A History Sports Board Games
What do two friends that have known each other since junior high school do when they become 50-somethings? They play. This is nothing new for Chris Doelle and Michael Wright as they have been playing their whole lives.
Teammates in junior high and high school sports, Chris and Mike found ways to fill their weekends and offseasons with hours and hours of games like Avalon Hill’s Bowl Bound and Paydirt, Statis-Pro Basketball as well as various baseball, wrestling and other games. When the computer revolution began, they could be found sitting at Mike’s TRS-80 or Chris’ Apple IIc writing text-based computer games of every sport imaginable. Playing and sports have been a part of their lives for over 30 years.
As adults, the duo teamed up on online sports-related ventures despite moving away from their Texas country roots and building families of their own. They stayed connected through time and space by their love of sports, games and history. It was their love of Texas high school football that really provided the inspiration for getting into board game development.
Running the website Lone Star Gridiron, for the past twenty years, included collecting over 100 years of data and statistics on Texas high school football teams. They would often write about “dream matchups” and base their stories on real statistics. Doelle even penned a couple of books about historic Texas high school football teams.
A series of conversations between the two over the course of many years led to development of their first functioning board game. In 2018, that game was their first offering from their latest venture, Board Game Legends (BGL.)
That first tabletop board game was Friday Night Legends (FNL), a successfully funded 2018 Kickstarter that let you coach the greatest high school teams against each other. They didn’t know if anyone would even like the game, but they loved it and it showed in their enthusiasm. The first edition included only Texas high school football teams because it was “what we knew.” Four years later, the library has nearly 1,200 teams from all over the country and teams like Concord De La Salle in California have over 20 different season’s team sheets available. They even have teams from television and movies like the 1984 Ampipe Pennsylvania Bulldogs from the Tom Cruise film “All the Right Moves” and the 1971 T.C. Williams high school in Virginia made famous in the Denzel Washington movie “Remember the Titans.”
Two years later in 2020, another successful Kickstarter - Saturday Legends (SL) added college football simulation to their lineup and it too quickly grew a loyal audience. The Facebook groups for each were instrumental in the success of the games.
In addition to Facebook, the two have created many YouTube shows covering the basics of the games and how-to play as well as their State of the Legends updates - a lighthearted conversation about happenings in BGL. Their friendship (and rivalry) comes through and personalizes them to their fellow gamers by clearly showing how much they enjoy playing these games.
Wright noted,”we love that our coaches are so involved in the games. Whether it is posting their replay scores/stories or giving us ideas for new teams to add to the library, these folks are solid gold friends.”
In February of this year, BGL quietly launched a basketball game (Basketball Legends) that is groundbreaking for a couple reasons. First, it is their only release that didn’t go the crowdfunding route.
When asked why they chose to fund it in-house this time around, founder, Chris Doelle, said, “We have a strong enough fan base now that it didn’t make sense to give away 20% to a company like Kickstarter. Instead, we gave that back to our coaches in the form of a less expensive game.”
While the football games retail for $54.95 each, this basketball offering comes in at only $39.95 and includes ten of the greatest college basketball teams of all time:
1972-1973 UCLA
2020-2021 Baylor
1991-1992 Duke
1978-1979 Michigan State
2004-2005 Illinois
1983-1983 Georgetown
1997-1998 North Carolina
2006-2007 Florida
1989-1990 UNLV
1996-1997 Wake Forest
Second, this game doesn’t stick to just one level of play. With Basketball Legends you can play professional, collegiate or even high school teams against each other. This is like getting three games for that $39 price tag.
The game includes everything in the rulebook and accompanying charts to play any level by adjusting a few rules and the length of the quarters/halves. Timing is done by tracking the possessions each team has in a game and tweaking that allows you to change the length of game time.
Another unexpected benefit from BL is the ability to play women’s basketball. Their team library already includes a large number of college and professional women’s teams. Doelle, who is a big fan of the women’s game, thought including some women’s teams in the library was something that only interested him or a few other fans.
“I was shocked at the response to the inclusion of women in the game. We discovered there are a large number of people who want to play these teams,” he added, “there is not much in the sports simulation world catering to women’s sports and we are just glad to be able to share some of their great accomplishments.”
Doelle and Michael Wright are reportedly hard at work on an interface for coaches to play BL against each other online. It will not be a full computer/app interface, but will require the coaches to each have a copy of the game and just allow them to play together online.
What is next for this dynamic duo of the sports simulation world? Judging from conversation in the Facebook groups, wrestling, MMA, baseball and even hockey have been discussed. The two are tight-lipped about any official announcement but rest assured when the next offering comes out, it will be a tight game that is heavy on realism and fun.
Board Game Legends - https://www.boardgamelegends.com
Friday Night Legends Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/FridayNightLegends
Saturday Legends Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaturdayLegends
Basketball Legends Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/bballlegends
