The Game Designers - Full Movie

Zoom Out Media proudly presents THE GAME DESIGNERS!
SYNOPSIS:
The Game Designers is a feature-length documentary film about board game designers. Join us as we follow professional and fledgling board game designers as they strive to bring their heartfelt creations to life. The challenges are great, but their resolve is even greater as they toil night and day to turn their dreams into a reality. Will the designers find success and get their games out into the world? Or will their creations become too complicated and convoluted to complete? Only time-and a whole lot of persistence--will tell what happens!
ABOUT THE FILM:
The Game Designers highlights the work and stories of five board game designers. Industry luminaries Antoine Bauza and Matt Leacock share their origin stories and also give a look into their latest projects; up-and-coming designers Kelly North Adams and Chris Faulkenberry work on publishing and Kickstarting their sophomore efforts; and first-time designer Doug Schepers tries his hand at developing his first title. The film also features additional designers and others in the industry who illuminate the stories of the featured set.
FULL CAST:
Antoine Bauza - 7 Wonders, Hanabi, Takenoko
Matt Leacock - Pandemic, Forbidden Island, Era
Kelly North Adams - Veggie Garden, Chibi Quest, Swipe Right
Chris Faulkenberry - Battle for Biternia
Doug Schepers - Spells
Tom Vasel - The Dice Tower
Glenn Frank Drover - Railways of the World, Age of Empires 3
Sandy Petersen - Cthulhu Wars, Planet Apocalypse, Glorantha
Mike Selinker - Pathfinder, Magic: The Gathering, Axis & Allies
Chris O'Neal - Boss Monster, Call to Adventure
Jason Matthews - Twilight Struggle, Making of a President
Ryan Laukat - Sleeping Gods, Near and Far, Above and Below
John Moller - Unpub Convention
Eric M. Lang - Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Arcadia Quest
Rob Daviau - Pandemic: Season 1, Risk Legacy, Heroscape
Jason Tagmire - Seven7s, Twin Stars, Chain Mail
Rob Couch - Building the Game podcast
Jason Slingerland - Building the Game podcast
Ludovic Maublanc - Cyclades, Conan, Mr. Jack
Corentin Lebrat - Draftosaurus, Chateau Adventure
Reiner Knizia - Tigris & Euphrates, Ra, Lost Cities
Wolfgang Kramer - El Grande, The Princes of Florence, Tikal
Friedemann Friese - Power Grid, Friday, Fabled Fruit
Mac Gerdts - Concordia, Imperial, Navegador
Liz Spain - Widow’s Walk, Pathfinder
Sen-Foong Lim - Belfort, Akrotiri, Junk Art
Tom Lehmann - Race for the Galaxy, Roll for the Galaxy
Martin Wallace - Brass, Railways of the World
Zee Garcia - The Dice Tower
Uwe Rosenberg - Agricola, Caverna, Patchwork
John Zinser - AEG Games
Vlaada Chavtil - Through the Ages, Mage Knight
CREW:
Writer/Director - Eric Rayl
Executive Producer - Scott Alden
Associate Producers - Scott Gaeta, Ning Pan, Hans Scharler, Gian Andrea Cappuzzo
ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS:
Brittanie Boe, Bruno Cathala, Bruno Faidutti, Bryan Pope, Corey Konieczka, Daniel Solis, Dominique Metzler, Elisa Teague, Emerson Matsuuchi, W Eric Martin, Graham Russell, Isaac Childres, Jacob Fryxelius, Jamey Stegmaier, Jason Alan Kotarski, Jeff Johnston, Matt Wolfe, Maureen Hiron, Richard Breese, Richard Launius, Stefania Niccolini, Seiji Kanai, Ted Alspach, Thiago Aranha, Travis Chance, Vital Lacerda, Zev Shlasinger
PRODUCTION:
Production of The Game Designers began in January 2016 and was completely finished in January 2020. Throughout these 4 years I traveled to many different locations and filmed a number of the top board game designers in the world. I traveled to the following locations and conventions for the production of this film: GenCon, Origins, Essen Spiel, Lucca Game Fair, Cannes Game Fair, Cmon Expo, Unpub, DragonCon, Orlando, Sunnyvale, Valence (France), Atlanta, Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
KICKSTARTER:
In March 2019, The Game Designers was successfully funded on Kickstarter with the help and support of 1300+ backers. The Kickstarter offered a digital download of the film, DVDs and Blu-Rays, and a Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition included a director's commentary, deleted scenes, extras, featurettes, and 30 extended interviews for a total of 10 hours of content. We appreciate the support of all of our backers! Visit the Kickstarter here: bit.ly/2TWCfyT
PRODUCTION DIARY:
I wrote a somewhat lengthy diary on the production of The Game Designers for BoardGameGeek in February 2019. If you would like to learn more about the project in depth, read the article here: bit.ly/3htpDby
IMDB:
We have an IMDB page setup for The Game Designers. If you would like to leave a rating and/or review there, that would be great! Visit the IMDB here: rb.gy/berc3x
SUPPORT US:
If you enjoyed the movie and would like to support us to continue making more content please consider renting or buying the movie on Amazon or Vimeo. Visit Amazon here: rb.gy/rnlbit and visit Vimeo here: rb.gy/gj2wk6
Thank you for your support. Like and Subscribe!
www.zoomoutmedia.com

