Again, apologies to anyone who isn’t interested in shopping for new games right now – but there are a LOT of great deals on games today on Amazon Prime Day. Below is a list of some of the ones that … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/07/08/amazon-prime-day-2025-post-1-lots-of-games-50-off-or-more/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Money Designer: Reiner Knizia Publisher: Allplay Players: 2-5 Age: 11+ Time: 15 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher Your goal in Money! is to trade currencies with the bank and other players so that you end up with … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/07/08/dale-yu-review-of-money/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
I wondered: Could I make this more strategic, while keeping it a fast, fun game?Since this central mechanism is one that most players know, for this preview I thought it would be interesting to go into more design detail than I usually do to show how I transformed it.Introducing GadgetsSuppose you could build gadgets that will be placed in front of you and which you can later activate to help you go out in various ways:For example, a gadget that lets you play cards of the same color, all at once
As we have done in years past, we’ll try to bring you the best boardgaming deals we can find on Amazon Prime Day (starts Tuesday July 8). As with all of our affiliate links, we may make a small commission … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/07/07/prime-day-pre-prime-day-deals-carc-and-ttr-at-low-prices/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
If we judge a Gathering by numbers, I set new personal bests by playing 89 new-to-me games with 143 different gamers. That was pretty cool. I did 53 new-to-me games in 2004 and thought that was good at the time … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/07/07/alison-brennan-game-snapshots-2025-part-17/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
If you manage to bag only one match, only two of you are cheering, but you'll probably be cheering louder!If you don't match, others will often go, "Oh, good answer" β although it's clearly not a good answer since no one else wrote it β or the table will go silent, and you'll mock-grumpily go, "Wow, I thought that was gimme" or "I had no clue what to write", and others will commiserate with you because they've been in that same situation.Bottom line: JinxO is about making human connection, and i
<p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=1850" >Scott Nelson</a></p> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2078439"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/XcKHHlnXhS9udNVpLfP4Lg__small/img/QmBjTo6maH_n3p7fy9HkcU-Gc28=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic2078439.jpg" border=0></a></div><b>My Vision</b><br/><br/>The journey of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/162435/ibyron-island-of-discovery" ><b><i>Ibyron: Island of Discovery</i></b></a> started in 2008 with an initial concept of designing a meaty game. I loved playing <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13122/antiquity" ><i>Antiquity</i></a>, and my wife, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/9334/anna-marie-nelson" >Anna</a>, loved <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/875/roads-and-boats" ><i>Roads & Boats</i></a>, so with that in mind, our work was cut out for us.<br/><br/>The first rendition was a pretty neat idea on paper, but the real implementation of it was less than stellar. Though it was a start, it was not going to work for what I wanted to design. I did have some meat in there, but for the most part it was pretty easy choices. I couldn't have that.<br/><br/>As with most games of that 2000-2005 era, we used the typical "founding of a settlement" setting and a technology tree of sorts to build buildings. The idea came more into an actual "founding of an island village" later in the design process.<br/><br/>I wanted a less linear path, and this is where <i>Antiquity</i> came into play. In <i>Antiquity</i>, the path you take is whatever you want to do, with no particular technology trees to advance upwards. <i>Ibyron</i>, known as "Tribute and Taxes" at this early period of development, had a small tech tree, but everything else was a progression along a path: A->B->C. I had created three paths, and those paths headed you to the next building needed along the same path β but I didn't want that. Nope, not this time. <br/><br/><b>On Standby</b><br/><br/>Further testing was put on hold until I could get a grip on the vision I was after. I wanted to make a deeper game and felt I had a good start, but it needed a re-start. Anna saw what I was after but couldn't figure out what was missing...at least not at this time.<br/><br/>I put the "vision" on the side and worked on a way to wrap the theme around the mechanisms. So far, the theme revolved around an advanced <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/catan" ><i>CATAN</i></a> or perhaps a lesser <i>Roads & Boats</i> with no logistics.<br/><br/>With <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31724/diver-down" ><i>Diver Down</i></a> in heavy development with another publisher, we decided to set <i>Ibyron</i> aside for a little while and focus on <i>DD</i>, but that was when Anna came to the rescue.<br/><br/><b>Anna Dives In</b><br/><br/>"Logistics", you say? That was what my wife threw at me one day. She had taken my base ideas of resource collection and buildings, then added land to move around upon.