll placement (fairplay).

Im Schutze der Burg, Der Hexer von Salem, Tinners Trail are ok. Dominion is a little bit hyped – for most if you play MTG. I look for the Princes of Manchu Picchu and Le Havre, which I haven´t played yet.

JE - Are you working in some new game? Can you tell us the theme of this new project? Is it a boardgame or a card game? Do you already have a release date?

RD - Unfortunately I can´t tell you something of releases. The next release is the new edition of the traders of genoa. Of course, i´m working on new games – board games. But no designer speaks about themes and mechanics before publishing.

JE - Leave a message for the readers of the JogoEu blog.

RD - Work with your heart, and let the money work for you.

Interview with Mr. Uwe Rosenberg

The work that follows is the fruit of collaboration between several people that I thank: Daniela Maia, Joana Oliveira, Gonçalo Lourenço, Carsten Wesel (BGG), elements of CityBank. And to all who supported me in the translation of texts! Thank you to everyone, without you this interview would not have been possible.

Text in english
Text in Deutsch


The winner of the first edition of J.U.G.'08 awards was Uwe Rosenberg’s game Agricola. Seizing the opportunity, JE (JogoEu) requested Mr Rosenberg to grant us an interview, which he accepted. Enjoy his below answers.


(JogoEu - JE) 1 – When did you start wanting to create your own games? Why?

(JogoEu - JE) 1 - Wann haben zum ersten Mal mit der Idee gespielt, Ihre eigenen Spiele herzustellen, und was war der Anlass?


(Uwe Rosenberg - UR) First of all, I would like to say „Thank you“ for this award. I hope, that the game will bring you much more fun, if it’s released in portuguese. To your question: I’m thinking of creating my own games, since Lookout Games was founded. In the year 2ooo me and Hanno Girke founded Lookout Games – but the only reason was to produce his “High Bohn” for Bohnanza in a small edition. For all long time I don’t have the heart to invest so much money for a game of mine. For Agricola I need the positive Feedback of 100 testplayers to know, that this can be a success. But I never thought, that It can become such a worldwide success – I have never dreamed of that.

(Uwe Rosenberg - UR) Zuerst möchte ich mich ganz herzlich für den Preis bedanken. Ich hoffe, das Spiel wird Ihnen noch mehr Spaß bereiten, wenn es erst einmal auf Portugiesisch erschienen sein wird. Zu Ihrer Frage. Mit diesem Gedanken, meine eigenen Spiele zu verlegen, spiele ich, seitdem es Lookout Games gibt. Den Verlag habe ich 2000 gemeinsam mit Hanno Girke gegründet – damals, um seine Bohnanza (Amigo)-Variante High Bohn in einer kleinen Auflage zu veröffentlichen. Ich hatte mich lange Zeit nicht getraut, viel Geld für ein von mir erfundenes Spiel zu investieren. Und auch bei Agricola brauchte ich die Rückmeldung von über 100 Testspielern, bis ich zuversichtlich war, dass es ein Erfolg werden könne. Dass es dann so erfolgreich wurde (und dass sogar weltweit), damit hätte ich im Traum nicht gerechnet.



(JE) 2 - What were your favourite childhood games? Do you think they influenced the way you see the world of board games as a creator?


(JE) 2 - Welche Spiele haben sie in Ihrer Kindheit am liebsten gespielt? Aus der Perspektive eines Herstellers, glauben Sie, dass diese Ihre Ansichten zu Brettspielen beeinflusst haben?


(UR) For a long time, You're Bluffing! by Ravensburger was my favourite game. When I released Bohnanza it was a great honor for me, that it was called “You’re Bluffing! of the 90th”. In the year 1979 – when I was 9 years old - I start playing Rack-o (Ravensburger). As in Bohnanza you were not allowed in Rack-o to change the order of your cards. So you can see, that the games of my childhood affect me as a game designer. As a producer I am oriented in market niches, I produce games that I like and for those persons, who I can reach without advertisings. For advertisings we – as a 2 men company – only have a small budget. I think that my childhood is not the basis for the games I like – it’s my identity.