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out The Game Designers. If you enjoyed the movie, please be sure to subscribe as there will be additional content from The Game Designers coming out each week for the next several weeks (plus more goodies after that)!

[@henrikwakman7776]

It is a spectacularly well made documentary. No loud nonsense, just a pleasant and informative narrative flow.

[@foyoGames]

Will Do!

[@sungbopark183]

I'm a board game player from Korea. This is a very good documentary. However, the Korean board game community is not aware of the existence of this video, probably because there are no Korean subtitles. If you don't mind, I would like to add Korean subtitles to this video and introduce this video to the Korean community. Could you please change the settings so that I can add subtitles?

[@todaybigs5698]

Great Job! 👍

[@Negativearth]

I'm replying on this comment so that more people sees this

[@smilingbadger6209]

I was a play tester for Chad Jensen a designer for GMT games (GOD rest his soul.) He was brilliant and his designs won many awards. His rule books were very well written and the games were well thought out. Many of his designs took many years to develope and it showed in their quality. He even made a counter in Combat Commander with my name on it. I am now the American battle field promotion leader. Miss you buddy.

[@Tysto]

I would have liked to hear from each of the aspiring designers about the core mechanic of their game. That’s where their passion would shine. I watched this whole thing & have no idea how any of these games work.

[@Talliesyn]

Thanks for the documentary, it's kind of reassuring to see those oldschool designers face the same hardships and overcome it time and again to succed. I wouldn't call myself an aspiring designer. Never intend to do this as a full time job. But I hope to get my game pitched at some point.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks and good luck my friend! Just stick with it and never give up and you'll get your game done ✅

[@pudicio]

As an aspiring game designer this documentary is pure gold

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Hey thanks!

[@abwuds7208]

Same

[@Tysto]

Reiner Knizia seems like a different species from the aspiring designers. He exudes strategic & tactical thoughtfulness. I didn’t notice until the end that he was the designer of Tigris & Euphrates.

[@vancass1326]

I believe that the roots are based on “war” games and than that they evolved with modifications to what is now transforming the gaming industry

[@Nathan-P-Moomaw]

As a hobbyist game designer, my favorite part of this documentary was seeing all these professional designers spending so much time simply cutting paper by hand! It's so tedious and feels so slow while you're doing it, but now I'll feel better knowing that it's the process even folks like Bauza and Leacock still use. I'm also really curious about the bit in the credits that lists additional interviews with like 30 more awesome game designers... Is that content available?!

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Hey Nathan, thanks for your comment. It's good to hear that you enjoyed those parts because I like filming tedious stuff like that as well 😅. Yes, The Game Designers: Collector's Edition will be coming out in a couple weeks (for sale on Vimeo). I'm in the process of uploading it all. It takes awhile!

[@Nathan-P-Moomaw]

@@ZoomOutMedia Nice! I also have film background, so can appreciate all that. The meditative moments were great. Game design really is mostly a lot of thinking and cutting paper. It's not exciting or fast-paced, so I'm glad you didn't try and portray it that way. It was a great practical look at the creative process. Thanks for making it!

[@ZoomOutMedia]

@@Nathan-P-Moomaw Thank you! I'm hoping to do more of that kind of pace for future documentaries and especially videos for this channel.

[@KeepersofFun]

An absolute must-see, especially for board game enthusiasts.

