Reiner Knizia
Encyclopedia
Reiner Knizia (ˈʁaɪnɐ ˈknɪtsiə) is a prolific German-style board game
designer. Born in Germany, he developed his first game at the age of eight. He has a PhD
in mathematics
, and has been a full-time game designer since 1997, when he quit his job from the board of a large international bank. Knizia has been living in England since 1993.
In addition to being quite prolific, with over 500 published games, he is highly acclaimed as a designer, having won the Deutscher Spiele Preis
four times, a Spiel des Jahres
(in addition to a Kinderspiel des Jahres and a special award) and numerous other national and international awards. At the Origins Game Fair in 2002 he was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame. His games frequently make appearances on various "top games" lists: including the GAMES 100
list, the BoardGameGeek
top 100, and the Internet Top 100 Games List. Several gaming convention
s host "Kniziathons", which are tournaments dedicated to celebrating Knizia-designed games.
Reiner Knizia started developing games for his play-by-mail game
zine
Postspillion, founded in 1985. The zine still exists and the game Bretton Woods (also a Reiner Knizia design), which was started in 1987, is still going.
According to Knizia, his best selling game is Lord of the Rings
, published in 17 languages with over one million copies sold. However, it is anticipated that his hit game Ingenious
, already published in over 20 languages, will soon take top spot.
Merging his talent with the already well-known franchise of Star Trek, Knizia designed a Star Trek-themed game for NECA/WizKids, based on the 2009 film that 'reset' the Star Trek universe. The game is set to be released sometime in 2011.
A number of Knizia designs have been redeveloped for the electronic gaming & console markets. Ingenious
(aka Einfach Genial) and Keltis
have both appeared in CD-ROM versions; Lost Cities
was adapted for Xbox 360
via Xbox Live Arcade
. An original game for the Nintendo DS
, Dr. Reiner Knizia's Brainbenders was published in 2008; Keltis
for the NDS followed in 2009. Knizia has also designed various game applications specifically for the iPhone
, including Monumental, Roto and Robot Master.
One element of modern game design that Reiner Knizia has pioneered is abstract theme. Older themed games like Monopoly have traditionally developed their themes by trying to model or emulate the environment or situation they are thematically tied to. So Monopoly has players buying and developing properties as a real developer might. Knizia's thematic game designs tend not to try to model a specific environment, but instead try to invoke the thought and decision-making processes that are key to the theme. For example, his game Medici has a fairly abstract game system of drawing and buying cards which does not try to model any particular environment, but in the game-world the players are always attempting to price risk, the key success factor in the investment banking business in which the Medicis made their fortune. This approach has allowed Knizia to develop games which are comparatively simple but require thoughtful game-play, while still retaining strongly thematic elements.
Using his understanding of principles in mathematics to full effect, pricing and evaluating risk are frequently recurring elements in Reiner Knizia games. Many of his most successful designs use auctions as a vehicle to price risk, as in Ra, Medici, and Modern Art.
German-style board game
German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...
designer. Born in Germany, he developed his first game at the age of eight. He has a PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, and has been a full-time game designer since 1997, when he quit his job from the board of a large international bank. Knizia has been living in England since 1993.
In addition to being quite prolific, with over 500 published games, he is highly acclaimed as a designer, having won the Deutscher Spiele Preis
Deutscher Spiele Preis
The Deutscher Spiele Preis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen,...
four times, a Spiel des Jahres
Spiel des Jahres
The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
(in addition to a Kinderspiel des Jahres and a special award) and numerous other national and international awards. At the Origins Game Fair in 2002 he was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame. His games frequently make appearances on various "top games" lists: including the GAMES 100
GAMES 100
The Games 100 is an annual feature of Games magazine, a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles. The Games 100 first appeared in the November/December 1980 issue as an alphabetic list of the 100 games preferred by the editors of the magazine...
list, the BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...
top 100, and the Internet Top 100 Games List. Several gaming convention
Gaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
s host "Kniziathons", which are tournaments dedicated to celebrating Knizia-designed games.
Reiner Knizia started developing games for his play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
Postspillion, founded in 1985. The zine still exists and the game Bretton Woods (also a Reiner Knizia design), which was started in 1987, is still going.
According to Knizia, his best selling game is Lord of the Rings
Lord of the Rings (board game)
Lord of the Rings is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia based on The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The game was published in 2000 by Kosmos and Fantasy Flight Games, and won a Spiel des Jahres special award for best use of literature in a game. It features artwork by illustrator John...