(UR) Mein Lieblingsspiel war lange Zeit Kuhhandel (Ravensburger). Deshalb war es eine große Ehre für mich, dass Bohnanza als das Kuhhandel der 90er-Jahre bezeichnet wurde. 1979 hatte ich Racko (ebenfalls Ravensburger) kennen gelernt. Damals war ich neun Jahre alt. Wie später auch bei Bohnanza durfte bei Racko die Reihenfolge der Karten nicht verändert werden. Als Spieleerfinder haben mich meine Kindheitsspiele also durchaus beeinflusst. Als Hersteller bin ich an Marktnischen orientiert. Ich verlege Spiele, die mir gefallen und für die sich Leute interessieren, an die ich nicht eigens durch Werbemaßnahmen herantreten muss. Für Werbung hat ein Zweimannverlag leider nur ein kleines Budget. Ich denke, dass mein Spielegeschmack eher aus meiner Persönlichkeitsstruktur abzuleiten ist, als aus meinen Kindheitserinnerungen herrührt.


(JE) 3 - Who is the creator or creators of games you appreciate the most? Why?

(JE) 3 - Wer sind die Hersteller ihrer Lieblingsspiele? Was macht diese Spiele besonders?


(UR) I really like the games of Ystari, Splotter Speelen and Alea and especially the games of Francis Tresham – I see him as my role model. My philosophy in creating games is similar to Friedemann Friese, Rüdiger Dorn and William Attia. One big point in games that I like is the possibility to be as deep as possible in the game and forget about what is outside the game I play. I like to plan what to do next, but I don’t like games, if they allow to destroy my plans clumsy, e.g. by simple and direct attacks.


(UR) Ich mag die Spiele von Ystari, Splotter Speelen und Alea. Mein Vorbild unter den Erfindern ist Francis Tresham. Meine Philosophie, Spiele zu erfinden, ähnelt der von Friedemann Friese, Rüdiger Dorn und William Attia. Besonders an den Spielen ist der Tiefgang, die Tatsache, dass ich bei vielen Spielen alles um mich herum vergesse. Ich plane beim Spielen gerne. Was ich nicht mag, ist, wenn Spiele es ermöglichen, dass meine Pläne plump und destruktiv durchkreuzt werden können - z. B. durch simple und direkte Angriffe.



(JE) 4 – Following on from the previous question, who are your favourite illustrators?

(JE) 4 - Im Anschluss an die vorherige Frage, wer ist/sind Ihre Lieblingsillustrator/en und warum?



(UR) Do you want to hear Klemens Franz as my answer? He is a little bit like our home graphic artist and belongs to my most beloved illustrators. But I also like graphics, that look like computer graphics, like from Michael Menzel and Andrea Boekhoff.


(UR) Sie wollen, dass ich Klemens Franz antworte? Er ist so etwas wie unser Hausgrafiker und zählt sicherlich dazu. Ich genieße aber auch Illustrationen, die Computerspielgrafiken nahe kommen, wie die von Michael Menzel und Andrea Boekhoff.



(JE) 5 - For a game to become one of your favourites, which are the ingredients it needs to have? Explain to us why.

(JE) 5 - Was muss ein Spiel haben, um in Ihren Augen richtig gut zu sein? Welche Bestandteile machen es zu einem Ihrer Lieblingsspiele?



(UR) The Graphics – for me as a gamer - are not the parts, that makes the game. As I said before, I prefer games, where it’s not possible to attack your opponents. On the other hand I like games, which have been fully tested until the end – not like some games of 2oo7, with great ideas and great bugs. The games have to be tested through all extreme situations and winning strategies. Not many gamers can do this job, so it’s necessary for companies with challenging games to stay in contact with these gamers.


(UR) Die Grafik eher nicht. Die ist mir als Spieler unwichtig. Wie gesagt, ich ziehe Spiele vor, bei denen man seine Gegner nicht direkt angreifen kann. Ansonsten muss ein Spiel zu Ende erfunden sein. Gerade über manche Spiele des Jahrgangs 2007 habe ich mich geärgert. Es handelte sich um grandiose Erfindungen mit teilweise erheblichen Bugs. Die Spiele müssen auf Extrem- und Gewinnstrategien geprüft werden. Dies können leider nur die besten Spieler. Kontakt zu diesen zu halten, ist die Pflicht eines jeden Verlages für anspruchsvolle Spiele.