[@rodneydunn9611]

I always knew that designing a game is an incredibly difficult and painful process. This documentary further supported that I will play them when they are done and enjoy them. Designing or playtesting broken prototypes is not for me. Thank goodness there are people so committed to bringing these ideas to life!

[@pennyhardaway1985]

Antoine Bauza seems to be a very nice and approachable guy. You can see his passion for the game design and for the people working with him!

[@RealTDragon]

Grateful you’re out there documenting this history

[@KeithAndersch]

Glad to help kickstart this doc. And equally glad that it's available for all to watch now.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thank you for your support Keith!

[@MarketingRedesSociales-bx9hh]

I saw it twice, entire, and enjoy a lot as game designer in process of creation.

[@manolios]

very good! and you gotta love the scenes from a forgotten Era, when we were all together, around tables, going to conventions, and do not afraid to breath freely.

[@readilium3432]

Just...get...together. The VAST VAST majority of people were never in any significant danger. Comparable to the flu. Speaking of the flu, where the hell did the flu go?

[@manolios]

@@readilium3432 the minor , compared to COVID, flu was eradicated with lockdowns, masks, and different social lifes. And as for the danger, yeah, the danger was toned down because of the measures that were applied. Else, even a cut in the leg, was to kill a man, because there would not be place in any hospital, or medicare, anywhere! So yes, COVID may not always kill , but the treatment needed, clogs the hospital systems around the world, leading to side deaths, even from a broken leg.

[@bcmboardgames2688]

Love this documentary. I'm sharing this with everyone I can.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks for your support!

[@danieldouglasclemens]

The documentary was well done and captures the reasons, energy, enthusiasm, disappointment and sometimes even tears. Only you as a designer working relentlessly behind the curtains remember those sleepless nights and tearing out your hair in trying to find the correct mechanisms and balancing. Your game becomes a part of you, as you nurture it, scold it, hate it and love it to its very core. Game development is like the most intense drama and clumsy first steps slowly turning into a beautiful dance full of grace and joy. Only a fraction of gamers get to see beyond the fancy Kickstarter campaign curtains. With huge competition around it becomes an amazing achievement, when you finally do reach your funding goal! All the best to any and all game designers out there! As a stone age video gamer of jrpgs like Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger & Co, the design of "Battle for Biternia" strikes a chord with me. Although I never played MOBA digitally and probably never will due to other interests and obligations, I would love to give Battle for Biternia a shot. Sadly shipping costs to Germany are at an all-time high and so I currently refrain from buying it. Maybe at Essen Spiel I could buy a copy or else at some later point in time. As it stands now, shipping costs are as much as the base game itself, if you also order the expansion (which I would).

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks for your comment! There are a couple other games that have a similar concept as Battle for Biternia and might be available in Germany. Browse BGG for the "MOBA" family :)

[@danieldouglasclemens]

But they simply don't have the nerd factor and flair ;-)

[@david_hodarispiele]

Awesome documentary! Thank you for another view of the industry and especially from the US. Designers like me need something like this community over here in germany as well. The convention for game testers seems incredibly awesome!

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Yes, I bet there is some sort of playtesting group there in Germany. But I do think that the Unpub group and conventions here are very nice and organized as well.

[@jakenaylor]

Great documentary! Thanks for this, Eric and Co.!

[@brickisland6353]

I have long thought that I could design a board game, I've played games for over 20 years and many of the game presented here as well. I have a lot of ideas for board games, but when I watch this it pretty clear that you wont get far with just an idea. But we will see where it ends.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

There is definitely a lot of development that will have to take place to arrive at a final and complete game! You just have to keep at it.

[@greginfla_1]

A little long; Would’ve loved to have more information about the Kickstarter process and the funding and the revenue share. Same thing with the publishers; What control do they demand, What compensation does the designer typically get from a publisher based game launch compared Kickstarter? Would love to learn more about how independent designer gets their game physically made; distribution etc

[@DeKesch]

This movie is so inspiring!

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it ☺️

[@ferbogadoaSalirAJugar]

amazing documentary for people like me who love board games and want to be a game designer.

[@hereticalhobby]

This was so cool to watch, so many different perspectives showcasing different challenges in game design was so interesting. The editing and music timing and choice was amazing and props to all the designers in this. The vulnerability and openness from these designers needs to be recognized. Absolute respect to everybody involved with this project. 48:02 👏🏻🤘🏼

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@vancass1326]

“Anonymity” can redirect your “friends” criticism by placing these criticisms and suggestions into a “box” that is than drawn to truly have productive suggestions offered

[@joelkarpowitz9872]

Really enjoyed this. Thank you!

