Larry Levy:  Designers of the Year – Part 2

Last week, I listed my choices for Designer of the Year from 1958 to 1989.  The idea is to select the game designer with the most impressive body of work for a calendar year (not necessarily the best game).  I’m excluding classic hardcore wargames, but all other types of games are eligible.  My self-imposed criteria include the quality of the games, how well received they were at the time of their release, and how well they have stood up to the test of time.

This week, I’ll be considering the years from 1990 to 2004, but first let me make some adjustments to last week’s list.  One of the problems with considering earlier years is that the available information isn’t always accurate.  I enjoy doing the research for lists like this, but my ambition only goes so far, so I limit my searches to the standard databases, like the Geek and Luding.  Fortunately, I have some friends who do have first hand knowledge and a couple of them were kind enough to point out some errors I made last week.  Both Dan Blum and Joe Huber mentioned that the 1965 Mr. President game actually had nothing to do with the ’67 game that we’re all familiar with (the ’65 version was a trick-taking game, and not a very good one at that).  Since I’m honoring mechanics and not a name, Mr. President has to be considered a 1967 game, not, as I indicated, a ’65 one.  Dan also mentioned that Focus was first published in 1965, not ’63, as I showed.  The rules for the game first appeared in ’63 (in Martin Gardner’s Scientific American column), but a physical form of the game didn’t hit the shelves until two years later.

This leads to the following changes in my list.  There is no award for 1963.  (This means a two-year gap without an award.  Can’t anyone think of any reasonable designer games that debuted in ’63 or ’64?) Sackson’s Focus earns him the 1965 award.  In addition, I’ve decided to make Douglas Malewicki a co-winner of the award that year for his Nuclear War.  Sure it’s a fluffy game, but it’s one of the best known fluffy games ever created and is still being played 40 years after its introduction.  In fact, I bet there are more gamers enjoying Nuke War than Focus these days.  Sadly, Jack Cavanaugh’s Mr. President can’t compete in ’67 against Sackson’s combo of Sleuth and Bazaar, so he falls from the ranks.  Finally, I need to make one other addition that I caught myself.  No one can deny that Francis Tresham’s Civilization should earn the designer the 1981 award.  But there was another extraordinary game appearing that year that also must be recognized.  I’m speaking, of course, of Trivial Pursuit, one of a handful of games that have actually changed our society.  It was an egregious oversight not to give designers Chris Haney and Scott Abbot a share of the ’81 award, one which I’m rectifying now.

Okay, let’s get to the next group of awards.  For these more recent years, the format will be a little bit different.  After the year, I’ll list the award winner (in bold), followed by his significant games that year.  If there are joint winners, each winning designer’s name will be boldfaced.  I will then list other leading designers for that year, along with their games.  If a game is italicized, it indicates that it is a redesign of an earlier game by that designer.  Just like last week, I’ve indicated the awards or honors that the included games have achieved.  The letters S, D, and I show that the design won Game of the Year honors from the Spiel des Jahres (SdJ), Deutscher Spiele Preis (DSP), or International Gamers Awards (IGA), respectively.  The lower case letters s, d, and i show that the game was nominated for the indicated award, or, in the case of the DSP, finished in the Top Ten.  $ shows that the game won a special award (for example, Most Beautiful or Best Children’s Game).  H shows that the game is included in the Sumo/Counter Hall of Fame and h means that it is in the latest Games Magazine Hall of Fame.  Finally, G shows that it was selected as Games Magazine’s Game of the Year.  I’ll then follow up the lists with some comments about that year, including any significant events that occurred during that calendar year.

Here are my choices for Designer of the Year for the last 15 years.

1990
Klaus Teuber – Adel Verplichtet(SD)
Wolfgang Kramer – Daytona 500, Holiday AG(d), Tabaijana(s), Terra Turrium
Alan Moon – Airlines(H), Wer Hat Mehr

Teuber takes the first annual award, as Adel‘s influence is not only felt around the world, but, as the first true Teutonic megahit, changes the German gaming industry for good.  It wins the SdJ and the first DSP award as well.  Kramer continues his success from the late eighties with another solid collection of designs, including Daytona, a redesign of his 1980 SdJ nominee Niki Lauda’s Formel 1, and Terra Turrium, which will eventually be expanded to become Torres a decade later.  Alan Moon’s first foray into German gaming is a success, as Airlines (and its successor Union Pacific) achieves Hall of Fame status.  And to top off an historic year for gaming, Reiner Knizia has his first published designs released.

