If Board Game Designers Were Movie Directors

Movies and board games have a lot in common. They can entertain you, excite you, make you think, even make you laugh. In filmmaking, the person most responsible for creating and delivering the overall experience is the director. While the comparison isn’t completely analogous, board game designers are the directors of the gaming hobby. It is their vision and ideas that are ultimately responsible for our game experience. With that in mind, let’s continue our Board Game Mashups series by comparing some of our favorite game designers to their respective film counterparts.

Uwe Rosenberg = The Coen Brothers: Start off in a difficult situation, it continually gets more difficult, and the best you can do is try to finish off better than everyone else

Stefan Feld = Wes Anderson: Every design is different (and perfectly symmetrical), but when you see one, you know it’s a Feld

Corey Koneizcka = Martin Scorcese: Intense narrative arcs, sweeping drama, and you can bet there is probably going to be some killing

Eric Lang = Quentin Tarantino: Somewhat polarizing, designs are often inspired by older designs

Reiner Knizia = Steven Spielberg: Prolific, has made dozens of titles. Not all of them are winners, but your ears still perk up when you hear that he’s involved

Splotter Games =  Stanley Kubrick: General consensus is that the designs are brilliant, but they can make your brain hurt

Kane Klenko = Michael Bay: Tense thrillers, not too deep but always exciting

Sid Sackson = Charlie Chaplin: Truly ahead of his time. Made quality work before the golden age, much of it still holds up

Richard Garfield = George Lucas: Had a massive hit early on. Huge and dedicated fanbase keeps it alive indefinitely

Alexander Pfister = Christopher Nolan: Has an impressive track record, rarely misses. Accessible designs that still have a surprising level of depth.

Rob Daviau =  J. J. Abrams: Can take an existing property and revive it by giving it a fresh take. Master of the mystery box..

Donald X Vaccarino = Francis Ford Coppola: Most famous work was a massive critical and genre-defining success, with somewhat less successful sequels

Andrew Looney/Looney Labs = Mel Brooks: Zany, often tongue in cheek, not afraid to change the rules or use obvious parody to have a good time

Vital Lacerda = Guillermo del Toro: rich, evocative works, often with unique and heavy themes.

Jonathan Gilmour = Edgar Wright: Keen eye for detail and retro themes, but the biggest hit is the unconventional zombie thriller

Matt Leacock = Alfred Hitchcock: Effectively defined a genre with broad popular appeal. Works are expertly edited and all share a similar structure.

Richard Breese = Peter Jackson: Critical darling. Most of his work takes place in the same universe