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Who are the best game designers?

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 12:24
Gabe
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So, for my podcast, I'm putting together a list of the best game designers on the planet. Who have I left off:

(These aren't in any particular order

1. [ ] Gil Hova
2. [ ] Jamey Stegmaier
3. [ ] Rob Daviau
4. [ ] Matt Leacock
5. [ ] J.R. Honeycutt
6. [ ] Daryl Andrews
7. [ ] Richard Launius
8. [ ] Ignacy Trzewiczek
9. [ ] Andreas Sayfarth
10. [ ] Reiner Knizia
11. [ ] Martin Wallace
12. [ ] Uwe Rosenberg
13. [ ] Antoine Bauza
14. [ ] Bruno Cathala
15. [ ] Vlaada Chvatil
16. [ ] Klaus Teuber
17. [ ] Mac Gerdts
18. [ ] Corey Konieczka
19. [ ] Richard Garfield
20. [ ] Richard Borg
21. [ ] Geoff Englestein
22. [ ] Stefan Feld
23. [ ] Scott Almes
24. [ ] Kevin Wilson
25. [ ] Eric Lang
26. [ ] Alexander Pfister
27. [ ] Tom Lehman
28. [ ] Jon Gilmour
29. [ ] Jerry Hawthorne
30. [ ] Colby Dauch
31. [ ] Isaac Childers
32. [ ] Isaac Vega
33. [ ] Luke Laurie
34. [ ] Friedemann Friese
35. [ ] Tom Vasel
36. [ ] Ryan Laukat
37. [ ] JT Smith
38. [ ] Edo Baraf
39. [ ] Sen-Foong Lim
40. [ ] Jay Cormier
41. [ ] Chris Kirkman
42. [ ] TC Petty
43. [ ] Patrick Leder
44. [ ] Seth Jaffee
45. [ ] Tim Fowers
46. [ ] Adam Poots
47. [ ] Grant Roeiek
48. [ ] Alan Emrich
49. [ ] Randy Hoyt
50. [ ] Daniel Solis
51. [ ] Alf Seegert
52. [ ] Alan Moon
53. [ ] Kane Klenko
54. [ ] Adam P Mciver
55. [ ] Emerson Matsuuchi
56. [ ] Paul Dennen
57. [ ] Nikki Valens
58. [ ] Richard Breese
59. [ ] Christian T. Petersen
60. [ ] Thomas Lehmann
61. [ ] Hermann Luttmann
62. [ ] Chad Jensen
63. [ ] Wolfgang Kramer
64. [ ] Donald X. Vaccarino
65. [ ] Ted Alspach
66. [ ] Vital Lacerda
67. [ ] Bernd Brunnhofer
68. [ ] Don Eskridge
69. [ ] Vital Lacerda
70. [ ]

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 13:10
#1
X3M
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Only board games?

Only board games? Or do card games count?
Mark Rosewater from MtG.

I don't know what your recuirements are for "the best".
But I think Lewis Pulsipher belongs in the list as well. I mean, he even teaches others.
ASL, designed by Don Greenwood.
Axis and Allies, designed by Larry Harris, Jr.

I never really paid attention to who designed the game. But the above mentioned games left a good impression on me. I had to look up 2 out of 4 ;)

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 13:09
#2
questccg
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Very subjective categorization

My question in regards to this topic, How do you define "Best Game Designer"??? Is it something to do with the ranking of their Best game? Or is it because of popularity in terms of known-name (sort of pop-culture)?

Because to me "Best Game Designer" is too subjective of a title. I would personally need something to "quantify" each person as being a "Best Game Designer"... More like "Most Well-Known Designer", "Designer with the Best made Game" or "Designer with the Most Games published", etc.

Things like that...

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 17:28
#3
polyobsessive
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I can think of a few...

So are you working on a top 100?! :D

A few who I think could easily stand up in that company:

Thorsten Gimmler
David Turczi
Leo Colovini
Steve Finn
Seiji Kanai

Edit to add:
Hisashi Hayashi

(How could I have forgotten him?!)

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 19:33
#4
Gabe
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X3M wrote:Only board games?