1991
Gary Dicken/Steve Kendall – History of the World(dH)
Klaus Teuber – Drunter & Drüber(Sd)
Alan Moon – Elfengold, Pony Express, Fishy, formation of White Wind
Urs Hostettler – Schraumeln(sd), Tichu

The game that has everyone talking is the Ragnar Brothers’ ambitious History of the World, created by Gary Dicken and Steve Kendall.  Its impact is enough to give them the award for ‘91.  Teuber, with a second consecutive SdJ winner (and the third in four years), shows the previous year wasn’t a fluke.  Moon launches White Wind and the first few designs show promise.  Finally, Switzerland’s Urs Hostettler, best known as the designer of Kremlin, receives nominations for his fluffy card game Schraumeln, but the long lasting impact comes with his adaptation of a traditional Chinese card game, Tichu.

1992
Reiner Knizia – Modern Art(sDH), Quo Vadis?(sd), Pirat, Revolution
Alan Moon – Elfenroads(H), Santa Fe

Knizia has his coming out party with the release of the all-time classic Modern Art, the excellent negotiation game Quo Vadis?, and two other solid games (Pirat became Korsar and Revolution became Atlanteon a decade later).  Moon’s impact is less felt, but his year is almost as good as Elfenroads is hailed as a great gamer’s game and Santa Fe (which Moon used as the basis for his future games Santa Fe Rails and Clippers) finds favor as well.

1993
Richard Garfield – Magic: The Gathering(Hh), collectible card game concept
Reiner Knizia – Tutanchamun(sd), En Garde, Attacke, Das Lezte Paradies

The focus returns to the U.S. for the first time this decade, as an unknown college professor teams up with a little known game publisher to produce M:tG and sets the gaming world upon its ear.  The impact of the CCG concept is still being felt today and Magic continues to be widely played throughout the world.  In Germany, Knizia produces another interesting batch of games (including the super-fast Tutanchamun and Attacke, which is eventually republished as Ivanhoe).

1994
Andreas Seyfarth – Manhattan(Sd), Waldmeister
Wolfgang Kramer – 6 Nimmt!(sD), Big Boss
Reiner Knizia – Auf Heller und Pfennig(d), Flinke Pinke, Olix, New Games in Old Rome collection
Karl-Heinz Schmiel – Was Sticht?(sd), Das Regeln Wir Schon

Andreas Seyfarth’s SdJ winner Manhattan has obviously been overshadowed by one of his subsequent designs, but in 1994, it is probably the most widely played game of the year and is just as widely admired.  Waldmeister has a strong following as well.  Kramer, in something of a slump since 1990, returns to form with two well received games.  Knizia keeps cranking them out (future versions of Flinke Pinke include Quandary and Loco) and reaches new heights with his New Games in Old Rome boxed collection.  Schmiel shows the two sides of his design style with the enduring trick-taker Was Sticht? and the highly chaotic Regeln (which was the basis for the later Schmiel/Faidutti redesign, Democrazy).

1995
Klaus Teuber – The Settlers of Catan(SDHh), Galopp Royal(sd)
Wolfgang Kramer/Richard Ulrich – El Grande(SDH)
Reiner Knizia – Medici(sdH), High Society(d), Turf Horse Racing, Formula Motor Racing

The Golden Age of Gaming begins as Teuber produces the unparalleled gaming phenomenon, Settlers.  Not only is it far and away the best selling modern boardgame ever, it inspires countless expansions and spinoffs and, perhaps more importantly, becomes the Killer App that finally penetrates the vast American market.  Kramer discovers the joys of partnering (with Richard Ulrich), but they have the misfortune of producing their all-time classic El Grande in the same year as “The Game”.  Knizia continues in his bridesmaid role with another Hall of Famer (Medici), the lightning fast filler High Society, and Turf (eventually redesigned as the popular Royal Turf).