<br/><br/>Until then, <i>Ibyron</i> had been a virtual theme with no game board β just a player mat to indicate what was built. Anna added a pawn to move around to do the certain actions. The game was now a tad longer, but a lot more thought went into each action, including a new action of moving. The map was static, but I didn't think anything more was needed at the time. I was just happy it was working into a fun game.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3189691"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/tIpsHc2NvsonIKXIFIIOQw__small/img/SsY0aJ0Goyv_en1jwtzpXw5AcGI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3189691.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3189698"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Z-a76SUqqdvjNwN0_s2Xjg__small/img/fVESzdtG0WWl858GVNI-LMVvK84=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3189698.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3189700"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/4VBJWoA626kV_Pd4rniLMg__small/img/paCQzc62a9pXF0NoT548yGK5PRA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3189700.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Early prototype boards for "Tribute and Taxes"</i></center><br/><b>Utah: Saltcon and BGDG</b><br/><br/>Shortly thereafter, as a member of the <a href="http://www.bgdg.games/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Board Game Design Guild of Utah</a> (BGDG), I took the design to a meeting for playtesting purposes. It was "eh" for all players, including <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/11640/alf-seegert" >Alf Seegert</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/11854/ryan-laukat" >Ryan Laukat</a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/1540/steven-poelzing" >Steve Poelzig</a>. Having the game trashed by such great guys was a bit of a letdown, but that is what the guild is for β people willing to tell you, "Your baby is ugly".<br/><br/>With a few helpful comments and some "praise" on the good ideas, I headed back to the drawing board. The name held on for a few years until in a conversation around tax time, someone named Steve told me, "No wants to be reminded of doing taxes". Thus, the theme changed as well as the name. Though one would still pay tribute and taxes were used, the name would not indicate that.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1732424"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/VMVqhn1WJRVlYQ1jqBS3CQ__small/img/uaUXg2v1kKUt1_RmTb_VsCydx5o=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1732424.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/>The <a href="https://saltcon.com/ion-award-winners/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Ion Award</a> is a game competition for unpublished designs held during <a href="https://saltcon.com/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">SaltCON</a>, a Utah-based board game convention instigated on the heels of <i>A Gathering of Strangers</i>.<br/><br/>The Ion Award deadline was fast approaching, so after a major rules rewriting, I entered "T&T" into the competition. It didn't even make the first cut. Components, playing time, and depth were all stumbling blocks. Members of the BGDG are also involved in the Ion Award, and in addition to the judges' feedback for the first cut, members gave me a couple of other tidbits for why it probably didn't make the cut.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3189706"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/urH_O1OTIWKWtUeLrmJusw__small/img/4T-_bzJGHQYsuAvMOMhi2kRF7KI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3189706.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The game submitted to the Ion Award</i></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1624071"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/QuGPophHIBZwnjvSQsKC6w__small/img/SwCrCM0o2Yd_97_aXURm8uv3Xc8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1624071.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Old rulebook cover</i></center><br/><b>After the Ion</b><br/><br/>With the competition over before it ever began, I decided to change the name, and the "Island of Ibyron" was born. (Many thanks, Steve!) I took <i>Ibyron</i> to SaltCON the next year and showed it to a couple of publishers to no avail.<br/><br/>As judges of the Ion Award, these publishers have also read a lot of rules to this point, so I did not get more than a walk by, despite the game being set up on the table and me begging "Take my rules, please" β well, that's probably how it felt to publishers. I do not suggest this method to get your foot in the door as nothing came about it...or so I thought.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8952033"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Lv2fG6q0qdGawV03FtxUaA__small/img/pT1xnpnFb0ngqNTgqWE5CRDfMzI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8952033.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>After a trip to my game closet and some marker usage on </i><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/481/carolus-magnus" >Carolus Magnus</a> <i>tiles, I created a random island each play</i></center><br/>Around this time, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/68253/wayne-dorrington" >Wayne Dorrington</a> offered his services for illustrating a few games in his spare time. <i>Ibyron</i> was added to his list, and this is when the game began to take shape. With Wayne's great art, <i>Ibyron: Island of Discovery</i> came to life. The components were just a bunch of wooden bits, so not much of a theme could be had from them alone, but the theme came through in the art.