tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67160591046782767512024-03-05T00:05:05.235-08:00Exiled HereA blog about life in SF, board games, my corgi, game design, music, food, and love.Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-47955793195377892362012-03-11T18:23:00.001-07:002012-03-11T18:24:25.437-07:00Expanding the Farm: Learning about Expansion Design<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
The <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1892930431/farmageddon-the-frenetic-farming-game?ref=live">Kickstarter campaign</a> to raise money to manufacture <i>Farmageddon</i> went insanely well. It went so well, in fact, that our backers began clamoring for a fantastic stretch goal. our solution was a full expansion to the game. By full expansion I don't mean the 2-3 promo cards that folks might throw into a game, but something that significantly adds to the game.<br />
<br />
I found, and still find, this prospect a bit terrifying. I'm worried it's a tinge cart before the horse and I'd vastly prefer to design without the pressure of over 1200 excited people. But, this is a good problem to have.<br />
<br />
Expansion design is quite different from creating a new game. You have an existing structure you must work within or expand very carefully. You need to take what was balanced, add a few layers, then polish it again. But, unlike a digital game, you cannot just patch or overwrite the base experience. Oh boy.<br />
<br />
The purpose of this post is to share some general lessons I've found as well as discuss some aspects of the expansion, which is currently titled <i>Livestocked and Loaded. </i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
To give you some context before I go into detail on lessons and the game, the expansion adds the following:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Weather Events cards: These add a little randomness to the game to create opportunities and shake things up. These also allow bidding on Animals.</li>
<li>Animal cards: These add new abilities that add a layer of strategy to the game as well as a new avenue to gain points. Overall, animals exist to add strategy to an otherwise very tactical experience.</li>
<li>Action cards: New Action cards have been designed to give players ways to modify the Animals.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Lessons Learned</span></b><br />
<b>Don't Break the Flow: </b>This is one of the first pieces of feedback I heard when explaining my first design to one of my most regular testers. Originally, I had the idea to create 4 cards for each of the 4 Seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer). Players would draw these after an event would occur and then rules would change. Players would also have Animal Action cards which they would draw instead of regular Action cards.<br />
<br />
My tester (and fellow designer), Matt, responded pretty bluntly with something along the lines of "that's really stupid." He reminded me I could not, at all costs, upset the flow of the game. A turn in <i>Farmageddon </i>consists of Drawing 2 Crop cards, planting Crops and playing Action cards, then Drawing 2 Action cards to end your turn. I was talking about adding 2 varied steps to this.<br />
<br />
I took a step back and thought upon the problem and as a result came up with some solutions I'm pretty proud of.<br />
<br />
Weather Event cards are randomly shuffled into the Crop card deck. You don't know which ones will be drawn or when they'll be drawn.<br />
<br />
New Action cards are mixed into the old Action card deck. To manage the fact that there are now 65 cards, not 45, I've given the players several ways to manipulate the Action deck and their cards. Finally, the Animals exist in the center of play, much like the Crop fields.<br />
<br />
As a result, a player turn in the expansion will be Draw 2 Crop cards (and sometimes a Weather Event card), plant Crops, play Action cards, and interact with Animals, then Draw 2 Crop cards to end your turn.<br />
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<b>Don't Complicate things More than the Original: </b>It's important to remember the amount of information you're expecting your players to track and keep the expansion relatively similar. For example, initially I had a few really important cards that had multiple abilities, their position could change, point variables you needed to track could change, PLUS you had to play the original game.<br />
<br />
Awful.<br />
<br />
I streamlined all of the new cards to have one purpose. One piece of text for the player to read. Animals all have a value and an Ability, that's it (very similar to Crops or the Frankencrops). To make things even easier, the four Abilities will never change with the Animals, which means by the second game you should be quite comfy. Weather Event cards are quite simple. Their one other special function is indicated with an icon and that's as much as is needed.<br />
<br />
In the expansion, players can watch their Crops, watch their hand of Cards, and keep track of their bids on animals (which are fairly static). It's more than the base game, but I think it's a reasonable increase in complexity.<br />
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<b>Fill in the Holes: </b>Don't add more of the same! The purpose of the expansion, at least in my opinion, is to add something special. Don't just add more of the same, unless you're a very scenario driven game like <i>Memoir '44</i>.<br />
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<i>Farmageddon</i> has some obvious areas to expand, both thematically and mechanically. Animals were an obvious choice for a farming themed game. If <i>Agricola</i> has them, so should I! Heck, the first name for the game was <i>Barnacolypse</i>. Weather was another obvious thematic option. I imagine if you ask farmers what has the biggest impact on their profession, Weather would frequently be the answer.<br />
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Weather is random and powerful in real life. After playing <i>Farmageddon </i>for months and months and months, I assume players will want something to shake things up. Weather will do that.<br />
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Animals add a strategic layer to the game. Crops in <i>Farmageddon</i> are ridiculously flimsy. They can be stolen, destroyed, made worse, and more. It made sense to give players something to think about more than 1-2 turns in advance.<br />
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Finally, I wanted to add a new way to earn points. Something substantial. That would be the animals. All of the animals are up for auction. Players will bid on them with Feed, a currency they create throughout the game.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Else</span></b><br />
None of this matters until I begin testing the thing. After 3 designer re-writes and scrubbing most of the cards at least twice. I put in an order for the expansion from The Game Crafter. Why Game Crafter? Well, I have a version of <i>Farmageddon</i> and the new cards need to be the same size as the old. So, one, big, happy, new version of the game it is.<br />
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The expansion currently totals 54 cards, broken out like so:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>4 Animal cards</li>
<li>20 Action cards (6 different types)</li>
<li>10 Weather Event cards (all are unique)</li>
<li>20 Feed Marker cards (5 for each player with a unique color)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<i>Farmageddon's</i> getting pretty big with all of the cards! The base game is 108 cards plus 10 FrankenCrops. That's 172 cards total if my math isn't failing me entirely.<br />
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One of the ideas we had for the expansion was to increase the number of players to 5 or even 6 players. Unfortunately, this isn't something we pursued. I actually tested this a few times before the Kickstarter campaign, but the game just wasn't the same. The first problem is that there's too much chaos before you can take your turn again. If you plant a Crop in a 4 player game, there are 6 Action cards that can be played until it's your turn again (3 players x 2 Action cards per player). In a 5 or 6 player game, that number just gets out of hand. Secondly, the pacing of the game slows unacceptably. It takes too long for your turn to come back around and people get bored. Finally, the Crop deck isn't big enough to accommodate that many players. Folks don't seem to get enough turns to really have a meaningful game.</div>
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If you want to try the game with additional players, create a piece of paper and scribble "planting field" on it. 4 fields for 5 players should suffice. You can experiment by restricting players to only a single Action card, but this removes the ability to pull off some of the fun combos. But, you're welcome to try!<br />
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Questions? Thoughts? Enjoy the last few hours of your weekend.Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-81806175987168940132012-03-09T09:52:00.001-08:002012-03-09T09:55:44.648-08:00In All Fairness: Treating Designers Correctly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I'm a new designer. I have a single published title that isn't even manufactured yet and a pile of prototypes that weren't worth finishing. And there are so many others just like me. We have a few good ideas, a game worth looking at, and no record to point to.<br />
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Similarly, especially in this new environment of Kickstarter, The Game Crafter, and the Internet, there are new publishers. Publishers who have only one (or no) titles available for purchase. Titles that were designed and published by the same person (and so we're clear, there's nothing wrong with that). There are many of them and new ones cropping up every day.<br />
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For those of us designers who seek the traditional path of publication (i.e. we design, YOU publish), this presents new opportunities and challenges. For one, there are more people who might publish my game. More avenues. But, just like there are dozens of designers who are unworthy of your time because they are too green or too immature, I'm going to argue that same problem exists with publishers.<br />
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I submitted <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/102897/farmageddon">Farmageddon</a></i> to many publishers before I found a great fit with <a href="http://www.5thstreetgames.com/">5th Street Games</a>. Many of my experiences with publishers were greatly unfavorable, not just in rejection, which is expected and a part of the process, but in how they conducted business. <u>I will not name names</u>, but I'd like to call out a few things I think are fair to ask of publishers when dealing with designers.<br />
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Why is this valuable? I think the best publishers attract the best talent. If you are a good publisher to treats designers fairly, you'll attract Donald X, Stefan Feld, Knizia, and more. If you develop a reputation for being a jerk, and believe me, you will, none of these people will work with you. Take a look at the digital space. Not long ago, Activision royally screwed over Infinity Ward. Guess what? Activision's not having a lot of fun signing new developers right now. Who would work with them?<br />
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THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE CONVERSATION. Merely the beginning. Designers: what have I missed? Publishers: what have I missed? Post your comments below. If you know me, send me an email or ping me on <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/herrohgrant">Twitter</a>. I'll post an opposing view gladly.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">As a publisher, you need to play a submission multiple times before offering feedback.</span></b><br />
Publishers who play a game a single time and offer feedback are careless and lazy. A good board game has a mechanic that changes based on the cards dealt, or the players involved, or different strategies employed. By playing the game a single time, you are going to miss a key aspect of a game.<br />
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For example, <i>Farmageddon</i> is a game where a player's choices are determined by drawing cards. I took great pains, especially as I gathered feedback, to ensure a player wouldn't have a terrible experience <i>in the majority of cases</i> due to cards drawn. I say the majority because one can never fully control probability. And yet, it was always incredibly apparent when a publisher had only played once because they would give feedback that someone who played even twice wouldn't have given.<br />
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Play the game. Learn the rules. Learn the flow. See the variety.<br />
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The counter, of course, is that some games aren't worth a second play. This judgement will vary greatly from publisher to publisher. After all, preference is and should be a part of what makes us interesting creatures. If the game is sloppy, or broken, then sure, put it aside after a single play. But if the game mostly works and you just don't get it yet, or something seemed awry, play it a second time. You may find clarification. Furthermore, you'll have more to discuss with the designer when you send him or her feedback.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">As a publisher, you owe it to the designer to maintain a reasonable level of correspondence.</span></b><br />
This is a tricky one. The immediate response is "I got busy" or "unexpected things popped up." Life is tricky and we all get that. And if we don't, we're jerks.<br />
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But here's the thing. As a publisher, you're running a business. Designers are business partners. I've heard many of the new small, indie publishers thump their chests and boldly proclaim that they will be better than the Z-Mans and Rio Grandes because they'll be responsive. And yet months can go by without a single thought or reply to an email.<br />
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Writing a single email isn't that hard. Sometimes you're too busy to write the full email, or make the decision, but you can absolutely write an email that says "Hey, we're swamped. Sorry this is taking so long, but we'll need a few more days. Stay tuned." That's not too hard to do and if it is, you greatly need to re-examine your justification for calling yourself a publisher.<br />
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How are you going to be responsive to manufactures and distributors? What about customer complaints? If you want to make this your day job, how are you going to simultaneously launch several products with several designers, artists, and graphic designers?<br />
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Don't put us in the void and ignore us. We need you, but you also need us. It's about being reasonable and showing respect to others.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">As a publisher, if you request a prototype from a designer, you owe it to them to play it in a reasonable time frame.</span></b><br />
If a designer submits a game to you unsolicited, then you don't need to rush to play it. Get to it when your priorities allow and only if you accept submissions (of course). But, if you approach a designer and say "We are interested in your product. We would like you to send us a prototype." things immediately change.<br />
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I spent a lot of money sending prototypes to publishers who approached me with an interest in <i>Farmageddon</i> only to see my game sit idly for months. If you approach a designer and tell them you're interested, their game needs to become a priority.<br />
