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Hungry? Me too, always. Let’s eat! Hang on, who’s knocking at the door? What do you mean it’s Leonardo da Vinci? And Genghis Khan? They didn’t message ahead, so they can go elsewhere. They’ve pushed their way in? And now Charlie Chaplin’s turned up? Right, well, I haven’t got enough food in the cupboards, best get a delivery sorted…
Dinner Party from Failure Factory is the kind of idea that you can’t believe hasn’t been done already (I’ve played it, it’s great), but designer Michael Spitzer has done a great job of spinning an hilarious and interesting game out of it, and here he tells me more about his ideas and the development process.
Let’s get the important stuff out of the way: Which five people would you love to invite to a dinner party? Yes, I know it’s an obvious question. I do what I like around these parts. Mine would be: Stephen King (too many questions), Clive Barker (what happened with Abarat?), Bob Mortimer (funniest man alive), Scarlett Johansson (shush), Taylor Swift (the kids would love me forever).
Oh my, what a question to open with! If I choose somebody I hold in high regard, how could I live with myself if I mess up? Do I have to pick guests who would like each other? A good host should! But let’s pretend I don’t care about that... The first and easiest would be Sir Patrick Stewart (all around a classy man, and my dad and I share many fond memories watching him in Star Trek), followed by "Weird Al" Yankovic (for the mood). I’d also really like to meet Emma Watson and Danny DeVito. Lastly, I would invite somebody whom I understood to be one of the UK’s most renowned journalists, and whose undoubtedly expert knowledge about history would be just the thing to honour the occasion: Philomena Cunk.
Give us some background. Is this your first board game? If so, what did you do before this?
I come from video games (mostly indie and educational), and I’ve been an avid board game player for many years. When I got really into Dominion by Donald X. Vaccarino, I started
making custom cards for it, and later when other games came up, I did stuff for those. I read why other designers made their games the way they did, and over time and games I carved out my own approach. About six years ago, a friend and I decided to make a board game together. Sadly, we were afraid to throw away any ideas, it grew enormous, and eventually we gave up. I tried to start from scratch after that, with a smaller, simpler game. That game became Dinner Party.
What’s the first board game you remember playing? And what’s the first one you fell in love with, and why?
The first would have to be Activity. If that doesn’t count, Monopoly. For a long time I thought this was just how board games were. Dominion was the first that got me really hooked. It’s elegant, extremely replayable, and while the theme is pretty thin, I haven’t gotten tired of it after, what, fourteen expansions?
Who’s on the team? How well does the team interweave together?
I’m basically on my own. That said, I’ve had plenty of help from friends, mostly with playtesting, of course. I also contracted help with the card layouts and proofreading. The art, game design, texts and rules are all yours truly.
How long has it taken to develop Dinner Party? Has development fitted comfortably into your daily life?
I started work on it in 2017, and it’s been an on-off passion project ever since. I’m lucky the people in the game are already dead, because that way it couldn’t get outdated. In fact, one or two made it into the expansion while I was working on it. Regarding the second question... You said I don’t have to answer them all, right?
What’s the main inspiration behind Dinner Party? Which board games it’s similar to? What kind of gamer would you recommend Dinner Party to?
It’s very theme driven. Be it philosophers playing football or great scientists playing poker, there's just something about putting historical people together, and a dinner party seemed like it would offer a lot of interesting gameplay hooks. In terms of similar games, I think Guillotine fits the bill with its dark, history-inspired humour and take-that element. If you like accessible rules, table banter, dark humour and still having a level of strategy, Dinner Party might be for you. Unlike most party games (and I’m still not sure it is one), it actually plays pretty well with two players, too. Coincidentally, Dinner Party shares a trait with Wingspan (a game that couldn’t be more different), namely the fact that often references to factual information are hidden in card abilities. Except, you know, one is the common sparrow, and the other is Mao Zedong...
Why is Hitler on the box? This question can also be read as: What were you thinking?
The short answer is that he won't be for the final product.
The long answer is that Dinner Party is about both great and terrible people of history. Many games focus on only the famous, or at least people who have been dead for so long that there aren't many strong feelings about them. I wanted to cover all of history, so including the bad folks was an important part of that. But how could I do that if I just left out the worst one? To drive the point home, he's the only guest in the game that isn't worth anything - you shove him over to another player's party as a way to screw them over, instead. And when I decided that, I thought that it would be a good thing to let people know he's in there from the start, so I put that "warning label" there. I didn't want anybody to buy the game and then regret it, but also I thought the shock value would help make the game stand out. Both my humour and the game matured a lot since I made that choice, after all that was quite a few years ago. I should have removed it before printing the prototype, but somehow missed it. Again, it won't be on the final product, because honestly, who wants that guy to stare at them from the shelf.
