Q&A met Ryan Laukat, auteur van o.a. Eight-Minute Empire.

[Ryan Laukat]

Hello Ryan, welcome to Bordspelmania and thanks for your answers thus far!

34. When you designed Eight-Minute Empire, was it your goal from the beginning to make it super-short? Or did that just happen along the way?

35. Is there a big difference between designing a "miniature" game like EME and a "big" game like City of Iron?

And the obligatory off-topic question:
36. Do you have pets?

Thank you!

34. Yes, I was trying to come up with a very light game. My two previous games had been 2+ hours, and I needed something that was easy to learn and fast to play.

35. I actually think it is more difficult to come up with good "miniature" games. It is more difficult in my opinion because it doesn't really allow for much alteration or tweaking-- the design is either good or it isn't. That said, smaller games require much less development time and illustration time. The main difficulty with big games is that they are difficult to thoroughly test.

36. I don't have any pets now, but my wife and I had a cocker spaniel/labrador mix years ago. When I was a kid our family had a collie and two golden retrievers.

[Ryan Laukat]

Hi Ryan,

37 Which award would you prefer to win, Spiel des Jahres or Kennerspiel des Jahres?

37. I think as a designer I would prefer to win the Kennerspiel des Jahres, because those are my favorite types of games. But as a business owner, I would probably prefer to win the Spiel de Jahres.

[Ryan Laukat]

Hi again.

38. Have you ever been to Europe?

39. Is this your first Q&A?

40. Do you think you will ever design a game about trumpets?

38. I went to the Essen Game Fair in 2008. I've also been to Norway, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, and Austria.

39. Yes, at least in this format.

40. Maybe . I've had a couple ideas over the years of games that involve musical instruments, but so far nothing has panned out.

[Ryan Laukat]

Hi Ryan,

41. Dominion has a lot of expansions. Have you design also the cards of the expansions?

42. Will you design also the cards of new Dominion expansions in the future if there will be new expansions of course?

Hello!

41. I've illustrated one or two cards for each expansion. I also illustrated the new money cards in the "Dominion: Base Set".

42. I'm unsure if I'll be able to continue because I've become so busy running Red Raven Games.

[AlliantieAJ]

43. What was the most difficult part in making the game and/or what did you have to give up to make it into this game...

[lies]

Hi Ryan,

44- Love your game "City of Iron".
Are there any expansions planned for this game ?

45- Any news for getting your games to Ios or Android ?

[Ryan Laukat]

43. What was the most difficult part in making the game and/or what did you have to give up to make it into this game...

43. The most difficult part actually was figuring out a name for this game. At first, I came up with Eight-Minute Empire, but then I thought it should be more thematic, so I called it "Monster Empire". Instead of collecting goods, players were collecting fantasy monsters (but there were only five). I even did the art for it, but my gaming group convinced me to go with "Eight-Minute Empire" instead.

[pleunie.william]

I've played Eight-Minute Empire for the first time today. It's admirable how such a short game can have so much "body". No doubt I will play it again.

46. Our scores ended up close. What to your opinion, is the maximum number of points you can score in a 4-player game of Eight-Minute Empire?

[Wyckyd]

Just wanted to add a final thank you for all your answers (and for the link to the engraving you did - it's beautiful!). Just played a quick game of Eight-Minute Empire and also received my Kickstarter copy of EME:Legends. Can't wait to get that one on the table as well.

Ryan, I wish you luck with your future endeavors!

[Maarten&Gaatske]

Hello Ryan, thank you for answering our questions, and taking the time for it.

Good questions were asked before me, but being nr. 47, I really like to know,

what would you do, when someone else releases: Seven-minute empire? (I hope you've seen There's something about Mary? ?

[hellokitty73]

Hello,

48. Are you going to spiel 2014? If so, as visitor or as publisher from Red Raven Games.
49. Why the name red raven games?

[Wyckyd]

Eh, je kunt nog wel vragen stellen, maar ik weet niet of Ryan ze nog leest:

Van maandag 2 december tot en met zondag 8 december zal Ryan Laukat hier een week te gast zijn en jullie vragen beantwoorden.

[Maarten&Gaatske]

Eh, je kunt nog wel vragen stellen, maar ik weet niet of Ryan ze nog leest:

Van maandag 2 december tot en met zondag 8 december zal Ryan Laukat hier een week te gast zijn en jullie vragen beantwoorden.

Better a day late, than a Dollar short, luidt een Engelse gezegde. Maakt ook niets uit trouwens!

[Ryan Laukat]

I've played Eight-Minute Empire for the first time today. It's admirable how such a short game can have so much "body". No doubt I will play it again.

46. Our scores ended up close. What to your opinion, is the maximum number of points you can score in a 4-player game of Eight-Minute Empire?

Thanks! That is good to hear.

46. I'm actually unsure of this, but I've seen people score around 17 or 18.

[Ryan Laukat]

Just wanted to add a final thank you for all your answers (and for the link to the engraving you did - it's beautiful!). Just played a quick game of Eight-Minute Empire and also received my Kickstarter copy of EME:Legends. Can't wait to get that one on the table as well.

Ryan, I wish you luck with your future endeavors!

Thanks! I very much enjoyed participating. And I hope you enjoy EME:Legends.