Dr Reiner Knizia at Ludorati

For a long time it seemed like the early 20th century would be the golden age of the board game - Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble; games that we've all heard of, games that have entertained millions on rainy afternoons. By the early 21st century, it looked like the board game's time was over. Video games and the internet had taken over (although Scrabble homage Words With Friends was massively popular on Facebook)

Now though, they are making a massive comeback - one market research group has recorded a rise in sales over the past year of 20%. Meanwhile, the UK distributor for the popular Ticket To Ride series of games says that they have already sold 21,000 copies this year (up from 16,000 in 2012)

Board games are also proving popular here in Nottingham with two board game cafes having opened in the last couple of years - The Dice Cup on Mansfield Road, which claims to be the largest board game café in the UK and Ludorati on Maid Marion Way, which has more games than you could possible imagine on "the wall". Both offer the opportunity to play hundreds of different board games for you to while away a few hours.

Now Ludorati are offering customers a chance to meet one of the most famous board game designers working today; Dr Reiner Knizia. He has designed over 600 games including Lord of the Rings, which has sold over a million copies, dice game Pickmino, which has also sold over a million, and Keltis, which has sold more than 600,000. He also designed hits such as Lost Cities, Ingenious and Carcassonne: The Castle as well as games based in both the Star Trek and Star Wars universes.

At the Origins Game Fair in 2002, he was inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame. He's also in the Academy of Adventure Gaming, Arts & Design Hall of Fame and he has won the German game of the year award four times. Boardgamegeek named him their Favourite Boardgame Designer. So, this is a guy who knows his board games.

On Saturday, customers will not only get to meet Reiner but he will also be bringing along a brand new as yet un-named game, which some people will get the chance to playtest alongside the designer himself. Ludorati will also be giving away 10 signed copies of some of Reiner's most popular games every hour on the hour and are also offering 20% off all games, all weekend.

So, if you want to know more about the board game revolution that's happening and want the chance to find out more about how games are designed, head on down to Ludorati on Saturday from midday to 8pm. 

More from Gav Squires