I’ve really respected him as a designer, and now I can say I really respect him as a person. Great interview, and I really loved all his answers. What a guy.
"I'm a mathematician, yes? But you cannot calculate the fun. You have to sit down and experience it." Very well said. Dr. Knizia is a fount of design wisdom.
What I admire when it comes to Knizia designs (even the ones I didn´t enjoy to much) is their elegance. A handful simple & clean rules that open the field for a variety of interesting Interactions.
Fantastic interview! Dr. Reiner Knizia is someone I could listen to for a long time, and he's even better when paired with a brilliant interviewer as yourself.
Excellent interview - thank you! I loved his remark about not retiring because all he would want to do with his time is to design games, so what's the point? Funny!
It's so funny, Lost Cities was one of my earliest hobby board games, back when it was released in '99. It almost took me 20 years to come around and appreciate more of Dr. Knizia's designs to where now he's probably one of the most featured designers in my collection.
Great interview Ben, I really enjoyed this one as he shared himself as well as his skills. I was particularly interested in his admiration for Steve Jobs which you might not expect from someone with a mathematical background.
Somehow I expected that someone who has been designing successful games for decades would just be able to turn a crank and pop out a winner. I am not a game designer, but it pleases me on a certain level that even a super-talented expert still has to put in time and effort to get things accomplished. Of course it helps that he clearly loves what he does.
Super interesting he said Blind Playtesting does not work for him. I’m sure that’s a very different way of designing but seems to work for the Dr. and also it proves that Tom is yet again wrong.
