Asmodee’s Birgitte Bülow on why Monkey Palace was the perfect title to launch Dotted Games – a studio dedicated to LEGO board games

Birgitte, thanks for making time! Asmodee has teamed up with LEGO to launch Dotted Games. How would you describe the focus of the studio?
Dotted Games is dedicated specifically to developing LEGO board games that will spark creativity, imagination and togetherness. Dotted Games’ mission is to enhance shared experiences by offering engaging, modern and fun board games, utilising the versatility of LEGO bricks. All games will be exclusively developed in close collaboration with the LEGO Group, our aim being to always offer innovative ways of integrating LEGO bricks into the board game experience.

The studio consists of board game industry veterans, who’ve developed award winning board games, and are all passionate about how to create great moments with board games.

The first title to come from Dotted Games is Monkey Palace. What made this a great game to start the venture?
Monkey Palace is a family game where you will help the monkey rebuild the palace while competing against each other, collecting LEGO bricks to build more and banana points for your final score. It’s the perfect game to kick off our collaboration as it offers an innovative mix of classic board game mechanics and creative use of LEGO bricks. The act of ‘building’ is at the core of the game and while the players are competing against each other, they also build together.

The game designers – David Gordon and TAM – made a clever game concept with great integration of the LEGO bricks into the gameplay, because every time the game is played, the building experience and final palace construction are unique and different. We truly can’t wait to see the game on our players table and see all the variations.

Sounds great! How do you get that balance right between creating a great game, and one that also brings consumers what they want from a LEGO product?
To get this balance right, it’s key that the game offers a real experience with well-functioning gameplay. The game should offer so much play value that people will want to engage in the game and play again – and again!

At the same time, the gameplay needs to have LEGO bricks at the core… It needs to bring the ‘LEGO System in Play’ into the experience in a way where both people with and without LEGO knowledge can enjoy the experience. This is where working closely with LEGO’s Jaume Farbregat and his team was very fruitful for us to understand what LEGO fans are looking for and what makes building fun, while we bring the board game expertise.

Looking ahead, will Dotted Games be looking for LEGO games from the inventor community? Or will these be primarily in-house designs?
When building the portfolio of games, we aim to offer high quality board game experiences tailor-made for the specific audiences. Asmodee has great relationships with game designers across the globe – a community continuously expanding – and we expect to work with them. We will be looking out for great concepts from the designer community that can expand the play experience and bring new ways of integrating LEGO bricks and values into board games.

Good to know! And what has LEGO been like to work with on this big initiative?
It has been a great pleasure to work closely with the LEGO team, leveraging their expert knowledge on play value, age skills, storytelling, brick assortment and more. I believe that the Monkey Palace game is a perfect example of how the co-creation process – combining the knowledge, creativity and expertise of both companies – delivers an exceptional playful and unique game.

Before we wrap up, how did you find your way into the board game space Birgitte?
I’ve always loved playing games with trivia, letters, and words. In 2004, my husband presented me with an idea for a new twist on classic trivia – with a bit of tactics and where you play on your strengths. This idea was so exciting that we decided to develop it into a game and publish it. The game is called BEZZERWIZZER – which means a know-it-all in Danish – and is still on the market today. The BEZZERWIZZER game kicked off our journey into board game publishing and after several other board game releases, we joined Asmodee in 2019.

Becoming part of Asmodee opened our studio to a universe of different board games and I’m fascinated to see in how many types, formats and themes board games come nowadays. I personally remain convinced that playing a great board game can create memorable social experiences and a true sense of togetherness with family and friends.

One last question! How do you fuel your creativity?
To me, creativity mainly comes when working with other people, getting exposed to different aspects of play and perceptions being challenged. My role is to facilitate the development within the context of the vision of the board game we want to create… Briefing game designers, reviewing concepts and setting the right creative team to develop the game from idea to a finalised board game. Creativity has the best flow in the dynamic collaboration between designers, developers, market experts, testers and so… A true team effort.

And if creativity needs fuelling, curiosity is the key word. Discussing fun facts and curious knowledge at the office, asking questions, exchanging experiences and thoughts, taking a stroll and taking a break… Seeking new discoveries in various ways – looking up and out!

Thanks again Birgitte – and congrats on the launch of Dotted Games!

–

To stay in the loop with the latest news, interviews and features from the world of toy and game design, sign up to our weekly newsletter here

More Recent Interview

Funko’s Director of Group Licensing & Retail Strategy, Lucy Salisbury, talks music, sport and more

“I’m absolutely loving it!” Lucy Salisbury on Funko’s new strategy – and her own increased remit.

See Jane Fun’s Jane Bredemus on creating crafts designed for play, not display

Inventor Jane Bredemus talks putty products, Sticker Stackers and her kid-centric approach to design.

Hasbro’s Evan Brooks takes us inside the design process on TRANSFORMERS – and reveals his most underrated creation!

Hasbro’s Evan Brooks – Product Designer on the TRANSFORMERS team – talks design, innovation and what makes the brand unique.

Moodles creator Joanna Paul and LoCoco Licensing’s Peter LoCoco on building the brand beyond toys

“It has an incredible opportunity; it’s about finding the people who believe in it”: Joanna Paul and Peter LoCoco on the Moodles story so far.

The Rubik’s Cube at 50: Ernö Rubik tells Pete Jenkinson how the iconic puzzle came to be

“I don’t like the word invention” Ernö Rubik reveals how he discovered the eponymous Cube 50 years ago…

Game designer Dirk Barsuhn on what inspired his new tile-laying game, Ananda

“The idea came to me when I saw mahjong for the first time”: Dirk Barsuhn talks Ananda – and what made Zoch the perfect home for it.