, published in 17 languages with over one million copies sold. However, it is anticipated that his hit game Ingenious
Ingenious
Ingenious is the English name for Einfach Genial , a German abstract strategy board game designed by Reiner Knizia under commission from Sophisticated Games and published in 2004 by Kosmos...
, already published in over 20 languages, will soon take top spot.
Merging his talent with the already well-known franchise of Star Trek, Knizia designed a Star Trek-themed game for NECA/WizKids, based on the 2009 film that 'reset' the Star Trek universe. The game is set to be released sometime in 2011.
A number of Knizia designs have been redeveloped for the electronic gaming & console markets. Ingenious
Ingenious
Ingenious is the English name for Einfach Genial , a German abstract strategy board game designed by Reiner Knizia under commission from Sophisticated Games and published in 2004 by Kosmos...
(aka Einfach Genial) and Keltis
Keltis
Keltis is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia that won the Spiel des Jahres for best game of the year in 2008. In the US, it has been marketed as Lost Cities: The Board Game, though there are some subtle rules differences....
have both appeared in CD-ROM versions; Lost Cities
Lost Cities
Lost Cities is a 60-card card game, designed in 1999 by game designer Reiner Knizia and published by several publishers. The objective of the game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities...
was adapted for Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
via Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
. An original game for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, Dr. Reiner Knizia's Brainbenders was published in 2008; Keltis
Keltis
Keltis is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia that won the Spiel des Jahres for best game of the year in 2008. In the US, it has been marketed as Lost Cities: The Board Game, though there are some subtle rules differences....
for the NDS followed in 2009. Knizia has also designed various game applications specifically for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, including Monumental, Roto and Robot Master.
Publishing philosophy
Reiner Knizia emphasises that he is a game designer, not a game publisher. "Designing games and publishing games are two very different disciplines. The designer creates the original game with its theme, its game system and its principal components, delivering a complete single prototype to the publisher. On the basis of this prototype, the publisher manages the production of the game, and promotes and markets it", explains Knizia. He continues "I concentrate on doing what I do best: designing games. This means that I can only be successful in cooperation with strong and competent publishers who do their job as professionally as I believe I do mine. I am always looking for new publishers all over the world, large or small, in the traditional games market as well as the electronic games market. I have lots of new and unpublished designs waiting for their opportunity to come to life."Game characteristics
Knizia's games cover a huge range of characteristics: he has designed small two-player card games, children's games, simple games, sophisticated games, and even a live-action roleplaying game.One element of modern game design that Reiner Knizia has pioneered is abstract theme. Older themed games like Monopoly have traditionally developed their themes by trying to model or emulate the environment or situation they are thematically tied to. So Monopoly has players buying and developing properties as a real developer might. Knizia's thematic game designs tend not to try to model a specific environment, but instead try to invoke the thought and decision-making processes that are key to the theme. For example, his game Medici has a fairly abstract game system of drawing and buying cards which does not try to model any particular environment, but in the game-world the players are always attempting to price risk, the key success factor in the investment banking business in which the Medicis made their fortune. This approach has allowed Knizia to develop games which are comparatively simple but require thoughtful game-play, while still retaining strongly thematic elements.
Using his understanding of principles in mathematics to full effect, pricing and evaluating risk are frequently recurring elements in Reiner Knizia games. Many of his most successful designs use auctions as a vehicle to price risk, as in Ra, Medici, and Modern Art.
Games
Some of Knizia's games are:- Abandon Ship
- Amun-ReAmun-Re (board game)Amun-Re is a game designed by Reiner Knizia and first published in 2003 by Hans im Glück in German and in English by Rio Grande Games.Players are leaders of different Egyptian dynasties who try to gain influence in 15 provinces of ancient Egypt. Influence and building pyramids earns points for the...
- Winner, Deutscher Spiele Preis 2003
- Auf Heller und Pfennig (released in English as KingdomsKingdoms (board game)Kingdoms is a German-style board game for 2-4 players designed by Reiner Knizia and released in 2002 by Fantasy Flight. The game is based on Knizia's original German game Auf Heller und Pfennig, but has been given a Medieval Fantasy theme....
)- Winner, Origins Award for Best Abstract Board Game of 2002
- Battle Lines
- Beowulf: The LegendBeowulf: The LegendBeowulf: The Legend is a 2005 designer board game by Reiner Knizia. The artwork is by John Howe. Game play uses cards and tokens. The play moves along a board, and players obtain gold and cards in order to eventually obtain victory points....