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1732735"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/f2zp2kFkksvL4itNock_Aw__small/img/SyFO2Nx-V90EpyYnO_2NtD9xYcI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1732735.png" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Before switching to squares, I used hexes for the village</i></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1765155"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/QSFMb3Ka7b1z5_G0FZWAnw__small/img/y0Gr4Q5qOate5ztSTA0RiDfwlYU=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1765155.png" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The player mats went through a few renditions, but came out great as well</i></center><br/>With Wayne working on the art, I added the design to the BGG database in a print-and-play format. Most pnp crafters decided to wait for the art to be finished, and rightfully so since it played much better with his artwork.<br/><br/>Around this time, I was still shopping the design to various publishers, mostly in Germany. After one copy came back to me trashed by the mail, I decided against the publisher angle for this design.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3189701"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/bATMcMvC23dNNTytujqeaw__small/img/jqDKnY6MonYOQyLyRihOMYROqBY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3189701.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The island as hexes with components cannibalized from various games</i></center><br/><b>The Game Crafter, Part 1</b><br/><br/>I found <a href="https://www.thegamecrafter.com/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">The Game Crafter</a> to be helpful in getting <i>Ibyron</i> published, but they had a few problems that nothing could fix, so a lesser game was released with me purchasing all of the copies sold except two. With Wayne's art on the box, land tiles, village mat, and player mats, the game was a finished product β but I kept thinking it didn't play right with the land tiles included.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1731863"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/VsCPCQleVD6j8GwGUtQc8w__small/img/xU_CULET1WvOI3tEEOXVxnUkrxA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1731863.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>A quick playthrough on rough squares indicated the game could be played on the tiles</i></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1765890"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/OMeT1r7QU3e5J3us-tX9nA__small/img/02WOQJw0nmjJb2GDzLw1wv5zV9o=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1765890.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/><b>Ion Award, Year 2</b><br/><br/><i>Ibyron</i>, full of beautiful art in the game and rulebook, was well received and even made it to the top 4, which was a new way to cut the number of entries down, unlike the top 10 of years before.<br/><br/>The same publisher from the year before who had glanced at it and taken my rules remembered the design and was more interested in it thanks to the facelift. After testing, they found the game too long for them. I took notice of that, too, and with one change shortened the game by half. That still wasn't enough for the publisher's continued interest, but I liked the design more, and playtesters did as well.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3110172"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/EV7GumY11uPuDVHYy2bXvA__small/img/c91ApaDVbhvFVrkQqNa5iJy2C2M=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3110172.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The first published product from The Game Crafter and print and play on my part which ended up in Germany for another year in transit and testing.</i></center><br/><b>Rahdo's Runthrough</b><br/><br/>Around this time, <i>Ibyron</i> was noticed by Richard Ham, a.k.a. Rahdo, and he added it to his anticipation list. With his runthroughs being fun to watch, I thought I'd try to get one to him. This was quite a feat, eventually accomplished by a friend of a friend who took a copy to SPIEL, with Richard dropping by their booth to pick it up. Wow. That worked β but it was only half the job.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1759861"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/3qefqlxbfvNIj8e74gbaYQ__small/img/Yea0FISR737L5hGg4JLcMVMkBI4=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic1759861.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Wayne did a great job with the rules layout; I only wish I could write rules worthy of it</i></center><br/>Rahdo's had so many games on his plate I thought there was no way he would have time to play it, let alone review it β but after a campaign by me, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnuxFrI7_2mBmeay2R5FhXg" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Heavy Cardboard</a> guild and others, the game went to number 1 on his anticipation list, which meant he would do a runthrough. (It helped that <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/8007/victory-point-games" >Victory Point Games</a> released <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/186721/healthy-heart-hospital" ><i>Healthy Heart Hospital</i></a> at this time, so for everyone who thumbed that list, thank you tons.)