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If that's not possible, then you need to be up front about the conditions. Be clear on the rough timeline. Go over the process. Your time is valuable, but guess what? So is mine. And so is my money.<br />
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This also ties in greatly to the point just above regarding reasonable correspondence.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">As a publisher, you need to be willing to hold a discussion about the feedback.</span></b><br />
Design is a series of compromises and conversations. The publisher may ask for modifications to streamline the game, adjust it for a different audience or theme, or reduce components to mitigate costs. All of this is awesome and most often leads to a better game.<br />
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But, it needs to be a conversation. It is infuriating when the feedback conversation is one-sided. If a publisher expresses concerns, it is my responsibility to address them or add clarification if I desire to be published by the publisher. But, the publisher needs to listen in turn and not approach it as "my way or the highway." This is doubly infuriating when it's clear the publisher has only played the game once.<br />
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Here's an example. One publisher was convinced <i>Farmageddon</i> was inherently unbalanced and flawed by the first player's actions. I took this feedback into account and addressed it in several ways. After the second prototype, the publisher came back <i>again</i> with this feedback. I wrote 3 pages of analysis explaining why I believed the problem was addressed. Keep in mind I wasn't standing up shouting and saying "no no no!" I approached it as a point of discussion and tried to provide evidence to back up my point. Evidence backed by a great deal of playtesting. The publisher responded almost immediately with "Well, thanks. Maybe next time."<br />
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Both sides need to engage in reasonable discourse. If you're working with a child of a designer who cannot take feedback, then cut them off. But if the designer embraces the feedback and tries to initiate a conversation, then hold the conversation. You may find a better game emerges that neither of you could envision alone.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">As a publisher, you owe it to a designer to give them a "No" when you've made a decision.</span></b><br />
This is yet another byproduct of the reasonable correspondence note, but I think it deserves its own mention.<br />
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If you decide you don't want to publish the game or don't feel your feedback is being addressed, awesome. Take a minute and send the designer the official rejection. Your email can be as simple as the following:<br />
<br />
Dear (designer name)<designer name="">,</designer><br />
<br />
We appreciate your submission and unfortunately do not feel it's a good fit for (publisher name) <publisher name=""> at this time. Thank you and best of luck.</publisher><br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
(publisher representative)<br />
<name of="" representative=""></name><br />
<br />
You can use that template. On the house.<br />
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<b>BONUS ROUND: </b>If you want to guide novice designers to help them become good designers and therefore potential business partners, give them feedback. This is why we didn't publish your game: Points 1, 2, 3, and 4. Here are some suggestions on how to do this in the future.<br />
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I see this as a conversation. Designers and publishers should join. Have a good weekend!Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com2San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-67771774650506744442012-02-29T09:28:00.001-08:002012-02-29T09:28:53.368-08:00Fifth Test for AbbyTesting <i>Poor Abby</i> has presented me with many lessons. Some I've learned, forgotten, and now must relearn, others I'm learning for the first time.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Make sure features present a clear value to the player</b></div>
<div>
I keep trying to add another layer to the game for the sake of gameplay depth and differentiation. These layers keep failing. Last night's test revealed that the Jury Tampering ability was neat on the surface but was entirely irrelevant. Neither one of us used a single ability once for a few reasons.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>The benefit for using the ability was always too subtle. It's key to make a feature's value to the player overt and mostly clear.</li>
<li>Using the abilities was too complex. There were 5 icons and they were easily forgotten. I can only imagine how difficult it is to learn a game like <i>Race for the Galaxy</i> which has far more icons.</li>
<li>The abilities didn't work within the flow of the game. I basically designed a benefit for permanent area control when control of a juror is often temporary or tenuous at best.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>Card games need useful card</b></div>
<div>
Another lesson, which I knew, but is always coming back to me, is that it's important in a card game to make every card valuable most of the time. Over its life cycle I cut and tweaked many cards from <i>Farmageddon</i> because their use was too limited or required too many pieces to come together. Last night playing <i>Poor Abby</i>, there were several cases where neither of us a.) wanted the cards present or b.) knew the value of the cards present. (Fun Fact: I designed the game and this was still a problem!)</div>
</div>
<div>
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<div>
We laid out all 60 cards and went through each of them.</div>
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<div>
What we discovered during the examination was that:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I had many sets of virtually identical cards. They either did the same thing (verbatim text) or essentially did the same thing.</li>
<li>Some of the mostly identical cards were clearly weaker than their nearly identical counterpart. Who would ever choose that one? And was the weaker aspect interesting? Often times, no.</li>
<li>Many of the cards didn't work with the flow of the game. It was fairly obvious when took a step back right after playing the game. And what I failed to see, my friend made painfully obvious with his comments. </li>
</ul>
<div>
In a deckbuilder, someone is permanently (usually) adding a card to their deck. If it's going to ultimately make a deck less efficient (more cards reduce efficiency), the card needs to present a <b>clear and useful value to the player and his strategy.</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
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Imagine that?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Cumbersome Card Design</b></div>
<div>
Another key concept is to be sure to not create cards that force the player to remember something throughout his turn.Here is a good and a bad example.</div>
<div>
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<div>
Bad: Play this card. If this condition is met during the turn, you can do this thing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This is bad because the player actually doesn't do anything when the card is played. He must play the card, then track whether he does the thing or not. You never want the player to forget to take the action they've earned. Don't set them up to fail with cumbersome things.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Better: If this condition is met when this card is played, do this thing.</div>
<div>
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<div>
Now, the player knows to set up the condition before playing the card. </div>
<div>
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<div>
In some cases it's relatively easy to reword the card or massage the design a bit to make it work nicely with the flow of the game. Other times, you must cut the card and move on.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Scoring versus deckbuilding? </b></div>
<div>
One other thing I noticed while playing last night is that there was an awkward choice between building your deck or scoring points. It wasn't a good choice or an interesting choice, but an awkward one. Currently, scoring and obtaining cards are built into a similar mechanic. This is largely good because the game is streamlined. But, it means players are often trying to score with a bad deck because they don't want to choose deckbuilding over a scoring opportunity. I have some ideas on how to resolve this.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Some Good News!</b></div>
<div>
Fighting over jurors was fun. Removing prices streamlines the game and creates an interesting dynamic element. Increasing the basic value of Influence you must obtain makes it more valuable and makes the game more exciting as the Influence amounts escalate. Some of the cards <i>did</i> work and some interesting combos were pulled off. The game is getting easier to explain and makes more sense. Removing the dice seems to have been a good move.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Changes for <i>Poor Abby</i></span></b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Remove Jury Tampering feature. <i>Cut. Dead. Gone. Done</i>. </li>
<li>Streamline player turns from four steps to three:</li>
<ul>
<li>Score</li>
<li>Play Cards</li>
<li>Discard and Draw</li>
</ul>
<li>Deck has been refined down to about 40 cards. This doesn't seem like many, but this is a 2 player game and I can always add new ones. I feel the current 40 cards all add value.</li>
<li>Remove Argument cards from starting deck. They are now something you must acquire.</li>
<ul>
<li>When do you want to acquire them?</li>
<li>Which ones do you wish to acquire?</li>
</ul>
<li>Introduce the concept of game Rounds/Phases. There will be two. This is to address the buy versus score problem. This also returns to one of the earlier ideas I had for the game, but now with the current game's structure and format. </li>
<ul>
<li>The initial phase is about acquiring cards, i.e. thematically "building your case." This will focus on witnesses and gaining cards.</li>
<li>The second and final phase will be about delivering your arguments, scoring, and using the strategy you built in the first phase. Instead of witnesses, it'll focus on Jurors. </li>
<li>Both phases will use similar game flows.</li>
<li>During the first phase, the Witness side of a card will be revealed. In the second phase, the cards will be flipped over to reveal the Juror side. </li>
</ul>
<li>I need to design something to make Jurors and Witnesses interesting and valuable. I strongly feel the game needs another layer. I just don't know what or how to do it. </li>
<ul>
<li>I think it needs to be something so simple it can be conveyed with an icon. Forcing players to read text on cards they want for their deck AND Jurors is too much. If players know the value of the object at a glance, that's good.</li>
<li>I think there need to be at most 2-3 Icons with abilities. There are only so many variables people are comfortable processing. I'm not building a 7 hour epic here. Also, keep in mind tht there are 5 Jurors out. </li>
</ul>
<li>I need to think about ways to improve the game's layout on the table.</li>
<ul>
<li>One idea is to give the player a card to play to denote control over a juror. This eliminates the need to move cards around. I can just play a card with my color or symbol to denote "boom, I control this juror."</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
I need to think and design a bit before I'm ready to write and post new rules. If you have questions or thoughts on the test and changes please post them on Comments. Thanks!</div>
</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-3361517407680519652012-02-25T10:27:00.003-08:002012-02-27T16:50:45.279-08:00A Big Shift for AbbyAs I noted <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2012/02/quick-notes-on-poor-abby.html">earlier this week</a>, I've been trying some different and strange stuff with <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i> to make the game more fun, more streamlined, and more unique.<br />
<br />
A good friend called me to discuss the game on Wednesday night. He played the prototype on Sunday that included my new custom dice idea and liked the game, but had some reservations. We talked for about an hour and at the end I had a few ideas that were fairly big departures from what I'd been doing currently:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>No more dice, regular, custom, or otherwise. The dice weren't enough of a differentiating factor for the overall feel of the game and though they were working, they weren't really satisfying my core need. Removing dice also greatly reduces component costs.</li>
<li>No more score tracker. Score trackers are inherently fiddly. Now, score will be tallied with scored cards (like <i>Farmageddon</i>) and a few other easy elements. </li>
<li>Jurors are the core of the experience. I added 3 more jurors for a grand total of six. But that's not all.</li>
<ul>
<li>You must control a Juror to obtain Evidence cards. This creates a back and forth between players.</li>
<li>As a result, all evidence is now dynamically priced (somewhat) based on how much people want it and are willing to fight for it. If tuned and implemented properly, I think this will be a real innovation. </li>
<li>Jurors have Jury Tampering abilities. Based on how the Juror cards are dealt each game, they can influence and modify adjacent jurors in a few ways. </li>
</ul>
<li>Court Actions were simplified. Now only the Judge and Witch have actions which are driven by Influence. </li>
</ul>
<div>
I think this is a big step forward for the game. I plan to test it tomorrow afternoon.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzjMF9762QWKNjVhMmIyZTctMzhiZC00NDNmLWI1ODMtM2M1MWYzMjgxMjY5/edit">Here are the rules with dice</a>. Read these if you want a comparison.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzjMF9762QWKMUhxY0dmeTRUU0tleDNGSlpYWk84QQ/edit">Here are the new rules with dice removed</a>. These are the current rules I'm testing.</div>
<div>
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<div>
As always, your thoughts are appreciated.</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com2San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-41840143607486436602012-02-22T11:32:00.001-08:002012-02-22T11:32:15.624-08:00Quick Notes on Poor AbbyI'm really enjoying the development of <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i>. I feel that I'm coming up with far more good ideas than bad ones and my playtesters have been enthusiastic about the game. I keep finding good, solid ways to improve the game and it's overall been really enjoyable.<br />
<br />
Things don't always go that way so I'm just really enjoying it. <i>Frontier Scoundrels </i>and <i>Space Encounters</i> were both huge struggles with no end in sight, so it's nice to see some positive rays. Dice, deckbuilding, witches...what's not to love (at some point)?<br />
<br />
After my fourth test I think the game clearly works at a functional level. We played an entire game, the pacing was right, there were cool choices, a little strategy, it was fun. But it's not fun enough and it's not different enough. Remember that there are several outstanding games with deckbuilding: <i>Dominion</i>, <i>Eminent Domain</i>, <i>Ascension</i>, <i>Quarriors</i>, plus games like <i>A Few Acres of Snow</i> and the upcoming <i>Princes of the Dragon Throne </i>include DBG engines. Now that the structure and foundation of <i>Poor Abby</i> are strong, I'm going into fine tuning and skunk works mode. I'm just going to start trying crazy stuff to make the game incredibly unique and streamlined.<br />
<br />
Here are some of the things I have or will be testing shortly:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Iconography and Layout.</b> One of the problems of any deckbuilder is that a player must learn many cards on their first experience. This isn't fun and I'm trying to test and improve my layout and iconography to lessen the burden of the first play experience. I'm still using index cards and pencil scratches but even there it's possible to refine these things, which saves me time/money when I begin printing real prototypes.</li>
