Bruno Faidutti on Igrokon Exhibition Moscow 2018 (cropped)

Bruno Faidutti (born 23 October 1961) is a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and sociologist, living in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, who is best known as a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

Early life and education

Bruno Faidutti studied law, economics, and sociology, eventually earning a doctorate in History by writing about the scientific debate in the Renaissance on the reality of the unicorn. His favorite authors are

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

, and

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

, his favorite movie,

Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...

's '' Andrei Roublev''. He came into the world of hobby gaming through ''

Cosmic Encounter ''Cosmic Encounter'' is a science fiction–themed strategy board game designed by "Future Pastimes" (collectively, Peter Olotka, Jack Kittredge and Bill Eberle, with Bill Norton) and originally published by Eon Games in 1977. In it, each playe ...

'' and roleplaying games, and was one of the first French ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'' players.

Career

Bruno Faidutti has created and published over 40 board and card games. His best known games include ''

Knightmare Chess ''Knightmare Chess'' is a fantasy chess variant published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) in 1996. It is a translation of a French game ''Tempête sur l'échiquier'' (''Storm on the Chessboard''), designed by Pierre Cléquin and Bruno Faidutti. ...

'' (1991) and '' Citadels'' (2000), as well as ''

Mystery of the Abbey ''Mystery of the Abbey'' is a board game designed by Bruno Faidutti, illustrated by Julien Delval, Emanuel Roudier and Cyrille Daujean as graphic designer. Originally published in French by MultiSim in 1998 under the name ''Meurtre à l'Abbay ...

'' (1993, 2003). He is also involved in the boardgaming community with his "Ideal Games Library" website and personal "Game of the Year" prize. Many of his games are the results of collaboration with other designers. In the United States, his

Eurogame A Eurogame, also called a German-style board game, German game, or Euro-style game, (generally just referred to as board games in Europe) is a class of tabletop games that generally has indirect player interaction and abstract physical componen ...

''Corruption'' was released by

Atlas Games Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its founder and current president is John Nephew. History When Atlas Games did not have the finances to publish '' On the Edge'' (1994), they partnered with J ...

in 1999. His '' Citadels'' was released in 2000 by

Fantasy Flight Games Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions. History Fantasy Flight Publish ...

, who later released his game ''Red November'' in 2008.

Selected list of games

*''

'', 1991 (with

Pierre Cléquin Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

) *'' Citadels'', 2000 *''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'', 2000 (with Serge Laget) *''

Dragon's Gold ''Dragon's Gold'' is a 1954 American crime film directed by Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen and starring John Archer, Hillary Brooke and Philip Van Zandt.

'', 2001 *''

China Moon ''China Moon'' is a 1994 American romantic thriller film directed by John Bailey and starring Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe and Benicio del Toro. It was written by Roy Carlson. It was filmed in 1991 but "shelved" for three years before its release ...

'', 2003 *''

'', 2003 (with Serge Laget) *'' Queen's Necklace'', 2003 (with Bruno Cathala) *''

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

'', 2005 (with

Paul Randles Paul Joseph Randles (December 16, 1965 – February 10, 2003) was an American game designer who designed German-style board games. Early life Paul Randles was a native of Seattle, Washington. Career Randles began his career in game development ...

and

Mike Selinker Mike Selinker is an American game designer, puzzle maker, and the founder and president of Lone Shark Games. Credits Selinker's design credits include ''Pirates of the Spanish Main'' and ''Fightball'' with James Ernest, ''Axis & Allies Revised E ...

) *''

Diamant The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key ...

'' (''aka Incan Gold''), 2005 (with

Alan R. Moon Alan R. Moon (born 18 November 1951) is an author of board games, born in Southampton, England. He is generally considered to be one of the foremost designers of German-style board games. Many of his games can be seen as board game variations on ...

) *'' Ad Astra'', 2009 (with Serge Laget) *''Mascarade'', 2013 *'' Warehouse 51'', 2015 *''

Raptor Raptor or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of bird-like dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunts and feeds on v ...

'', 2015, (with Bruno Cathala) *'' Waka Tanka'', 2016 *'' HMS Dolores'', 2016, (with

Eric M. Lang Eric M. Lang is a Canadian game designer. He began his career as a playtester for FASA before publishing his first game, ''Mystick'' independently in 2000. He has since worked with publishers Fantasy Flight Games, WizKids and CMON, among others ...

)

References

External links

Bruno Faidutti's website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faidutti, Bruno Board game designers Chess variant inventors Living people 1961 births French sociologists Atlas Games people French male writers French game designers