Bruno Faidutti: Jeux sans Strategie

Bruno Faidutti has been designing games since 1984, when he helped develop Baston -- a game which he now says he doesn't like. Fortunately, he designed plenty of games in subsequent years which he does like, including Citadels (aka Ohne Furcht und Adel), which was one of the three finalists for the 2000 Spiel des Jahres, Germany's Game of the Year award.

THE FAIDUTTI FILE Games designed by Bruno Faidutti A Ludography

Baston (with P. Cléquin), 1984 Les sales momes (in the French magazine Jeux & Strategie), 1985 Arenes (in Jeux & Strategie), 1986 Tempête sur l'échiquier (with P. Cléquin), 1988 La Vallée des Mammouths, 1989 Alpages (in Jeux & Strategie), 1989 Taxi Brousse (in Jeux & Strategie), 1989 Meurtre à l'Abbaye (with S. Laget), 1995 Knightmare Chess (adapted from Tempete sur l'échiquier, with P. Cléquin), 1996 Le Combat des Dieux (in the French magazine Sciences et Vie), 1999 Corruption, 1999 Democrazy (with K.H. Schmiel), 2000 Citadels, 2000 Castle (with S. Laget), 2000 Bongo, 2000 Discuss Bruno Faidutti's games on the Board Games Forum.

Recently, Bruno was kind enough to spend some time talking about his games, the design process, and several other topics -- including why he doesn't like games that involve a lot of strategy. What follows is the text of our email interview.

When did you first become interested in board and card games?

I didn't play a lot when young. At 16, I became very interested in chess and achieved a good level after one ore two years. But I became bored of it and looked for something different. I discovered "modern" games when studying at university, in the early 80s. We played both board games (mostly Cosmic Encounter, but also Amoeba Wars, Hoax, Dune, Battlecars) and role-playing games -- there was only Dungeons & Dragons at this time. Later, in the early 90s, I went into LARP -- I still do it occasionally.

What were some of your first favorite games?

Chess, Cosmic Encounter, Clue.

What are some of your current favorites, other than your own designs?

Poker is my favorite game since almost ten years. In "modern" games, my favorites are probably Elfenroads / Elfenland, Cosmic Encounter, Ave Caesar.

What is it that you like about these games?

I like games that create an ambiance. This can be made in many ways, through a strong theme, a good mechanism, lots of interaction... I don't like "cold" games.

When and why did you start designing games?

My first creation, with Pierre Cléquin, was Baston, a bar brawl simulation somewhat similar to Yaquinto's Swashbuckler. It was the first and only time I made a simulation game, and I now wonder how I could do such a game: I don't like it! With the same Pierre Cléquin, after designing Baston, we started Tempete sur l'échiquier (Knightmare Chess), and I'm still rather proud of this one.

NAVIGATE THIS BOARDGAMES ARTICLE
Page 1	Introduction to Faidutti and why he enjoys board games, with a complete ludography.
Page 2	Faidutti discusses the process of designing his games, including Murder at the Abbey.
Page 3	The success of Citadels, plus comments on Corruption, Democrazy and more.
Page 4	Faidutti's firt-hand account of how the related games Citadels and Castle came to be.

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