<li><b>Cutting Cards.</b> After four plays and lots of design time I can already see the weaker cards. I removed 12 cards from the deck this morning and have about 5 or 6 more I think I can easily extricate. I don't want any fat or filler cards. I want everything to create interesting choices and if I can already see the card as boring, my players will too.</li>
<li><b>Custom Dice. </b>I've been trying to lean more into the dice element of the game in good ways. I don't want the game to have some dice and also have some cards. Previously, there would be 3 Jurors in the game that, when controlled, would convey an ability. This meant you had to read more cards! Now, you trade in your regular d6 (which means you lose some flexibility) for a custom die based on the controlled Juror (which means you gain some abilities). After one test this made the game simpler and more fun!</li>
<ul>
<li>I'll need to play around with this to ensure it's necessary. Custom dice are great, but they increase the cost of the game to develop.</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Lawyer Abilities. </b>A tester/good friend/published designer suggested I add Lawyer abilities. Basically, the prosecution player has an ability and the defense player has an ability. This will hopefully add a layer of strategy to the game, provide some asymmetrical gameplay and depth, and a little replayability. </li>
<li><b>Court Events</b>. I want to make the Witch Abby and Judge stronger characters for thematic and gameplay purposes. What if the witch lit somebody on fire in the middle of the trial? Or if the judge made some sort of sweeping declaration? I think I'm going to design some cards that emerge from the draw deck. They will create an opportunity to exploit that is available to both players. I'll have to see if I can make this work.</li>
</ul>
<div>
I'm not going to post an updated version of the rules just now (they might change in 20 minutes and I'm being a tinge lazy at this second), but I will soon. They read really cleanly and are now only 6 pages long (and that includes visual diagrams). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm going to being the photoshop work for a better prototype layout this weekend. Hopefully that means in a few weeks I can send some folks early versions to test and help me improve. </div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com1San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-1427054168932704312012-02-09T17:00:00.000-08:002012-02-09T17:05:06.041-08:00And a two and a three (Poor Abby)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been hustling (and taking advantage of my hour long shuttle ride every day) to test and update <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i>. I was able to work in a second <i>and</i> third playtest this week. These tests incorporated the feedback from the <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2012/02/poor-abby-testworth-results-of-first.html">first test</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before I discuss the tests and the changes, you can read the <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzjMF9762QWKNjVhMmIyZTctMzhiZC00NDNmLWI1ODMtM2M1MWYzMjgxMjY5">updated rules for <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i> here</a>. Feedback is appreciated! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;">“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This quote has been a guiding phrase for <i>Poor Abby's</i> development. I find that every playtest I streamline or remove a feature and it is improving the game every time. I noted offhand this morning that if my rules are longer after I incorporate my feedback I did it incorrectly, but it's somewhat accurate. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After the third test, I feel we have some fairly refined core mechanics. Not refined as in "I'm shipping this soon," but refined as in I think we'll be digging more into the content (cards, balance, strategy, tuning) which will inform the decisions I make on the game's structure.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I feel the fundamental focus of the design are shining through: a new way of doing things (not revolutionary, but evolutionary). A faster deckbuilding game. More player interaction. More traditional board game entities to wrestle over. I'm excited and I hope I can push the game further from its contemporaries (<i>Ascension, Dominion, Alien Frontiers</i>) and more towards its own beast that players are excited by.</span></span><br />
</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Second and Third Test Reactions</b><br />
Parts of the second test worked better. It was easier to control Jurors, but the cards specifically designed <i>to</i> control Jurors were awkward.<br />
<br />
The dice mechanic, whereby a player had to assign a die to control the Juror, was a good trade off. But, the cost of Court Actions was so high that it basically meant a player could never do them. Furthermore, summing the Influence cards plus die made some Jurors impossible to re-take, which stalled the game (and therefore grew boring).<br />
<br />
I inflated the costs of cards too much, which meant players couldn't do enough. Also, the overmax mechanic was interesting, but poorly implemented. Now, once you reach a pair, it only costs 1 Influence card to increase the value. For example, if I have a 3 and a 2 rolled, I pay one Influence to turn the 2 into a 3. Now I have a pair! For each Influence I play now, I increase the value of that pair by 1, which makes it easier to manipulate Court Actions (and purchase cards).<br />
<br />
Another problem was the scoring. There was an overly complicated mechanic involving one type of Evidence (now streamlined to one point per). You'd also receive points for having control of a Juror but ONLY at the end of the game. This meant you always wanted to claim a Juror, then fortify, then sit and drain Influence. Now, each player has one card (that they start with). This card allows you to score 2 Points for each Juror you control (up to 2) with at least 2 Influence cards. <i>However</i>, you lose control of the Juror. So, players can earn points throughout but there's a trade-off. You still earn points at the end of the game based on controlled Jurors, amount of Influence used, and a few other factors. But, now it's far more dynamic.<br />
<br />
Here are some other quick notes:<br />
</span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: inherit;">
<li>Players freely mixed steps 1 (court actions/dice) and 2 (play cards). I combined them for test 3 and it actually simplified things. </li>
<li>We made it such that a higher pair trumps an existing court action, giving players a way to circumvent a block</li>
<li>I reduced overall Influence cards (again) from 15 to 10 to shorten the game and make Influence more precious.</li>
<li>I removed the "play to control juror" cards and tweaked their functionality. Now there are (essentially) two types of Evidence: Play in front of you (somewhat like <i>Ascension </i>Constructs) and Play then discard (like every card game ever).</li>
<li>Play in front cards cannot be used to control Jurors</li>
<li>Removed Summon a Witness court action. It required too many dice (3) and was too powerful. </li>
<li>Remove the ability to summon a witness, so now, there are three Jurors and the other 5 cards are set aside for the duration of the game.</li>
<li>Now, the player who Controls the Juror must still assign a die, which means he cannot roll that. But, the number on the die is irrelevant. The player may take advantage of the action on the Juror once per turn. The actions are quite nice and are called Juror Actions.</li>
<li>Several cards, like Blasphemy, needed to be balanced. Others needed to be improved to be more viable. I'll be doing things like this for <i>months</i>. </li>
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I apologize if you haven't been following the game incredibly closely. For the sake of keeping this short and focused, I'm assuming you've read the previous posts. At the very least, the <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2012/02/poor-abby-testworth-results-of-first.html">previous post</a> should help familiarize yourself with the premise. Not to mention the <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzjMF9762QWKNjVhMmIyZTctMzhiZC00NDNmLWI1ODMtM2M1MWYzMjgxMjY5">rules</a>!</span></div>
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Thanks for reading.</div>
</span>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-77944584408023242922012-02-05T10:48:00.000-08:002012-02-05T10:48:49.222-08:00Poor Abby Testworth: Results of the first Test<br />
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I took the opportunity to test <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i> this past week. We didn't play a full game due to time and some issues with the game, but the test went remarkably well and I've finished implementing the changes that came about as a result of the test.<br />
<br />
Below I'm going to detail the results of the test as well as the changes you'll see in the game. The foundation to the game didn't receive any drastic changes, though one significant support feature was removed and I tweaked an existing feature in a pretty significant fashion. However, most of the changes were polish and tuning fixes.<br />
<br />
Here are the <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzjMF9762QWKZjk0ZWM0Y2YtMDQ3ZC00ZDY1LTgzNmYtZTBkOTA1ZThkY2Rk&hl=en_US">updated rules</a> for <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i>. As always, your feedback is very much appreciated. I'm fairly pleased the rules are a tinge shorter now, even though the game is deeper.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Before I dive into the test data, I wanted to share some thoughts based on my experience with this design. I've been struggling for months to move onto a deeper, more substantial game design. <i><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1892930431/farmageddon-the-frenetic-farming-game?ref=category">Farmageddon</a></i> is a good game, but is definitely a lighter experience. I decided to take it slowly with <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i>. I knew two things: I wanted it to be a deckbuilding game and I wanted it to be about a witch trial in colonial Salem.<br />
<br />
I spent months just thinking about the mechanics, the foundation, and how to make the deckbuilding component embrace the theme and emerge as something other than a <i>Dominion</i> clone. The result of the months of thought and design and the slow weeks I spent designing the content have really shown through. Whereas on <i><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-own-worst-fan-critical-look-at.html">Frontier Scoundrels</a></i> I fundamentally altered the game after each test, here, the foundation of <i>Poor Abby</i> is strong. My players understood the flow of the game. The mechanics interested them and made sense. They weren't fumbling or asking questions. In fact, at one point I left to go to the bathroom and returned to find they kept playing without interruption.<br />
<br />
We all design differently. But, if you can spare the time, I recommend devoting a few months to just pondering the fundamentals of your next game. It's really paid off for <i>Poor Abby</i>.<br />
<br />
Onto the test notes!<br />
<ul>
<li>The game took off too slowly. It took too many turns for interesting things to start happening. As a result, I'm expanding each player's starting deck (they will be equivalent) with new cards to get things moving.</li>
<ul>
<li>5 Influence cards</li>
<li>A piece of Evidence to control a Juror</li>
<li>Evidence cost reduction card</li>
<li>Dice manipulation card</li>
</ul>
<li>There weren't enough Evidence cards to choose from. I'm going to scrap my 3 separate piles idea (it was one for each Evidence type) and I'll combine all cards into a single deck. They will now be drawn out like <i>Ticket to Ride </i>or <i>Ascension</i> to provide more choices and variety.</li>
<li>Court Actions (dice activated actions) weren't useful or interesting enough. </li>
<ul>
<li>Players will now have 4 dice (up from 3) to take more actions.</li>
<li>In general, Actions will now cost more to make it more of a choice.</li>
<li>Actions have been changed to be more powerful and interesting.</li>
</ul>
<li>Players can only control one Juror per turn (for balance reasons)</li>
<li>To speed up the game, I reduced the number of Influence cards in the deck by 5 (down to 15). </li>
<ul>
<li>One of the game ending conditions is the Influence deck emptying.</li>
</ul>
<li>Some of the Evidence cards were too powerful, especially for their cost. I inflated the costs of many Evidence cards as a result.</li>
<li>Introduced the mechanic of Overmax. Previously, all Evidence cost, at most, 6 (assign a pair of 6 dice to activate the Court Action). Now, some Evidence can require overmax, i.e. assign a pair of 6 dice and discard 1 Influence card for each number in addition to 6.</li>
<li>It was too hard to obtain a "Use to Control Juror" piece of Evidence. I should know better than to rely on probability. </li>
<ul>
<li>Now, all Evidence cards can be used to take control of a Juror. However, you can only use the ability on an Evidence card when used in this manner if it's a "play to control Juror" evidence card. Furthermore, the card will be tied up as long as you control the juror, so you have to choose whether to use the card that way.</li>
</ul>
<li>Objections have been cut from the game. Their intent is too subtle for such a quick, two player game. It may be a notion I return to, but for now, it's unnecessary and not useful for the game.</li>
<ul>
<li>I may introduce some of the cards as Evidence.</li>
</ul>
<li>The Summon a Witness Court Action was too powerful. It also made the game a little clunky and fiddly. This has been changed to be more interesting and strategic.</li>
<ul>
<li>Now, when you Summon a Witness you get to add the Witness to your side. Only you get to use the Witness' Court Action.</li>
<li>You still get to obtain an Evidence card of a matching type, but now it's from the center cards -- no additional drawing.</li>
<li>You can only obtain an Evidence card with a value equal to or less than the highest value die in your straight (a straight is used to activate court action). This makes it harder to pull off.</li>
</ul>
<li>I've updated the Evidence cards. I've noticed tons of errors that one often notices upon a second reading.</li>
<ul>
<li>Added iconography to begin testing that. Even sketched in pencil is useful to test.</li>
<li>Cleaned up phrasing, made the terminology more consistent</li>
<li>Added more balance and improved usefulness of cards</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
Finally, I thought of a really cool way to use the dice in a more meaningful way. One of the most interesting, subtle mechanics in deckbuilding games is the timing. When do you add a card or take an action? Too soon and it can slow you down. Too late and you've missed your chance.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Previously, the player would assign a control token to a Juror to indicate control. The Evidence card and all Influence used to Control the Juror would also be tied up, i.e. removed from your deck. Now, instead of a token, you'll assign a die AND the value on the die is added to your Influence cards to fortify your control over the Juror. This means a few things:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Will you use that 6 to activate a Court Action or control a Juror? </li>
<li>You will lose that die, which means as you Control a Juror you will have fewer dice to roll.</li>
<ul>
<li>You get the die back upon losing control of the juror, much like your cards.</li>
</ul>
<li>You can have a really high die roll, but you immediately lose control of a Juror if there are no more Influence cards on the Juror. So if you have 1 Influence card plus a 6 die, that <i>seems</i> really impenetrable until your opponent plays an Evidence card to remove that Influence...</li>
