Hello everyone! Today we have an interview with one of the top designers in the board game industry, Ted Alspach! Let’s see what a game night looks like for him, what’s new at Bezier Games and some information about the new Kickstarter for the Deluxe Edition of Castles of Mad King Ludwig!
Tell us a little about yourself as a designer for those that may not be familiar with your work:
I’m Ted Alspach, the designer of Suburbia, Ultimate Werewolf, Werewords, Silver, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, and Castles of Mad King Ludwig. I am also the CEO of Bezier Games, Inc., which publishes many of my games along with games from other designers, such as Whistle Mountain and New York Slice.
What started you into game design?
I’ve been designing games since I was a kid, but I didn’t do it seriously until about 20 years ago, when I started designing expansions for Age of Steam, and many smaller, lighter games.
Who are some of your game designer inspirations?
Reiner Knizia’s early designs have a balance and symmetry to them that is exceptional. Other designers whose games I regularly seek out are Wolfgang Kramer, Michael Kiesling, Stefan Feld, Jeroen Douman and Joris Wiersinga, Wolfgang Warsch, and Jaques Zeimet.
What is your ideal game night? Games, group size, snacks, etc:
1 to 2 longer (90-120 minute) games and 1 or 2 shorter (45m or less) games is a good mix. 10 or more people is much better than a specific small number, so you can play with different people, and you aren’t limited to games that support a certain number of players.
What are some current games we could play of yours?
Maglev Metro, an engine-building train game with some revolutionary components and gameplay, is out in February. Recent releases include the first four games in the Silver line: Silver, Silver Bullet, Silver Coin, and Silver Dagger.
What do you think sets you apart in the industry?
The number one thing is that I’m both a designer and publisher, and we publish games of ours as well as from other designers. Another unique aspect is that many of my games have an app component to them which typically enhances gameplay in some way, such as the 50,000 categorized words in Werewords, or the narrated night time activities and timer in the One Night Ultimate games.
What was the first game you remember playing as a kid?
Very first was probably Chutes and Ladders, which, like Candyland is great for little kids to learn about taking turns, and that it’s okay not to always win. Both games have absolutely no options for players, and are purely determined by luck. I realized this at a pretty young age, and sought out games where I would have control of the outcome to some extent. I probably played hundred of games of Stratego, Risk, Chess, and other staples of the 1970s before moving on to Dungeons & Dragons and Avalon Hill games like Tactics 2.
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is a classic game for a lot of us in the hobby-for those maybe not as familiar can you give me the elevator pitch for the game?
Each turn, one player sets prices for rooms. All the players pay this “master builder” for the rooms they want to add to their castle, while the Master Builder chooses from what is left (paying the bank). Rooms that are added provide points to players, and each room has a unique completion reward that gives the player a special one-time ability when all entrances in the room are connected to other rooms. Because each room has a different shape, by the end of the game everyone’s castle is completely unique, and often has a story associated with it.
What inspired you to design Castles of Mad King Ludwig?
I love building things, and always liked looking at house floorplans. It was originally a game about designing your dream house, but as the game design progressed, what you were creating was less and less house like, and more and more weird…but at the same time really cool and engrossing.
Let’s talk about the new Collectors version coming to Kickstarter- What are the details?
It has the base game, the Secrets expansion, and two brand new expansions with new rooms and abilities. The art has been totally revamped in a rich, detailed style that makes the castles come alive. Theres a new combination scoreboard/contract board/ in-game storage board, which appears as a lake with swans (player scoring markers) swimming in it, and trays that hold rooms, cards, and favors. The game is stored using GameTrayz storage trays, so it’s really easy to set up and put away. There are ton of extras too, such as metal coins, poker-chip-style favors, glass-like swan tokens, and full size cards.
There’s even an optional set of Colossal rooms, which are 4 times the size of the regular rooms, so you can play a giant game of castles with ginormous rooms!
I love the idea that there are some new expansions-any details on what they bring to the game?
The Royal Decrees expansion adds assymetric player starting abilities to the game, allowing each player to have some sort of advantage or rule-breaking ability.
The Towers expansion adds a new room type, a new completion reward, and amazing 3D painted towers that are used to signify when the room has been completed.
Any extra information you’d love to share?
The Kickstarter begins January 19th, and we’re hoping to have games in everyone’s hands before the end of 2021.
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