We're not in a Renaissance

This is just something I've been mulling over. I mostly hear people say we are in a 'golden age of board games,' but occasionally I hear people say that we are in a 'board game Renaissance.' Makes sense, right? There was an explosion of creativity and productivity in board games with new innovation and advancement of the art form over the last fifty years. 

We are not, however, in a renaissance. Renaissance means "rebirth." The era we are in can't be a rebirth because we are not rediscovering texts and principles of bygone eras. The actual Renaissance was not about suddenly becoming good at art and science but about a rediscovery of "the Classics"— Ancient Greek and Roman texts that served as the foundation for the innovations of the Renaissance. We are still writing our foundational texts. 

As a field and an art form, board game design has only really existed since the late 20th century. Prior to that, games were developed as interactive toys/activities or over the long process of oral tradition. Yes, there are exceptions to that, but those exceptions do not a 'design era' make. In the history of board game design, everything prior to the 1970s will be lumped into a single introductory chapter. We can quibble over the exact decade, but sometime in the late 20th century, board game design became a field unto itself. Many/most of the earliest designers are still alive. 

We have not yet entered a new era. We have moved through several periods: pre-Catan, the Euro period, the (competing) Ameritrash period, the Kickstarter period, etc. However, all of these changes within the hobby are part of the same era. We are in the "early Disney movie" era; we haven't yet had our Beauty and the Beast moment (in my opinion). 

I think that some people believe that because we are more formalist now than twenty years ago that we have entered a new era. It's true we are no longer in the Wild West of game design (if you will allow me to mix my metaphors). But the fact that we are codifying our design principles and creating standards of excellence for the first time (industrywide at least) only further proves my argument that we are in the height of what is the equivalence of Ancient Greece. 

Given that this is the first era of board game design, we can't also be having a renaissance. We also aren't in a renaissance because we are still figuring out what board game design means. Building Blocks of Board Game Design was published in 2019. I would argue this is our only foundational text as of yet. (Foundational texts should be universally useful to either practitioners, students, or both.) We can't have a rebirth until we've finished being born the first time. 

And I think that's exciting. What I love most about board game design is getting to be a small part of the people who are deciding for future designers what this art form is all about. And if you are designing, developing, publishing, or playtesting, you get to be a part of that, too.