<li>This makes dice useful and interesting throughout the entire game. Previously I worried dice would lose some of their value around mid game. Not anymore.</li>
<li>As an added side benefit, this reduces the components of the game. Saving money and tightening your components is always good.</li>
</ul>
<div>
I haven't tested this final idea yet, but I think it's a really good one.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>What's next for <i>Poor Abby</i>?</b></div>
<div>
Testing! Testing! Also, testing! As I've said a few times now the structure of the game is strong. It's rich with choices and decisions. It flows reasonably well and isn't overly complex. But, I need to tighten the initial set of the game and the mechanics so that it goes from being functional to being fun. We need to play a few games so we can move past "let's play it for 20 minutes to find flaws" to "let's play it completely 3 times in an hour." </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Once it gets to the point where a full game can be played without a major issue or head scratcher, then it's time to enter the long road of balance testing and strategy adding. The best additions to <i><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1892930431/farmageddon-the-frenetic-farming-game?ref=category">Farmageddon</a></i>, namely my favorite combos and the most interesting cards, came about after months of testing. It'll be at this point I sit down for a few days of Photoshop labor to create a prototype via <a href="https://www.thegamecrafter.com/">The Game Crafter</a>. Note that the game will not be for sale. </div>
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I've begun assembling a group of victims, err, blind testers who I hope will help me find those strategies and combos. </div>
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So far this crew includes two of my college roommates in Austin, Texas, <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/gamesandgrub">Eric</a> from <a href="http://gamesandgrub.blogspot.com/">Games and Grub</a> (a clinical DBG fiend), <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/farmerlenny">@FarmerLenny</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/futurewolfie">@FutureWolfie</a> of <a href="http://www.islaythedragon.com/">I Slay the Dragon</a> (<i>Dominion</i> aficionados), and my publisher for <i>Farmageddon</i> <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/krinklechip">Phil</a>. I'm sure I'll find a few other victims. Dang! I need to stop using that term.</div>
</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com2San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-69822476450134878042012-01-25T22:40:00.000-08:002012-01-25T22:41:11.330-08:00Space Admiral Fleet Command 101<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwyQnkobgyNQ3vbGJUti2jSMANGKd96dzBR3breB9uz-QDEFI-O-_Rmwp1F2hc3AvEwJbEmxbBRhf3DeyZANXUncTcagqFOr-dHxJ6QIndaE5cRRA3JDzneBWDTdBXWblRs0Mjw-azzM/s1600/NPChart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwyQnkobgyNQ3vbGJUti2jSMANGKd96dzBR3breB9uz-QDEFI-O-_Rmwp1F2hc3AvEwJbEmxbBRhf3DeyZANXUncTcagqFOr-dHxJ6QIndaE5cRRA3JDzneBWDTdBXWblRs0Mjw-azzM/s400/NPChart.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I don't play too many digital games these days because I constantly get the feeling of deja vu. I'm almost 30 and I guess I feel I've played it all. Thankfully, every now and then a game emerges that offers something completely fresh, yet familiar enough to make me all warm inside.<br />
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A game I've loved for a few years now is<i> <a href="http://np.ironhelmet.com/">Neptune's Pride</a></i>, developed by <a href="http://www.ironhelmet.com/">Iron Helmet</a>. Iron Helmet has a focus on web-based strategy games, many of which are free to play and play out slowly over the course of days and even weeks. They also have a board game feel, which should come as no surprise to you is something I love.<br />
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I'm going to try to do two things in this post: get your frothing to try <i>Neptune's Pride</i>, but also, give you some tips on how to emerge victorious. It's a nasty universe, mostly because Admirals like me are in it.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>What is Neptune's Pride? </b><br />
Neptune's Pride is a 4x Sci-Fi strategy game inspired by games like <i>Masters of Orion</i> or recent titles like <i>Sins of a Solar Empire</i>. Unlike those games, <i>Neptune's Pride</i> is insanely streamlined and simplified. On the surface this may turn some off, but these people don't realize the true depth lies in the Machiavellian machinations of the victors. More on that in a moment.<br />
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The game is won by the first player to conquer a certain number of stars. Some games play with just a few players, others many, and the number always changes. There are three upgrades you can make on every star in the game: Economy, Industry, and Science. Some stars are better than others, which means it's cheaper to purchase these upgrades. You can buy as many of each upgrade as you can afford, though the cost dramatically increases for each upgrade added. These upgrades do the following things:<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Economy: </b>Every player is paid once a day at the same time. Your payout is based on your total economy upgrades. You receive $10 for each economy upgrade. </li>
<li><b>Industry: </b>There is only one type of ship in the game. Ships are automatically built over time based on your Industry number. A star with 0 Industry produces no ships, a star with 5 Industry produces many ships, a star with 1 Industry produces some ships, but very slowly. </li>
<li><b>Science: </b>You are constantly researching one of four scientific advancements (more on that in a second). For each point of Science combined, your rate of discovery increases.</li>
</ul>
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As I noted, there are four scientific advancement tracks. These are:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Speed</b>: Your fleets travel between stars more quickly. At the onset of the game, it may take a day to travel between two relatively distant systems.</li>
<li><b>Scan Range:</b> You are able to see planets at a greater range. You know precisely how many ships, carriers, and what upgrades an opponent's stars have if they are within your range. You can also see in transit fleets, which is quite handy.</li>
<li><b>Jump Range: </b>You can only send fleets between stars within your range. The maps all deliberately setup flanks and distant stars that are difficult to reach at the outset. This is a very expensive track.</li>
<li><b>Weapons: </b>Combat in <i>Neptune's Pride</i> is purely a number's game. There is NO randomness here. Combat is essentially your ships + weapons skill versus enemy ships + their weapons skill. The defender gets 1 bonus point. Regardless of the outcome, casualties are sustained by both sides. This is a very attrition heavy game. If you keep charging into fights, your fleets will be greatly diminished.</li>
</ul>
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One fan made a very handy calculator to determine the outcome of a battle. You can find it <a href="http://josteinb.com/npCalc/">here</a>. </div>
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The final component are carriers. Unless you have a carrier, your ships cannot travel between stars. Carriers are $25, so they are relatively inexpensive but not free. You must treat them lovingly as they are your key to expansion and conquest. </div>
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Those are your tools. Now, I'm going to tell you how to use them.</div>
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<div>
<b>Let Others do the Dying: </b><i>Neptune's Pride</i> is a very attrition heavy game. You will lose ships in every encounter unless you have an insanely overwhelming force (which is unlikely) or the planet is unoccupied. The key is to not initiate a fight first. Make deals with your neighbors. Pit them against each other. Bribe them by offering them planets you don't care about or giving them technology. </div>
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<div>
At the beginning of most games I immediately email players and begin brokering deals for tech. I promise them tech that I can only get if another player trades it to me. I play nice and say "You can have planet x" when I have no intention of going there. </div>
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<div>
Let them fight and grow weaker, meanwhile, your fleets do nothing but grow. Let the others do the dying. You merely show up to liberate the planets.</div>
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<div>
<b>Crowd Source Technology</b>: Above I mentioned sharing technology. Do this constantly. The way to leap ahead of all of your opponents is to let them research technology for you. Yes, you'll need to give them something in return, but chances are they aren't bargaining with everyone. </div>
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<div>
Doing this saves on needing to spend significant money upgrading your science facilities. </div>
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<div>
<b>Seek the flank: </b>Your opponents will often expect a frontal assault. They'll stack their ships and dare you to attack. Don't.</div>
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<div>
Invest in scanning early on so you can see what your opponents have and where they are. There is a great deal of strategic value in avoiding the big fights while wrecking your opponent's economy. Whenever a star is conquered, all economy is destroyed. Furthermore, by going the long way around and bouncing between stars, your opponent will waste time chasing you down. That's when you knock on the front door.</div>
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<div>
Remember to keep tabs on your opponent's scan range. You can click on a planet to see what they can see. There are so many times when I've benefited from my enemies jumping blindly into my fortified stars.</div>
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<div>
<b>The Value of Economy: </b>People rush to upgrade industry (more ships!) and science (better stuff!). However, these two are very expensive, for one, and the game is VERY long. It won't matter if your opponent has 40 more ships after 3 days.</div>
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<div>
Invest in your economy early. Then, after several pay periods you can catch up to your opponents regarding scientific and industrial output. Keep in mind that each economy only gives you $10 each pay period, so you may not want to spend $40 on an economic upgrade as it'll take 5 days to see profit from that. </div>
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<div>
Also, recall my earlier point about destroying an opponent's economy structures when taking a star. Especially in the early and middle game, holding onto the star isn't important. Weakening them such that they cannot stop you when you return is the priority.</div>
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<div>
I hope this little guide helps! If you're interested in a game, leave me a comment and I'll set one up for us. </div>
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Be nimble! Be patient! Be cunning!</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0Las Vegas, NV, USA36.114646 -115.17281635.909413 -115.48867299999999 36.319879 -114.856959tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-79698715022874104032012-01-21T09:55:00.000-08:002012-01-21T09:58:37.149-08:00Changes on the Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg36Xb-mZe9b69xlpRgnnUsdIoGkW7u8FSOPjK1iRnuGJv3M3GaRy_6OWZ07rhbZ6HA2y2HVkRJojjdH6zZPfoOvHthDjkG-5Vg7H3r-KuXqbFgj2XkaPICqL0JCr0rVAw96mdjMO-26Gw/s1600/cover+800x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg36Xb-mZe9b69xlpRgnnUsdIoGkW7u8FSOPjK1iRnuGJv3M3GaRy_6OWZ07rhbZ6HA2y2HVkRJojjdH6zZPfoOvHthDjkG-5Vg7H3r-KuXqbFgj2XkaPICqL0JCr0rVAw96mdjMO-26Gw/s400/cover+800x300.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We've been testing <i>Farmageddon </i>steadily and furiously lately. No rest for the weary! We've been trying some slightly bizarre and nutty ideas, as well as ones designed to refine, deepen, and polish existing cards. Here are some of the changes lately!<br />
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<b>Foul Manure Tweak: </b>For the longest time, Foul Manure provided two turns of immunity for a crop. This rule was fiddly and confusing in a few ways. Firstly, some players had questions regarding what justified a turn. Furthermore, this required players keep track of how many turns had transpired. While it wasn't that difficult, it was something they had to do. It's fiddly and that's not good enough.<br />
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I finally received a push from a peer for whom I have great respect. The change, surprisingly, came quite quickly to me and was really good. Now, Foul Manure is permanent. It never goes away unless one of two things happens.<br />
<ol>
<li>Dust Bowl is played. Dust Bowl destroys all unprotected crops and now, removes Foul Manure. The crops underneath are still safe. This strengthens Dust Bowl. Not only is it an offensive card, but it can combo with your Foul Manure to get it off.</li>
<li>A player discards two crop cards. This can be used in two ways. The Foul Manure owner may deliberately put the Manure on his crop for the protection. It'll cost him two more Crop cards, but he's expecting that cost. OR, I can put Foul manure on YOUR Crop. Now, if you want to harvest it, you'll have to pay two more Crop cards that you WEREN'T expecting. Because of this, cards like Darn Gophers and Farm Futures, which allow you to obtain more Crop cards, or Genetic Superworm, which reduces the cost of the crop, are also greatly strengthened.</li>
</ol>
<b>Crop Rotation Killed: </b>Crop Rotation has always been a popular card, especially with the more casual players. After all, it's an Uno card. Unfortunately, as the game has matured it has lost its value and isn't as strong anymore. Furthermore, when Foul Manure was changed, it no longer had the combo. Another flaw of the card was that it was insanely over-powered in 2 player games.<br />
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Several people pushed me to remove it and finally I did.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvdQRHIZzNMS9ZRQ8U_5UJK3cldMbNObx3c4-ozDYKOacBZvYdxDzCb3CSjSlSm1E9s26tSyY2G4TbAxI6Dmn_nx7ttkm7GN-sC8ZyNCQcNcW608ETRWT9ZgBc7J29laCv856cJvoKDY/s1600/Action_CropRotation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRvdQRHIZzNMS9ZRQ8U_5UJK3cldMbNObx3c4-ozDYKOacBZvYdxDzCb3CSjSlSm1E9s26tSyY2G4TbAxI6Dmn_nx7ttkm7GN-sC8ZyNCQcNcW608ETRWT9ZgBc7J29laCv856cJvoKDY/s320/Action_CropRotation.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
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<b>Uprooted</b> <b>Added: </b>In the wake of Crop Rotation's demise came Uprooted. Uprooted will replace it to keep the current card distribution unchanged. Uprooted allows the player to swap ownership of any two Planted Crops. That means I can give you my Wheat for your Melon. OR, I can remove the leader's Squash and give it to the last place guy, who planted a Corn. The card is flexible and interesting without being too nasty or unfair. It's been really fun to use so far.</div>
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<b>Crop Insurance Rectified: </b>Crop Insurance is one of the last incredibly fiddly hold outs. It's a great card, which gave it a lot longer life in its current form than it should have had. Previously you had to use face-down Crop cards to act as your Insurance payout. But, there were edge cases, like what if I use Thresher? Do the crops go back in my hand? It also didn't protect against theft.<br />