1996
Klaus Teuber – The Settlers of Catan Card Game(sd), Entdecker(d), Hallo Dachs!($),
Stefan Dorra – Streetcar, MarraCash, Yucata(d)
James Ernest – The Very Clever Pipe Game, Kill Doctor Lucky, Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond, Ben Hvrt, Give Me The Brain!, formation of Cheapass Games

Teuber doesn’t have another blockbuster up his sleeve, but the Settlers Card Game—a superior spinoff—and the fluffier Entdecker are enough to dominate what is a somewhat off year for games.  Stefan Dorra hits his stride with two fine original designs and Streetcar, a redesign of the previous year’s Linie 1.  Meanwhile, back in the States, James Ernest forms the brash Cheapass Games and proves less can be more with a huge number of thematic, quirky, and above all, cheap games.

1997
Reiner Knizia – Euphrat & Tigris(sDH), Titan: The Arena, Mole Hill
Klaus Teuber – Löwenherz(sD), Seafarers of Catan, Die Ritter von der Haselnuß($)
Stefan Dorra – For Sale, Zum Kuckuck, Volle Hütte, Njet!
Dirk Henn – Showmanager(sd), Iron Horse, Texas
Uwe Rosenberg – Bohnanza(sdH)

Knizia begins a brilliant four-year period unparalleled in gaming history with the release of the superb strategy classic Euphrat & Tigris.  Adding Titan: The Arena, a substantial redesign of the previous year’s Grand National Derby, and the quirky Mole Hill is just icing on the cake.  Teuber is almost as good, contributing the marvelous Löwenherz and the popular Settlers expansion, Seafarers.  Dorra has another fine year, including one of the best fillers ever designed, For Sale.  The heretofore self-published Dirk Henn hits the big time, as Queen reprints his earlier Premiere as Showmanager.  He also sets the stage for future success, with Iron Horse (which will become Metro) and Texas (which will become Rosenkönig).  Finally, newcomer Uwe Rosenberg shows he isn’t full of beans with the release of the innovative and best-selling filler Bohnanza.

1998
Reiner Knizia – Durch die Wüste(sdH), Samurai(d), Zirkus Flohcati, Katzenjammer Blues, Exxtra, Honeybears, Ohio, Jumbo Grand Prix
Wolfgang Kramer – Tycoon(sd), El Caballero(s), Hornochsen
Reinhard Staupe – Basari(sd), David & Goliath(s), Kommando

Can you say trilogy?  Knizia can, as Hall of Famer DdW and Samurai complete the celebrated set of tile-laying games, and he adds six more respected light designs for another superb year.  Kramer has an impressive threesome of his own, featuring the underrated Tycoon and El Caballero, along with the bullish Hornochsen.  And Reinhard Staupe has his best year, with three of his own designs being notable.

1999
Reiner Knizia – Ra(diH), Lost Cities(I), Stephenson’s Rocket(i), Schotten-Totten(i), Money(s), Rheinlander, Drahtseilakt, It’s Mine!, Tabula Rasa, Zero, Diabolo, Hong Kong
Wolfgang Kramer – Tikal(SDI), Torres(SdiG), Die Händler(d), Evergreen
Michael Kiesling – Tikal(SDI), Torres(SdiG), Evergreen

Knizia has perhaps the greatest year any designer has ever put together, with no less than 12(!) significant designs, including Hall of Famer Ra, the two-player classic Lost Cities, the brilliant no-luck Stephenson’s Rocket, and two other nominated games.  (Diabolo, incidentally, is the German version of My Word! and Drahtseilakt was later oddly rethemed as Relationship Tightrope.) However, Kramer and Michael Kiesling make history as the only designers to release two SdJ winners in one year (Tikal and Torres).  With Kramer also combining with Ulrich to produce the DSP fifth-place finisher Die Händler, the only fair option seems to be to make he and Knizia co-Designers of the Year.  Kiesling is the hard luck runner-up.

2000
Reiner Knizia – Taj Mahal(sDi), Lord of the Rings($i), Traumfabrik(i), Merchants of Amsterdam(di), Battle Line, Ivanhoe, Trendy, Vampire
Wolfgang Kramer – Princes of Florence(dIH), Java(d), Piraten-Pitt($)
Bruno Faidutti – Citadels(sdi), Castle, Bongo, Corruption, Democrazy
Richard Borg – Battle Cry(I), Hera and Zeus(i), Wongar
Leo Colovini – Carolus Magnus(sd), Cartagena(sd), Doge
Klaus-Jürgen Wrede – Carcassonne(SDiH)

If you’re looking for best year ever by a designer, the only real competition for Knizia in 1999 is Knizia in 2000, as he releases four major big-box designs, all IGA nominees (including DSP winner Taj Mahal and LOTR, the first truly successful cooperative game), along with four other pleasant diversions.  In a normal year, Kramer would be in serious contention, featuring the brilliant Princes (co-designed with Ulrich) and Java, the follow-up to Tikal.  Bruno Faidutti has his golden year, with his extremely popular Citadels being the highlight of his five designs.  Richard Borg and Leo Colovini both have notable years, with three well received designs apiece.  And Klaus-Jürgen Wrede’s Carcassonne becomes the biggest selling German game since the immortal Settlers.

