An interview with Steve Kendall (Ragnar Brothers)

For2players: Can you tell me something more about your newest project?

SK: Yes, it's a game of exploration of not one, but three New Worlds. Four nations (Spain, Portugal, England, France) each have three ships and three captains. Played over six eras, players will discover lands, place settlers and develop towns and cities. Large amounts of gold will be transported back to the 'Old World' where players can buy Benefits to further help their New World holdings or Benefits to accumulate Old Wold victory points. The game is designed for 1-4 players and takes around 2-3 hours to play. The game will feature a Ragnar Brothers cloth map, with chunky 'land tiles' placed on the outline continents and then wooden pieces placed on the tiles. Marco Primo has again produced wonderful art-work for us.

F2p: Nina & Pinta is supposed to be a Quantum Game. What exactly does it mean?

SK: Quantum physics is fascinating and I thought it would be interesting to design a game about QP itself. That proved beyond me and very quickly I reached for a theme that would allow some exploration of the ideas. All themed games have some Quantum (the outcomes should vary in all such games). The difference with this game is that it sets out with three New Worlds (parallel universes) but unlike other '3D games' the interaction between the worlds is a central governing mechanic. The building of Cities impacts on the victory points to be gained from Arts, Science and religion and Military Benefits determine in which world conflict can take place.

F2p: Where did you get inspiration for this game? Did you first developed mechanism or maybe the theme was more important?
SK: Quantum Physics was the first 'inspiration' but after choosing the New World explorations (and the ntitle 'Nina and Pinta' seemed a perfect fit) the initial priority was to develop a strong settlement game. So at the start of designing the 'map mechanics' demanded most attention. Once these were evolved the focus shifted back to the Quantum theme and the need to link the Old and New Worlds through Quantum elements.

F2p: Is there something extraordinary in Nina & Pinta that you are especially proud of?
SK: When you design a game there is always a detail that stands out (and which others might think nothing of). I really like the way the Cities determine the value of the Arts, Science, Religion Benefits - the more cities in the respective world, the more victory points per benefit. That is sweet enough, but the real cracker is the value of the Military Benefits; these are determined by the number of un-built Citites. There is satisfying elegance to this 'iversion' not least because a player who dominates Military Benefits may be able to hinder the building of Cities as that player will determine in which New World conflict takes place.

F2p: Is the final version of this game a lot different from its original prototype?

SK: The first version of the game was massively different as it involved rolling numerous dice to drive the exploration and settlement of lands. Phil's response was very luke-warm, so I vowed to make it a game with no dice what-so-ever (which is not typical of a Ragnar gamne that involves conflict). Once this transition was made the game progressed smoothly from start to finish of the 'second prototype'. Three New Worlds, three ships for four nations, Captains, settlers, towns and cities were always part of the design.

F2p: How long did you test the game? Who are your playtesters?

SK: This game has been in the design pipe-line for nearly three years already. In its second format it has been tested for over a year. We have a netwrok of designers in the south of England and another in the north - all close friends who have played games with us for many years. Blind testing is currently underway with Nick Case (The Front Nine) and he has his own circle of testers to work with.

F2p: What is the reason of making the board in form of a cloth? This is rather unusual.
SK: Our first cloth map game was History of the World. the map proved very popular and we have used this 'Ragnar marque' in six subsequent games (this will be the eigth in all). In some cases the cloth map is in addition to a board, but in this case we prefer it because it adds character without needing to be 'used' for play purposes (the Settlers, Towns and Cities will sit on tiles).

F2p: So... The biggest mystery for us is the name of your company. Why Ragnar Brothers?
SK: The Ragnar Brothers were Vikings – in fact they are depicted in the film The Vikings, starring Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas (a childhood favourite). We only found this out after naming ourselves (a group of about ten friends who met up at occasional week-ends for boardgaming) after a missing counter from a favourite game; Britannia. the counter was supposed to be 'The Sons of Ragnar'... hence the name.

F2p: When did you for the first time think about designing board games? How did you get such an idea?
SK: Phil and I designed our first game when we in primary school. However we decided to design seriously just after I got back from two years in India. As a new teacher I wrote to Phil to say 'I think we should do something else... let's design a game'. Some months later Phil came up with Angola and from there we just .... carried on.

F2p: What do you want to achieve by designing a new game? What is your goal?

SK: To design something that we enjoy and which seems to have some 'stand out' character.

F2p: What are your publishing plans for the future? Besides N&P of course.

SK: We have a couple more Quantum game ideas, so think they will be the priority in the New Year.

F2p: I assume you play other board games. Do you have a favorite title?

SK: Automobile by Martin Wallace. A terrific tight design that allows players to take risks and play psychologically with their opponents - very poker-like (not that I like Poker!!)

F2p: Would you like to say something to your fans in Poland? Have you ever been to Poland?

SK: Though I have visited a good number of European countries, I'm sad to say that I haven't visited Poland (yet). I have a number of Polish friends and Poland is a very cultured country with a proud history. Though the UK may seem to drag it's heels over being in the EU, I'm a great believer in the European project and Poland is a much valued member.

It's nice to hear we have fans in Poland and I'd just like to say, many thanks for playing our games and I hope they bring as much pleasure to you as they have to us.

F2p: Thank you a lot for answering all of my questions. I wish you all the best and good luck with your upcomming project! 

Click HERE to support the Kickstarter campaign of Nina & Pinta.