X3M wrote:
Only board games? Or do card games count?

Board or card games

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 19:36
#5
Gabe
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questccg wrote:My question in

questccg wrote:
My question in regards to this topic, How do you define "Best Game Designer"??? Is it something to do with the ranking of their Best game? Or is it because of popularity in terms of known-name (sort of pop-culture)?

Yes

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 19:37
#6
Gabe
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polyobsessive wrote:So are

polyobsessive wrote:
So are you working on a top 100?! :D

A few who I think could easily stand up in that company:

Thorsten Gimmler
David Turczi
Leo Colovini
Steve Finn
Seiji Kanai

Edit to add:
Hisashi Hayashi

(How could I have forgotten him?!)

Just looking for people to contact about being on the show.

Thanks!

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 19:45
#7
questccg
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To be interviewed

Gabe wrote:
...Just looking for people to contact about being on the show.

Hmm... I personally would like three (3) interviewees:

  • Richard Garfield: Talk about how he designed the famous World-Wide Patent for a collectible card game. What was his process? Did he collaborate with anyone else? What made him decide to PATENT it?? Interesting things - like did people around him think he was CRAZY to patent it???

  • Riener Knizia: Would love to know HOW he set it in his mind that he would be a millionaire based on the game he would design. And what made him so sure he could become one - based on all the competition?

  • J.T. Smith: What did people say to his business plan to open up a custom game creation website??? We know the shipping people were like: "And you expect to make money with this...?" But shipping is better and TGC has made many of their designers happier with the less expensive offering...

Those three (3) stick out like nails...

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Mon, 10/16/2017 - 21:03
#8
questccg
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And I know...

You had J.T. Smith on with regards to his CO-OP game "The Captain is Dead!"

I'd just like an episode that talks more about "The Game Crafter" the service... I can just imagine what people thought about him when he announced to the "World" (or his own community - nearby) and maybe the people that revised or reviewed his "business plan" for TGC...

I know BGDL is focused on Designing ... but TGC is a very important service. It allows a TON of people to create "nice" prototypes to show people that they've invested in making a quality preview of the designs they are working on.

Hearing the TGC story would be cool (in my mind).

There's a lot to be said about J.T.'s vision and how he got the team together too... Who developed the website? And obviously who is maintaining it?? Really interesting on so many different levels...

Just a (Thumbs Up!) or (Vote +1) Cheers...

BTW you're doing a great job with BGDL. I find myself sometimes getting behind on all the podcasts - but I do take the time to catch-up or listen to the podcasts that seem the most interesting...

BGDL is a great success!

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Tue, 10/17/2017 - 03:06
#9
polyobsessive
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I see!

Gabe wrote:
Just looking for people to contact about being on the show.

Ah, gotcha. In that case, I'd recommend David Turczi if you can pin him down.

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Tue, 10/17/2017 - 11:01
#10
The Odd Fox
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More names to add

Gabe,

You could also add Dr Gordon Hamilton (designer of Santorini). He's an incredible mathematician and is great in an interview! I'd love to hear him on you show and hope you get a chance to meet up with him.

Another name you could consider is Steven Aramini. He's kind of an up and coming star designer in my mind. He had 4 successful Kickstarters with various publishers in 2017 (Groves, Circle the Wagons, Barker's Row, Coin and Crown), he has another game coming out soon (Tricky Tides) and several of these games won contests at The Game Crafter. I believe he is affiliated with TIGR (The Indie Game Report) as well. I definitely think Steven is a guy to keep your eye on.

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Wed, 10/18/2017 - 10:52
#11
Gabe
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Thank you all for the great

Thank you all for the great additions to my list.

I have a LOT of people to contact, haha.

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Thu, 10/19/2017 - 08:11
#12
JewellGames
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You need to have the worst

You need to have the worst game designers (like me) on too so people see the disparity between the two groupings ;)

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Thu, 10/19/2017 - 15:36
#13
X3M
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JewellGames wrote:You need to

JewellGames wrote:
You need to have the worst game designers (like me) on too so people see the disparity between the two groupings ;)

As a relatively isolated person. Very busy with life. And smallest player test base.

I certainly belong on that list as well.

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