Designer Notes 40: Brian Reynolds - Part 3 by Idle Thumbs published on 2018-06-22T11:19:19Z In this episode, Soren Johnson interviews veteran game designer Brian Reynolds, best known for his work on Colonization, Civilization 2, Alpha Centauri, and Rise of Nations. They discuss why Big Huge made Rise of Legends instead of Rise of Nations 2, why you shouldn’t let a company provide you with a computer, and how he cost Zynga $800K from a spreadsheet error. Games discussed: Rise of Nations, Rise of Legends, Settlers of Catan, Age of Empires 3: The Asian Dynasties, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Farmville, Mafia Wars, FrontierVille, Brian Reynold’s Unreleased Fashion Game, CityVille 2, DomiNations Genre Designer Notes Comment by Arren Frank There's something sad about this last part of the interview with Reynolds. "More clicking... It works, Believe me." Yes and no, Brian. I don't doubt that the metrics and telemetry support this claim on a purely numeric basis insofar as the aggregate of player growth.... but for players like myself and other connoisseurs who admire Soren & Sid Meier's work alongside your own pre-Zynga output, substituting clicks for interesting decisions is a dismal and dispiriting exchange –commercial success notwithstanding. 2024-11-23T03:01:14Z