(JE) 6 - What do you think about the increase in the publication of new games during the last few years?

(JE) 6 - Was denken Sie über die erhöhte Anzahl von Neuerscheinungen in der Spielewelt während der letzten Jahre?



(UR) The plurality of games doesn’t matter at all. In rivalry to the computer games, it’s not the best idea for the best board games to be published overhasty. Board games hat to be long time seller and therefore they had to be fully optimized and error free.

(UR) Die Vielzahl der Spiele spielt keine Rolle. In Konkurrenz zu den Computerspielen tut es den Gesellschaftsspielen aber nicht gut, wenn die wirklich guten Spiele voreilig verlegt werden. Spiele müssen das Zeug haben, Long-time-Seller zu werden. Und dafür müssen sie durchoptimiert und fehlerfrei sein.



(JE) 7 – How did you come up with the idea to create Agricola?

(JE) 7 - Wie sind Sie auf die Idee gekommen, Agricola zu entwerfen?



(UR) Caylus (Ystari) form William Attia was one of the most popular games of the fall 2oo5. I have played this game for 2 weeks every evening, because it was so fascinating. Over the day I was thinking about a new game of my own. In Caylus you choose to set 1 worker in 1 special field to get the action of this field. Every round there will be a few more fields to raise the possibilities in the game – but the amount of workers was always the same, and that’s what I don’t like. I was thinking about a theme, where a small and controlled increasement in workers is possible. I don’t wont a mechanic, where you can as many workers as you like. If I have a married couple in my game, there could be a small increase in workers and it’s controlleable. Btw: Do you know, that Agricola will be published in China too? Even at the end of the year 2oo7, I was thinking about my impressions in Caylus. My newest game (after AGRICOLA) – named LE HAVRE – will be published in the autum of 2oo8. It’s designed to be nearer to CAYLUS than AGRICOLA.


(UR) Caylus (Ystari) von William Attia war die beliebteste Neuerscheinung des Herbstes 2005. Mich hat dieses Spiel so gefesselt, dass ich es zwei Wochen lang jeden Abend gespielt habe. Tagsüber habe ich mir dann Gedanken zu einem eigenen Spieleentwurf gemacht. Bei Caylus setzen die Spieler reihum genau 1 Arbeiter auf vorgefertigte Aktionsfelder wie „Nimm 1 Holz“ oder „Errichte 1 Gebäude“. Jede Runde kommen neue Aktionsfelder und damit mehr Möglichkeiten ins Spiel, nur leider verändert sich die Zahl der Arbeiter nie. Dies störte mich. Ich überlegte, bei welchem Thema ein begrenzter, kontrollierter Personenzuwachs, gerechtfertigt sei. Das Anheuern von Arbeitern zählt doch eher zu den unbegrenzten Zuwachsmöglichkeiten. Als Ehepaar dagegen Nachwuchs zu zeugen, ist zeitlich begrenzt. Und kontrollierbar. Habe ich schon erwähnt, dass Agricola jetzt auch in China erscheinen wird? Auch Ende 2007 mich ließen die Caylus-Eindrücke nicht los. Mein Agricola-Nachfolgespiel, Le Havre, es erscheint im Herbst 2008, ist sogar noch etwas näher bei Caylus als Agricola selbst.


(JE) 8 – Did you expect such a huge reception of your game in Essen 2007?

(JE) 8 - Haben sie damit gerechnet, dass das Spiel 2007 so gut ankommen würde in Essen?



(UR) I haven’t expected, that most of the people like AGRICOLA that much. I also haven’t expected, that there are still a lot of people that have been at the Essen Fair 2oo7 and don’t know anything about AGRICOLA. We have to do a bit more in advertising to let everybody know, that there is a booth in hall 9 that where we and our games are.

(UR) Ich habe nicht damit gerechnet, dass es so ziemlich jedem, der es sich angeguckt hat, auch gefallen würde. Ich habe aber auch nicht gedacht, dass es so viele Leute gab, die vier Tage auf der Messe waren, und denen das Spiel bis zum Ende der Messe gar nicht aufgefallen ist. An unserer Werbung im Vorfeld der Messe müssen wir noch arbeiten. Leider ist unser Stand in Halle 9 auch nicht so leicht zu finden.