<br/><br/>While waiting for <i>Ibyron</i> to move through Richard's runthrough queue, someone crafted a print-and-play copy and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/video/105137" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">filmed their after-play remarks</a>. I was excited to learn that they liked it and gave it a mostly positive review. With that on my mind, I was excited to see what Richard thought. A month later I'd find out.<br/><br/>After a couple of rule rewrites by others β I was told a few times that mine were pretty but bad β Richard ran the game through its paces and filmed it. Though it was in his wheelhouse on most fronts (no direct take that, not too light, etc.), the game was too wide open and sandboxy for him and Jen.<br/><br/><center><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LftrAqCKWYo">Youtube Video</a></center><br/>That notwithstanding, <i>Ibyron</i> popped onto the radars of a lot of gamers who were looking for just that. A few publishers showed up to say hi, but no one willing to take on the design. Sigh. I wanted to get it to the players. I mean, that's why we make games, mostly...or at least why Anna and I do.<br/><br/><b>The Game Crafter, Part 2</b><br/><br/>What a stroke of luck. The Game Crafter was advancing its publication technology at this time, including adding laser-cut tiles. I was excited because I thought that new tech would do the land tiles justice and be affordable. It took a couple of months, but my prayers were answered, with The Game Crafter now offering custom-cut tiles.<br/><br/>My many attempts to figure out how to create the tiles failed, then I had the bright idea to ask Wayne Dorrington to help me since it was his art and his profession to do similar stuff that I was learning. He sent me a couple of files, and I was able to optimize them for my purpose.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3206606"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/N5H3uh1-jmJvbvb1BsS3rw__small/img/w99CKpbRyxs8U7_UKpy7yWTaDbY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3206606.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Final version from The Game Crafter</i></center><br/>And that is where the journey came to an end.<br/><br/><b>Or Did It?</b><br/><br/><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8432920"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/UDNvrygU0lcY7SxL_Ci7Ig__small/img/4kmA0VTxeKnRLe0JobMRw8urdFI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8432920.png" border=0></a></div>Out of the blue, in 2019 the game found a publisher willing to do a professional printing. The publisher held the design under contract until early 2023, and over the years development continued β adding and subtracting buildings, actions, boards, and tokens. The final revamp took out a resource, then added another; changed the market, then removed it entirely; changed a market-based building; changed the solo game; added another solo game that continues the saga; rewrote the rulebook; bumped the player count from 1-4 to 1-5 β the list goes on...<br/><br/>Eventually that publisher dropped the project due to a personal situation (I understood perfectly why), so I jumped into the publisher seat to make the game happen. I hired <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/4959/harald-lieske" >Harald Lieske</a> for new art and touch-ups. Between Wayne and Harald, I hoped to bring to the world what makes Ibyron special β but that didn't happen as most crowdfunding backers would be non-U.S. and shipping costs were brutal.<br/><br/><b>The Next Chapter Begins...</b><br/><br/>One day in 2024, I noticed an odd post to <i>Ibyron</i>: a picture of the player board...with new art. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/169519/jan-skornowicz" >Jan Skornowicz</a> had taken my game and some of the art ideas, then created another version of it β but in addition to new art, it featured a different way of playing the game, with the exact same results, but in an easier to digest way.<br/><br/>This version had two player boards per player instead of just one, and the entire player aid was incorporated into that second board, so this version had the same footprint as the second edition. I was amazed at the way it was put together, and I had to try it. <br/><br/>After contacting Jan for permission, I printed out the two files per player and sat down to play a game using the new art. Turns out that the game played in a shorter amount of time, and you could more easily figure out which choices were available each turn. What's more, you didn't have to dig around the tokens on the island, so the game was less fiddly as well. Developers have a keen eye to what works and what doesn't, so I had to hand it to Jan β that version was player friendly, whereas mine was...not so much.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8704942"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/eWI6pFJ3R6tDevvaUCq3fA__small/img/Yb49mXAPdB0PlnhuNsCkYX7xLas=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8704942.