- Blue MoonBlue Moon (game)Blue Moon, published by Kosmos/Fantasy Flight Games, is Reiner Knizia's most successful take on the collectible card game genre. It is a card game for two players that bears some resemblance to the well-known Magic: The Gathering , although the game mechanics are quite different...
- Blue Moon CityBlue Moon CityBlue Moon City is a 2006 designer board game by Reiner Knizia. The game has similar artwork to, and some thematic connections with, the Blue Moon card game, also designed by Knizia.-Awards and rankings:* Winner, Meeples' Choice Award 2006...
- Einfach Genial (released as Ingenious in the US and Mensa Connections in the UK)
- Winner, Schweizer SpielepreisSchweizer SpielepreisThe Schweizer Spielepreis is a Swiss board game award, awarded since 2002 in three categories: Family games, Children's games and Strategy games...
best strategy game 2004
- Winner, Schweizer Spielepreis
- KeltisKeltisKeltis is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia that won the Spiel des Jahres for best game of the year in 2008. In the US, it has been marketed as Lost Cities: The Board Game, though there are some subtle rules differences....
- Spiel des Jahres 2008
- Lord of the RingsLord of the Rings (board game)Lord of the Rings is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia based on The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The game was published in 2000 by Kosmos and Fantasy Flight Games, and won a Spiel des Jahres special award for best use of literature in a game. It features artwork by illustrator John...
- Winner, Spiel des Jahres 2001 special prize for best use of literature in a game
- Lost CitiesLost CitiesLost Cities is a 60-card card game, designed in 1999 by game designer Reiner Knizia and published by several publishers. The objective of the game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities...
- Winner, International Gamers Award 2000 for Best 2-player strategy game
- MediciMedici (board game)Medici is a German-style board game by Reiner Knizia. Players buy cards in an auction and match in series and in sets to end up with most points from those formations....
- Modern ArtModern Art (game)Modern Art is a bidding game designed by Reiner Knizia and first published in 1992 by Hans im Glück in German. Players represent art dealers, both buying and selling works of art by five different fictional artists. At the end of each round, they sell the paintings they bought back to the "bank"...
- Winner, Deutscher Spiele Preis 1993
- Winner, Finnish Game of the Year 2008
- RaRa (board game)Ra is a board game for two to five players designed by Reiner Knizia and themed around Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis in ancient Egyptian culture....
- SamuraiSamurai (board game)Samurai is a German-style board game invented by Reiner Knizia, distributed by Hans im Glück in Germany and Rio Grande Games in the United States. It won the Deutscher Spiele Preis 4th place award in 1999...
- Taj MahalTaj Mahal (board game)Taj Mahal is a German-style board game for 3–5 players designed by Reiner Knizia and first published in 2000 by Alea in German.- Basics :...
- Winner, Deutscher Spiele Preis 2000
- Winner, Essen FeatherEssen FeatherThe Essen Feather is an award for German-style board games, given at the Deutscher Spiele Preis ceremony at the Spiel game fair in Essen, Germany...
2000
- Through the DesertThrough the DesertThrough the Desert is a German-style board game designed by Reiner Knizia. It was originally released in 1998 by German game publisher, Kosmos, under the name Durch die Wüste...
- Tigris and EuphratesTigris and EuphratesTigris and Euphrates is a German strategy board game designed by Reiner Knizia and first published in 1997 by Hans im Glück in German . Before its publication, it was highly anticipated by German gamers hearing rumors of a "gamer's game" designed by Knizia. Tigris and Euphrates won first prize in...
- Winner, Deutscher Spiele Preis 1998
- Tower of Babel
- Winner, Schweizer Spielepreis best strategy game 2005
- VampireVampire (card game)Vampire is a vampire-themed card game designed by Reiner Knizia. The goal is to meld sets of vampires from six different suits. The game ends when all cards have been drawn, or a player has melded vampires from all six suits, and the winner is the player with the most points....
- Wer war's
- Winner, Kinderspiel des Jahres 2008
- Winner, Deutscher Kinderspiele Preis 2008
- Star Trek: Expeditions coming in 2011
External links
- Knizia Games
- Reiner Knizia video interview at Submarine Channel, 15 November 2011
- Postspillion (includes complete list of games)
- Reiner Knizia at Math Genealogy Project
- Reiner Knizia by the Numbers, interview with Reiner Knizia, 12 April 2006