I think the art of ~~filmmaking~~ game design is something you learn through actions, by doing it, not by learning theories. And as you do it, your mind starts to change.

— Alexandro Jodorowsky

~~Art~~ Game design is having total freedom within a prison cell.

— Alexandro Jodorowsky

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that if your game doesn’t have a clear vision, and you can’t express and “sell” it and if you don’t hire people better than you are, you’re likely to fail. At best you’re on the road to mediocrity. Life is too short to work on games that you know are going to be simply okay.

— Warren Spector

Why do you make games?
Because games actually allow me to see the attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.

— Adrian Chmielarz
(Creative Director at People Can Fly)
answering the question “Why do you make games?”

The Role of Random
In many ways, the large number of random tables throughout the game became my greatest ally. I wanted everything in the game to be exciting and dangerous -that’s why so many items, choices and weapons in Mordheim carry a large risk factor with them. I wanted the game to create epic, memorable stories for the players to recall fondly years later. In games where the game is very rigidly controlled by players with very little randomness, you can control the balance and create a very competitive and even game akin to chess. But maximizing randomness creates situations and choices for the player to react to which he never even dreamed of encountering, and this forces the players to marshall all their resources and imagination to deal with the unforeseen situations. A magician Warband leader suffering from Stupidity is a situation Mordheim can throw your way, or a Vampire who has immense strength but no Toughness to deal with incoming blows. Only a game with high random factor can create these challenges and allow player to rise to the occasion -and perhaps more importantly remember the game for years to come.

In many ways Mordheim was meant to be playing the dice with the gods of Chaos: they would bend the rules, make your Warband leader lose both his eyes and legs, and then laugh at your face -or even better laugh with you, as you did your best to salvage the situation.

— Tuomas Pirinen, Mordheim’s lead game designer