GrogHeads Interviews Volko Ruhnke
about GMT’s COIN Series
The “father” (and now grandfather!) of the COIN series stops by for a chat ~
Brant Guillory, 27 April 2016
Volko Ruhnke is rapidly becoming one of the most-recognized strategy game designers in the US, as his COIN series is taking over the world. He’s visited with us before, in discussing A Distant Plain before its release a few years ago. He comes back for a more broad-based look at the COIN series as we ramp up for several COIN events this summer at Origins.
Volko Ruhnke: Hello GrogHeads!
GrogHeads: Hey there! Did you have any idea the COIN series was going to take off like it did when you first designed Andean Abyss? When you were working on AA, were you designing with the intent of a “system” or was it just a one-off that you were able to expand?
VR: I did not have any idea that the series would take off in the sense of popularity, as my main objective was to bring at least a few wargamers and other boardgamers into some then rather little-gamed topics regarding modern insurgency and counterinsurgency.
I did from the start envision a system and a series, and that plan was part of Andean Abyss’s appeal to Gene Billingsley from my first phone call with him to pitch the project. I can document that claim, as the original printing of Andean Abyss says “COIN Series, Volume I” right on the cover, and the ad copy played up that aspect.
