Wolfgang Kramer (born 29 June 1942 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) is a German

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.

Early life

As a young child, Wolfgang Kramer used to play games with his grandmother, and said he developed a positive attitude about games because "she always used to let me win." Although he started buying games in his teens, he found there wasn't much variety, so he started to modify some rules. His friends enjoyed the new rules and suggested he design his own games.

Part-time games designer

While studying commercial science, Kramer started to develop a racing game that didn't use dice for movement. While working as an operations manager and

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

, he developed his new movement system into an abstract game called ''Tempo'', and published it in 1974. He later modified this game into a car racing game called ''Formel Eins'' (''Formula One''). While still working full-time, he designed and published several more games, two of which won the

Spiel des Jahres The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence ...

Full-time games designer

Kramer became a full time game designer in 1989. He has designed over 100 games, many which have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres. He has frequently collaborated with other designers, notably

Michael Kiesling Michael Kiesling (born 1957) is a German board game designer. Many of his games have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres, a German games award. He is best known for the 2018 Spiel des Jahres winner Azul and for co-authoring the b ...

and

Richard Ulrich Richard Ulrich (born 1942 in Stuttgart) is a German board game designer. Many of his games have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres, a German games award. He is best known for co-authoring the board game ''El Grande'' with Wolfg ...

. In 1984, Kramer invented a player score track that ran around the perimeter of the board for his game '' Heimlich & Co.''. This type of scoring track became a feature of

German-style board games 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 ...

, and is called the ''Kramerleiste'' (''Kramer track'') in his honour. Kramer is also an author of

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

s, including ''Der Palast der Rätsel'' (''The Palace of Mysteries'') and ''Die Rätsel der Pyramide'' (''The Mysteries of the Pyramid'').

Notable games

* 1980 ''Niki Laudas Formel 1'' - recommended, Spiel des Jahres * 1984 '' Heimlich & Co.'' (also published as ''Top Secret Spies'', ''Undercover'' and ''Detective & Co.'')- winner, Spiel des Jahres * 1987 '' Auf Achse'' - winner, Spiel des Jahres * 1991 ''Corsaro'' - winner, Spiel des Jahres children's game * 1994 ''

6 nimmt! ''6 nimmt! / Take 6!'' is a card game for 2–10 players designed by Wolfgang Kramer in 1994 and published by Amigo Spiele. The French version is distributed by Gigamic. This game received the ''Deutscher Spiele Preis'' award in 1994. Summary T ...

'' - winner, Deutscher Spiele Preis, Spiel des Jahres Recommended * 1996 ''

El Grande ''El Grande'' is a German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and published in 1995 by Hans im Glück in German, by Rio Grande Games in English, and by 999 Games in Dutch. The game board represents r ...

'' (with Richard Ulrich) - winner, Spiel des Jahres and Deutscher Spiele Preis * 1999 ''

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...

'' (together with Michael Kiesling) - winner, Spiel des Jahres and Deutscher Spiele Preis * 2000 ''

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

'' (with Michael Kiesling) * 2000 ''

Torres Torres may refer to: People *Torres (surname), a Spanish and Portuguese surname *Torres (musician), singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott **Torres (album), ''Torres'' (album), 2013 self-titled album by Torres Places Americas *Torres, Colorado, an un ...

'' (with Michael Kiesling) - winner, Spiel des Jahres; 2nd place, Deutscher Spiele Preis * 2000 ''

Princes of Florence ''The Princes of Florence'' is a German board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich published in 2000 by Alea in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. Players assume the roles of Florentine Princes who wish to design their ...

'' (with Richard Ulrich) - 3rd place, Deutscher Spiele Preis * 2000 ''Pete the Pirate'' - winner, Deutscher Spiele Preis children's game * 2002 ''

Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: , ;''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1990). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, frolink/ref> singular ) were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of ...

'' (with Michael Kiesling) * 2004 '' Maharaja: The Game of Palace Building in India '' (with Michael Kiesling) - Spiel des Jahres Nominee * 2005 ''

Hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

'' * 2005 '' Verflixxt!'' (with Michael Kiesling) - nominated, Spiel des Jahres * 2007 ''

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...

'' (with Marcus Lubke) * 2010 '' Tikal II'' (with Michael Kiesling) * 2010 '' Asara'' (with Michael Kiesling) - nominated, Spiel des Jahres * 2012 ''

The Palaces of Carrara ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (with Michael Kiesling) - Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominee * 2013 ''The Walking Dead Card Game'' * 2014 '' Abluxxen'' (with Michael Kiesling)

References

External links

Kramer's games website
*
''Special K: Wolfgang Kramer''
a discussion of Kramer's career {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Wolfgang Board game designers 1942 births Living people German game designers People from Stuttgart