What is the difference between a designer and a developer? It’s roughly like the difference between a father and a grandfather. Like the difference between a mother and a grandmother. The mother gets up at 2 am to feed the baby, while the grandmother sees the baby on Sunday after dinner, chats with them, says sweet nothings, proud of her grandchild, as if it couldn’t get any better! The father rocks the baby in his arms for two hours because the baby has colic and is screaming so loudly that he can be heard throughout the neighborhood. The grandfather, on the other hand, comes around during the holidays, tells a nice story, gives a gift, offers some advice, and then goes back home. He went through all of that, now let the young parents struggle, he’s too old for that.
Testing Thorgal gives me wild joy. I come, play, give my opinion here and there, ask for something to be changed or added, and then I go back to my duties. Let the young parents…
I strongly believe that good board game is the one that tells a good story. You play it and suddenly you are sucked into it, you feel chills on the skin. Emotions grow. In a moment you defend castle. You hear roar of warriors. You smell boiling oil. You are into it.
That's how I design my games. I always want to tell a good story. I want players to be into it. As deep as possible.