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/><b>The Year 2025</b><br/><br/>There you have it. Those who want to can craft a nice copy and scrounge up the wooden bits needed. Jan has <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/426651/ibyron-island-of-discovery-2nd3rd-edition/files" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">a print-and-play copy</a> of his own doing and has also uploaded it on Tabletop Simulator. I have the second edition on TTS as well, but it has no frills β just a sandbox to play in. In thinking about both versions, Jan's would be easier to play on. Good luck. If you want more information, feel free to GM me.<br/><br/><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/9335/scott-nelson" >Scott Nelson</a><br/><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/54147/ropearoni-games" >Ropearoni Games</a><br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8899890"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/BJ3GfRRXkrygEcAtDvQNcw__small/img/_uwVT76s9LXhSHJ3qe_eT7x95uQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8899890.png" border=0></a></div></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8952256"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/dWlzZD6HYE7juRBMtP9ZYQ__small/img/FE8vXkZovNFLVoT_ua_knqOjUfM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8952256.jpg" border=0></a></div></center>
The game features more than 160 animals, and you want to build a viable ecosystem.In the end, the player with the highest biodiversity score wins.ARCTICA will be available for demo games at Gen Con 2025, so perhaps we'll know more about the game after that show.βͺοΈ Heading to warmer waters, we come to Fathom, a 2-4 player game from Dan Helfer and Paper Fort Games that's due out in Q3 2025:Fathom is a tile-laying, pattern-building game of deep-sea exploration in which you take on the role of marin
The game flows smoothly, and the real satisfaction comes from watching your village expand and come to life throughout the game.βͺοΈ Another November 2025 release is Dingo Disc, with this Pierre Tessier design for 2-6 players having first appeared in 2013 from Γditions Capucine and returning to the market courtesy of Blackrock Games.Here's an overview:Dingo Disc is a game of skill, balance, strategy, and luck in which players must place all of their counters on a balanced disk without dropping the
June 2025 Games I played for the first time this month, from worst to best, along with my ratings and comments. Β Quarto – 6/10Β Quarto is a two-player abstract from the early 90’s. It boasts a playing time of … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/07/04/josiahs-monthly-board-game-round-up-june-2025/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
For all his strengths as a current-affairs broadcaster, whooping it up isnβt a characteristic one normally associates with ...
<p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=19155" >Brooks Barber</a></p> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8856244"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/GMRfinywy_1XUph7itfiUQ__small/img/sgv8c2gy9icX9LzLcLP6YlryB8g=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8856244.png" border=0></a></div><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/445398/sykes-picot" ><b><i>Sykes-Picot</i></b></a> is my first published game. It's not the first game I've designed, mind you β that one was and still is terrible β but it's the first one I've seen all the way through the process. It's also my first foray into historical game design. I had several ideas for historical subjects, and a friendly fellow designer recommended I work on the one I thought I could finish, so I did, and I did, and it's here now.<br/><br/>Why historical design? I've studied history for twenty-five years, a portion of that time professionally, and I love the process of exploring new ways of looking at old events. I consider myself lucky to have found a community of people doing this within the context of my favorite hobby.<br/><br/>The process of designing <i>Sykes-Picot</i> has also been a process of discovering how games can model history. History is not simply "what happened"; it is the process of analyzing the known record, the interpretation of facts within new contexts, and the advancing of arguments about the world, so I am quite pleased with the intersection games create between history and art, both of which allow us to approach old ideas with new eyes.<br/><br/>I have been mildly obsessed with the Sykes-Picot Agreement since I first learned about it nearly twenty-five years ago, early in my studies of Middle East history and culture. The story, as it's usually told, sounds like an urban legend, something you'd see on the History Channel between shows about aliens building the pyramids. In the winter of 1915-16, the British entered into secret negotiations with the French about how to divvy up control of the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, despite the outcome of World War I being far from decided. (The British, for example, were not far from defeat at Gallipoli.) And, oh, did I mention that the British had already made other secret agreements with Russia, Italy, and the Sharif of Mecca?<br/><br/>During these secret talks, Sykes and Picot literally colored in a map of the Middle East, at one point even drawing a straight line "from Aden to the second K in Kirkuk", to separate what would eventually become British-influenced Iraq and Jordan from French-influenced Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. Italy and Russia were also granted territory on the edges of the map, and the "even then a quagmire" Palestine landed under international control, whatever that meant.