Re: Settlers of Glorantha

From: Viktor Haag <vhaag_at_...>
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 11:34:05 -0500

Oliver D. Bernuetz writes:
> Donald Oddy said:
> >
> > Both Settlers and Carcassonne are good games but I don't see
> > how a Gloranthan version could be anything but the same game
> > with different artwork.
>
> Actualy now I'm thinking that a board game version of King of
> Dragon Pass might be interesting. I suspect it's doable but I
> don't really have any boardgame creation skills myself.

(Sigh: another thread that's only tangentially related to Hero Wars/Glorantha... my apologies)

Has anyone played Reiner Knizia's "Lord of the Rings" boardgame?

I think the nature of that game, much more than Settlers of Catan, would be ideal for a Gloranthan "Dragon Pass" epic quest kind of game.

And Knizia's a huge name (in the boardgame world).

Maybe someone could quietly approach him to see if he'd be interested in doing a boardgame for Glorantha, and having Greg license the background to him or the eventual boardgame publisher?

Unlike many game designers, which seem to work essentially for one design house, Knizia's games have been published by a wider number of publishers, including many North American game publishers/distributors (Mayfair, Rio Grande, Avalanche, Fantasy Flight).

Starting at the other end of the industry, there's Doris Matthäus and Frank Nestel (of Doris and Frank): they run a tiny board and card game company in southern Germany (perhaps their biggest hits have been Ursuppe and Urland), and Doris also does art for a wide variety of German-style boardgames. Their games are mostly available in Germany, but they also have a following in North America.

Perhaps they'd be interested in doing a boardgame using the Glorantha background as inspiration (and Doris' art could suit the background very well: most of the art on there own games is cartoony, but Doris is quite capable of doing beautiful and compelling "fantasy style" art as well: her artwork for the german edition of "Tigris and Euphrates" leaps immediately to mind) and some licensing deal could be reached there?

Striking a deal with a small company like Doris & Frank is likely to assist in keeping the game in print much longer than with a large publishing house (where old titles are regularly dropped in favour of "the hot new game").

Designing a good german-style boardgame is tricky and demanding, but a good result could create good synergy with the rolegame.

-- 
Viktor Haag : Software & Information Design : Research In Motion
                              +--+
   "After all, when it comes to Stevie Ray and Hendrix, we're
     talking about two of the greatest dead guitarists ever."