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Jaime "Jason Rider" Polo
Spain
S/C de Tenerife
Tenerife
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Don Eskridge is the designer of the social game "The Resistance". A great game and we have talk with his designer to talk about the game and his new projects.
Now you can read the interview:
How do you start at the boardgames?
I first started playing games when I was very young, not sure exactly. I remember playing Connect Four over and over in elementary school. I really loved that game. I remember an exciting Connect Four tournament we had in the 4th grade. I made it to the final match, then lost and fell over backward in my chair.
Which was your first game that you get as a gift or you bought?
Probably the first ‘modern’ board game that I bought was Tamsk, of the GIPF series. A new board game store had opened up in town, and it had a large, cool looking-box so I tried it out. Turned out not to not really match my taste, but every other game in the series has really satisfied me. Before long I tried Catan, Carcassone, and on it goes…
How much time do you use in a week for boardgames?
Well, I recently took a job at a board game company (Happy Baobab games) in Seoul, Korea, so I’d say I spent quite a lot of time on games these days. I work on new projects daily as well as help bring their current products to the international market. It’s very fun and a lot of work. It’s great to spend my daily time working on something that I love.
How much time do you spend to finish a game (idea, test...)?
It always just depends on the game, and how strong the initial concept is. Most of the Resistance came to me in a short flash, the core concepts I mean. After that, I spent around a year playing it occasionally, working out the balance, the number of people to trust for each mission. The hardest part decision may have been the “round 4 double sabotage” rule. I spent ages working on the very simplest way to make the game less difficult for the Resistance, while keeping the rules as simple as possible. That was my solution, and I think it works pretty well.
What can you tell us about your first games?
Probably like a lot of early designers, I made simple card and abstract strategy games. I had a true love affair with Connect Four. I made so many versions of that. I made a cylindrical version, a “Super Connect Four” which was literally four sets of the game super-glued together, and even a completely 3-d version. You can see them all on BGG if you look on the Connect Four page and check the pictures. I was interested in both carpentry and game design when I was younger, so this was a great combination of the ideas. I also made an abstract strategy game called Colors when I was about 16, which I’m still proud of and would like to see published.
How did you get the idea to make the game The Resistance? How do you get the idea to change the mechanic of these type of games and make resistance?
I was sitting in the back of a lecture hall, doodling on a notebook, thinking about how to make Werewolf better than Werewolf. It’s a great game, but has some obvious problems. I knew there had to be a way. At some point the basic idea of choosing who TO trust, rather than who not to trust, just appeared. That very next day (or maybe that night) I was play-testing a basic version of the game with the kids at the camp, and they really had fun. I wonder if they know the game was published…
Do you play your own games?
Yes, definitely. I love to play Resistance as much as I can, and also the other projects I’m working on. If you give me 5+ players, I’ll definitely suggest it
Do you have any new expansion for this game?
I’m working on an expansion right now, currently entitled The Resistance: Hostile Expansion. The publisher and I hope to release it in the not-too-far future, but can’t say a date for now.
If you could design a game in the history of games... which one would be that one?
Tough question. Do you mean an already made game that I wish I had designed? If so… maybe Cosmic Encounter? It’s pretty awesome because it combines tons of social play with some real strategy, and huge variety with the different races. I would play that game all the time if I could get the people to join me.
If you mean a game that might have a PLACE in the history of games… I’ve always thought it would be great to invent a game whose board and pieces were so clear and natural that when people see the game, they know how to play without any explanation, as it somehow mirrors some essential truth of life or nature. Hopefully it would also be a great game.
Which other desinger do you admire?
I don’t really admire specific designers but rather specific projects. I had mire Klaus Teuber for Catan, Tom Lehmann for Race for the Galaxy, Kris Burm for the GIPF series, Uwe Rosenberg for Bohnanza, Sid Sackson for I’m the Boss. With the exception of RFTG and GIPF (which are simply brilliant systems), I mostly love games that get people talking with each other, experiencing unique emotions and novel interactions they can’t have in daily life.
Can you tell us your top 5 games?
It simply depends on the people I’m playing with and the type of interactions we’re looking for, but to provide a diverse list:
Settlers of Catan (with all expansions), Bohnanza, RFTG, GIPF (Dvonn, if I have to choose), and Cosmic Encounter
What was the last game that you played and you get addicted?
I can’t usually get addicted to games because I don’t have that many opportunities to play exactly the games I want, but my girlfriend really loves Jambo with both expansions, so we’ve been playing that a ton recently.
Any future proyect?
Sure, always thinking of something. My heart is in social games, so if you see my name on a box in the near future, be prepared to be looking at the other players most of the time, rather than at the components.
Any advise for the new designers?
There are a million things to say, but a few rules I follow myself:
1.Test quickly and listen to feedback.
2.Fight downtime with merciless fist.
3.Keep players engaged not in the system, but with each other through the system.
4.Design simply. Use natural human tendencies to create situations that allow players to form their own logical and emotional complexity.
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