2001
Alan Moon/Aaron Weissblum – San Marco(sdI), Capitol(sdi), Das Amulett(sd)
Martin Wallace – Liberté(i), Volldampf(i), Pampas Railroads(i)
Reiner Knizia – Royal Turf(s), Africa, LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring(s), Maginor

It would be hard to find two better matched years than that of Martin Wallace and the team of Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum in 2001.  Both have three major game releases, all of which are very highly rated.  Wallace’s three IGA nominees are balanced by Moon and Weissblum’s IGA winner (the very innovative San Marco) and two SdJ and DSP nominees.  The end result is co-Designers of the Year.  Knizia finally comes to earth, but his four notable games (including the extremely popular Royal Turf) still make him one of the year’s leading designers.

2002
Wolfgang Kramer – Goldland(di), Pueblo(di), Mexica(di), Wildlife(i)
Andreas Seyfarth – Puerto Rico(sDI)
Martin Wallace – Age of Steam(I), Tyros
Reiner Knizia – LOTR: The Confrontation(I), Rome, Too Many Cooks, Korsar, Clash of the Gladiators, Wheedle

Kramer, at age 60, puts together perhaps his finest year, with four major titles, all IGA nominees.  Two of them (Goldland and Wildlife) are even solo efforts.  Eight years after his previously published game, Seyfarth electrifies the gaming world with the masterful Puerto Rico.  Wallace adds to his reputation as well, as many hail Age of Steam as the ultimate rail game.  Knizia has his usual huge collection of designs, including the IGA winning LOTR: The Confrontation and Rome, a collection of three games from his earlier New Games in Old Rome collection.

2003
Michael Schacht – Coloretto(sdi), Industria(i), Magna Grecia(i), Paris Paris(sdi), Richelieu(s), Crazy Chicken, Dschunke: Das Legespiel, InterUrban
Reiner Knizia – Amun-Re(sDi), Carcassonne: The Castle(i), Scarab Lords, King Arthur, Fish Eat Fish
Leo Colovini – Magna Grecia(i), The Bridges of Shangrila(d), Alexandros, Corsari, Avalon(i), Hector and Achilles
Aaron Weissblum – New England(diG), Europa Tour, King’s Breakfast, Mammoth Hunters(i), Smarty Party, Thingamajig, Stop It!
Alan Moon – New England(diG), Europa Tour, King’s Breakfast, Mammoth Hunters(i), For a Few Orcs More, Stop It!

Michael Schacht, whose career to date most resembles that of a young Knizia, has his coming out party with eight well received designs, including the very popular filler Coloretto and the absorbing and very yellow Magna Grecia.  (Richelieu is a retheming of Schacht’s earlier Kardinal & König Card Game, Crazy Chicken is later rethemed to Drive, and Dschunke: Das Legespiel becomes Rat Hot.) The original Knizia’s Amun-Re, his heaviest game in years, wins the DSP and barely misses adding the IGA; throw in a few other solid designs (including the much praised Carcassonne: The Castle) and it’s another fine year for the good Doctor.  Colovini has a very strong year as well, with a sextet of his own releases.  Moon and Weissblum come to the end of their productive partnership, but they go out with a bang, with five joint designs (including Games Magazine Game of the Year New England) and a few other efforts as well.

