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7 Wonders, 7 Wonders Duel and now 7 Wonders: Architects – Antoine Bauza has done what nobody has achieved before him: three games with the same theme, all of which are highly decorated. Architects has just been awarded the As d’or 2022 in Cannes. We had a chat with the jack-of-all-trades.
Ever since 7 Wonders (Kennerspiel des Jahres 2011), Antoine Bauza is one of the greatest and most popular board game designers. After the very successful two player variant 7 Wonders Duel, Repos Production and Asmodee have published a third game in the series this year: 7 Wonders: Architects – and the game won the As d’Or in Cannes. Next to this much-loved and prolific set, the Frenchman, who was born 1978, has designed a lot of quite different popular games. These comprise for example Ghost Stories, (as well as the successor with a new theme Last Bastion), Tokaido, Hanabi, and also the board game to the manga/anime hit Attack on Titan: The Last Stand.
Teilzeithelden: Antoine, at first we would like to congratulate you to your next As d’Or 2022 Award for 7 Wonders: Architects – your third after Takenoko and the Jury-Award for the original 7 Wonders. How did you experience Cannes in this strange new world?
Antoine: It felt a bit weird to tell you the truth. Repos Production’s team could not attend because of Asmodee’s covid policy to keep the employees safe. I received the award, alone on the wide stage, in front of a large audience. Odd … but still a great experience. Having your work awarded by professionals of the industry is always a great pleasure.
Beside this peculiar moment, it was so nice to attend a gaming fair! For me, Cannes ended a two-years-“no-fair period” and I was delighted to see the friendly faces I missed during this loooong period.
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“I tried to make 7WA the best gateway game possible”
Teilzeithelden: The phenomenon 7 Wonders enters its next stage with Architects. How did you get the idea to revisit this theme and give it a new twist?
Antoine: From the players, during signing sessions. I had many players who told me they got into the hobby with 7W. I was a bit choked because it’s not an easy game to start with. So, the idea to make a new 7W dedicated to beginners made its way into a corner of my mind. It took a long time to mature, finding a way to reduce and simplify all the mechanisms of the game.
Teilzeithelden: For the many people out there who have played 7 Wonders but not yet this new take on the theme, what would you say is the main reason to try out this new game?
Antoine: Well, 7WA wasn’t designed with those players in mind (sorry guys!). But if they want to introduce some friends or family to the hobby, I tried to make 7WA the best gateway game possible.
Teilzeithelden: The first thing that you discover, when you’re opening the game box is the very organized insert system. You just pick one container for each player and you’re nearly ready to go. Is this something we can expect from more of your games?
Antoine: Thinking and working on the UX (user experience, editor’s note) of my projects is the part I like the most in the designing of the game. I always give a lot of care to the components, the layout and the accessibility. It’s maybe because I am lazy so I want my games to ask the minimum effort to enjoy them.
“Gaming is about bringing people together”
Teilzeithelden: We were also delighted to see the symbol system to support colourblind players as well as a shift from buildings (in the original 7 Wonders) to a quite diverse cast of people on the main material, the cards. In what ways, do you think, is inclusion changing and benefitting the industry?
Antoine: Those colourblind symbols are now standard in every Repos Production games. Game designers, graphic designers and publishers are now well aware of those problematics and try to improve the accessibility of their games. It’s a sign that our industry is growing up. Gaming is about bringing people together so we must do our best to achieve that goal.
Teilzeithelden: Looking at the other two 7 Wonders games and their expansions, can we expect more for Architects, like new wonders in the future?
Antoine: An expansion is already in development, yes. It will feature new wonders, of course, but also a new mechanic.
Teilzeithelden: Logically there’s always a trend to add to a success and so we see expansions, new editions, but also XY – the dice game or nowadays mostly roll and writes. But it is quite unique for a game to have a successful two-player game (ranking even higher on BoardGameGeek) and now an award-winning new game. Frankly, can you tell us something about the maybe not so great 7 Wonders ideas, that deservedly did not see the light of day?
Antoine: Well, all those three games took a lot of time. And you only see the successful part of this work. I trashed numerous prototypes along the way. When you publish a spin-off of a big success, everybody is waiting at the corner to see if you did a really good game or a poor one that will just use its big brother’s name to make some easy money. And I really want my games to be good <he smiles>
Teilzeithelden: So, is it likely to see a whole other 7 Wonders project out there?
Antoine: It may be. You were talking about a dice game and I actually worked on a few dice based prototypes in the 7W universe. None was good enough to deserve publishing so far but you never know …
Teilzeithelden: In Germany Attack on Titan: The Last Stand also just came out (although it is already five years on the market). Also looking on your Graphic Novel, studying Japanology and many board games like Ghost Stories, Hanabi, Tokaido, Takenoko and also the fun little game Paku Paku – it’s obvious you’re a fan of Far East Asian culture. Are you also big on manga/anime?
“I don’t really want to follow trends”
Antoine: Oh yeah! I grew up with manga, anime and Japanese video games. My love for Japan started here, obviously, and then reached numerous other aspects of the Japanese culture. My son started to read manga so I am trying to follow and read some classics I lack (currently One Piece!)
Teilzeithelden: Next to very successful board games, you’ve also created roleplaying games (mainly) for children. Our Zine is all about fantastic games and stories so this might be interesting for our readers: do you have a background of playing Dungeons & Dragons or other RPGs? Do you still play? Or is it more about the children and storytelling, being a father yourself?
Antoine: Before discovering modern board games (around 2004), I used to play a lot of TTRPG. I did not have time to play either for a long time but I resumed my TTPRG activity a few years back, playing with a new group and also with my son. I did write a setting during the confinement period and I have to find some time to sort all my notes and see if it’s any worth publishing. My love for cooperative board games comes from TTRPG for sure.
Teilzeithelden: Writing stories, designing games – any plans to combine the two more, let’s say in a legacy game? Maybe one, in that we’re building world famous buildings? Or what else can we expect in the near future?
Antoine: Lately, I spend less time designing board games and more time writing fiction, but I am not a big fan of hybrid designs. I am more likely to jump from one media to another, not mixing them. Also, Legacy games became a trend, I don’t really want to follow trends.
Teilzeithelden: Well, in many ways it seems you’re better off setting trends anyway. We’re looking very much forward to the games and stories you will bring us. Thanks a lot for your time and take care!
Product images: © Asmodee
Layout and typesetting: Roger Lewin
Editing: Alexa Kasparek
Photographs: © Antoine Bauza, © Repos
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