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To fix the stupid fiddly bits and strengthen the card, it now provides a fixed payout ($6) much like Bumper Crop. Furthermore, if the Crop is now destroyed OR stolen, the player of Crop Insurance puts the card in his harvest pile for $6 at the end of the game. This has broadened the game's scoring and strengthened the card. It's also now a far more viable defensive card. This one needs more testing, but we've liked it so far.<br />
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<b>A Good Idea that Didn't Work Out: </b>One of the oldest pieces of feedback I have routinely received is to make it so that a crop can be instantly harvested. In fact, the first test of <i>Farmageddon</i> allowed that, but it removed any risk or, well, game, from the game.<br />
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We tried out a test where the cheapest crop, Sassy Wheat, could be instantly harvested. Here's what happened; when given the choice of a mathematically inferior way to score that had NO risk versus a way that was worth much more but had some risk, players chose the no risk path every time. What happened was everyone just played and harvested Sassy Wheat.<br />
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This meant there were rarely crops out on the board. Players horded crop cards until they had a wheat. With no crops, players had few targets or uses for Action cards. Scores were lower, fewer crops were harvested, and people had much less fun.<br />
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We toyed around with the notion of working it into an Action card, but I think the same problem would persist. Players who drew the card would horde crops, then insta-harvest a 15 point Squash. The card would unfairly favor those who drew it. Worth a shot!<br />
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<b>Graphic Design Lesson: </b>After a year of testing <i>Farmageddon</i> the layout has remained completely unchanged. That is, until I received some great feedback from one of my newer testers. He noted the cards were difficult to read in hand because the harvest value was in the top right corner of the card instead of the top left corner. That was easily fixed and now players can read the cards without moving them around in the hand!<br />
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Players also noted it'd be easier to keep track of the value of Bumper Crop and Pesticides if the numbers were displayed like the crops. Another great idea that has really improved things.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hinryzRgtrwr-FJTWMEyOimID4xkUbTNs6uz44L8IRuVN4qcvt5kek71GehgKdtM3PriDkYCepgSlFph79EIOZKtwrNVxTCqCGxVgYXj7XQjOfTfwVBm9KG2dwS6s7FZMEWELdUXW88/s1600/Crop_WarySquash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2hinryzRgtrwr-FJTWMEyOimID4xkUbTNs6uz44L8IRuVN4qcvt5kek71GehgKdtM3PriDkYCepgSlFph79EIOZKtwrNVxTCqCGxVgYXj7XQjOfTfwVBm9KG2dwS6s7FZMEWELdUXW88/s320/Crop_WarySquash.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYMsEKws6x9Bss_ccD_B7cAFv3RTtXxCNggKyzzNwiulrlkP_5c6Akn4_EYmven6KjRxjmxoRxpI6zQWjH8mSeWpRlikuy4I0uS6_qdCITbCFyJgoJ9slYz4UGFsU1NtX4w-OKz4ppOc/s1600/Action_Pesticides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYMsEKws6x9Bss_ccD_B7cAFv3RTtXxCNggKyzzNwiulrlkP_5c6Akn4_EYmven6KjRxjmxoRxpI6zQWjH8mSeWpRlikuy4I0uS6_qdCITbCFyJgoJ9slYz4UGFsU1NtX4w-OKz4ppOc/s320/Action_Pesticides.jpg" width="233" /></a>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-33498903512393840522012-01-19T21:44:00.000-08:002012-01-20T06:45:48.532-08:00By Jove a WitchI'm making great progress with <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i>. Typically I'd be worried about writing so often on my blog, but it's easy to be prolific when you're excited. And I am!<br />
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I finished the last Evidence card on the shuttle home from work tonight. 60 cards! I also have 5 of the 15 Objection cards designed and really, those will come quite quickly. I did a re-write of the rules to bring them inline with some of the changes that emerged from the content. Finally, I did some really rough iconography work NOT to present as final art, but to begin the work of making the game clean, accessible, and easy to learn. I want people to focus on playing the game, not <i>learning</i> the game.<br />
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Before I discuss the changes, here are the updated rules to <i><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzjMF9762QWKOTkyNDRhNDQtMjgzZC00MzU5LTk3OTItZjVlMzlhYTNjMGM4&hl=en_US">Poor Abby Farnsworth</a>.</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Here is a quick summary of the changes:<br />
<ul>
<li>I received feedback that adding, removing, and managing Influence tokens is terrible. Now, instead of this constant token tug of war, you either control the Juror or you don't. I actually like the new implementation a great deal more.</li>
<li>There are three ways to play Evidence cards, which is defined by the card.</li>
<ul>
<li>Play in Front of You: The best comparison are constructs. Though, in my game these are the only Evidence cards that gain points for you and only if they are out. They provide benefits as well.</li>
<li>Play to discard: Typical cards. Play, gain the benefit or action, discard.</li>
<li>Play to Control Juror: You need to use these cards to take control of the Juror. Some of them are quite neat, I think.</li>
</ul>
<li>New card layout shown in the rules and below. It's pretty clean and really cleans up the text that I've been scribbling on index cards.</li>
<li>Modifications to the rules layout so they read better. I hope.</li>
<li>Objection cards are no longer added to your deck. They apply global changes to the game, but players choose which cards are played and can change it. I think if I design the content well this can be really compelling.</li>
<li>The three Evidence decks <i>tend</i> to do one of three things:</li>
<ul>
<li>Deck Manipulation</li>
<li>Counter Opponent</li>
<li>Build Influence</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuHySGdX0iZfchHI86ashsFMkph1OENwD07n_YOJtYvZyEztCVEIyQTooFmasiBfuYf9-iU1abyCJRqX4S2X5fdK_VHcIVPncWYc7UlQTdJEeH6RGn8ZcLJ2iKfOc0tLnnWN9OMYo7AA/s1600/EvidenceCard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuHySGdX0iZfchHI86ashsFMkph1OENwD07n_YOJtYvZyEztCVEIyQTooFmasiBfuYf9-iU1abyCJRqX4S2X5fdK_VHcIVPncWYc7UlQTdJEeH6RGn8ZcLJ2iKfOc0tLnnWN9OMYo7AA/s400/EvidenceCard.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quick and dirty mock of a card. Please be gentle, I did it in Google Drawings and MS Paint.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The cards are not contained within the rules. It's approximately 45 unique cards and I don't see myself putting them all in the rules. But, I'm pleased with how they came out. I think the first play test will run better than some of my other play tests. Granted, that's a very low bar.<br />
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Here's a quick image of the prototype setup on my table:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5PF4kehHWxRQbBnOARWAFplQ1XmeDjaAy3ji_VJMqARTBXSgiHFAyeeHOd0VNx3Lsl1I1rNJN0ho_WwTt71ZyBPT47BVjaFupti2m_oUdIYhKQFr24U_-AtN5SSuAMukRzemz7j7cE4/s1600/PAFSetup.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5PF4kehHWxRQbBnOARWAFplQ1XmeDjaAy3ji_VJMqARTBXSgiHFAyeeHOd0VNx3Lsl1I1rNJN0ho_WwTt71ZyBPT47BVjaFupti2m_oUdIYhKQFr24U_-AtN5SSuAMukRzemz7j7cE4/s320/PAFSetup.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Some quick explanation:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Slanted cards on the top left are the 3 Jurors</li>
<li>Each player begins with a small deck and 3 dice</li>
<li>The top left 3 cards in the center of the image are the Judge, Witch, and Town Crier. The Witnesses will be to the right of this.</li>
<li>The cards in the center are the 3 types of Evidence and the Influence cards that players obtain.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Finally, <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2012/01/rules-to-witchcraft-plus-hyperbole.html">last time I wrote about the rules</a> for <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i> I shared an early version of the logo for my board game design site that's in progress. Well, we think it's done now. I'm really pleased with my friend's work.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifbJh3wVzNzdUO9Ph4HZCrecFzZa_aLxQEiNYQfwSTkNFDLZJSfVO74AtrlTgVEFMeGcNbW8jpY74qae-kNjSHdqCendmQ7DH2WyI1iTrNaXMsDbqsgm9HwRBUbikpg5x5-WcfOjnGC0g/s1600/hyperbole_black.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifbJh3wVzNzdUO9Ph4HZCrecFzZa_aLxQEiNYQfwSTkNFDLZJSfVO74AtrlTgVEFMeGcNbW8jpY74qae-kNjSHdqCendmQ7DH2WyI1iTrNaXMsDbqsgm9HwRBUbikpg5x5-WcfOjnGC0g/s320/hyperbole_black.png" width="319" /></a></div>
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As always I greatly appreciate your thoughts and comments on the rules. It really does help make the game better, which is ultimately why I share it so early.</div>
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Looks like I'll be running a few playtests in this upcoming week...</div>
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<br /></div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-40054080472146078132012-01-18T22:10:00.000-08:002012-01-18T22:10:18.625-08:00Thoughts on General Staff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm deep in the midst of <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth </i>content creation. There are many cards to design in a deckbuilding game (shocking) and it's slow and time consuming work. But, the fundamentals remain strong, though slightly modified since I <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2012/01/rules-to-witchcraft-plus-hyperbole.html">last discussed them</a>.<br />
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I think there are two phases to design: big design and little design. Big design focuses on the systems and mechanics. The concept. The theme. The big, fun ideas that come to us quickly in a flash of inspiration. Little design is less glamorous, more tedious, but ultimately more satisfying. And in my opinion, more important. The two phases use different parts of my brain, or at least tax my imagination differently, and I had a few thoughts today regarding what I may work on next.<br />
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I like to try new things each game. My first game, <i>Space Encounters</i>, was a big space civilization building game (that sucked). <i>Farmageddon</i> was supposed to be a light, quick game that I think has grown into something a little more, but light nonetheless. <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i> is a highly thematic 2 player deckbuilding game. I wanted to try my hand at the fantastic DBG mechanic and try to create something deeper. I decided this morning that I should distance myself a little from cards and try my hand at a board game. New things to learn!<br />
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Which way to go? Euro? Perhaps. Design-wise I'm more inclined to lean into the cleaner mechanics, though I like a little theme and prefer games that are an hour or less. Then I thought of a war game. I've been eyeing <i><a href="http://academy-games.com/games/birth-of-america/1812-the-invasion-of-canada">1812: The Invasion of Canada</a></i>, which many have said is a great blend of euro and war game design philosophies. It seemed like a good direction to go. After all, I've always wanted to make a better <i>Risk</i>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOtzwg1bQDjsnLAqItsYyQalCjxAmUWy_wPKbwMKawpTp5_Lx1nyziRH022tshHg1im2Cdyixx6MNWiAFzMfWcGRe63DBe7_-tf4-GuBDLYTAO3cd_dJn8ZwRJeIfpshT_9GRG5mTYSY/s1600/box-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOtzwg1bQDjsnLAqItsYyQalCjxAmUWy_wPKbwMKawpTp5_Lx1nyziRH022tshHg1im2Cdyixx6MNWiAFzMfWcGRe63DBe7_-tf4-GuBDLYTAO3cd_dJn8ZwRJeIfpshT_9GRG5mTYSY/s400/box-cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful cover. I hear the components are top notch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
An idea I've had in mind for a bit involves the two sides of war. Two sets of soldiers engage in war: the old, crusty generals safe in the capital send orders to the young officers, conscripts, and volunteers on the front. There are two different experiences here for two different players. The old Marshall must think upon the grand strategy, supply his field commanders, and please his political masters. The field commander must use the resources given to him, try to carry out orders, and request assistance to better fight the war.<br />
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Really, it's perfectly captured in this image (I couldn't find an image of old Prussian men pushing blocks around).<br />
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It's a team game with two teams, though obviously it would need to work with as few as two players. I even thought there could be a 3 player variant, with one team of two and a third controlling a guerrilla faction. But that's getting ahead of myself.<br />
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There's also room, I think, for competitive cooperation. I.e. both teams most work together to win, but each team only has one true war hero, the one the people love and the fans remember.<br />
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Key innovation number one, at least I hope, is this dynamic of strategic versus tactical and the teamplay based upon it. A question I'm asking myself is whether there's an interesting mechanic whereby sharing information is difficult between teammates. For example, is there a fun and interesting way to make it such that a letter takes time to reach a front line commander? It'd be awful to force all players to sit behind screens and not talk. But there could be something.<br />
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I have some interesting ideas regarding a dice mechanic that acts for both the supply and the commanders. It's not ready to discuss, but it made me smile when it popped into my head. It felt unique and interesting. But also, really straightforward with lots of interesting possibilities.<br />
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Finally, though the game will be greatly inspired by history, especially the tactics, weaponry, and politics of the Franco-Prussian War, I want to create my own world. This lets me distance myself from the well-tread European battle map. It lets me remove myself from the history to create something new. There's approximately a 97.57% chance one of the sides is a very Germanic sounding group. The second side will probably be a bit less, well, Prussian, and more slapdash. Something fun like frontier American types or Australians. It'll be fun to push the flavor in a few key areas and create some interesting new scenarios.<br />
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I'm excited by this game. There are some ideas I've been trying to create for some time that I think can finally exist in this game. For the time being I'm calling it <i>General Staff</i>, though I pray I'll conceive of something better. As <i>Poor Abby </i>enters what will be a long test phase, it'll be fun to dive into this new idea.<br />
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Wooden blocks, dice, und Krieg. Mein Gott!<br />
<br />Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-22949177845515977332012-01-15T11:15:00.000-08:002012-01-15T11:15:21.638-08:00Oh the Games I will PlayI read a great post on <a href="http://www.islaythedragon.com/2012/01/on-horizon-2012.html">I Slay the Dragon</a> about upcoming games for 2012. Both <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/FarmerLenny">@FarmerLenny</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/futurewolfie">@FutureWolfie</a> are far more savvy than I am regarding the ways of the industry. Not surprisingly, they are a few steps ahead of me. But since then there have been several announcements and I too now know of a few things soon to be on the horizon.<br />
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I thought it'd be fun to write about them. Here are seven games that I think will be really fun to buy and play in 2012. Scroll to the bottom for my top two picks!<br />