[@mkietzmann]

Thanks a lot. Greetings from an aspiring board game designer.

[@lucasborboleta]

Vraiment cool d'avoir un documentaire sur les créateurs de jeux ! Plein d'émotions et d'expériences différentes ; stimulant !

[@johnreymonceda6258]

This video help me a lot of things in board game... I'm also making my first board games i hope people will love it....

[@StefanLopuszanski]

Awesome stuff! Glad to see it finally available to everyone. =)

[@TexturedFlow]

Enjoyed this. Thx. It’s inspiring me to keep going with my prototype I have cooking

[@ikastuna2290]

Gracias por liberarlo y poner los subtítulos en castellano. He llegado aquí por la recomendación del canal Análisis Parálisis. Gran documental para conocer lo duro que puede llegar a ser diseñar un juego de mesa.

[@spectrumunit]

That was a very entertaining watch! Thanks for making this documentary!

[@guywilding567]

This was brilliant. I’d love to see the full interviews with all the designers.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks! If you search for "The Game Designers - Collector's Edition" video on my channel you'll find a link in the description to purchase it on Vimeo. It think I set it to $4.99 USD last.

[@mati11223]

Great production! Seeing the industry from all different sides is a great opportunity for new people to get into a game desing. Just start - it's not that difficult to cut some paper and play around with pieces. Then try to acuire as much knowledge as you can - read books, listen to podcasts - there are tons of resources to use on the matter. And best of all - be part of the community.

[@sumerandaccad]

Stumbled across Going cardboard and liked that video. This came up in my feed and liked this also. Both very informative

[@AfterMatchBg]

Importante documentário! Compartilhamos das mesmas questões. Precisamos explicar que não é monopoly, clue ou Risk. Precisamos de um mercado maior para que possamos viver disso. Show!!

[@giacomomallamaci5649]

Thanks for the great documentary

[@jadam42]

Really wish that all the b-roll game shots also included the name of the game. Some of them looked interesting and I would love to know which games they are.

[@muhabwahby]

Fantastic. Says everything i want to say to people who ask me about the hobby, or those considering the grueling effort of board game design. I just wish it was 20 mins shorter.

[@pwootton24]

Love this! What a great watch.

[@foyoGames]

BRAVO!

[@kodamakun]

Really inspiring!

[@farissuhaimi5922]

Little did Matt knew, a couple years later he got a free advertisement campaign for his game

[@readilium3432]

Hey Matt, you got any fresh new ideas? "Two or three pandemic products each year."

[@arthurfourniol2369]

Awesome documentary ! It gave me a lot of knowledge and motivation to still playing and creating games. Thanks a lot 👏

[@ZoomOutMedia]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Arthur 👍

[@AmassGames]

How funny, I was at Essen'18 too! Bruno Cathala had a cold when we spoke on the Friday though. I was wearing a black t-shirt Thursday and had a roast chicken hat on frequently :p I was the sixth player of Fall of Rome in the UK :) (I've since played every Pandemic and been a judge) :D a few games I didn't recognise... The Malaca one looked familiar? This doc was well edited and researched. I met Antoine at Essen'22 (he signed my Tokaido Duo)!

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@miniatureworldsworkshop8286]

Great doco! Well done guys 😃👍🏻

[@readilium3432]

28:47 up to this point, this dude is giving me the vibe of a guy who did a board game as an arts and crafts kind of thing, rather than put serious thought into the design and rule set. Don't know why, just kind of the way he talks about his game. I mean who were these plasterers he's got? I doubt they are over at his once or twice a month playing modern designs.

[@zmollon]

41:42 show someone you're a magic player without telling them you're a magic player.

[@Talliesyn]

I'd like to give a shout for Bruno Cathala, who appeared multiple times, but was not mentioned.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Fun fact: I was going to also feature Bruno Cathala in the documentary (along with Antoine Bauza since they both are in the same area), but Bruno had to take care of some other matters when I was there so I couldn't film him at Antoine's workshop. I live in the USA.

[@nickxzone]

That was awsome. Watched the whole thing.

[@lasocietedesjeux]

Thanks, very instructive

[@spencerpalmer2918]

Great job! Thanks!