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8952282"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Wy2FKd6pRvXo_mNjgxkP7w__small/img/7-f8u2u2-QQ7cLQGQOZEhIWtYoI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8952282.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The original Sykes-Picot map, showing the French territory (A) and the British territory (B)</i></center><br/>This whole thing stayed under wraps until the post-revolution Bolsheviks started rooting through old Romanov papers and decided to announce the agreement to the world, kicking off a diplomatic nightmare for the British late in 1917. Their surreptitious double- and triple-dealing was in the spotlight, and they had to take responsibility, especially with the Arabs, who had played such an important role in disrupting the Ottoman war effort in the Middle East. When seen through the privilege of historical hindsight, the whole thing is scandalous and verges on the unbelievable. Why did they think they could get away with this nonsense?<br/><br/>Given all of this rich historical nuance, <i>Sykes-Picot</i> could have been a very different game. It could have been highly immersive, rich with minute details involving backroom dealings and paper correspondence. It could have involved multiple players vying for the best deal in the ever-shifting landscape of World War I, all trying to eke out some small opportunity to claim contested bits of soon-to-be-former Ottoman land.<br/><br/>But that is not the game I chose to make. To me, that game doesn't fully reflect the reality of the situation. Rather, that version of the game is how I believe the European powers wanted to portray themselves, and what they wanted others to believe about the whole affair. They positioned themselves as masters of global diplomacy, negotiating the fate of an entire region for the safety and security of the people living there β and in many ways, this narrative continues to be parroted today in think piece after think piece about how the Sykes-Picot Agreement shaped the Middle East's future. In truth, however, this event wasn't so grand as all that.<br/><br/><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8952291"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/u_qDSKj6X5gZ5GnRv7pp-w__small/img/u5U5MXWcMxpbIYxthA8U-aigKDA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8952291.jpg" border=0></a></div><center><i>Francois Georges-Picot, the French diplomat</i></center>Instead what I chose to capture in this game is the capricious and absurd nature of the Sykes-Picot Agreement: lines haphazardly drawn and zones colored in without real thought given to the people underneath their strokes; arbitrary boundaries that would never be fully realized, yet still contributed to the cascading ethnic and religious violence throughout the next century; positions on the map that were considered primarily through the filter of imperial priorities; two men putting a stamp on a region, shaping its future in many ways, by ignoring its past.<br/><br/>I knew early on that I wanted to emphasize this smaller space, what happened in that room, and my task became finding the right mechanisms to bring this forward. I was adamant that players should literally color in a map, just as Sykes and Picot had done. I wanted players to feel just a bit silly, passing pencils (or even crayons) back and forth to fulfill the requirements of their imperial claims. That idea carried all the way through from the first iteration to the final product, with the pencils replaced by dry erase markers.<br/><br/>I had to make certain sacrifices for this to remain a two-player game. It's the Sykes-Picot Agreement, after all, and I wanted to keep players in the mindset of those two men. Russia and Italy, who were later brought into the agreement in order to secure their support, are not in the game at all. The official Sykes-Picot map doesn't reflect their allocations either; this was a natural consequence of maintaining a tight focus for the game.<br/><br/><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8952288"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/wrq3Dhk-R9WddOD-0c3voA__small/img/-VA8WhZvy7OMbHGBAysoBfJud74=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8952288.jpg" border=0></a></div><center><i>Mark Sykes, the British representative in this story</i></center>Another consideration is the concept of "international control". Given that Palestine was placed under international control as part of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, only later to be moved under British protection in 1920, I think the game does an acceptable job of modeling how "international control" was implemented. The concept is present in the game as a fifth suit, and both players may use it equally to defend their claims, pivot to new diplomatic agendas, or possibly (in the meanest circumstances) ruin their counterparts' plans. It functions as something that neither helps nor hinders your own goals but that can be employed to check an opponent's power when needed.<br/><br/>Next was the map itself. The map isn't just the map here, however; it's the center of the game. The map, and what is emphasized on it, is inextricably caught up with the agenda cards, the area control (facilitated through trick-taking), and the endgame conditions. As I moved through playtesting, I realized that all of these elements had to feed into one another seamlessly for the game to work.