Interviews by an Optimist #105 - Stephen Glenn

Interviewed by Tom Vasel
Edited by Tom Vasel and Laura Vasel
September 17, 2006

Stephen said this about himself…

“I entered the hobby by typing ‘board games’ into a search engine in 1996. That led me almost directly to The Game Report and The Game Cabinet, where I was introduced to the hobby via the writing of Peter Sarrett, Ken Tidwell, and Mike Siggins. In 2000 I started the Spielfrieks mailing list, inspired by similar, private lists. Not long after that I wrote a series of interviews for Funagain Games, including such notables as Reiner Knizia, Wolfgang Kramer, Alan Moon and Bruno Faidutti. In 2001 and 2002 I was a Hippodice finalist for ‘The Birds and the Bees’ and ‘Jet Set’, respectively. Jet Set was almost published by Plenary Games before they went out of business. I won Abstract Strategy Magazine’s Simultaneous Movement Contest with ‘Assembly Line’. Balloon Cup was published by Kosmos/Rio Grande in 2003 and was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres that year. ‘You Must Be An Idiot’ was published by R&R Games late last year and hasn’t been nominated for anything. Finally, I originated the Protospiel Convention, which is now in its 6th year.”

Tom Vasel: Can you tell us a bit of the design process of Balloon Cup? Did you choose the theme?

Stephen Glenn: The idea for Balloon Cup came to me after a birthday party for my daughter. We had a pinata for her in the back yard, and the sight of all those kids scrambling for candy appealed to me. It occurred to me that it might be a neat concept for a game. I conceived a complete two-player game a few days later while mowing the lawn - I would say that 85% of the game you know of as Balloon Cup was designed in my head that day. The idea to flip the tiles came pretty late in the process, but I knew immediately that it was the spark the game needed. It is notable that, using Kosmos’ rules, the tile flipping is not necessary, since you can play on either side of a tile at any time. In my original rules, you cannot play on your opponent’s side unless you have completed your cardplay on your side of the tile.

The game was originally titled “Pinata.” Kosmos came up with the balloon theme. Honestly, I always preferred the original theme. I think it fits the mechanics well and is extremely evocative. However, Kosmos made it clear almost from the beginning that they would be changing it. I am pleased that Kosmos chose such a beautiful theme. I think the cover would be one of my favorites even if it weren’t my game!

Tom Vasel: How did you ever get your game submitted to the likes of Kosmos, one of the biggest game publishers?

Stephen Glenn: After attending Alan Moon’s Gathering of Friends for a few years, I had gotten to know a few notables in the industry. Stefan Brueck, from Alea, is a friend of mine and has always been very helpful in evaluating and critiquing my designs. When I showed him Pinata, he remarked that Ravensburger wasn’t interested in two-player games, but
he gave me contact information for Wolfgang Luedtke from Kosmos. I submitted the game the same week and was happily informed (several months later) that they wanted to publish it. I guess the lesson here is that networking and getting to know people in the industry is key.

Tom Vasel: After Balloon Cup came out, there was a small commotion about a “lock-up” that could occur. In the dozens of times I’ve played the game, this hasn’t happened, but apparently there is a chance. What was your reaction upon hearing this?

Stephen Glenn: It never happened to me, either. Nor in Kosmos’ playtests, obviously.  But I sure wish it had!

Naturally I was mortified when I found out about the lock-up potential. I stayed up half the night working on a fix before posting it to BGG. Unfortunately, Kosmos had their own ideas for a fix, so I had to backpedal a bit. It was all a big mess—maybe bigger in my mind than anyone else’s. The potential for a lock-up appears so obvious now, after the fact. Not finding it before revealing it to the masses was extremely embarrassing, even though the fix was pretty simple. However, as Chris Farrell points out, “the fact that it’s in there at all is not good ...” I can’t help but agree.

For the record, I’m currently working on a new two-player game that I’m very excited about. It’s about midway through the development stage—I should be ready to show it in a few months. Anyway, I have played the game several times with my son and the other night—it LOCKED UP. I kid you not. We just sat and stared at each other before we had to laugh. Thank goodness the problem was easily fixable and didn’t change the gameplay one iota, but the fact that I seem prone to these lock-up issues is one that concerns me. Perhaps I need to be locked up!

