John Yianni

O TABULEIRIZ ESTEVE À CONVERSA COM O Designer John Yianni

TEiriz - How  you define Hive?

Hive is an addictive and brilliant game of strategy for two, played with high quality tactile pieces. It has no board, so is very portable and can be played just about anywhere.

TEiriz -  What was the idea that led you to this project?

As a hobby I used to design games as a young boy and would play with my family and friends, one of these games happened to be a very early prototype of Hive.So as you can see the idea for Hive is many years old. The idea came from a film I was watching at the time; about two old men who where friends, and they would meet in a park to play Chess. One of them would bring the white pieces and the other the black. I had the inspiration then of making a game like Chess that didn't need a board, just the pieces, and that could be played in a very short time, but still have a lot of depth and strategy, that could be played just about anywhere. That game became Hive.    

TEiriz -  Which is the target public for Hive ?

Hive seems to be a game that appeals to a very large target market. I think because it is easy to learn and quick to play, if they play it once,people are interested to try again and once they do they find the more they play it, the more tactics they discover and the deeper the game becomes.We see children as young as 6 enjoying it, adults, gamers and none gamers, even women seem to enjoy it, which is very good. 

TEiriz -  Have you a new project to edit that you can reavel us something?

After Hive my other games are: Army Of Frogs and Logan Stones which are also board-less games.My new game for this year is a completely new version of 'Junkyard Races', here is the blurb on the box: The Junkyard has been turned into a racing track by The Race-Kart Crew, a team of 8 speedster enthusiasts. They have built their own racing karts and invented some crazy gadgets and traps made from junk found in the Junkyard. You take on the role of one of the crew and create the fastest, meanest racing kart in the Junkyard. Use all your cunning to outwit your opponents, roll bombs, release missiles, lay down dastardly traps whilst speeding through mud and grass and jumping over collapsed bridges. Be the first to complete 5 laps of this mad and hazardous Junkyard to win the race. Sounds dangerous? Sounds crazy? Sounds like a challenge!I am also bringing out this year 'Hive Carbon' a black on white, white on black version of Hive and the new Ladybug expansion.

TEiriz - Can you tell me the game you enjoy playing the most? Why?

At the moment the game I am enjoy playing the most is 'Junkyard Races'. I like it because it has a lot of interaction between players.There are a lot of things to do in the game and a lot of decisions while you are playing that will help you win or stop your opponents from wining.

TEiriz - Can you tell me your favorite game? And your favorite type of game?

I don't have a favourite game, I seem to enjoy playing a lot of different games, here is a list of five to give you some idea of the type of games I enjoy: The Settlers of Catan, Shogun (Samurai Swords), Yinsh, Magi-Nation, Junkyard Races (one of mine) As you can see they are all deferent but if you want to define them, they are games where it's up to you what you do with the situation presented to you, trying to complete a goal by using your own cunning and forward planing.

TEiriz - Do you normally follow any particular game designer with especial attention?

Depending on the idea I usually work on the mechanics and design at the same time. For me the look and feel of a game is just as important as the mechanics. Once I get to the point that I'm mostly happy with the mechanics I start to make prototypes and play around with the game by myself until I think that it works well. Then I make a very plush prototype, so good that you would think its a finish game, this I play test with others. I do this because I don't want the look of the game to get in the way of peoples opinion of how it plays. Once I,m happy with the reactions I'm getting, I start to work on re-writing the rules so that they are understood by anyone reading them (this is not always easy). Then I do the box design, I try to keep a theme going with all my boxes so that if you see it in a shop you will probably know its mine. Ideas are never a problem for me, I see games in just about everything I look at. The main problem is having the time to work on the many ideas that I have on the go at any one time. I have lots of files on my computer with ideas and games at different stages. 

TEiriz - Do you think that board games can be use for an education purpose?

I think games are a very good and fun way to teach a lot of things. Apart from the obvious, where games help teach maths and reading / writing. Games can also help teach social skills, forward thinking, planing and innovation. Some games help in teaching history, geography, business, Industry and economics etc. Hive has been used in some schools to help gifted but socially impaired children to focus their gifting and bring out their personalities.

TEiriz - What you know about Portugal? Have you ever visited Portugal?

Yes I have come to Portugal one summer with my wife and some friends. We drove through France and Spain and then to Portugal, where we stayed by the sea for one week.We had a very nice time there, the people are very friendly and we enjoyed the food very much.We took our time to dive along the cost not using motorways and we camped all the way with tents, its was a beautiful adventure.