It was 2001 when everything changed. My parents, who never were very enthusiastic about my passion for fantasy and science fiction literature, suddenly started talking about Gimli and Legolas. Suddenly they knew who Gandalf was. Suddenly they were passionate about Nazguls. Suddenly they needed answers and were asking me about the Gondor, Saruman, and what happens to Merry and Pippin next.

Peter Jackson’s movie made the Lord of the Rings novel a worldwide phenomenon.

Today everyone, your aunt, your brother, your mother-in-law, literally everybody knows words like a hobbit, shire, Gollum. Everyone discovered this fantastic story. The story we geeks already knew for years.

Dune: House Secrets is an adventure game that takes place on Arrakis. It thrusts players into the midst of a conflict between two great houses and allows players to play a small part in Dune’s history.

Dune: House Secrets is inspired by the award-winning Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, but unlike its predecessor, it’s an adventure game. Players are not playing as investigators, detectives, or cops — they are rebels, part of the resistance forces fighting against House Harkonnen.

Dune: House Secrets is an adventure game that takes place on Arrakis. It’s set during the events described in the novel and allows players to play a small part in Dune’s history.

The game is inspired by the award-winning Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. It’s a card-driven game in which players have three unique Chapters to complete. Each chapter is a series of Encounters represented by cards that, based on the player’s choices, shape the game’s story, just like in RPGs.

Ignacy:
I always supported England. I was a die-hard fan of the team with Joe Cole, with Frank Lampard, with Steven Gerrard, with David Beckham, I loved them all. I remember the epic shot from Steven Gerrard that was a goal, but there was no goal-line technology back then, and we all in front of TV saw a goal, but the referee did not. I remember myself taking bets that David Beckham will have the most assists in the cup. I remember the anger I felt when Sven Goran Eriksson lost the match that was basically won, but he decided he will do the substitution…

I always supported England. Always, but not this time.

Rahim Sterling’s dive in the match against Denmark was a disgrace. I couldn’t accept it. I turned my back on England for the first time in my life.

England scored a quick goal against Italy and stopped playing. From the 10th minute of the game, they decided that they want to keep the score. No ambition to score again. No motivation to create a spectacle. Just stone cold Mourinho style game. It was a disgrace. The whole world watching and you just defend the 1:0 score. I couldn’t accept it. I felt it was good I turned my back on England this time.

Tonight Italy played against their friends and rivals Spain.

There has always been some kind of bond between Spain and Italy. At the same time, it created some rivalry between the two. I guess you can compare it with a Netherlands – Belgium match, or Everton – Liverpool.

Every club football fan is looking forward to the match of the season: The game against their local rivals. Winning this match is almost as important as winning the league. How many underperforming coaches have been fired after losing against their rivals? Or have delayed their dismissal by winning the clash?

We all know the famous derbies:

Manchester United vs Liverpool
Celtic – Rangers
Barcelona – Real Madrid
Boca Juniors – River Plate
Borussia Dortmund – Schalke 04

But do you probably know a few smaller ones too?

Millwall – West Ham United (England)
Vitesse – NEC (Netherlands)
Red Star Belgrade – Partizan (Serbia)
Union Berlin – Hansa Rostock (Germany)
Hibernian – Hearts (Scotland)

They are often more intense than the big ones. You can’t watch these games on tv.
Only when present, do you experience the tension, the atmosphere, the noise. You’ve got to be there yourself.

In Eleven we touch the subject too. It can be one of the objectives the club wants you to fulfill. They are happy if you win the match. But of course, it’s even better to defeat them by a big margin. It will earn you even more victory points.

Sometimes the board sees an opportunity to work together with your rivals. It will earn you money or will develop the team. But do you think the fans will like it? What would you decide?

Thomas Jansen is the designer of Eleven: the football manager game. Ignacy Trzewiczek is the developer of the game. They both will share their thoughts about EuroCup 2021 and also talk about the design or development of Eleven. Be with them every day during Euro! If you like football and board games, please, share the news about Eleven!

You can learn more about Eleven HERE!