2004
Alan Moon – Ticket to Ride(Sdi), Oasis, Clocktowers, Warriors, Employee of the Month, Slow Freight, Immer oben auf!
Reiner Knizia – Einfach Genial(sdi), Blue Moon(i), Marco Polo, Easy Come, Easy Go, Razzia!, Spy, Minotaur Lords, Hollywood Lives!
Wolfgang Kramer – Maharaja(sdi), Saga, Sunken City, Tanz der Hornochsen, FBI, Who’s the Ass?
Martin Wallace – Struggle of Empires(i), La Strada, Runebound, Australian Railways, Election USA
Rüdiger Dorn – Goa(di), Jambo(i)
Bernd Brunnhofer – St. Petersburg(sDI)

Moon combines a large output, much of it with former design partner Weissblum, with the great gateway game and SdJ winner Ticket to Ride to ride to the Designer of the Year award.  Knizia and Kramer both have half a dozen or so notable designs, highlighted by games that receive nominations in all three major awards (Einfach Genial and Maharaja).  (Knizia’s CCG-like Blue Moon also draws praise, further proving that 2004 is the Year of the Moon.) Wallace’s varied output includes an acclaimed heavy design (Struggle), his latest train game, and a trio of lighter creations.  Rüdiger Dorn scores with a great gamer’s game (Goa, which loses the IGA award in a tiebreaker) and an excellent two-player design.  The most honored game of the year is Bernd Brunnhofer’s St. Petersburg, which wins the DSP and IGA awards and is a finalist for the SdJ.

Well, that takes us up to last year.  Again, I’d love to hear your comments on my choices.  Next week, if the holidays don’t keep me away from the keyboard, I’ll present the leading contenders for the 2005 Designer of the Year and announce my selection.  Until then, happy holidays to all (and let’s hope that Christmas and the beginning of Chanukah falling on the same day represents a good omen for peace, tolerance, and understanding in the coming year).

© 2005 Larry Levy

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Comments:

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After last week’s column, loyal reader Olivier Reix predicted what selections I’d make for 1990-2004.  I think he did remarkably well, as in all but three of the years, he at least mentioned the designer I chose.  I’m particularly impressed that he went with Knizia in 1999, despite Kramer’s two SdJ’s that year.  Picking Schacht in 2003 was also good work--it’s obvious once you check it out, but you have to think to look there.  Anyway, it’s nice to see at least one person is thinking along the same lines as I am! Posted by Larry Levy on Dec 24, 2005 at 03:08 AM | #

;) Posted by Olivier Reix on Dec 26, 2005 at 03:10 PM | #

1991 : Ihave never played History of the world so pehaps that’s why ? You did not consider Das Labyrinth ? Did I make an error in the date ? 1994 : I am not fan of Manhattan so that’s why. I did not vonsider Waldmeister (which I did not tried but I have heard bad things about it) 2002 : we do not agree. I have not tried Pueblo and Goldland but I think Mexica is far from the best Kramer’s games and Wildlife is quite good but has some annoying problem (like almost automatic card play). On the other side, Puerto is a masterpiece of design Posted by Olivier Reix on Dec 26, 2005 at 03:19 PM | #

Olivier, I’m trying not to base the awards on my personal likes and dislikes, but mostly on the way the games are viewed by the rest of the gaming world.  For example, I detest HotW with a passion, but there’s no disputing that people were gaga for it when it first came out (practically every letter to Sumo at that time discusses it) and the game still has a reasonably large fan base.  I really hadn’t considered Labyrinth that seriously, despite its DSP award, partly because it’s a much lighter game and partly because it’s a redesign (Kobbert first published the simpler “The aMAZEing Labyrinth” in 1986).  It’s not a bad choice, since it still has a wide base of fans, and I probably should have included Kobbert among the nominees, but I don’t think it beats out HotW. Manhattan is much like HotW; it was probably the most talked about game of the year.  I’m also not much of a fan, since the main skill seems to be convincing the table that you’re not winning, but they loved it in ‘94.  Unlike you, I’ve heard mostly good things about Waldmeister, but also haven’t played it.  It’s close between Seyfarth and Kramer (6 Nimmt! and Big Boss are two popular games which, if anything, are better thought of today than they were upon their release), but I give Andreas the edge because I think his games were more noteworthy in ‘94. As for 2002, Puerto Rico is my all-time favorite game.  But I’m honoring the best *body* of work and Kramer’s *four* IGA nominations AND three DSP Top Tens are unprecedented.  All of the games were very highly thought of at the time, although they may not have aged as well as one might have expected (when’s the last time you saw a Pueblo session report?).  Still, despite the presence of PR and AoS that year, this was a fairly easy choice for me. Hey, I’m glad we had at least a few differences--otherwise, I would have thought the process too easy!  :-) Posted by Larry Levy on Dec 26, 2005 at 04:13 PM | #

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