Q&A met Mark Chaplin, auteur van o.a. Revolver

[ravinck]

45 - Currently Revolver is available in Dutch, English, Czech and Slowak. Do you think it will be available in ten different languages one day?

[usurper]

46 did you expect the success of Revolver?

[markchaplin]

28. If you would be around in the old west, what sort of profession would you have, what would be your role in the community?

Probably the owner of a general store or saloon. Yeah - owning a saloon with dancing girls sounds rather exciting!

29) Wil the next game be a boardgame?

It's shaping up to be a hybrid - a card game that uses a board positioned between two players. The board allows the players to track various situations, powers, calamities, and events.

30. What is your favorite game published by White Goblin Games?

How could it not be Revolver?! Seriously, I'm very much looking forward to playing Expedition: Congo River 1884 at the end of October.

[markchaplin]

31. Have you already been able to play some of the new games that White Goblin Games will be releasing at Spiel 2012?

Not as yet, I'm afraid.

32. How big is your boardgame collection?

I have about 120 card and board games. I also have shelves filled with miniature wargame rule systems and books, and a large collection in my loft of 28mm scale models and scenery. I think I'm one of the few dedicated gamers that also has a massive adoration of miniature wargames.

33. As you live in Nottingham, you never doubted to make a game about Robin Hood?

Yes, I have lightly considered it. But, when you get down to it, I'd much rather spend my time crafting a game concerning Stephen King's SALEM'S LOT, or some other project.

[markchaplin]

34. Sometimes I try to design a game too, but after I wrote down the first idea, the basic rules and had the first testing I usually wonder: what now to make the game better? Do you recognise this from your own games? If so, how do you solve this usually?

All games have *problems* during their construction, and probably right up to (and possibly beyond) when a company decides to publish your game. I think that designing games is a bit like writing books - you never finish tinkering with them, just decide to stop. Perfection can be a barrier to success.

Most people who design games have played a lot of them, and I imagine (if they're like me at all) they get a 'feel' for whether a game is functioning correctly during the design and play-testing stages. You have to trust your instincts to a point, and then beyond that listen intently to other player's opinions and notions. You might imagine that you've created a terrific aspect to your new game, a fulcrum of the design that you can't bear to lose - but if players never utilise this aspect, or actively tell you they hate it, you should digest their thoughts. Like an author trimming his words, you must be prepared to attack your game with a scalpel, cutting away superfluous elements.

35. How many time is usually between the first ideas of your games en finishing it?

Depends on the game. My Dr Who card game took maybe 20 months for the initial set, and then at least 6 more months on the expansions. I have a fantasy adventure game that has taken 2+ years so far, sat in my office. My Dracula Must Die! card game took 6 months from start to finish. You could easily get this time down if you pursued these projects night and day.

36. How does your design process work - do you start with theme, or mechanics?

Theme. Always the theme. I may think of an interesting way to accomplish something out of thin air, but nearly always the theme drives my thoughts. Occasionally, I'll dream up a game mechanism and decide how best to fit it into a game - usually, though, my process is this, "Wouldn't it be cool to drag a deputy behind a horse?" Yes, so how should a card pull this off, in game-terms. Likewise, "Wouldn't it be great to give Santiago (prisoner from Hunt the Man Down) a signature weapon - a garrotte - to use if he's freed?" Then I just have to puzzle out who to make that happen.

[markchaplin]

37. Which game would love to redesign?

Great question! At this moment in time, I think that game would have to be the Trilogy Edition of Lord of the Rings: RISK.

38. Which theme has too many games already? And which theme needs to be implemented in more games?

As long as the boardgame is decent, I don't care how many zombie-themed games there are, or games about building medieval castles. Typically I despise games with cutesy-poo art - I don't have time for comedy zombie games, or games featuring 'cute' goblins, for example.

I would love to see more games featuring hard-edged exploration as a theme, particularly of deep space - especially if they didn't take 3+ hours to play.

[markchaplin]

39. Do you design games with particular players in mind? Would you design games that weren't 'your kind of game'?

No. And a definite no to the second part of your question. There's so little free time to play and design games as it is, without toiling away on a something you didn't enjoy. That said, part of the design process that I like is the puzzle solving aspects. A friend of mine keeps threatening to finish a modular Viking game - a theme I'm not interested in - but I find it pleasurable to suggest superior ways of making things happen in his game, that he hasn't considered. Leigh Caple is particularly good at this.