(JE) 9 – Did you think it was possible that Agricola could take the lead from Puerto Rico (Alea) in the number 1 BGG ranking? Does this achievement have any meaning for you?

(JE) 9 - Hielten Sie es für möglich, dass Agricola Puerto Rico (Alea) im BGG-Ranking schlagen könnte? Was bedeutet dieser Erfolg für Sie?



(UR) The editor of Alea, Stefan Brück, told me in 2oo7, that this will be possible in 2oo8. From that time on I was dreaming to reach the 2nd place, because I think, that the number one wasn’t beatable. Every vote of a 9 and a 10 für AGRICOLA @ BGG means a lot to me, as they are sign for me, that I have make those persons the live a little bit more fun with my game.

(UR) Der Redakteur von Alea, Stefan Brück, sagte mir dieses Ereignis 2007 für Ende 2008 voraus. Fortan träumte ich von einem zweiten Platz, der erste hingegen erschien mir weiterhin unerreichbar. Zur zweiten Frage. Jede 9 und jede 10, die ich auf BGG bekommen habe, bedeutet mir fiel, sind diese Noten doch ein Hinweis darauf, dass ich den Menschen, die diese Bewertung abgegeben haben, ihr Leben ein wenig verschönert habe.



(JE) 10 – Was there any funny situation related with the creative process of Agricola you could share with us?

(JE) 10 - Gibt es vielleicht ein paar lustige Anekdoten die Sie uns mitteilen möchten aus der Zeit, als Sie an Agricola arbeiteten?



(UR) We had to test the game for a very long period, but I can’t remember any funny situation. I have played the game for a month only by myself, but after my first play with real players, I don’t like to play the game alone any longer. Maybe it’s now a quirk of me, to let nobody take a look at a new project in the first few weeks. Some day it happends, that my wife Susanne decides to visit a girl, friend of her, to play AGRICOLA, because I was playing my new LE HAVRE by my own the whole day. I think it wasn’t funny for her, but LE HAVRE was only a prototype and playing it at this point can’t be fun to anybody.


(UR) Die Testphase zog sich zwar über einen langen Zeitraum hin, aber an etwas Lustiges kann ich mich leider nicht erinnern. Ich hatte mich im Vorfeld einen Monat lang zurückgezogen habe, um das Spiel alleine vor mich hin zu spielen. Nach der ersten richtigen Partie mochte ich es nicht mehr alleine spielen. Jetzt fürchte ich, dass es zu meiner Marotte geworden ist, in den ersten Wochen niemanden Einblick in mein Projekt zu gewähren. So kam es bei Le Havre vor, dass meine Frau, Susanne, sich zu einer Freundin zum Agricola-Spielen einlud, weil ich den ganzen Tag lieber alleine vor mich hin spielen wollte. Lustig fand Susanne dies bestimmt nicht, aber Le Havre wäre auch noch zu unfertig gewesen, wenn sie es sich hätte so frühzeitig ansehen wollen.


(JE) 11 – What is your favourite moment in the game creation process? Why?

(JE) 11 - Wenn sie an einem neuen Spiel arbeiten, was ist Ihr Lieblingsmoment? Bitte beschreiben Sie, warum.



(UR) The strongest feelings are those feelings, which are called „Flash of genius“. The one moment with the main idea. Inventing BABEL (Kosmos) there was that special moment, when I had the idea of the “Völkerwanderung”, while I was sitting in the living room of my friend Hagen – the cards were on the table and I told him this idea. In the development of AGRICOLA, there was none of this special moments.


(UR) Die intensivsten Gefühle sind die, die die Forschung „flash of genius” nennt: der Moment, der entscheidenden Idee. Bei Babel (Kosmos) kann ich mich heute noch gut an den Moment erinnern, als mir die Idee zur „Völkerwanderung“ kam: wie ich bei meinem Freund Hagen im Wohnzimmer saß, wie die Karten auf dem Tisch lagen, wie ich ihm von der Idee erzählte. Bei Agricola hat es einen solchen entscheidenden Moment leider nicht gegeben.



(JE) 12 - With the 2008 edition of Essen, there will also be a new game - Le Havre. How do you think the players will receive your new creation?

