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James J. St. Laurent Passes Away

Posted by W. Eric Martin

Industry News

11 Aug 2011

W. Eric Martin

(W Eric Martin)

United States
Apex
North Carolina

Designer James J. St. Laurent, whose only published design – Crude: The Oil Game from 1974 – was a highly-desired "grail" game for decades before Stronghold Games announced a new edition would appear in 2011, passed away on Monday, August 8. Stronghold Games has sent the following statement:

Quote:

It is with sadness that Stronghold Games acknowledges the passing of game designer, James St. Laurent. Mr St. Laurent had been battling an illness for some time, although bravely insisted upon being involved in the re-design and development of Crude: The Oil Game, known to some gamers as McMulti.

"In our time working with Jim, we found him to be pleasant, intelligent, and full of good ideas. We couldn't have hoped for a more rewarding experience, and his input was invaluable to the completion of his project," said Kevin Nesbitt.

Mr. St. Laurent leaves behind a legacy of family and friends and a special place in the hearts of boardgamers everywhere. He will be missed.

For the history of Crude and St. Laurent's thoughts on game design, head to this interview reprinted on BGG News.

11 Comments

Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:00 am

Post Comment

Stew Woods

(lokides)

Australia
Wellard
Western Australia

Sad news.

Hadn't seen the interview before - bizarre that Hexagames reprinted this without his permission.

Hopefully the Stronghold version will see Mr. St. Laurent gain the recognition he clearly deserves.

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:48 am
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I will not rest until Biblios is in the Top 100.

(stormseeker75)

United States
Budd Lake
New Jersey

Well I been watchin' while you been coughin, I've been drinking life while you've been nauseous, and so I drink to health while you kill yourself and I got just one thing that I can offer... Go on and save yourself and take it out on me

I'm just glad that he got to participate in the reprint. I'm sure it made him really happy to have his game available again.

RIP

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:02 pm
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David Reed

(deacondavid)

United States
College Station
Texas

How sad that he was not able to see the new authorized edition of his design on the market. I know that it has been said before, but it still bears repeating - kudos to Stronghold Games for their efforts to find him and do the right thing in getting this game back into print with his involvement.

Rest in Peace.

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:51 pm
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jefF, There are some who call me... DuneKitteh

(midnightmadness)

United States
Wood Dale
Illinois

Useless rollover, booya! Dune Kitty says, "deal with it."

deacondavid wrote:

Could not have put it better myself. While it's sad to know that he won't experience the joy of seeing the new game he worked on in print and on the shelves, at least he passed knowing that it was coming and having been able to contribute to the new edition. thumbsup

to Stronghold for righting that wrong.

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 2:56 pm
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Kevin Nesbitt

(otrex)

Canada
Ajax
Ontario

I can confirm that Jim was directly involved in the reworking of his game, and that he was very happy to know that the game would be reprinted.

The gameplay itself is something that Jim spent the last 30 years thinking about. The big criticism of the game was with the "doubles-rolling" dice element that changes the economy. An unusual number of doubles in the original version(s) can cause the economy to speed up far beyond the intended design.

Jim came up with, and statistically tested, a new method called a "dice difference track" where the two rolled dice are compared to see the difference between the two dice. A track is then added from 0-9 and each roll slowly (or quickly) pushes the marker up to 9. Upon hitting 9, the economy changes, and the track is reset.

I must tell you that Jim exhaustively researched the statistical implications of this new method, and based upon his presentation to me, I would think he had this new design in his back pocket for a couple decades! I saw chart after chart of statistical information, and was very impressed with his work in this regard. His new design statistically smoothes the economic changes in the game, and yields a much tighter game. Veterans of the game will be very impressed, and new players will find it a natural fit.

I can also tell you that Jim was very much looking forward to the reprint and spoke to his family often about it, right up until his passing. Though sadly he never got to see the final product, I know he was very much aware that the reprint is definitely moving ahead, and full of his direct design and development input.

We're proud to have worked with him and we dedicate our efforts to finish the production to his memory.

Edited Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:55 pm
Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:54 pm
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Byron Rocher

(slashlizard)

United States

Florida

Current Holder of FITZ the Cursing Dice!

As new to bgg, crude seems a great design, especially since it was originally designed in '74 --- does it make it as the father of "euro-style" games? if not, what does??

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:32 pm
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Jae

(Bagherra)

United States
Bryan
TX

slashlizard wrote:

As new to bgg, crude seems a great design, especially since it was originally designed in '74 --- does it make it as the father of "designer" games? if not, what does??

Crude is an excellent game, but certainly not the first of its kind. Sid Sackson, for example, has designs from the early sixties that have this style of design with examples like bazaar, acquire and venture. I've not done the research, but I'm sure we could go back further, still.

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:41 pm
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Byron Rocher

(slashlizard)

United States

Florida

Current Holder of FITZ the Cursing Dice!

thanks, it seems like acquire still garners some luv

Posted Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:26 pm
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Derek Carver

(Carver)

United Kingdom
Oxshott,
Surrey, UK

As the excited purchaser of CRUDE when it first appeared followed by much enjoyment in those far-off days I was indeed sorry to hear of the death of the designer/publisher. In fact, it is the first time I knew his name. I knew CRUDE was by St.Laurent Games, never realising that was his name.

And as for the surprise that Hexagames published it without his permission, believe me, in this particular case there is nothing at all surprising about that!!!

- Derek

Posted Sat Aug 13, 2011 2:30 pm
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Bob Menzel

(baub64)

United States
Montpelier
Vermont

Missed it by that much ...

Glad to know that he knew the reprint was coming, and that he was actively involved in reworking it, even if he didn't get to enjoy the actual unveiling of it.

Posted Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:11 pm
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Lee Fisher

(lfisher)

United States
Downingtown
Pennsylvania

This reminds me a bit of what happened with ~~Die Macher~~ Container.

It is also a shame he didn't get to do another game after this.

I look forward to Crude.

Edited Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:01 pm
Posted Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:58 am
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