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<a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=192&esem=2"><b>Infiltration</b> </a><br />
Designed by Donald X. Vaccarino<br />
Published by <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/index.asp">Fantasy Flight Games</a><br />
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I'm typically very mixed on Fantasy Flight Games. Their production values are off the charts, but their games tend to appear cumbersome and complicated. Most of my board game time is spent over lunch, so a four hour game just isn't feasible. The event game just isn't in the cards for me.<br />
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But holy smokes 2012 is looking great. Infiltration is designed by the genius who brought us <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36218/dominion" style="font-style: italic;">Dominion</a>, which I consider insanely innovative, as well as <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/107529/kingdom-builder">Kingdom Builder</a></i>. Folks are very mixed on the latter. It appears some expected a <i>Dominion </i>level step forward or something far, far deeper. I've played <i>Kingdom Builder</i> twice and I found it to be an incredibly elegant and satisfying game. I especially appreciate how robust its mechanics are for replayability.<br />
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<i>Infiltration </i>seems like a great idea to me. It's based within the <i><a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=68">Android</a> </i>universe, a game I've avoided due to word of mouth comments that the game is overly cumbersome and long. But the universe is cool! It's designed by a designer who makes great games. And it's published by a publisher that makes great looking games. Plus, it's about espionage. Finally, it supports 2-6 players in under 45 minutes. I think that's six good reasons for buying a new lunch game!<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=178&esem=2">Rex: Final Days of an Empipre</a></b><br />
Designed by Bill Eberle, John Goodenough, Jack Kittredge, Corey Konieczka, Peter Olotka, and Christian T. Petersen<br />
Published by <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/index.asp">Fantasy Flight Games</a><br />
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Oh, hello again Fantasy Flight. According to I Slay the Dragon's Future Wolfie, Rex is designed by the guys who made <i>Cosmic Encounter</i>, a game I haven't yet tried but a LOT of people love. Like, <i>love</i> love. Apparently, it's also a game with the mechanics of the game <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/121/dune">Dune</a>, </i>but based within the <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12493/twilight-imperium-third-edition">Twilight Imperium</a> </i>universe. That sounds really cool to me. I've read every <i>Dune </i>book ever<i>, </i>so a game based on that universe with a fresh coat of paint sounds like a great deal of fun to me.<br />
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This is definitely a meatier game than lunch allows, but it's good to have a few of those in your collection.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=186&esem=2">Nexus Ops</a></b><br />
Designed by Charlie Catino<br />
Published by <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/index.asp">Fantasy Flight Games</a><br />
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This game caught my eye when Fantasy Flight first announced it in their Twitter feed. I'm a sucker for colonial marines, Zerg-like aliens, and things of this like. I've been seeking out cleaned up, simplified wargames for a while now and this looks like a good one to try. I <a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2954">read over the rules</a>, shared a few days back, and the game looks very promising.<br />
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Really, the game looks like <i>Starcraft</i>, but with cool plastic miniatures and hexes.<br />
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<a href="http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=game&show=272"><b>The Big Fat Tomato Game</b></a><br />
Designed by Unknown<br />
Published by <a href="http://www.gamewright.com/gwintro.html">Gamewright</a><br />
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There's a fun story for me with this game. One of the original publishers to which I submitted <i>Farmageddon</i> was <a href="http://www.gamewright.com/gwintro.html">Gamewright</a>. I'd sell my right leg to be published by Gamewright. I love their casual, family friendly, mass market approach. Quick, accessible, really fun games with stellar production values. Plus, you can find their games in places like Barnes and Noble. I sent them a really early copy of <i>Farmageddon</i> that wasn't ready (though I didn't know that quite yet). They very kindly rejected the game, but said nice things about it. They noted that they unfortunately had already chosen a farming game for 2012.<br />
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Well, <i>The Big Fat Tomato Game</i> is that game. I almost hate to say it, but it looks like a lot of fun. 20 minute play time, cute little spongy tomatoes, all sorts of weird stuff, and stellar production values.<br />
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<b><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/88513/chicken-caesar">Chicken Caesar</a></b><br />
Designed by Bryan Fischer and John Sizemore<br />
Published by <a href="http://nevermoregames.com/">Nevermore Games</a><br />
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<i>Chicken Caesar</i> drew my attention because of its hilarious premise. A game about dirty politics (the stabby kind) in the Roman Republic? Check. Plus chickens? Yes! I've also chatted quite a bit with Bryan on Twitter, IM, etc. and he's a really nice guy. That all makes me very hopeful for this game which is going to be on Kickstarter on February 3rd according to their <a href="http://nevermoregames.com/">site</a>.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clevermojogames/alien-frontiers-factions?ref=users">Alien Frontiers: Factions</a></b><br />
Designed by Tory Niemann<br />
Published by <a href="http://clevermojogames.com/">Clever Mojo Games</a><br />
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I really enjoy <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/48726/alien-frontiers">Alien Frontiers</a></i>. It has beautiful components, plays quickly, has a great dice mechanic, subtle player interaction (and sometimes not so subtle), and plenty of depth. It's always well received when I break it out.<br />
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The expansion sounds great when you read the bullet points. It adds a fifth player and depth all over the place. New strategies, more replayability, more fun. <i>Alien Frontiers </i>is the best game I've received from Kickstarter so far and I don't expect its expansion to let me down.<br />
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<b><a href="http://clevermojogames.com/games/princes-of-the-dragon-throne/">Princes of the Dragon Throne</a></b><br />
Designed by Fred MacKenzie<br />
Published by <a href="http://clevermojogames.com/">Clever Mojo Games</a><br />
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The Clever Mojo website says this will be released in 2012 and I hope that's the case. I love deckbuilding games and believe it's a mechanic that's barely seen its full potential. <i>Princes of the Dragon Throne</i> is a resource management and area control game fueled by deckbuilding. It also has dragons who may eat villagers *squeal* and will surely have the top notch production values for which Clever Mojo is known.<br />
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Several folks whose opinions I respect have actually played the game and have said good things. I'll be watching this one closely.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Top picks?</span> </b><br />
I stewed over my choices for a while. Which two would I take over all others if I had to make a choice? NOT easy. Ultimately, my two top choices out of this list are <i>Infiltration</i> and <i>Princes of the Dragon Throne.</i> The pedigree of the former is too strong to ignore, plus the appeal of a great 45 minute game has me breathy with anticipation. And <i>Princes</i> looks to be a really novel and thematic game fueled by mechanics I love.<br />
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Did I miss something? Did I get something woefully incorrect? What are your top picks for 2012?<br />
<b><br /></b>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com7San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-46259644594917529802012-01-07T17:01:00.000-08:002012-01-07T17:01:41.501-08:00The Rules to Witchcraft plus HyperboleA week or so ago I wrote a post about my design progress on what was then known as Witch Trial. You can read it <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/12/try-me-update-on-my-witch-trial-themed.html">here</a>. Since then, my brain has been very busy. I've answered many questions and I was able to draft a first pass set of Rules for the game. I was quite pleased with the rules immediately -- the game felt good, sound, tight, and interesting. This is a feeling I never gained from <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i>, but one I did have from <i>Farmageddon</i>. That's a good thing, to me.<br />
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I also created the character of the Witch, Abby Farnsworth, and mentioned it in a tweet. A co-worker of mine (who just so happens to be a designer) commented that I may have a name, and indeed I did. The game is now known as <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth: A Salem Witch Trial</i>.<br />
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Finally, I sent the rules to four peers, two of whom managed to find the time to provide me with excellent feedback. Thanks to Phil Kilcrease and AJ Porfirio for their time! I took full advantage of it.<br />
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I have not had a few hours to unplug to design the Objection and Evidence cards, though I plan to do that tonight or tomorrow. Nevertheless, I have a strong feeling that <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i> will eventually become a completed, fun game.<br />
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For those of you interested, here are the current <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eVtPs3kgh-gZOBiYOzZCM8IWUv32EcfVo1Y_xw0N7RI/edit?hl=en_US">full rules for <i>Poor Abby Farnsworth</i></a>. It is a dice and card based deckbuilding game for two players. I hope you take a chance to read them and share your thoughts. I feel like there's a solid core and a good foundation upon which to I can create fantastic content.<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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As a final note, a month or so ago I hired a friend of mine to design a logo and website for me. I plan to migrate all of my design blog posts there and use the site as a basis for all my design efforts. Note my focus on design. I don't intend to join the ranks of independent board game publishers. I don't think I have the know-how or talent for such a thing, so I'll leave that to those more clever than I.<br />
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The logo is nearing completion and I think we have a nearly final candidate. My friend managed to design something that I think is simple, sharp, and makes me laugh. I wanted to share it. The site will be HyperboleGames.com.<br />
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<br />Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com3San Francisco, CA 37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-65965580219670584382011-12-31T10:34:00.000-08:002011-12-31T10:34:43.685-08:00The Best of Exiled Here 2011The vast majority of the things I write on this blog can be summarized as "Grant describes at length why his new game is bad." However, every so often I write what I believe is a worthwhile contribution to the Internet. I was thinking about the year on my morning run and thought it'd be nice to present a Best of Exiled Here styled post.<br />
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I wrote 63 posts in 2011. These are the ones I think you should read. (Note: Though <i>some</i> of these are about board games, not all of them are!)<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/03/converting-heathen.html">Converting the Heathen</a></span></b><br />
I don't write enough humor posts for my tastes anymore. Perhaps it's because I'm simply not funny or maybe it's that I have my head so deep in board game mechanics that I'm failing to notice the hilarity exploding all around me. This is one of the few humor posts I wrote this year about one of the more hilarious episodes in my life.<br />
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I brought home a girlfriend in college who was, among other things, a vegetarian. This is the story about what happened when I brought her to Texas for Thanksgiving.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/09/interesting-year.html">An Interesting Year</a></span></b></div>
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At the very end of 2010 I left my great job of 5 years to venture forth to the land of start ups. 2 companies later I went full circle and arrived back at my old job, though with a new title and role that excited me. Though it's fair to say I ultimately failed, I learned an immense amount about being a designer, designing and building mobile games, working with new people, being a leader and manager, and I'm far better for it. I wouldn't change the experience, hard though it was.</div>
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Ultimately, success in your creative and professional endeavors is the result of primarily hard work, being good at your job, and maximizing your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses. We all have some of each. The sooner you admit this and acknowledge it, the better you will be.</div>
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This post is a fairly concise recollection of some of the lessons I learned.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/08/writing-rules-ie-design.html">Writing Rules (i.e. Design)</a></span></b></div>
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One of my favorite aspects of the Twitter board game community is that I'm often asked to review the rules of other designers. I <i>love</i> doing this. Love it. Professionally, I'm a producer by trade, which is essentially a design editor for the game industry. I'm also a designer, but at the end of the day I have to admit I'm a better producer/editor than I am a designer. Sad, but true.</div>
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I wrote this post about some of the principles on rule writing. I think it's a worthwhile read. I was doubly pleased that one of my design mentors, Ray Mazza (@raymazza) chimed in as well. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/05/evening-with-lazy-bear.html">An Evening with Lazy Bear</a></span></b></div>
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San Francisco is one of the food (foodie?) capitals of the world. We have astounding restaurants that delight their patrons with cuisine from every corner of the globe. It is one of my favorite things about this city.</div>
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Lazy Bear is a bizarre and unique entry to this landscape. The chef/owner is a former lawyer who now runs an infrequent "underground restaurant." He, along with his wife and friends, rent a space in the Mission and serve a prix fixe menu that is absurdly delicious. </div>
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Quick rewind. For a time at university I was doubling as a professional writing major. I ultimately dropped this because I wanted to graduate in four years and I doubted my ability to earn a living as a writer. But, I always wanted to write big features for a magazine that went beyond just what was happening, but focused on the experience.</div>