(JE) 12 - In Essen werden sie 2008 ein neues Spiel vorstellen, Le Havre. Wie glauben Sie, wird es ankommen?



(UR) I hope, that the friends of complex games, also like LE HAVRE. But the target audience is a bit smaller than for AGRICOLA, even if the rules are explained faster.

(UR) Ich hoffe, es wird den Freunden von aufwendigen Spielen gefallen. Die Zielgruppe fällt leider etwas kleiner aus, als bei Agricola, auch wenn die Regeln schneller erklärt sind.



(JE) 13 - If you could create an advertising slogan to promote Le Havre, what would it be?

(JE) 13 - Wie würden Sie Le Havre mit einem Satz beschreiben?




(UR) A game of harbours, where it’s easy to build buildings and important to build ships. Building materials and other goods accumulate, until they were taken.

(UR) Ein Hafenspiel, bei dem Gebäudebau leicht und Schiffsbau wichtig ist. Baustoffe und andere Waren häufen sich auf Angebotsfeldern an, bis sie genommen werden.


(JE) 14 - Can we expect any similarities between Agricola and Le Havre?

(JE) 14 - Wird es Parallelen zwischen Agricola und Le Havre geben?




(UR) Definetly YES. While designing new and big games, I like to transfer mechanics from 1 game to another. In the year 2005 the game Vor den Toren von Loyang has already parts of the harvest mechanism of the game Antiquity (Splotter Spellen) and Agricola was following a few month later. In Agricola the goods came constantly at the beginning of each round into the game, they only have to be taken by the players. In Le Havre they came only step by step, like in Mercator (my 4.th big game), but in Mercator the goods depends on, what’s happened in the turn before, in LeHavre they were fix. The commonness in Agricola and Le Havre is, that there were new Actions added in the process of the game. This idea was from the game Caylus and Le Havre is slightly nearer to Caylus than Agricola, because it belongs to the player, which new actions come into the game. In Agricola they were only turned over in a fix order. All these 3 games have the commonness that there are fields to perform actions and fields to get new goods.

(UR) Definitiv ja. In meiner Reihe von großen Spielen habe ich Mechanismen gerne von einem Spiel mit ins nächste Spiel übernommen. Vor den Toren von Loyang aus dem Frühjahr 2005 hatte bereits den Erntemechanismus aus Antiquity (Splotter Speelen), der wenige Monate später in Agricola „Aussäen“ und „Ackerphase“ hieß. In Agricola kamen regelmäßig Waren ins Spiel, die vom Spieler einfach nur genommen werden mussten. Die Waren wurden zu Rundenbeginn aufgefüllt. Bei Le Havre plätschern die Waren von Zug zu Zug auf die Angebotsfelder. So auch bei Mercator, meinem großen Spiel Nummer 4, nur dass in Le Havre fest vorgeschrieben wurde, welche Waren ins Spiel kommen, bei Mercator sind die neuen Waren immer vom vorangehenden Spielzug abhängig. Agricola und Le Havre haben die Gemeinsamkeit, dass neue Aktionsfelder im Laufe der Partie hinzukommen. Dieser Spielmotor hat das Spiel Caylus zum Vorbild. Le Havre kommt dem Original dabei noch näher als Agricola, da Spieler die neuen Aktionsgebäude durch eigene Aktionen ins Spiel bringen, während die Aktionskarten bei Agricola nur aufgedeckt werden. Caylus, Agricola und Le Havre haben alle drei gemeinsam, dass es zum einen Felder gibt, auf denen man Waren erhält, und zum anderen solche, auf den man Aktionen durchführt.



(JE) 15 - Have you ever been to Portugal? Do you know our country?

(JE) 15 - Waren sie schon einmal in Portugal? Kennen Sie das Land?



(UR) My sister has told me enthusiastic from her journey to the Algarve and 10 years ago, a girlfriend of mine has been in Portugal for a hole year. 10 to 15 letters I have written to stay in contact with her. But I’m not the person, who travels round and round, but I have been to Austria, Kroatia, Tschechien, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, England, Ireland, Indonesia and Singapore – that’s all.


