Four Questions with Eric W. Solomon

Eric W. Solomon has designed numerous published games, my favorite of which was published by Milton Bradley in 1982 as Conspiracy (it has also been published as The Sigma File, Casablanca, Dossier and Agent). Solomon also submitted a game into the 2005 About.com Deduction Game Design Competition. His entry, Hexagonal Black Box, is based on his 1977 game Black Box, which has been published at least five different times.

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

Although I have played many games and served on game testing panels for magazines, I am now 70 and not as mobile as I used to be. So I am a bit out of touch with modern marketed games. However, I do play games under design, notably with David Parlett (inventor of Hare and Tortoise). I also help other designers, for example Miss Susannah Lees who is about to market Media Mogul.

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

There are many that I cannot get to. Settlers of Catan sounds interesting, though.

Please tell us about the process of designing Hexagonal Black Box.

You probably know that I am the inventor of Black Box produced by Waddingtons, Parkers, and others. Hexagonal Black Box is an elaboration of the basic idea which was suggested by work being done by a friend, Godfrey Hounsfield. Godfrey won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979 for his invention of the CAT scanner. (Sending X-Rays into a body -- a 'Black Box' -- to discover structure with great precision.)

What do you like about your entry, and do you think there's anything that could be improved?

Hexagonal Black Box has a significant new type of ray deflection which adds a new dimension to the game in my opinion. I worked hard on this game and I hope I don't sound immodest if I say I can't see an improvement.