Tom Vasel: Still, even with this “problem”, Balloon Cup was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres. What was your reaction? Were you disappointed when it didn’t win?

Stephen Glenn: Naturally I was delighted when it was nominated. However, it wasn’t nearly as thrilling as the news that the game would be published at all. Once the game hit the streets I knew I had a shot at being a nominee. Of course I knew that my chances of winning the award were between slim and none, so it would have been ridiculous for me to be disappointed that it didn’t win. What they say is true—it was an honor just to be nominated. No matter what, they can never take that away from me.

Tom Vasel: Did you feel pressure to follow up such a well-honored game with one that was even better?

Stephen Glenn: No pressure to speak of. As I continue to work on my design skills I’ve noticed a definite improvement over the years. I learn a lot through the aid of my playtesters and through the community of amateur and professional game designers that I’ve become a part of via Protospiel and PowWow. I believe I’m making better decisions in my designs, but whether that will translate into a game that is more popular than Balloon Cup—well, that’s really not up to me, is it?

Tom Vasel: Tell us about the game, “You Must be an Idiot.” Did you pick out the name?

Stephen Glenn: Yes I did, and I’m so happy that Frank DiLorenzo kept it. It’s one of my favorite things about the game. In a nutshell, YMBAI is an anti-trivia game. I was never a big trivia game fan. They’re so obvious. You either know the answer or you don’t, and that’s it. There’s no opportunity to be clever. YMBAI came about one year at the Gathering of Friends, after I asked Frank when R&R Games might be accepting prototypes. Frank basically replied that I needed to show him something that week. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything to show, but I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity. I had to do some serious brainstorming. An idea came to me a couple of days later during a game of Werewolf. I began to imagine the possibilities of combining Werewolf with a trivia game, and that’s how YMBAI was born. I threw together a prototype and actually played a game with Frank and a few others on the last day of the Gathering. Several months later Frank told me that the game had playtested very well with his group and that they wanted to publish it.

Tom Vasel: Do you have any upcoming designs? How much time do you have to design?

Stephen Glenn: I have a few items currently with publishers, but nothing in the pipeline per se.

I actually have lots of time to design. Unfortunately, I don’t use it wisely. I spend far too much time on the internet. I just got digital cable for my big screen television. I got a PSP and some games for my 40th birthday a couple weeks ago. And I have three dogs and two kids. Those are some serious distractions.

I’ve found that I get the most design work done during vacations with no distractions. A few weeks ago I took the kids to the beach and let them play while I scratched in my notebook. I got a ton of work done.

Tom Vasel: A bit ago, I remember you discussing starting your own game store. How did that turn out?

Stephen Glenn: Badly.

Tom Vasel: Can you elaborate more, to help others who might make the same decision?

Stephen Glenn: There’s an old joke: How do you make a small fortune in the game industry? Answer: Start with a large fortune.

I’m an example of someone who *started* with a small fortune. I didn’t have near enough capital to pull it off. Once the cash flow dried up I was dead man walking. The only advice I would give someone is to *not* take my advice on anything business-related.

Now can we please change the topic to something more pleasant? Like gum disease?

Tom Vasel: How about game design? Is that financially profitable at all?

Stephen Glenn: Sure, it’s profitable. But it’s nothing that even comes close to making a living. Not at this point, anyway. I would need about ten games (that did as well as Balloon Cup) bringing in royalties every year before I could even consider this my job. Or perhaps I’ll get lucky and find my Settlers/Carcassonne/Ticket to Ride. Trust me, I’m working on it.

But for right now, game design is just a profitable hobby. Something that pays for games and the occasional game convention.

Tom Vasel: What advice would you give to an aspiring game designer?

Stephen Glenn: Do it because it’s fun, not because you think it might ever make you wealthy. And don’t be so paranoid about people stealing your ideas. Use your energy to create an idea worth stealing.

Tom Vasel: What games, other than your own, are your personal favorites?

Stephen Glenn: I jumped on the poker bandwagon a few years ago and am still loving it. It’s my favorite game. Specifically No Limit Hold’em, tournament style. That’s good gaming, there.

My favorite Euro is Euphrat & Tigris by Reiner Knizia. It’s a brilliant game. Every time I play it I see some new facet of the design that I didn’t see before.

