There was an interesting geeklist on BGG recently (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/156885) asking everyone to name a designer, and the game you consider to be his or her masterpiece. While the subjective question is interesting, we thought it would be more interesting to think about the question objectively – which game from each designer stands out the most? So Joe Huber and Larry Levy put together an initial list and started a discussion on the matter. One thing which surprised both of us – since we often fail to see eye to eye about games – is that we agreed far more often than we disagreed. So we thought it might be interesting to bring the discussion to the broader spectrum of Opinionated Gamers. Matt Carlson, Liga, Dale, and Jeff Allers also chimed in with their thoughts on the matter.
One difficulty in turning this into an article was deciding which designers to include and which to leave out. In general, we aimed to include every designer with enough published games to facilitate a discussion. As you’ll see, that turned into quite a voluminous list. You have our apologies in advance if we didn’t cover your favorite designer.
Obviously, a key concept is how each of the authors defines the word “masterpiece” for this exercise. To help you interpret our reasoning, here are definitions from each of us:
for portability, rewards skill but has elements of luck, and is even cheap enough so that new fans can easily obtain a copy. There have been many occasions where I foist this game off on new gamers to have them remark “I have never seen a game like this before!” I then respond explaining there is an entire world of other games out there that they have not yet seen. One of the best aspects of No Thanks! is its quick learning curve. After a single round of play, most players have a firm grasp of how to play. After a few more, players are again revising their strategies and increasing their skill. Thus, within the scope of about a half an hour, not only have players learned a new game but they’re starting to develop new strategies and implement them effectively. If that isn’t going to turn someone into a long-term gamer, they’re probably not going to turn.
Masterpiece, Part 2
Yesterday, we started to choose the masterpiece of a bunch of different game designers. That is, which game is that designer’s most notable one? The idea is to make this be an objective list and to keep our personal likes and dislikes out of it. Anyway, here’s another 20 or so designers and the games we think stand out for each of them.
Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge & Peter Olotka – Cosmic Encounter
Joe: The Eon team designed a wide variety of very innovative games during their peak – but none which stands out nearly so much as Cosmic Encounter. While it’s certainly possible to make an argument for Dune as their greatest achievement, Cosmic is clearly their masterpiece.
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