40. What do like best about being at a fair like Spiel? And what do you like least?

Best? The myriad stalls - filled with old and new games, toys, and exciting things.
Worst? The crowds. I don't like walking amidst hustle and bustle.

41 - Revolver is a 2 player game. Is it possible to make it a team game to make is playable with a larger group? Lets say 2 bandits vs. 2 sherrifs or even 1 bandit vs. 2 sherrifs and so on? And do you have any concrete ideas for this?

Sure, it is possible. However, I'm not sure what the appetite is for this. Plus it might be more entertaining to create a new Revolver game from scratch that plays 3-4 from the box.

Are these something that players would like to see?

42. Revolver is a 2-player game, would this mean that you also have a preference for 2 person games? Whether you prefer to play in larger groups?

When forced to think these thoughts through (like now) you realise that, hey, I might favour 2-player games, after all. I suppose I do, the confrontation of it; the ease of arranging a game session - as opposed to bringing six together for Herbert's DUNE.
I must say, that when it can be arranged, six player games can be rather wonderful. I've played Mare Nostrum with eight players before, and liked it (four players formed teams).

[markchaplin]

43. As you of course already know, Revolver is nominated for the Gouden Ludo 2012 in Belgium. If Revolver would win this award, what would be the first line of your speech?

"Wow, this is the biggest group of people I've appeared in front of since my trial."

44. If Revolver would win the Gouden Ludo Award: can we expect a reference to Belgium in a future expansion as a way of saying 'thank you' to the Belgian fans of the game? Dirty pistolero's / Belgian icons like Eddy Wally and especially Bobbejaan Schoepen would have the right faces for a cameo in the game

Yes. That sounds like a terrific idea!

45 - Currently Revolver is available in Dutch, English, Czech and Slowak. Do you think it will be available in ten different languages one day?

I really don't know. There was talk of an early German edition, but I have heard no more about it. Sales drive these things.

46 did you expect the success of Revolver?

That's a funny question for me to answer. I hoped people would like the game, and I hoped it would be successful - but I had no expectation of success.
I get a great deal of positive reactions to the game, and White Goblin Games have followed it up with Revolver 2: Last Stand at Malpaso and at least four Revolver #1 expansions, but on some gaming sites, like BGG, Revolver gets very little buzz. It depends on your yardstick for success.

[Carrie]

47. Do you play the game Revolver yourself?

48. If so, which one of the Revolver's do you like most to play? Or which combination (with the expansions)?

Thx and keep up the good work!

[markchaplin]

47. Do you play the game yourself Revolver?

Yes. It would be impossible not to create all these expansion cards without continually playing the game, and seeing how the new sets affect the original game. I still enjoy it. It's never a chore.

48. If so, which one of the Revolver's do you like most to play? Or which combination (with the expansions)?

At the moment, I've been mostly concentrating on Revolver #1 - the main reason being we're still playing Revolver #2 using artless prototypes. Work will continue anew once we have some exciting new copies fresh off the ship! And making expansions is a time consuming process, unless you're just 'banging 'em out'. There's not enough time to concentrate on expansions for both games simultaneously at the moment, considering other projects on the go.

Two expansions are 'sketched' out for Revolver #2, but we're waiting to see how folks enjoy the game before locking in any decisions.

[Cottonball]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to our forum.

49. As a part-time designer do you spend much time abroad promoting your games ?

[markchaplin]

49. As a part-time designer do you spend much time abroad promoting your games ?

Once a year - in Essen! The White Goblin Games Lear Jet is fully booked for 90% of the year.

[NielsZW]

50. Did you expect to get to answer this many questions here at BSM.eu? How are you handling it?

[markchaplin]

50. Did you expect to get to answer this many questions here at BSM.eu? How are you handling it?

I am pleasantly surprised by the number of questions. Keep them coming!

To celebrate reaching 50 questions, I have a question for you guys and gals:
What would you like to see on expansion cards in the future?

[16 Feet Pauly]

What would you like to see on expansion cards in the future?

Hmm I can't answer on this one mechanic-wise, but I would love to see some cameo's from movies or games. For instance John Marston from Read Dead Redemption (although he might not be too well known.)

Which brings me to the next question:

51. Are you related to/ a descendent of Charlie?

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