Four Questions with Alan R. Moon

Game designer Alan R. Moon, a two-time winner of the Spiel des Jahres (Germany's Family Game of the Year), for Ticket to Ride (2004) and Elfenland (1998), is the first in the spotlight for our new feature, "Four Questions with..." Moon's fantastic Ticket to Ride (which featured the United States) was followed by the equally fun Ticket to Ride Europe -- and Moon says he has finished more Ticket to Ride maps.

Q: What's your favorite recently played (for the first time) game?

Alan R. Moon: Control Nut by James Miller. This game was a nice surprise for me since I'm such a big fan of trick-taking card games.

The card play in Control Nut is similiar to most trick-taking games. The difference is that four Control cards are auctioned off one at a time to start each hand. Players bid by placing three cards from their hands face up on the table, with the player who plays the highest total winning the card. Sounds easy and sort of basic, but it isn't. Because many times you don't want to win the bid, but you do want to take the opportunity to show your partner some important information about your hand with your three cards.

The other consideration in the bidding is that you if you win the bid, you have to give away the three cards you bid with, one to your partner and one to each opponent. If a player wins more than one of the Control cards, he will have less cards than the other players. Likewise, if a player doesn't win any of the Control cards, he will have more cards than the other players.

The three most basic Control cards are Trick, Trump, and Score. Trick is the highest card in the deck and will win almost any trick. Trump lets the player name the trump suit. Many times, the cards you bid will be influenced by whether your team or the opponents win this card. Score is worth 20 points to the team that wins the trick is played on. There are also five other Control cards that add more variety, complication, or chaos to the game.

Scoring is somewhat reminiscent of another clever trick-taking game called Mue. Mue was my favorite game for a while, until I discovered Spades. The 1 of each suit has two stars, and the 3 and 7 of each suit have one Star each. At the end of the hand, each team multiplies the number of tricks it took by the total number of Stars it took. Each Control card is also worth 5 points, plus some Control cards (like Score) give bonus points. A team's score for a hand can be anywhere from single digits to 200+. Game is to 300, and the normal playing time is 45 to 60 minutes.

Control Nut is definitely not an easy nut to crack. There is a lot of subtlety in both the bidding and the play. It's frustratingly fun. One of those games where you think you understand your mistakes and can do better the next time, but the next time you are confronted with a different tough decision instead of the same one. It's an impressive game, especially for a first-time designer like James.

Q: What game do you want to play most that you haven't played yet?

Alan R. Moon: Shadows Over Camelot from Days Of Wonder. I'm not a big fan of cooperative games, but many people who have told me that they aren't fans of cooperative games either have really enjoyed Shadows Over Camelot. I'm also intrigued since Days Of Wonder seems to be publishing such cool games like this and Memoir '44. The big 3D version at Origins was spectacular and was in constant use for all four days.

Q: How many editions of Ticket to Ride (in addition to USA and Europe) have you developed rules and maps for, and are there any specific plans to publish more at this point?

Alan R. Moon: I have finished some more maps but Days Of Wonder has asked me not to talk about them yet.

Most people don't realize how long the development and production stages of a game take. I started working on Ticket to Ride Europe even before Ticket to Ride USA was published, and Europe was finished shortly after USA was released. Some people have commented that the changes in Europe addressed their comments about USA. But if they did, this was just coincidental as the game was finished before most of these comments appeared.

My goal with Europe was to create a game that felt different from USA while adding the least complication possible. In other words, creating a game that felt both different yet familiar. Europe is much more about the Tickets than the USA and far less about long routes (since there aren't many long routes). And more than anything else, it's about building a strong network that allows you to draw more Tickets.

Designer Mike Fitzgerald (of Mystery Rummy and Wyvern fame) is a big fan of Ticket to Ride. At Origins a few weeks ago, I talked to Mike about Europe. He said that he's played quite a few games already and one basic yet subtle strategy seems to be to place a Station in Berlin on turn one. I was really pleased to hear him say this, since that was a common strategy during the final playtests with people who had played the game a bunch of times.

Q: How about Ticket to Ride Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania -- which coincidentally is my home state -- is very rectangular.

Alan R. Moon: I'll mention it to Days Of Wonder. They always enjoy a good laugh. How about you creating a Pennsylvania map, Erik? I'll be happy to be a playtester.

Suggested Reading

Top 5 Games Designed by Alan R. Moon
Ticket to Ride - Game Review
Interview with Alan R. Moon and Richard Borg (Warriors)
Interview with Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum (San Marco)