(UR) Meine Schwester hat begeistert von ihrem Urlaub an der Algarve berichtet. Und vor zehn Jahren ging eine gute Freundin für ein Jahr nach Portugal, da habe ich 10 bis 15 Briefe nach Lissabon geschickt. Ansonsten bin ich nicht so der Urlauber. Österreich, Kroatien Tschechien, Dänemark, die Niederlande, Frankreich, England, Irland, Singapur und Indonesien. Mehr Länder habe ich in meinem Leben noch nicht gesehen.


(JE) 16 – Would the topics of the Portuguese discoveries of the XV and XVI centuries (eg Goa (Hans im Glück) - Rüdiger Dorn) sound a good theme for one of your future games?

(JE) 16 - Wären die Entdeckungsreisen des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts durch die Portugiesen (wie z.B. in Goa (Hans im Glück), dem Spiel von Rüdiger Dorn) ein interessantes Thema für zukünftige Spielideen?



(UR) My co-author Hagen is a specialist on this sector. He is working on a prototype like this since 1 year. Basically I have a little problem this classical ship games, when the ship is only sailing from A to B to C and to somewhere else. At the end, you have played 10 minutes and not much happened on the game board beside the ship is now in harbour Z and a few goods have moved. When doing a game about development, this theme could fit.

(UR) Namentlich Hagen, mein Co-Autor, ist ein Experte auf dem Gebiet. Er hat seit Jahren ein Prototyp zu diesem Thema in Arbeit. Grundsätzlich habe ich ein Problem mit klassischen Schiffsspielen. Ein Schiff fährt von A nach B, von B nach C, von C nach D usw. Am Ende sind zehn Minuten vergangen. Und was ist auf dem Spielplan passiert? Das Schiff ist von A nach Z gefahren. Ein paar Waren haben sich bewegt. Sonst nichts. Als Aufbauspiel könnte ich mir das Thema schon vorstellen.



(JE) 17 – And what about Lookout Games? What are the projects for the future?

(JE) 17 - Was sind Ihre Pläne mit Lookout Games? Gibt es weitere Projekte in näherer Zukunft?



(UR) My plan is to continue, what have been started with Agricola and Le Havre. Loyang and Mercator are almost finished and for my work at Ora et labora (a game about abbeys) I back out in December. We’ll see, which of these games Hanno likes to see at Lookout – I would like to publish them all.


(UR) Mein Plan ist, die Agricola-, Le Havre-Reihe fortzusetzen. Loyang und Mercator sind so ziemlich fertig. Für Ora et labora, ein Spiel über Klosterwirtschaft, ziehe ich mich im Dezember zurück. Welche von diesen Spielen Hanno gerne bei Lookout sehen wird, wird die Zukunft zeigen. Ich selbst würde sie alle drei verlegen wollen.



(JE) 18 – Finally, Uwe Rosenberg, what are your plans for the future? Could you give us a hint on what you are preparing?


(JE) 18 - Herr Rosenberg, welche Pläne haben Sie für die Zukunft? Verraten Sie uns, woran Sie gerade arbeiten?



(UR) It’s time to prepare the Essen fair. Actually I don’t work on games, beside a little brainstorming for my project Frauen und Männer (Kosmos). It has to continue with Ora et labora and maybe I have the chance to attend the illustration of Loyang and Mercator.


(UR) Es ist die Zeit der Messevorbereitung. Ich arbeite im Moment gar nicht an Spielen, wenn ich von ein wenig Brainstorming für mein Projekt Frauen und Männer (Kosmos) absehe. Mit Ora et labora soll es weitergehen. Ansonsten hoffe ich, die Illustrationsarbeiten an Loyang und Mercator begleiten zu können.




(JE) - To conclude this interview I would like to thank you on behalf of the group that develops the blog JogoEu, for your kindness in granting us this interview and wish you all the best for the future!
Thank you very much!

(JE) - Im Namen der Gruppe, die JogoEU, entwickelt möchte ich mich ganz herzlich für dieses Interview bedanken. Wir wünschen Ihnen alles Gute für Ihre Zukunft.
Vielen Dank! Ich danke auch.

(UR) - Thank you!

Interview with Michael Menzel

It is always great fun for us when we invite someone connected to the world of board games and then they accept our invitation.

This time we decided to launch a challenge to great illustrator Michael Menzel. He accepted immediately and we are very grateful for his kindness!

The following is the interview, we hope you enjoy!