[@gospodarlavova7377]

wow, awesome documentary! Game designers 😁

[@WorldAquariumSingapore]

this is really cool video on boardgames creation :D i am from Singapore and we dont have such a good support for boardgame makers, designers cheers, i am trying to make my own war boardgame here in SG but im not finding much

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Keep working at it! It takes time and effort, but eventually you'll get there!

[@WorldAquariumSingapore]

@@ZoomOutMedia thanks i had made a prototype of three kingdoms war game boardgame and played with my family, they seems like it, now next step is to create the character graphics on the cards which i have many and have problem at this stage

[@WorldAquariumSingapore]

i had also shared your video in a fb group cheers hope this helps

[@ZoomOutMedia]

@@WorldAquariumSingapore Thanks for doing that! 👍

[@headovmetal]

Great!

[@kemoons]

Awesome mannnnn

[@joaoferreira1884]

Hi, what's the name of the game with miniature airplanes at 2:55 ?

[@PiterMorbid]

How does Zee's last statement apply to solo gaming?

[@danielsockett9700]

Enjoyed this, though whoever chose the starting music needs a talking to.

[@boutss]

What is the music at 1:28:00 ? Thanks

[@PinothyJ]

Whilst I really enjoyed this, you need to work on your mixing. For example, you should record the room and have that underneath the dialogue. At the moment it goes from talking to digital silence, to talking, to digital silence. The only other advice would be less is more with the music. It is rather loud. And whilst loud music is not a bad thing, when suddenly it is nothing and then BAM! music.

[@ZoidbergForPresident]

"Products", that term irks me so much.... X'( Cool doc though!

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

Why? Board games need to be products. There is a lot of work and effort that goes into them, production costs, marketing, etc. - What else would it be then a product?

[@ZoidbergForPresident]

The point -------------------> @@holgerchristiansen4003

[@holgerchristiansen4003]

@@ZoidbergForPresident Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it.

[@felipealvarez1982]

I know I am only 5 minutes into the film, but I've seen nothing but white males in this video. I hope this video discusses some of those challenges. (I'm a white male).

[@JensEmilMusic]

Thanks for making the movie available online, I really appreciate that! I think it's a bit of a shame that the editing, filming and pacing is done so poorly - it distracted me a lot from the experience. I can see in the credits that most of it was done by one guy, which is impressive - but it also gave the movie some amateur vibes, which could have been improved vastly - especially with a professional editor, both in terms of sound, picture and pacing. But it's an interesting movie, and the interviews where great!

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Hi Jens, thanks for your comment. Yes, this was my first movie and I learned a lot from it. I largely agree with all of the points that you mentioned and if I were to do this same project now, I think it would look a bit better (since I have more experience than before). Please check out Crafting Arzium for my second attempt! 😅

[@JensEmilMusic]

@@ZoomOutMedia Hi, thanks for your reply! And for taking my feedback so well - I hope it didn't sound too negative :) Glad to hear that you learned a lot from it - I'll check out your next movie when I get the time!

[@mrpoopoohead7668]

During covid-19, I needed a project to work on. So I had always wondered if I could make my own version of Risk. So I started taking certain aspects of axis allies and adding them to Risk because Risk seemed a little boring to me at times. Noone has play tested it yet, but some co-workers are interested in at least checking it out. It is a lot of time and effort. that's without trying to even get it published and shown to the world. The time and effort is incredible, and I spent more than I spend on a month worth of rent on my apartment finding the game pieces. Lol's

[@dilatedbeholder3865]

Good luck! I hope your hard work pays off 👍

[@dilatedbeholder3865]

Not bad. It would have been better to focus a bit more on the pitching and Kickstarter elements in the industry, but nice for a hobbyist to watch.

[@williampalmeira4654]

I really Love this, i have it from vimeo. Unfortunatly i lost the campaign for Crafting Arzium in Kickstarter, but i got it when it came out in Vimeo. Greetings from Brazil Eric.

[@ZoomOutMedia]

Thanks for your support. The Digital Download for Crafting Arzium is in the pinned update on Kickstarter!

[@williampalmeira4654]

@@ZoomOutMedia i got Arzium when it came out in Vimeo, rigth away. :)

[@flamespear9936]

Does anybody know what the game at 1:05:05 Is called? It really sticks out to me. Edit: The pirate ship game

[@TheMountainClimbBoardGame]

Take a drink everytime you said in your head "That ones on the spectrum"