WHAT'S IN A NAME?
By Alan R. Moon
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
By Alan R. Moon
When I worked at Parker Brothers back in the early 80s, I asked some of the people in
Marketing and Sales why they didn't put the name of the game designer on their games?
I got quite a variety of reasons, including:
1. We want to promote the company, not the designer.
2. No one cares who designs the game.
3. We want the consumers to think all the games are designed by us, not people outside
the company. ((An educated consumer obviously being their best customer.))
4. If we put designers' names on the boxes, we'll have to start paying them higher
royalties.
5. It would ruin the look of the boxcover. ((Excuse me?))
6. It's a legal issue. ((Huh?))
7. I don't know.
8. We've never done it.
You can probably imagine my reaction to these and other statements. Number 8 is my
particular favorite. Saddest part of all is that #8 is probably the real reason, the
philosophy being that "if ain't broke, don't fix it." Unfortunately, this is negativity
in inaction.
To illustrate what I mean, let's look at the book industry. Not only do book publishers
put authors' names on their books, the authors' names often dwarf the title of the book.
The name of the company is usually not even on the front cover of the book, instead
relegated to a very small icon at the bottom of the spine. Why? Because book publishers
understand that the average American is interested in celebrities and attracted to
personalities, and unless they are talking about stock they could care less about
corporations. So not only do book publishers make their company names submissive to the
author's name, they do everything they can to use an author's drawing power to increase
sales. And IT WORKS. Put John Grisham's name on a book, people buy it, simple as that.
Even better, even if they don't like the book, there is still a high probability they
will buy the next John Grisham book too. Because once established, it is very tough
(maybe even impossible) for people to go back to thinking of such an author as unworthy
of their time.
Can this work for American game companies? Why not? But a better question might be why
wouldn't they try it? They have absolutely nothing to lose. A game designer's name on
the box can't possibly hurt. It certainly isn't going to decrease sales. But it could
help. Especially if the companies take the time to develop designers in the same way
book publishers have developed authors.
European game companies put the designer's name on the box. Unfortunately, most of
the time the name is in small print and placed in an out-of-the-way spot, and often
seems to be done as more of a concession than anything else. In 2001, I have three
big new games coming out (all co-designed with Aaron Weissblum). On SAN MARCO by
Ravensburger, our names appear under the title, in a moderately prominent fashion.
In DAS AMULETT by Goldsieber, I'm assuming our names will appear at the very top of
the box in a nice frame (judging by the format of other Goldsieber games). I'm
satisfied with both of these presentations. But the highlight is CAPITOL by Schmidt
Spiele where the game is presented as Alan R. Moon's & Aaron Weissblum's CAPITOL
(box cover illustration shown below). Will any of these presentations make a
difference? I don't know, and it may be difficult to tell even if it does. But like
I said before, it can't hurt, and I'm encouraged that things are on the right track.
Maybe part of the problem in America is that we still haven't made it past the first
generation of games. Ask the average person to name some games, and he will mostly
likely name the old classics like MONOPOLY, RISK, LIFE, CAREERS, and CLUE. Now don't
get me wrong. These are still fine games and worthy of their reputations. Without
them, my profession might not exist.
The problem is that most people don't know that the second generation of games now
exists. What is the difference. Well, to my mind the biggest differences are:
1. The first generation games were mostly roll the dice, move your pawn on the track
around the edge of the game board, and then do what it says on the space you land
on (which most of the time meant drawing a card and following the instructions).
Most second generations games have neither dice nor tracks on the gameboard.
2. First generation games had the basic sequence where players took turns around the
table. Second generation games have much more simultaneous play, where all the players
are involved in each phase and there is little downtime.
3. First generation games had more luck than strategy. Second generation games force
players to make decisions so their actions influence the outcome of the game more.
4. First generation games usually had very simple art and graphics. Second generation
games are full of flavor and in the best ones, the mechanics complement and enhance
the theme.
There has been quite a bit of discussion over the last few months about what to call
this new generation of games. Most people have been referring to them as German games
since Germany is the heart of second generation games at the moment (with companies
like Ravensburger, Kosmos, Schmidt, Amigo, Goldsieber, Hans im Gluck, and Winning
Moves). But if we want American companies to publish second generation games and we
want more people to be exposed to them and eventually play them, we have to find a
better name. Suggestions have included family strategy games, player games, Eurogames,
parlor games, German-style games, etc. After looking at all the options I could find,
I decided I liked Designer Games the best. This may seem a little egocentric or
selfaggrandizing to some, but I'm going to risk that. Besides, I'm proud of what I
do and I'm proud of the games I've designed. I want to share the fun and enjoyment
I've had playing Designer Games from all the other great designers out there.
If television and the entertainment industry have proved anything over the last 20
years, it's that hype works. Say something enough times and people begin to believe
it, whether it's the truth or not. So from now on when people ask me what I love,
I'm going to tell them I love Designer Games.
Happy New Year everyone and keep gaming,
Alan R. Moon
