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Michael Barnes wrote: Rediscovering Knizia last year was one of the things that kept me from completely burning out on games...after so much Kickstarter garbage and all of these designers straining to recreate childhood memories of playing certain kinds of games or simply bundling mechanics and applying a "theme" that amounts to nothing more than pictures, it was so rejuvenating to play things like Modern Art again with fresh eyes...and finally getting that the kinds of meaningful theme, subtext, economy and artful qualities I always want in games were always there in his work.

IMHO, our site could make a name for itself by having consistent content about older games. Like, something that someone has been playing a few times over the past year or so and has specific thoughts about. Not a review but not some sort of after action report either. If people in the board games played thread would transition some of that to front page site content, not even necessarily long form...

I think the audience would come for stuff like that. My perception is that people around the net re: board games are exhausted with the kickstarter treadmill dominating the discussion of games.

I'll get right on doing that as well.

Jackwraith wrote: I've never played this one, nor do I know anyone that has, but I'm a huge enthusiast for feudal Japanese culture. Is this another instance of the theme only vaguely applying to what's happening on the board and, regardless, is it one of his better designs? (I've played many of the rest (Blue Moon, Ra, LotR, T&E))

It is absolutely one of his better designs, but the setting is pretty independent of the game play. It's scoring is vaguely similar to T&E in that you need to have balance; you need to be strong in one, but can't afford to be weak in any other. So, metaphorically, I suppose it reflects being a wise politician to solidify your base (the three types of items you collect represent farmers, soldiers, and priests, I think).

Michael Barnes wrote: What do you want for it, I'm in the market. I ordered one on BGG marketplace but the dude never replied.

Sent you a message

You don't sell one million units (literally) by being overrated. Like it or not, anyone ranking your few hundred designs is going to put half of them below the median. Comes with the territory.

The thing about Knizia is that you don't even realize the games you like were written by him. Adel Verpflichtet eh? Learn something new everyday.

S.

I've never played this one, nor do I know anyone that has, but I'm a huge enthusiast for feudal Japanese culture. Is this another instance of the theme only vaguely applying to what's happening on the board and, regardless, is it one of his better designs? (I've played many of the rest (Blue Moon, Ra, LotR, T&E))

Motorik wrote: Blue Moon Legends is absolutely worth a purchase if you like the other Knizia card games you mentioned. I also like its two (out-of-print, but easy to find and usually cheap) antecedents, Scarab Lords and Minotaur Lords.

Second this. Blue Moon is one of those games that I will never part with and I was excited to see FFG reprinting it as Legends (I have the original decks.) Like many Knizia designs, it's one that seems simple at face value but has inordinate depth and even allows for competitive deck building (like MTG, not Dominion), if you're interested in that. I'd rank it as one of the best games he's ever designed.

Michael Barnes wrote: It makes sense that Ken is back (at least for the next ten minutes) given the renaissance that F:AT is undergoing.

I guess I'd better use my ten minutes wisely.

Agree with everything Barnes said. I have always been a fan of Knizia's work. Yeah, his old stuff was "better" to most of us gamers. But still, even if he never made another game, the depth and breadth of his offerings are almost incomprehensible.

I did this geeklist years ago about Knizia, and my feelings really haven't changed any.

boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/19669/ameriga...theme-and-why-do-his

Michael Barnes wrote: Yeah, I almost bought this last year for around $75...will definitely get it. Very glad they kept the cool board, looks like it's just plastic pieces instead of those slick glossy ones but that's fine, whatever.

Clash of the Gladiators next?

FFG has the entire Knizia Tile-Laying Trilogy now. Through The Desert is marked on their site as Awaiting Reprint. I wonder if they'll put into a Euro Classic's box.

It makes sense that Ken is back (at least for the next ten minutes) given the renaissance that F:AT is undergoing.

Calling Knizia "overrated" is...weird to me. You may or may not like X or Y number of his games...but ultimately if criticism of the games medium stops at "do I like/don't like this game", then that's a pretty low bar. What Knizia did and now does is really very much unlike what anyone else is doing in games design. He is one of the very few game designers that I would regard as an artist in the same sense that someone like Warhol or Bowie are artists. The intent is very clear, the creative objective might shift but is always consistent, motifs might return but are iterative rather than repetitive and there is always a drive to innovate some aspect of what has come before.

There is also a commercial side to Knizia that isn't anything like what anyone is doing or is, quite frankly, capable of doing. You can grouse all you want about the minor releases, the licensed contract work he's done, the reskins...but there is likely no games designer in the business that has been as successful at creating a brand name and parleying that into financial and criticial success at the scale he has. He can do very commercial and even workmanlike designs, but the he can turn around and do something like Tower of Babel or Amun-Re. There is a versatility in his work, across the catalog, that you just don't see in other designers. And yet, everything has his authorial stamps. Given the volume of his work, not everything can be on the level of T&E or Ra. Dr. Knizia would be the first to tell you that, I believe.

It doesn't matter if you don't like LOTR or Through the Desert. Those games are phenomenal pieces of design. There isn't anything "bad" about them, at least if you care about design qualities above petty genre or dogmatic expectations.

Rediscovering Knizia last year was one of the things that kept me from completely burning out on games...after so much Kickstarter garbage and all of these designers straining to recreate childhood memories of playing certain kinds of games or simply bundling mechanics and applying a "theme" that amounts to nothing more than pictures, it was so rejuvenating to play things like Modern Art again with fresh eyes...and finally getting that the kinds of meaningful theme, subtext, economy and artful qualities I always want in games were always there in his work.

What do you want for it, I'm in the market. I ordered one on BGG marketplace but the dude never replied.

One of the high helmets in my Rio Grande edition is broken so I'll probably snag the new edition. Love this game, and still play online games on the iPhone pretty regularly.

I'd be happy to part with Clash of the Gladiators. I hate that game (novelty of Knizia doing a combat-oriented dice roller aside) and my copy's barely been played.

I love a lot of Knizia's work and dislike a lot of it, too, but Ra is a staggering accomplishment in purely mechanical terms. I think Adel Verpflichtet is still my favorite Euro auction game, but the mechanical "engine" of Ra's gameplay is truly some next-level genius. It's also a great three-player game (I find it challenging finding games where playing with three doesn't result in some weird imbalance)

Mr. White wrote: Battle Line
I've never played T&E and am interested in Blue Moon Legends (can I get a recommendation? I don't hear much about it.)

Blue Moon Legends is absolutely worth a purchase if you like the other Knizia card games you mentioned. I also like its two (out-of-print, but easy to find and usually cheap) antecedents, Scarab Lords and Minotaur Lords.

Yeah, I almost bought this last year for around $75...will definitely get it. Very glad they kept the cool board, looks like it's just plastic pieces instead of those slick glossy ones but that's fine, whatever.

Clash of the Gladiators next?

.....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand he's back. Hide teh cock.

Likely picking this up. I'm a Euro fan, but you know, I try to keep that a secret.