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Stronghold Games welcomes noted game designers, Stefan Dorra and Ralf zur Linde, to our newsletter!
Stefan and Ralf have many highly-rated and regarded game designs published, some independently of each other and some together.
Of course, Stronghold Games is publishing their latest board game, Milestones. This game, plus four others, are all on preorder now on the Stronghold Games website at:
Click here to preorder Milestones!
Onto the interview with Stefan Dorra and Ralf zur Linde...
Stronghold Games: Your new game, Milestones, brings together some familiar mechanics (Route/Network Building, Tile Placement, Resource Management, the Rondell), but does so in a unique manner. Where did the inspiration for the game design come from?
Stefan and Ralf: It all started with a wonderful ascending mechanic to collect resources that we liked very much. We later found that we could place the ascending tiles in a circular manner, like a clock, so we had a true rondell mechanic. We then took a closer look at the rondells in games we know, and looked to improve on those. Maybe the rondell in FINCA is an exception from this, because before starting the game, players have to shuffle the tiles to be placed on the rondell. So, the Finca rondell is at least a little bit flexible. But we knew we could come up with a much more flexible rondell, so we started working on one that keeps changing throughout the entire gameplay.
Stronghold Games: The rondell in Milestones is not only flexible, but each player has their own personal rondell. That is a huge difference, and I would also say, a vast improvement on the rondell experience for players. It is very unique.
Stefan and Ralf: In other games, rondells are in a common location on the board to be used by all players. We wanted to give an individual rondell to each player. So, now in Milestones you will find a very tricky rondell mechanic, that is FLEXIBLE and INDIVIDUAL at the same time. That is the reason why the rondell in Milestones brings true strategic planning to the game that other rondells usually do not reach. That is the core of inspiration of Milestones. And, while that rondell is the individual part of Milestones with the management of the resources that is required, the Route/Network Building is happening on the main board simultaneously for all players, which adds the real competition aspect that is necessary for non-cooperative game like Milestones.
Stronghold Games: Individually, you both have a very fine catalog of games that you have designed. So, how did you both get together for a game design collaboration?
Stefan and Ralf: We first met in the year 1992. We both were in the Top 10 with games that took part at the "Hippodice Spielewettbewerb 1992". Ever since then, we kept in touch, but we did not design games together. We were always working individually on our games. About 16 years later, in 2008, we finally had the idea of a co-design on PERGAMON. We found some kind of efficiency in that process of designing and continued with that on a few others, such as RANKING, ESELSBRÜCKE and MILESTONES.
 | | Milestones: The board and bits, setup and ready to play! |
Stronghold Games: What other game designs do you have in the works?
Stefan and Ralf: We do have some other game designs in the works, as well as our work individually on games. The games we work on together vary from absolutely light weights to heavier ones, as you can already see with the games we came up with so far (RANKING vs. MILESTONES). We are even working on a children's game at the moment. But since none of the ideas have been contracted by a publisher, it is a bit too early to give details. We will definitely keep up the work.
Stronghold Games would like to thank Stefan Dorra and Ralf zur Linde for taking their time with this interview.
Of course, please consider picking up Stefan and Ralf's latest, and very unique game, Milestones, now on the Stronghold Games website. This, plus four others, are all on preorder now on the Stronghold Games website at:
Click here to order or review all 5 of these games on our "JULY-AUGUST 2012 PREORDERS" page!
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