Board Games, Business, and Richard Launius Ep. 83

Happy Mitten Podcast: Board games, business, and...

Arkham Horror. (Image Courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games)

In this episode…
We are joined by legendary tabletop game designer, Richard Launius. Richard has been designing games for decades (before it was hip) and is known for his deeply thematic designs. Notable titles he created include “Arkham Horror” and “Defenders of the Realm,” which have become staples for any board game collection. (Both are available in any fine book and retail store )

As a young man, Richard enjoyed the board games published out of Avalon Hill. During that company’s prime, there were few games as thematic as an Avalon Hill game. When Richard designs, he begins with a theme and develops the game mechanics around that theme. That said, one of his brilliant design qualities are the memories his games create. To those of you that have played Arkham Horror (or another one of his designs), I bet you have a lasting memory of one of your playthroughs. Creating an environment within a game that produces memorable experiences is a design quality that’s hard to quantify, but part of what makes Richard’s work brilliant.

Richard Launius. (Image Courtesy of Board Game Geek)

It was great to learn about Richard’s life growing up, his early jobs, and design philosophy. We hope you enjoy this episode and if you are unfamiliar with Richard’s work, please check out one of his titles. Richard is as professional as it gets and (fortunately) he’s constantly designing games for us to devour.

Company Updates
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Mentioned Links
Richard Launius’s Board Game Geek
Fate of the Elder Gods Kickstarter