2007 Designer of the Year
Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for Boardgame News about selecting the designer who I felt had the best body of work for the 2007 calendar year (you can find the whole article here: http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comment...). What I found was that there were no designers who had what I'd call a great output last year and narrowed the process down to three who each put out two very good games. I opted to go for a three-way tie, a decision that some felt was indecisive. But I really think the accomplishments of all three of them were very even last year.
Anyway, maybe the members of the Geek can help out. I've listed the three nominees below (one of them is two person team), together with their games from last year. I'd like you to vote for the nominee you think is most deserving by giving it a thumb.
Here are some ground rules, or at least the rules I've chosen to impose on myself for the process. The idea is to honor the designer with the greatest body of work last year, not the one who created the single best game. I try to remove my personal feelings about the designs as much as possible; instead, I'm relying more on how I think the gaming world views their creations. Of course, you don't have to be bound by this restriction. I personally know very little about the world of wargames, so I exclude hardcore wargames from my consideration (but, as you will see, more Euro-style games of conflict are eligible). Everything else is included, including Euros, Ameritrash, card games, dexterity games, children's games, RPGs, CCGs--you name it. I used these guidelines to come up with these three nominees. Tell me which ones you think had the best body of work by thumbing the designer entry (not one of the games). Let's see if as a group, we can come to a consensus that I couldn't reach on my own!
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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Stefan Feld published his first game in 2005, but he has already made his presence felt in the world of gaming. His earlier achievements include the excellent two-player game Roma and the big-box Alea title Rum & Pirates. His two designs from last year give him three Alea games, a rare and enviable achievement.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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Many declared that this game showed that "Alea was back". This is a strong middleweight which appeals to a wide variety of gamers and is in the Top 50 in the Geek ratings. It makes great use of the "card passing" mechanic found in some CCG drafts. It finished second in the DSP voting, and got an SdJ recommendation and an IGA nomination.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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This brutal design had limited exposure until Rio Grande released the English version about a month ago. Since then, it's been climbing up the charts and should break into the Top 100 in a week or so. Players must choose the actions and personalities that will allow them to best deal with a randomly chosen set of disasters. The game features great replayability and multiple paths to victory.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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Tom Lehmann began releasing his own games from his small publishing house of Prism Games back in the early nineties. His games are known for their depth and their many balanced strategies. Beginning with 2002's Pizarro & Co., he has had success in placing his designs with German publishers. Other notable Lehmann games include Fast Food Franchise, 2038, and To Court the King.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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This quick playing sci-fi themed card game has taken the gaming world by storm recently and blasted its way into the Geek's Top 20. There are some similarities to San Juan (a game Lehmann worked on), but the scope and depth of play are richer and much more varied. It has developed a fanatical following and some report playing it almost daily. This should be a strong contender for some of the Game of the Year awards later in the year.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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This game took its inspiration from TimJim's Outpost, but it's a more distilled and much shorter game than that classic design. Players must acquire technologies in auctions to set up both an economic and a VP-producing engine. Play is intense and the strategies are many and varied. Some problems with the rules and production values have hurt the ratings for this one, but a number of well known gamers list it in their Top Ten games of 2007.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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This is an entry for the joint designing team of Christian Petersen and Corey Konieczka. Petersen launched Fantasy Flight Games to produce his designs and has overseen its growth into one of the great game publishers of the day. His designs include A Game of Thrones, World of Warcraft, and all three editions of Twilight Imperium. Konieczka, like Feld, is a newcomer to game design. Prior to last year, he was best known for contributing to the design of FFG's Warrior Knights remake.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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This successful porting of the extremely popular computer game has earned excellent ratings since its release and should soon enter the Geek's Top 50. Players do battle on a number of planets and must take advantage of the available tech tree to impose their will upon their opponents. Up to three races are available, all with different abilities. There is also a hidden order system reminiscent of A Game of Thrones.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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This is as close to a wargame as I'm liable to consider for my Designer of the Year competition. It's a tactical level World War II design noted for its accessibility to non-Grognards. Its many design innovations have pushed it solidly into the Geek's Top 50. Petersen and Konieczka co-designed the game with another FFG in-house designer, John Goodenough.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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Is there another designer who you think is more deserving than one of these three nominees? If so, let me know who you would choose in the comments for this entry. 2007 did produce some terrific games, including Agricola, 1960, Age of Empires, and Brass. But the designers of these games had no other designs to bolster their resumes. Still, you may think that one of these games represents enough of a "body" of work to qualify its creator as Designer of the Year, or maybe you have another choice in mind. You make the call!
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Maybe not completely in accordance with your rules, but I'd like to nominate Delonge nevertheless.
Franz-Benno Delonge's last game Container was published last year. It's possibly one of the best available economic games. Delonge died of cancer in September, a few weeks before the publication of Container.
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Mik Svellov
Denmark
Copenhagen N
EU
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With three games and two expansions - all of which are very good - Michael Rieneck deserves a spot here as well.
Although he published his first game back in 1999 (DruidenWalzer), he really first became wellknown when he was 'robbed' of the Spiel des Jahres in 2005 for Around the World in 80 Days.
Last year he reached new heights with his second game in Kosmos 'Literature in Games'-series The Pillars of the Earth, which won several prizes, including the Deutscher Spielepreis.
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Mik Svellov
Denmark
Copenhagen N
EU
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One of the better games from Adlung Spiele, this has been overlooked by many. But it really deserves a wider spread!
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14.
Board Game: Cuba
[Average Rating:7.30 Overall Rank:162]
Mik Svellov
Denmark
Copenhagen N
EU
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Dismissed by some as a 'lighter Puerto Rico' - the game is a beautiful variant of the popular 'merchant game', and it is certainly good enough to stand on its own.
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Mik Svellov
Denmark
Copenhagen N
EU
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Fun variant of the Yatzee-style dice games!
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Mik Svellov
Denmark
Copenhagen N
EU
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Not only does this expansion enable you to play with up to 6 players (with a very clever system to 'slide' two additional players seemless into the game) - but it also improves on the original game for 3-4 players by adding new cards and action spaces.
Thus making it an essential puchase for all fans of the original!
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Mik Svellov
Denmark
Copenhagen N
EU
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Maybe not essential - but the extra cards brings even more variety into this popular game.
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For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
Seattle
Washington
Manassas
Virginia