JE: Do you also enjoy playing boardgames frequently or your mainly interest is to creating illustrations for the boardgame?

MM:The main interest is to illustrate. But I like playing, too. In my opinion you need both to illustrate a game. You have to get a feeling for the "soul" of a game. How does it feels when you play it (small and tricky, big and cinematic, funny...). It's good when the artwork transports this feeling.

JE: You always seem to be able to recreate the sense of atmosphere and flavor of a particular period related to the boardgame and that is great. What we e mean is, for example, in 'Thurn und Taxis´ you really feel that you belong to international mail and postal services in Europe in the 16th century. How can you do it? Do you spend several time doing historical research?

MM:I think many illustrators use public libaries and the internet to learn as much as possible about the historical enviromant of a game. Sometimes we get help from the publishers, who feed us with material. In the case of "Thurn und Taxis" I had the big pleasure to work directly with the Thurn und Taxis-Museum in Regensburg. They gave me research-stuff I would have never found in any public libary.
Research is great. I can learn so much about history while doing my job. A good knowledge about the setting is the necessary foundation for a good and atmospheric Artwork.

JE: You are, clearly, an adept of painture. How do you prefer to work: the traditional way, or do you use any digital software?

MM: I work nearly 99 % digital. Even first sketches are made on the computer. Some people call it "digital painting". It's funny, but I don't use any Photoshop filters and some how this way of working is very "traditional" because it really feels like painting but using digital colour. This method saves a lot of soap :-)
Years before I've used many techniques and materials (oilcolour, watercolour, pencil...). I like all of them and on holiday I only take a sketchbook and some pencils with me just to get back to roots.

JE: Your work is always very realistic. What do you prefer to work on: portraits (characters) or landscapes (boards)?

MM:I enjoy both. In earlier years I always drew figures. I thought it was boring to draw landscapes and backgrounds. This has changed. It's very challenging for me today to paint landscapes and I'm allways very glad if it worked well. I'm still learning.

JE: Which are your influences?

MM:Before illustrating games I learned a lot by watching paintings from Henry Matisse and August Macke. I think the bright compositions when do a familygame-cover are influenced by them. I also like the style of John Howe and Allen Lee the brilliant lord of the ring illustrators. And in gameartwork the biggest influence came from Franz Vohwinkel. He is still one of the most talented illustrators for games and in my eyes he is the one who developed this kind job.

JE: How about your working methods? How many time do you spend on each step?

MM:It's not possible to discribe a typical process, because it's allways different. Sometimes I'm included in the game developing process while the publisher is still looking for a setting and I am able to help with coversketches for different settings to find out what fits best. Sometimes a game is illustrated completely in 1,5 mounth like "Aqua Romana" some need 1,5 years like "Pillars of the earth". Maybe that's a reason why it's still such a great fun to illustrate games and why it's never getting boring.

JE: In your research for "Shogun", you must have seen a lot of japanese engravings. What's your opinion on flat colors, so akin to oriental culture?

MM:When I started with the project Queen Games decided not to use the typical japanese style. We wanted to make it rather coloured and powerful than too historical and heavy.
In this case I really have to commend the work of Queen Games. Shogun had to be done in a very short time (for such a big project). I thought it was impossible but Bernd Dietrich did all the research and served it to me. Dirk and Barbara Henn did the research for the map and found out the original names of the regions in this period of japan. Great teamwork!


JE: Now, the inevitable question… Are you working in something new? Could you tell us something? The thematic, the publisher, the designer… anything!

MM: Sorry, but I cannot tell anything until the publishers have done before. But I'll promise to give more background info to you, to some of the games, when the publishers made them public, ok?

JE: Which is your bigger dream?

MM: To illustrate and to define the look of a big and really innvotive fantasystory.

JE: Let’s play! Define in only one word…

MM:
Draw – still learning
Games – fun
The designer – Reiner Knizia (because I enjoy the cooperative "Lord of the Rings" so much. It's great!)
The perfect project until now – Pillars of the earth
Meat or fish? – meat
Sun or rain? – rain
Work or holidays? – work

JE: Ok. Finished now! We want to thank you very much for your kindness. We wish the best for you Mr. Menzel!

MM: Thanks a lot for your interest. All the best to you and your readers.

Michael Menzel