<br/><br/>At first, the map was clear and legible, emphasizing actual geographic locations for players to control or influence as part of their goals. The agendas encouraged zero-sum play, not negotiation. Players simply tried to maximize their own goals with little regard for their partner's and to little effect. The game broke quickly when players were at each other's throats immediately. In this model, the trick-taking was not serving its purpose as a tool for negotiation. In combination with agendas built around area majorities and a map with precious few strategic locations, the trick-taking was purely contentious.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8874014"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/52qTz7wqHUyectUyW8oeGg__small/img/qPPkvbMsAYHCkd56kqTVrWnTtaA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8874014.png" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>An early version of the </i>Sykes-Picot<i> prototype board</i></center><br/>I eventually decided to remove the names of any locations from the map, replacing them with symbols, which highlight their strategic importance to the players as imperial agents and obfuscate the lived experiences of the people in those places.<br/><br/>This move served two needs: one mechanical and one narrative. It allowed me to sit in the mindset of alienation and what that means for players of this game, and it allowed me to open up the possibilities of how the game might be more than a zero-sum experience. By alienating players from the subject of their actions, I hope to reinforce the cavalier attitude inherent to empire in dealing with non-European people and places. By encouraging a more expansive endgame, I hope to push players toward reflection on their actions and their consequences.<br/><br/>The difficult question for this design was always the how β through which mechanism could two players actually negotiate over the disputed map territories? It took a while to settle on something that worked. I was tempted early on to increase the game's scope, to add in multiple layers and players, and to create the in-depth and immersive experience I described above.<br/><br/>Then I zoomed into the singular event β the actual meetings between Sykes and Picot β and I knew that's where I wanted this game to live. I thought about the setting in which this event occurred, a plush Edwardian-era parlor room, intimate due to the small nature of the engagement, the kind of place gentlemen might play cards.<br/><br/>So I landed on trick-taking. To my surprise and delight, this worked immediately. Abstracted, a trick in <i>Sykes-Picot</i> is an offering and a response, a snippet of negotiation about what may or may not be claimed on the map. Winning means gaining control of the spaces to be claimed, whether for yourself or your opponent. Losing provides more choices: claiming the card left behind by the winner, changing the triumph suit to set yourself up for later, or converting some of your influence into control. The dynamics of control and tempo inherent to trick-taking lend themselves well to a game built around the dynamics of negotiation.<br/><br/>The final piece to fall into place was the agenda cards. They have been part of the design from the beginning, and they have shaped the gameplay at every stage. Effectively, these agendas form the engine driving the game's incentive structure. Everything else amounts to the mechanisms players use to achieve their agendas. As I said earlier, the earliest agendas were zero-sum, which created a flat, linear experience ending in a gnarled mess of a game. Abstracting them into generic strategic objectives such as controlling ports or cultural centers helped significantly, but players still needed more space to operate.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8874034"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Rg4P5RlFUOg6eTuKk6XcmA__small/img/8id8OBT3qOM_5mzkYmAL9Rn-owI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8874034.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center>Sykes-Picot <i>in action at SDHistCon 2024</i></center><br/>The game didn't sing until I moved away from a zero-sum approach and structured the endgame conditions in such a way as to let players choose how they want to interact.<br/><br/>In addition to reformulating the agendas to encourage a slightly less zero-sum mindset, I also opened up communication so that players may freely talk about (or lie about) their goals. To me, this is where the beauty of the game lies β it allows players to be as competitive or as co-operative as they wish. Both players can win by fulfilling the same number of agendas, one player can win by achieving more than their counterpart, or both players can lose by achieving none of what they set out to do. Players can arrive at the decision to succeed together, or they can try to manipulate their way into getting more than their counterpart. Given these options, the latter happens more often than you'd think.<br/><br/><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/168577/brooks-barber" >Brooks Barber</a><br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8856243"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/U4g7oZuHnNS03rWQPDHaug__small/img/q81pNLl9cVDE5cJSHe7_FORqvvY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8856243.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Agenda cards from the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/33711/hollandspiele" >Hollandspiele</a> edition</i></center>
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