Ack! I’m bummed to hear those things don’t work so well. Well maybe the technology will be improved by the time I can afford one.

I totally agree with you regarding the importance of the developers. Stefan Brück, at Alea, gets a tiny mention as the game developer on the back of the box, yet he does a tremendous job at fine-tuning the design.

Copyrights and patents… joy.

The problem is when it comes to ideas, or things that have no corporeal form.  Only solid form is given copyright protection. 

So I can write a book about a man who goes to prison and is lifted out by an ancient Teutonic god and adventures through America with a bunch of other gods from all sorts of cultures, but that’s simply the plot of American Gods.  But I can’t replicate the actual American Gods text---that is a violation of copyright, whereas the former is not a violation and merely stupid.  The question of how close is too close is probably a fine line to walk as well.

Algorithms, on the other hand, are nearly all idea, with no difference in execution to really distinguish one from the other.  The same goes for constructions and inventions.  So those definitely need patents.  Games, unfortunately fall more easily into this category than not.

At the same time, a well-developed game---certain kinds of games---are in less danger than others.  There’s the issue of prior art, which means you don’t get a patent---so your game *must* be unique.  So Magic the Gathering would get the patent, but any other CCGs would need much more to do the same. Then there’s the issue of whether your game is worth patenting---not just dollar amounts, but how innovative it is.  Another trick-taking game doesn’t cut it.  Blue Moon City might.  And then the final issue is: do your publishers care enough to steal your game?

The answer is, in this industry, not very much.  It’s too expensive to produce a game, too expensive to go through playtesting if a lot of the game is hidden, and if they just don’t like it, they aren’t going to risk it.  It’s not as if their profits will shrink enormously if they need to pay off an author.  Plus rules and boardgame design are indeed copyrightable, because they are corporeal---unlike the ideas they are based off on.  Why bother to redevelop those unless you feel there is some huge benefit to doing so, and you don’t have the guiding hand of the original designer?  Games just ain’t worth that much.

Manuscripts aren’t stolen by publishing houses for the same reasons---copyright prevents easy reproduction of the idea, which is usually all you need, because publishers won’t care for an idea they reject, and it is too expensive to publish otherwise.  Most books aren’t worth that much, and even great books may suffer unfortunate consequences of luck and fate.

Publishing incurs great risk.  Perhaps even more so for game publishers than book publishers, or magazine publishers.  Too many factors can go wrong.  You want all the right ones on your side that you can get.  Plus copyright---if you’ve done your homework, and it doesn’t cost much to do so---is actionable in court and has many precedents, so isn’t something people want to mess around with.

Frank,

The router thing was semi-interesting...but the first part of the article was absolutely great.  Very well-reasoned, logical and a very interesting read...totally on point.

On BGG, how many times have you heard someone just throwing out an idea… talking about how they will soon be loooking to publish their idea and “poof” , nothing more is heard.

We all have our favorite designers; and rightly so.  But long after the designer has turned in his idea, it is the developer who makes or breaks the game. 

Bernd Brunnhofer is an amazing developer.  The number of HiG games winning the SdJ is a testament to his skills - which include picking the right games to develop.

Stefan Brück is also often lauded as a developer.  I definitely agree he has developed some great games.  But his selections of Fifth Ave. and Mammoth Hunters were puzzling.  I don’t hate either of these games, but we all expected better after his success on Puerto Rico.

I also think Don Greenwood has been a great developer; at least in the past.  His development of Titan: The Arena really improved R. Knizia’s prior version of that game, Grand National Derby.  I know that Don worked closely on Republic of Rome, with co-designer Richard Berthold.  And I suspect Don had a huge influence on many other worthy Monarch/AH games.

Kevin, Stefan was forced to develop Mammoth Hunters by Ravensburger because no other games were available.  That meant he not only had to do a game that wasn’t his choice, but he had less time to do it.  He told me that given another six months, he thought he could have turned Mammoth Hunters into a good--not great--game.  So yes, a disappointment, but an understandable one.

As for Fifth Avenue, it ain’t no Puerto Rico, but I honestly think it’s been given a bum rap.  It’s a very interesting design with some unexpected features that I think have caused a lot of gamers to misjudge it.  It’s a game I’ll happily play today, even if it doesn’t quite stand up to the cream of the Alea line--but that’s more of a reflection of how remarkably strong those games are than of any deficiency in Fifth Avenue.

Brunnhofer is one of the most talented developers in the industry and his record speaks for itself.  But he’s come up with his share of klunkers (which do NOT include Klunker).  Brück began his Alea career with such an amazing run of games that I think he raised expectations impossibly high.  No one can live up to that reputation, not even someone as talented as Stefan.  If the worst we can say about Brück is that he developed Mammoth Hunters (which is by no means awful) and Fifth Avenue, then we truly have a rare talent.  I think he’s the best in the business, but even Superman hits a little kryptonite every now and then.

I’m actually somewhat more curious about Karl Heinz Schmiel. He has worked with TM Spiele, and does some development for other folks occasionally. Even when he is developing his own games, they are remarkably well polished.

Almost all of the Moskito games are flawless in concept and execution. The lone exceptions are probably Packens Wir and maybe the Bavarian wargame. Even Sing Sing is a clever and nifty little memory game, just very light.

Kevin…

I have to question your lumping Don Greenwood in with Stefan & Bernd. The results from HiG & Alea are always clean & complete - while my website (Game Central Station - now located at http://www.theswitchingyard.com) started because of how badly fouled he fouled up the rules to Titan: the Arena. I’m not arguing that it isn’t a better game - I’m arguing that the development of a better game can still be gummed up by bad ‘human design’ - and Greenwood (and by extension, Avalon Hill pre-Hasbro) was notorious for screwing up the human factors.

Greenwood understood the AH brand.  He didn’t necesarily produce games as good as Brunnhofer or Brück.  We’re contrasting very different sorts of games when mentioning AH and alea in the same breath.

But I think a key skill of the developer is selecting the right games.  Greenwood selected Republic of Rome; and he selected Titan the Arena.  With Titan the Arena, I think he was trying to steer AH into fresh waters, but in a way palatable to his core customer.  Mark, I agree with you, in both cases he could have done a better job on the rulebooks.  But both games still have their fans; and both games benefitted from additional content the developer brought to the final design.

But then again, it may well be that Greenwood also had his hands on some real losers.  AH had a whole line of dubious games such as Outdoor Survival and Past Lives that (perplexingly) were perennial best sellers.

I like what Frank said.  KH Schmiel has always intrigued me as a designer.  Every single game of his is wildly different than any other game he has authored.  Die Macher aside, none of his other games have ever really been widely embraced.  But his development skills are present in every Moskito Spiele release.  I wish he were still actively releasing games.  I was always intrigued to see what would be next.