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I feel like this piece is somewhat that. As a side note, we have since dined with Lazy Bear again at his inaugural brunch. It was delicious.</div>
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<b><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-thoughts-on-kickstarter.html"><span style="font-size: large;">My Thoughts on Kickstarter</span></a></b><br />
The most read post that I wrote in 2011 was by far My Thoughts on Kickstarter. My twitter feed is jam packed with game designers and publishers, many of whom have put a game up on Kickstarter in hopes of it being backed. Those who haven't personally used Kickstarter have spent money on it or observed its impact on the board game space. It's impossible to ignore.<br />
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The problem for me, was that every few days the same argument would reignite about Kickstarter. Many of the same entrenched foes would do battle with the same arguments. 140 characters is an impossibly short space to compose a well-written argument and I was tired of it. I decided, with some prompting by folks on Twitter, to put down my thoughts permanently in blog form.<br />
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I'm glad I did.<br />
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Interestingly enough, I feel that many of the people who came to the post didn't actually read it. Based on their comments to me afterwards in my feed or via email, it felt as if they got snagged on a buzzword and just activated their auto-pilot. What have we always been told? Oh yes, don't get into arguments on the Internet. I should know better!<br />
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If you want to skip the long article, here are my thoughts. I still fervently believe them today.<br />
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Any creative and entrepreneurial atmosphere in which you have:<br />
<ol>
<li>No (or relatively no) barrier to entry</li>
<li>Greatly reduced or entirely reduced financial risk </li>
</ol>
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Can lead to a terrible experience for customers in the short run and bad tidings for our industry in the long run. Just because you <i>can</i> release your game doesn't mean you <i>should</i>. The book industry has similar issues with e-Books.<br />
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We must ONLY deliver high quality experiences. </div>
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One opinion of mine did change after hearing Richard Bliss (@gamewhisperer) discuss it on <a href="http://dicehateme.com/2011/11/the-state-of-games-episode-19-the-one-about-the-kickstarter-bubble/">The State of Games</a>. I used to be on the fence/negative side regarding established publishers or even independent publishers using or re-using Kickstarter. The truth is, it's a great marketing opportunity, or as its detractors note, merely a "pre-order tool." I absolutely agree this isn't Kickstarter's intent, but I can't say I mind it personally.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-3-am-adventure.html">Our 3 AM Adventure</a></span></b></div>
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I cannot leave you fine folks without a fun pet story! Here's a fairly short, simple, and amusing post that I think all pet owners will enjoy. It's about my beloved Peaches and my beloved Beth and how their paths disgustingly collided one January evening.</div>
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Thanks for reading. If you have a blog and you have something you're proud of, post it in the comments! Have a great 2012 folks.</div>
</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-72383184962459800862011-12-29T11:08:00.000-08:002011-12-29T11:08:56.891-08:00The Rocky, Rough Road to Home Ownership<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99qAWW_ulkli7vTX0IHkX2Ki1_9xHXjBIoQAkfW4cbUFQxA09feF3y6HB2jnUpX3D2rcSxGZJq-8Nuf2RYPh6w_GG7qrcO3MNzCtdbGobSXBF4NdES1Bs6irWf_VyXRQxa0w5tu-WmL8/s1600/Home.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99qAWW_ulkli7vTX0IHkX2Ki1_9xHXjBIoQAkfW4cbUFQxA09feF3y6HB2jnUpX3D2rcSxGZJq-8Nuf2RYPh6w_GG7qrcO3MNzCtdbGobSXBF4NdES1Bs6irWf_VyXRQxa0w5tu-WmL8/s400/Home.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My home!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I consider home ownership a part of the American dream and an indicator of one's hard work and success. I worked really hard in college and at my job so that I could one day point at something and say "there, that's mine, I worked for that."<br />
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Home ownership eluded me longer than I hoped due to the fact that the cost of living and home prices in northern California are astronomical. After years of looking at homes, only to watch our jaws subsequently slam the floor due to sticker shock, we decided to look outside the city of San Francisco, away from the suburbs of the peninsula, and into the grape growing countryside of Napa valley. Interestingly enough, the cost of homes dropped in half. After a bit of difficulty and a hearty struggle, we are now proud home owners. For now it's a weekend/vacation home as it's too far from our jobs to be a feasible permanent residence, but one day I hope to move there permanently.<br />
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I wanted to share my experiences for other potential home buyers. Perhaps there's something you can glean from my difficulties so that if and when you purchase a home for yourself, you can be more prepared.<br />
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The first step is to find a great real estate agent. Not a good one, not a decent one, a <i>great</i> one. A good real estate agent will not only help you find a home that fits your price range and makes you happy more quickly, but they'll have your back and help you solve the incredibly difficult problems when they emerge. And they will! We worked with <a href="http://www.cbnapavalley.com/agent-offices/agentProfile.php?id=54324">Michael Lawrence</a> and he continues to be an absolutely fantastic help to us. If you are looking at a home anywhere near Napa, give him a call.<br />
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Secondly, and this may be the most important advice I can give, is to NOT hire Bank of America for your mortgage. Do not. Do not. Do not. I may have had the misfortune of working with a particularly bad mortgage broker, but Bank of America's process and bureaucracy is slow, unwieldy, and the customer service rendered was awful. I'm not sure if it was always this way, but as a result of Bank of America's last few year's worth of business, not to mention recent government regulation, they are absolutely not someone you should go with. They missed a few of my closing deadlines, would frequently not return calls or emails, and seemed to try desperately to find a reason to <i>not</i> give me a loan.<br />
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Similar to the real estate agent, I recommend someone who is eager and trustworthy for your mortgage. If I could do it all over, I would have taken the higher interest rate and gone with a small, local Napa mortgage broker. The rendered service would have been superior, they would have worked more quickly to provide me with a loan, and we wouldn't have required 3 extensions on the escrow process.<br />
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One thing that I encountered throughout the process time and time again is that you're told to sit tight and wait with no instruction. Weeks and months may pass, when suddenly you receive a phone call and are expected to provide dozens of documents within hours. Here are some things you should be ready to provide or have at the forefront of your mind:<br />
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<b>Proof of having paid rent for 12 months.</b> For me, this meant gathering my old rent check copies from my bank. A few things that will cause hiccups including having multiple apartments. We've had 3 in the past four years, which caused eyebrows to be raised, despite no wrongdoing on our part.<br />
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This was further complicated by the fact that I typically write a rent check to my girlfriend, who cashes it and writes a single, combined check for the full amount. Another hiccup is that some of my checks were written with an old check book of mine that displayed a residence of mine from 5+ years ago. Basically, the more streamlined and simple your renter's past, the better.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdaPS62eLjhbLVQg0BtCktRTn3bSyekXFCCqX4scsjFJJGcHHZ28tk5cKdbvm_GhTXU2U8nwOhbCKpugcSTiyhBZEv2nSqm77CcPsdvmdoG8QBJsuTAmAsbPUAtggE47F9IU54kS5JDc/s1600/Bed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdaPS62eLjhbLVQg0BtCktRTn3bSyekXFCCqX4scsjFJJGcHHZ28tk5cKdbvm_GhTXU2U8nwOhbCKpugcSTiyhBZEv2nSqm77CcPsdvmdoG8QBJsuTAmAsbPUAtggE47F9IU54kS5JDc/s400/Bed.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peaches is a fan of the new mattress and bed frame.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Have a credit score of 700 or better. </b>Mine is <i>just </i>shy of this and it hurt. Why? Well, I don't really use a credit card. Silly me, I prefer to use money I have! My advice is to get a credit card and use it often. Pay for your gas, your lunch, or your electricity bill. Pay it off always, but use your credit card. A lack of debt and solid history of paying off a car and your bills is unfortunately not sufficient.<br />
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<b>Have money for the down payment and don't move it. </b>I had a portion of my down payment in a savings account, the other portion in an investment portfolio. After I moved the funds from the investment portfolio, I had to provide an absurd amount of documentation showing which stock was sold, evidence the check went from one account to the other, and more. I was up to my neck in affidavits. The lesson? Put the money in one place and leave it there.<br />
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<b>Provide your bank statements.</b> I sure hope you have these online! I had to provide many bank statements, then provide detailed explanations for any charge that seemed <i>remotely </i>irregular. I once had to sign an affidavit explaining why my rent differed by $100 between two months. I also had to explain why I had multiple cards for the same account, as a result of card cancellations. They will get nitpicky, so have the documents and be ready to explain everything.<br />
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<b>You'll need insurance.</b> You'll need to have your insurance setup to close escrow. Luckily, my real estate agent provided me with a fantastic insurance agent. If your house has anything quirky about its location, be prepared to pay more and deal with more process. For example, there's a river near my house, which means I require flood insurance. Double bonus is that Congress failed to approve some recurring measure, which meant I had to pay for the costs ahead of time. Had the deal fallen through, I would have eaten $1000.<br />
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<b>Have funds ready when crap goes wrong. </b>No matter how good the condition of your home, it will need some work. Something will break. Something will be wrong. We bought a house that's in fantastic condition, yet my chimney has approximately $4000 worth of earthquake damage, I had a rotted fence, and my air conditioning unit is kaput. I also have a reverse polarity (whatever that means) between two plugs and a few other fun things. You need to have money set aside for a down payment, closing costs, fixing the home, and, of course, the mortgage.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NT760YnDC5c/Tvy3pe4PKyI/AAAAAAAAA9M/JBjkXKIXkRw/s1600/Fence.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NT760YnDC5c/Tvy3pe4PKyI/AAAAAAAAA9M/JBjkXKIXkRw/s400/Fence.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad fence? No sweat for me and dad.</td></tr>
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In summary, find a great real estate agent. Hire a good, local, trustworthy mortgage broker. Have all of your documents in good order and be prepared to answer a thousand questions. Or, wait a few years and buy your house after the dust of this housing crisis settles! I hope this was useful. Questions?Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA 37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-79911036631242571722011-12-29T10:11:00.000-08:002011-12-29T10:11:57.455-08:00Try Me! An Update on my Witch Trial Themed DBG<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u-IbqfMsCss/TvyXZIxtDrI/AAAAAAAAA8c/ToOqirWBy1Y/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u-IbqfMsCss/TvyXZIxtDrI/AAAAAAAAA8c/ToOqirWBy1Y/s400/photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last night's design/prototype efforts, brought to you by Crayola.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've made some interesting progress on <i>Try Me!</i> lately, so I wanted to put my thoughts down to see if others had insight or thoughts to guide me further. I'm referring to <i>Witch Trial</i> as <i>Try Me!</i> because <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1203/witch-trial">Witch Trial</a></i> is already taken. Obviously, the name still needs work.<br />
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Initially, <i>Try Me! </i>was a deckbuilding game based on a witch trial in colonial Salem. It's a two player game with the players comprising the roles of the defense attorney and the prosecuting attorney. I <i>love</i> the deckbuilding game mechanic and the theme has been a huge hit with everyone who hears it, so the two seemed like a natural pairing. Plus, I've wanted to design a more focused two player experience.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
There have been a few issues with this initial concept. For example, I didn't want to have a set of cards that players pick from then play, similar to <i>Dominion</i> or <i>Ascension</i>. These games already do this so incredibly well and I cannot compete with that. My thought was to shift it such that there are essentially three or four sets of cards:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Common Cards: These are the 2 or 3 decks in the center that are always accessible. These are the cards that drive the basic engine, like Mystics or Heavy Infantry in <i>Ascension</i>.</li>
<li>Judicial Cards: You obtain these cards via the Judge, who is an entity on the board. These cards would focus on player interaction abilities.</li>
<li>Witness Cards: You obtain these cards by interacting with Witnesses. These are a fluctuating board entity. These cards would focus on scoring points with the jury.</li>
</ul>
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Ultimately, all cards feed into the Jury. By influencing the Jury, you gain points to win the game.</div>
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The problem is, how are these cards dealt out? Do you have to track certain cards with each Witness? That's downright fiddly. How many piles are there? Where are they? For a deckbuilding game, the table layout is incredibly important and my brainstorm wasn't lending itself to an intuitive setup.</div>
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Another problem was dealing with the deckbuilding standards. Drawing more cards, removing cards from your deck...I didn't want to just borrow these 10 cards. I wanted to try something new and tweak things a little bit. My solution was to create a "Court Proceedings" tableau with a handful of dice based actions. Players would roll 3 dice at the beginning of each turn, then assign any that fit to take advantage of a Court Proceeding. Things like "Draw More Cards" or "Get a Judicial Card." </div>
