When I was asked if I could write a text for this page, I was initially very unsure whether I could do it. The reason for this was that even though I invent games, I play other games very, very rarely. As a matter of fact, I only know a few games. I just did the test. In the ranking of the best games on BGG, the first hit of a game that I have already played comes in 39th and that is The Crew, my own game. The second hit follows position 93 (Codenames) and then again, a lot of games I have never played, until position 199 (Flamme Rouge).
So how come that I am writing this column about my favourite game, despite of my ‘game ignorance’? I do it because I know a game very well, and by the way, so do all of you. It’s the biggest and most important game of all time. It’s life itself. For me, life has always been a game. Many people say that they learn something for life by playing. It´s different for me. Life is my teacher and life gives me all the tools I need for inventing games.
I used to enjoy playing Scotland Yard, Skat (a classic trick taking game), Ludo and Chess. But the game that I have played the most in my life is Blackjack. During my studies, I earned something by playing blackjack in casinos. I wrote a computer program and analysed the game. It took two years before we could go in a casino to play. We had only a minimal advantage, but it was enough for poor student life. That was a wonderful and exciting time. But by that, I don’t mean gambling and making money. I mean the time of programming and rehearsing.