Have there been any major hiccups during development, and if so how were they overcome? How has playtesting helped in this area?
Figuring out Charming was a huge challenge. I always knew I didn’t want people to just compare rolls where whoever rolls higher gets the Guest. Originally, charming an opponent’s Guest cost a Drink. That was just painful if it failed, you had just wasted a valuable resource. Then there was a stack of Envelope cards, and each time you got a Guest from the lobby, you drew one, and if they ran out, the game would end. But that meant people who were successful got more chances to steal, so it was a "win more" situation. In the end, Envelopes became a limited resource, and I’ve been happy with that decision ever since. Playtesting (mostly online) helped a lot but picked up only after charming was mostly solved. One thing that changed later was that Charming originally affected all Guests of a player, so they rolled once and then applied that roll to each character, which was clearly the most confusing part of the game. Eventually, I realized I had to stick to my original premise of simplicity, which worked wonders.
Which is your favourite mechanic within the game?
The Drinks. They mean you can have a lousy roll, but if you handle it right, you might transform a wasted turn into an investment for future ones. Or you can gamble to get both a Guest and a Drink. And of course, from a designer’s perspective, there are so many thematic ways to use them. Jesus turns water into wine, Abraham Lincoln doesn’t drink alcohol, Hemingway gives you points for it, Al Capone sells booze to other players...
This is becoming a bit of a hot topic. What’s your thoughts on AI in game design? This doesn’t apply directly to your game as you have an artist with a distinct human style, but there are games out there which are heading to crowdfunding that seem to rely on it heavily. Is there room for AI in game design? Is there a limit to its acceptable use?
Indeed, all of Dinner Party’s badly drawn hands are badly drawn by a human. It’s a tough question, because art is something that sits very close to what makes us human. Probably, we’ll eventually have to share that space, and that’s scary. For now, I think the results of AI art are too sloppy, and any designer trying to hide the fact that they use AI to create stuff only sets up their audience for disappointment – or is hoping for an audience that doesn’t care. And that’s before we even consider the ongoing allegations that those models are often trained on the art of real people, who never agreed to it and don’t see any money for that. That doesn’t mean I don’t see a place for AI in creative work, but those cases (like using AI to remove noise, sharpen edges, summarize texts, etc.) aren’t really what we’re talking about here, are they?
Dinner Party is a competitive game. Was this borne out of the theme, or was it always your intention to go competitive over cooperative?
I always saw Dinner Party as a competitive game, but you got me wondering how a cooperative version would look. Work together to keep the mood from changing? A Forbidden Island–like deck where you have terrible people trying to join?
What do you play in your spare time between sessions?
Mostly Dominion, Disney Villainous (the old sets by Prospero Hall, as well as customs), and 7Wonders.
Which one game do you wish you’d designed yourself?
As expected, Dominion.
What advice would you give to other prospective designers? What advice would you give to yourself after a spot of time travelling?
Don’t try to force all of your ideas into one game. Playtest early and often. No first version of a game is ever perfect, and iterating on it is how you get closer. Listen to all feedback, but think about what kind of game you want to build and feel comfortable not doing ideas that go against that. Make a game for yourself. Board gaming, realistically, won’t make you rich, so you owe it to yourself to have fun along the way. For myself: Don’t be afraid to talk to people, including asking for help with things you’re just not great at.
How has the support been from the board gaming community?
I was impressed by how nice people were and how they appreciated parts of my game I worked very hard on. I expected a lot of people to look at the "game with Hitler" and think it’s just shock value. That said, the reactions in Europe, especially the UK (should I write AND the UK here?), have been better than those from the US. Probably, a game about history feels better when you’re not currently living through it.
How does it feel to finally launch?
Exciting and scary!
We’ll finish on another vital question, and yes, it’s another obvious one. Like I said, I’ll do what I like. Name five people you’d hate to have at a dinner party.
Mine is five politicians. Any five. Because I’d probably lose my rag and bosh them with the custard tarts.
Let’s just say that, for a while, I considered still-living people for Dinner Party, including some that I found unpleasant. In the end, it felt smarter to stick with dead folks, and for a similar reason, I’d rather sit this question out. Maybe I can answer it in a decade or two, provided neither of us becomes "Dinner Party eligible", first. For now I'd like to thank you for having me, it's been an utter pleasure.
Dinner Party is fully funded - they must be doing something right - and still has a few weeks to go, so head to this link and put your pledge in today - I’ve personally had a great time with it, and it sparks a lot of fun and conversation at the table.