Vlaada Chvatil

There’s a specific kind of defeat that belongs exclusively to Through the Ages. You spend three or four hours building farms, mines, and temples. You draft Napoleon and feel good about it. You upgrade your bronze-age workers toward iron and feel your civilization beginning to hum. And then the final scores hit, and you’re at 60 culture points while the winner is sitting on 280. You didn’t just lose. You were playing a different game entirely. ...

Look, if you’re even remotely interested in board games, you’ve heard of Vlaada Chvátil. This guy is a legend in the board gaming world, and not just for cranking out hits. He’s the kind of designer who makes you scratch your head in disbelief at how he can jump from one genre to another without a hitch. We’re talking about the creator of Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, Mage Knight Board Game, and Codenames - each a titan in its category. ...