Tom Vasel: What games influenced you the most as a designer?

Stephen Glenn: Games like Caesar & Cleopatra and Lost Cities obviously inspired Balloon Cup. 6 Nimmt is another huge inspiration for me—the first time I played it I felt, “Oh, I didn’t know a cardgame could be like this!” I was used to all those cardgames that used a standard deck.

I felt the same way the first time I played Hol’s der Geier. It’s such a simple, elegant game, and it turned me on to the simultaneous-play mechanism in a big way. A lot of people don’t care for that characteristic in games, but I love it. I’ll always be willing to sacrifice strategy for fun in my designs when it’s warranted.

Tom Vasel: You have a fairly active internet presence. What do you think about the gaming “Hierarchy” that has sprung up over the past several years, with different websites and exclusive email groups?

Stephen Glenn: Nice. A question with some teeth. Can you be a little more clear about what you mean by hierarchy?

Tom Vasel: Perhaps I should say “alleged hierarchy”. There are folks on Consimworld who disdain Boardgamegeek and vice versa. There are those on Spielfrieks who disdain everyone else. Do you think that this splintering of the internet into “groups” is a good thing? And do you feel that some gamers consider themselves in a group above others?

Stephen Glenn: Tom, there are a lot of silly people in the world. If you have a large enough group, some of the silly people will find it. Sure, there are some folks who carry themselves like big shots, or maybe they’re just having a better time than the rest. Then you have those who fret about things like hierarchies or whether or not they’re part of a private mailing list or invited to certain gatherings. People would be a lot happier if they tended to their own business.

I will add that Spielfrieks came about due to growing frustration I had with being a member of an exclusive email gaming group. I had no inherent objection with it being exclusive, but it was disheartening to know that a lot of good information was being shared in there that didn’t get out to the mass gaming community. Spielfrieks was my way of attempting to recreate the vibe of that exclusive group in a public forum. Mark Johnson agreed to moderate it with me. That was back when the group was a lot smaller, and it was easy to moderate. I lost interest in moderating when it grew too large and handed over the keys. I haven’t regretted it. Of course, now that BoardGameGeek has
taken over the gaming world, I imagine it’s become somewhat easier to moderate Spielfrieks.

Tom Vasel: So, on a cheery note, what sites do you most recommend on the internet about board games?

Stephen Glenn: Aw, that’s it? No hard-hitting follow up?

*Sigh*

Let’s see. What board game sites do I recommend? Well naturally I love the Geek. I’m also a big fan of the writing of Mike Siggins and Peter Sarrett. Those are pretty old-school, but there’s a ton of solid information at the old Game Cabinet and Peter’s The Game Report. Now Mike is writing for Funagain Games, and Peter is doing The Static
Zombie, where he writes about television and his own personal observations on life in general. You can find much lower quality writing at my own personal gaming blog, BID THERE WON THAT (http://bidtherewonthat.blogspot.com/). It’s pretty new.

Tom Vasel: Tell me about your web lists that you put together, such as the 100 Greatest Games of all times. How good do you think that list is? How much time does it take to put one of these together?

Stephen Glenn: I love lists. I love reading them, and I love compiling my own. I’ve published lists of my top 100 favorite albums, songs, games, movies, etc. It’s just a fun thing for me to do.

The 100 Greatest Games of all time—I assume you’re talking about the one I did with Mark Jackson? I think it’s a fine list. I asked over sixty of my closest internet friends to send a list of their top games, and I merely reported the results.

Naturally, a list of this sort doesn’t give any kind of absolute data. It’s merely a photograph, if you will, of what these particular gamers were feeling at this particular time. It’s a conversation piece. As a goof, Mark decided to call the list “The Official & Completely Authoritative 100 Best Games of All Time Ever Without Question"… so there!’ That was our way of poking fun at those who take these lists too seriously.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of time to put the lists together. The 100 Project was delayed because we were trying to think of the best way to present it. Mark originally wanted to create his own original website to host it. Some mysterious computer problem prevented us from doing that. Then we talked about presenting it in the form of a multi-part podcast. That never happened. Eventually, Mark just decided to blog it.

Tom Vasel: Stephen, thanks for all these great answers, and all you’ve done for the community. Do you have any final thoughts for our readers?

Stephen Glenn: Have fun and be good.

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