Ask Jay: A New Look for Lost Cities, Medieval Merchant, and…Rosenkönig?

Our second installment of Ask Jay looks at a few game redesigns, some artistic, some mechanistic—including one game that might come to Rio Grande thanks to my nosy self. Ask Jay won’t appear again for a few weeks since Jay Tummelson will be in Columbus at the Gathering of Friends, but add questions to this thread or submit them directly to the editor and I’ll ask the questions in person.

Rosenkönig
Q. Now that Kosmos is releasing a new edition of Rosenkönig, do you have any plans to release an English edition of the game?

A. I have always told Kosmos I was interested in doing the game if it was ever reprinted. I was not aware of their plans, but will ask them next week. Thanks for the heads-up.

A new look for Rosenkönig...

...and for Lost Cities (not to mention Dr. K’s first name)

Lost Cities
Q. Kosmos has also redesigned its packaging for Lost Cities. Will you be adopting this new look?

A. We discussed this at Nürnberg and I very much like the look. However, I would prefer to carry that look into the box and onto the cards and the board. I suggested that, but they have decided not to do that. As I think the new box clashes with the old cards and board, I plan to contract with the artist to create new card and board art and will use that when I next reprint later this year.

Medieval Merchant
Q. What changes are being made to Medieval Merchant prior to its rerelease?

A. The designer has suggested several changes, which I plan to incorporate including changes to the board and the costs of building from one city/town to another. I am still testing the proposed changes, but thus far have found them to work well and hope to have the game ready later this year.

La Citta
Q. Will the reissue of La Citta have the little figurines?

A. Yes, that is my plan as they have already been produced. We will use figures remaining left over from the original print run.

Power Grid
Q. Will the coming reprinting of Power Grid change anything about the board or cards?

A. No. I requested a straight reprint with no changes.

Q. Will any of the connection costs change?

A. None are planned.

That’s Life!
Q. Are there any plans to bring the Verflixxt! expansions (both the Pit freebie from Essen 2005 and Verflixxt Nochmal!) out in an English language edition?

A. I have told Ravensburger I am interested. So far, they have indicated they will not produce an international version, but I am hoping to change their mind on that later. I have played the expansion and think it adds a lot to the game and know others will like it as well.

Cartagena
Q. As a game player, do you have a preference among Cartagena II, Cartagena 2nd ed, and the original Cartagena?

A. I have not played the new game enough to develop an opinion, sorry.

Puerto Rico
Q. Any word on the Puerto Rico Expansion?  Can you give us any hints about what will be expanding?

A. Andreas has given me no info yet, sorry.

New releases
Q. Will you have RGG’s April releases on hand in Columbus for the Gathering of Friends?

A. I will have what I can, but fear the number will be very few. Not enough are completed yet.

Game redevelopment
Q. When a game has been published, such as Medieval Merchant, and there are changes, does the author always supply the changes?

A. In most cases, yes. The author has thoughts about how he would like changes in the game and suggests them.

Q. Is it playtested as if it were a new game?

A. Yes, the authors spend many hours checking their changes before proposing them to me.

Q. How does the process for publishing a revision differ from that for a new game?

A. That depends on the amount of graphic changes. If there are none, then it is just a reprint. If it is a complete rehaul, like Medici, then it is like starting over, except for the rules, which still have to be redone graphically.

Q. What changes in production have you made, or do you expect to make, to avoid major and minor errors from using overseas production (Industria, To Court the King, El Grande)?

As for the problems with El Grande, I have decided that my “experiment” in printing in China has failed and will likely not print there again. The support they offered me was too little and the savings in cost insufficient to balance the lack of service and support.

As for Industria, there were no “errors.” Queen made the choice to print with German language tiles and board, thinking that would not be a problem, and in fact, it was not for me. We have learned from this and plan to be more communicative in the future regarding such issues, looking even more often to language neutral components. That said, I will continue to consider person and place names to be “language neutral” when they are spelled as they are in their “native” language.

The net is that I distribute the Queen international versions of games. Now that we have been doing this for a while, we work together more than at the beginning on what international and language neutral means.

As for To Court the King, the problems were completely in the hands of the card printer and the dice producer—and in the lack of oversight by the German assembler and publisher, who are responsible for checking these things in my absence (as I reside in the US). They have promised to be more diligent in the future, and as they paid for correcting the problem, I believe they will be.

General questions about Rio Grande
Q. David Reed asked: I may be alone in this, but I would love to see a reprints of Money!, Web of Power, Mississippi Queen/Black Rose and San Marco. Is there any possibility of seeing any of these in the future? Even though I am interested in the others more, I think it is a shame for a SdJ winner to be out of print.

A. As you know, Web of Power was redone as China, so I think that is not likely, at least for a bit more time. As for the others, I am fond of all of them and will look into the possibility. Thanks for the suggestions.

(Not really a) Q. David Reed also says: Thanks for all of the work that you have done to bring designer games to the United States (and the English-speaking part of the world). Without you, the hobby would be much smaller—but our German would be better out of necessity! Thank you for being willing to take the time to answer our questions.

A. I thank David and all of you for your continued support and the kind words I receive from you all on a daily basis. It is your support that makes doing all of this worthwhile.

Comments:

< Back Home