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This idea felt good, but a bit slapped together. I firmly believe that a fundamental rule of good game design is that <b>If you create a mechanic, you should use it throughout your game. Everything should feed into a few core mechanics.</b> Proof of this is the removal of the paper money from <i>Farmageddon</i>. Now, every card uses Crops as the central currency, which has removed fiddly bits from the game, enhanced the strategy, and improved the overall experience.</div>
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So, I took the dice mechanic further. I removed two basic Court Proceedings from the tableau and added them to the Judge's card. I put two on the Witch, who is permanently in the Accused Stand. I then added one to each of the 8 Townspeople cards (Townspeople cards are each a character that comprises the Witnesses and Jurors). Each game, 3 Townspeople cards are dealt for the Jurors. These 3 Jurors provide 3 dice-based benefits you can access and deny your opponent of each turn. But, Witnesses can also be summoned to provide temporary dice-based benefits. Think of this, in a sense, as a shifting <i>Alien Frontiers</i> board. </div>
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To summarize, dice are rolled at the beginning of each turn. You assign your dice and take the output. But, what about the cards?</div>
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A purely dice-roll based mechanic is frustrating. <i>Alien Frontiers</i> is so delightful because you obtain bonuses and Alien Tech cards that allow you to mitigate the randomness. The currency for <i>Try Me!</i> is Influence. It is used to score points with Jurors and Judge, modify Evidence (more on that shortly), and also to modify dice rolls. You spend Influence to add points to your dice rolls to create the straights, pairs, and high number rolls needed to take advantage of powerful Court Proceedings. The twist, however, is that Influence has a one-time use. If you spend it on a Juror or Judge, it stays on the board as points. If you spend it on a dice roll, it's removed from the game. </div>
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Let's summarize again: There are powerful dice-based Court Proceedings, which are abilities that further your interests. Some of these Court Proceedings exist in the game permanently, others may be temporary. You spend Influence to modify dice rolls or score with Jurors. Influence is spent permanently. There is a limited supply of Influence, but it is relatively easy to obtain. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JhrwIrJsM64/Tvyn4DPb62I/AAAAAAAAA80/4IWB5cgb0qI/s1600/1288135_f520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JhrwIrJsM64/Tvyn4DPb62I/AAAAAAAAA80/4IWB5cgb0qI/s320/1288135_f520.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A photo from the Rodiek Family Christmas!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Let's discuss Evidence. Evidence has evolved quite a bit. Initially, Evidence was a set of cards similar to what you'd find in any DBG, or Action cards in a game like <i>Farmageddon</i>. Fitting Evidence into the game has been difficult. I thought of assigning players Evidence initially that they'd have to spend. But, that's very difficult to balance and prone to frustrating more strategy inclined players. I also felt that there was a need to classify certain types of Evidence, both for thematic and balance purposes.</div>
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The solution is still evolving, but here's what I have so far. There are three types of Evidence: Spiritual, Physical, and Circumstantial. Basically, religious stuff (don't worry, I won't be offensive), evidence from the "scene of the crime," and hearsay/rumors. These are represented by the colors red, green, and blue. The Townspeople (who comprise the Witnesses and Jury) each have one or two of these colors, which means they are more partial to a specific type of Evidence. For example, the Deacon is entirely Spiritual focused. The Farmer's Wife is split between Spiritual and Circumstantial. </div>
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You obtain Evidence by calling Witnesses to the stand. You interact with the Witnesses using Influence (currency cards) and Court Proceedings (dice rolls) to gain Evidence of their type. For example, if you summon the Deacon as a Witness, you can obtain Spiritual Evidence to use with the Farmer's Wife, who is a Juror. Both players will be able to manipulate Witnesses to obtain Evidence, but each Juror will provide limited amounts of Evidence. </div>
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Evidence will be incredibly powerful, one-time use cards. I intend many of them to be dual use (i.e. do X OR Y), though some may be "Do X OR Gain N Influence." I'm also trying to see if there's a clever, intuitive way to have color-based pairs for using the Evidence to score. For example, you can pair Red and Blue Evidence (like the Science cards in <i>7 Wonders</i>) for a bonus. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLwt3jhe6KEER5dIoN-F7K6f7OwNu-lHRfY2noaabSSE7wVrViFyNkmmEACyZzulZwYjadjQVl04J6m6Sw9ShtU2nbrUoXurA3O_p2UMdf9dh44PNAXcHCjXqHmm43VljfEMs2yc-5rg/s1600/WitchTrialLayout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLwt3jhe6KEER5dIoN-F7K6f7OwNu-lHRfY2noaabSSE7wVrViFyNkmmEACyZzulZwYjadjQVl04J6m6Sw9ShtU2nbrUoXurA3O_p2UMdf9dh44PNAXcHCjXqHmm43VljfEMs2yc-5rg/s400/WitchTrialLayout.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The game has changed a bit since I created this layout mock, but it's still somewhat accurate!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I still have a few questions to answer and problems to solve. </div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Do I want Evidence and Influence to be single-use? Might be strange in a DBG if you're spending everything. Perhaps Evidence is less powerful, but can be used multiple times. </li>
<li>I want the game to be more interactive than your typical DBG, but not a take-that haymaker fest. How do I design cards that are subtle and strategic, not face kickers?</li>
<li>I definitely need to tighten the relationship between dice and cards. </li>
<li>I need to better define my scoring mechanic and try that. I've got too many variants upon variants at the moment. </li>
</ol>
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The engine is moving along. As it stands right now, I think I have a compelling theme and many mechanics that embrace the theme, like influencing juror or manipulating the witnesses and judge. I'm excited about the dice mechanic paired with a typical deckbuilding flow -- I feel this takes some well worn, beloved mechanics and re-positions them into something fresh. I need to finalize a scoring mechanic, answer some key questions on how cards are played, then design heaps of content. </div>
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Thanks for reading! Did I explain this clearly enough? I realize I'm rambling a tinge as this is still a work in progress and anything but nailed down. As always, your thoughts, concerns, and insults are much appreciated!</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com2San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-42119733441005197422011-12-22T09:13:00.000-08:002011-12-22T09:14:41.198-08:00My Favorite Games for the year 2011Like most nerd inclined folk, I write a post most years about my favorite games that I played. Typically, these are video games, and typically, they are <i>mostly</i> in line with common sentiment, with the exception of <i><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-favorite-games-of-2010.html">Red Dead Redemption</a></i>, which was and is total garbage.<br />
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Interestingly enough, I didn't really play that many video games this year. Instead, my focus and interests shifted 200% (that's not possible!) to mobile games and my new love, board games. Below is my list of my favorite games for 2011. Note that not all of the games I mention came out in 2011. Board gaming is a fairly new hobby of mine, so I had some catching up to do.<br />
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Read on to see my favorite mobile, board, and electronic games of the year.<br />
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<b>Mobile Gems</b><br />
Mobile games are the bread and butter of my play time. They are always with me in my pocket and provide a moment's satisfaction when I have precisely a moment to waste. Here are my favorites for the year! It was very difficult to narrow it down to just three.<br />
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<i><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/army-of-darkness-defense/id431739110?mt=8"><span style="font-size: large;">Army of Darkness: Defense</span></a></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8sOJvfLE-0lbDH9wnTwUBCjT5GUl2gty_LW8Dxp6FXoYMH6qY3MtfufceHaHri_EMej76ZKeDxHt2u00fOxjcKpljrVhs8j_w3z8PtIYYRjPqSQOi0UrbifM_ZPfXUmS0adYGBAJ1X0/s1600/mzl.rivvmvlb.320x480-75.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8sOJvfLE-0lbDH9wnTwUBCjT5GUl2gty_LW8Dxp6FXoYMH6qY3MtfufceHaHri_EMej76ZKeDxHt2u00fOxjcKpljrVhs8j_w3z8PtIYYRjPqSQOi0UrbifM_ZPfXUmS0adYGBAJ1X0/s320/mzl.rivvmvlb.320x480-75.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is a side scrolling tower defense game where you control Ash from <i>Army of Darkness</i>. The controls are incredibly elegant -- tap the left side of the screen to move left, tap the right side to move right. Ash automatically attacks with his weapons when he comes into range of the enemies. The game is all about mastering Ash's positioning and timing the use of special abilities. The game is chock full of fantastic player progression and has a lot of levels. This is a great game...and FREE.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiny-wings/id417817520?mt=8">Tiny Wings</a></span></i></div>
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This game is poetry. You tap to drop your bird to the ground so that he can slide and build momentum. Then, at exactly the right moment, you release your finger to send him soaring. This game is absolutely fantastic and is the perfect example of "just one more."<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trade-nations/id429278822?mt=8">Trade Nations</a></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_6hUqCgTFBH0BqjIUWboFIY1FDEP0R5fl_ChVIkEo8f7fIgP6ugscKbqYY7k_uS3pMtHqPrrUytfMTuO4QoiTxhS2aa8DgArdvOuR91-pYvU7H0b7nCEU57Tk5GgaE__396Ci8g_4tA/s1600/TN_Screenshot_1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_6hUqCgTFBH0BqjIUWboFIY1FDEP0R5fl_ChVIkEo8f7fIgP6ugscKbqYY7k_uS3pMtHqPrrUytfMTuO4QoiTxhS2aa8DgArdvOuR91-pYvU7H0b7nCEU57Tk5GgaE__396Ci8g_4tA/s320/TN_Screenshot_1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I love this silly freemium sim game. I've quite the game several times, only to see a new update that adds more things I want to build and accomplish. I find the art style incredibly charming and the game incredibly easy to play. The new Frontier expansion is fantastic and has completely re-engaged me. Well done, Z2 Live.<br />
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<b>Board Game Beauties</b><br />
Board games are my favorite thing to do this year, aside from hugging Peaches and food related things with Beth. We like to eat! It was incredibly difficult to pare down my list, but I was able to get it to just five. These are the five games I loved the most this year. Bah, I just remembered another. Six.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/39856/dixit">Dixit</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtu6iq1SZYyw-yjzDg80e4WdFg8uBRNNB9vhVDUls1evk6UuN7e3L1U_gTuGBENwD7Vlv3p5V9AQyOe7ViyJBeqqErYyUIrw83WAlHEsb0hlBL-lOW9fWxrJtI13_7HF0EFbkWecH2kXY/s1600/1308035712862_7057988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtu6iq1SZYyw-yjzDg80e4WdFg8uBRNNB9vhVDUls1evk6UuN7e3L1U_gTuGBENwD7Vlv3p5V9AQyOe7ViyJBeqqErYyUIrw83WAlHEsb0hlBL-lOW9fWxrJtI13_7HF0EFbkWecH2kXY/s320/1308035712862_7057988.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Dixit</i> is an absurdly brilliant game. One player tells a story based on the absurd, magnificently illustrated cards in their hand. The other players also play a card they think matches the story. This game is perfect for <i>any</i> group or player and has never failed to be a crowd favorite at social gatherings.<br />
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<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/48726/alien-frontiers"><span style="font-size: large;">Alien Frontiers</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw32ekaDu_qXG_9tef-PWXjqcjxf1jGc18dmQaubzTNGLd4_vFaRd44cWoWqa36EZTH6XtceCVhHHCi-n80R1JP8C_rog9W-SaxN6fA42RG_-kP8whN4ILaUv_9tEzFfWIXbGy774ZuHQ/s1600/pic866095_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw32ekaDu_qXG_9tef-PWXjqcjxf1jGc18dmQaubzTNGLd4_vFaRd44cWoWqa36EZTH6XtceCVhHHCi-n80R1JP8C_rog9W-SaxN6fA42RG_-kP8whN4ILaUv_9tEzFfWIXbGy774ZuHQ/s320/pic866095_md.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Alien Frontiers</i> is a poster child for what I love in a board game. It's satisfying to collect and roll your dice. Assigning them is a relatively simple, but compelling choice. Trying to beat your opponents to the planet and rare nodes while using your tech cards is a thrill. Best of all, you can play it in an hour. I love <i>Alien Frontiers</i> and I cannot wait to receive my copy of the expansion.<br />
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<i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/66171/dragonheart"><span style="font-size: large;">Dragonheart</span></a></i></div>
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<i>Dragonheart</i> is a game I bought on someone else's recommendation for Fantasy Flight Games' Holiday Sale. What a purchase! The game has nothing to do with its theme, but the gameplay is incredibly quick, clever, and fun. Every time I play this game I have a great time, perhaps because I've only lost once?<br />
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<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55427/mr-jack-in-new-york"><span style="font-size: large;">Mr. Jack in New York</span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigyBwbf-2tQbKMbDowyIf-7UR8OE3MgqntgprNr9mCTL6dc2NpTNiaX-44Zl2JBpmjf8WC9YWgltsU_poMDBMdQp5DZ4qD0zKbNHctFIHifY37Y4xvM74C6WnBMm8a8LhIc4b6IIqgb2w/s1600/pic551161.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigyBwbf-2tQbKMbDowyIf-7UR8OE3MgqntgprNr9mCTL6dc2NpTNiaX-44Zl2JBpmjf8WC9YWgltsU_poMDBMdQp5DZ4qD0zKbNHctFIHifY37Y4xvM74C6WnBMm8a8LhIc4b6IIqgb2w/s320/pic551161.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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I've only had the chance to play this game a few times, but what a treat! <i>Mr. Jack in New York</i> is stylish and incredibly elegant. It's the perfect cat and mouse game for two players. Get some coffee and a roommate, it's time to catch Jack the Ripper.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/69789/ascension-chronicle-of-the-godslayer">Ascension</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TeCy3lXzJ64C67nNo4WYm5gKzwufbS-tGBitOB_CxydNnnxm3kTdY_EkH7Dp2hIyPFQw-hK9OGFUUbj7LLadZp8C-8CyUO4tjPwT6aRq_b0DKpSZyFv6vCjICQvRGvo81aptYbe69H8/s1600/pic1026779_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TeCy3lXzJ64C67nNo4WYm5gKzwufbS-tGBitOB_CxydNnnxm3kTdY_EkH7Dp2hIyPFQw-hK9OGFUUbj7LLadZp8C-8CyUO4tjPwT6aRq_b0DKpSZyFv6vCjICQvRGvo81aptYbe69H8/s320/pic1026779_md.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This game is a bit of a hybrid. Yes, it's a board game, but the 185 games of it that I've played have been on my iPhone with distant competitors. I know for some this is the dirty uneducated cousin of <i>Dominion</i>, and they may be right. But, I'd rather play <i>Ascension</i>. I love how the deck is the same, but the distribution changes. I love how you play cards to build currency, then you spend it on monsters, heroes, or constructs. I don't really care for using my fingers to track my Actions, Buys, and Currency in <i>Dominion</i>. I love denying opponents the cards in the center and there are several ways to do this. As long as I have opponents, I'll be playing <i>Ascension</i>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68425/eminent-domain">Eminent Domain</a></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0Ir9Kc9aLDPWHSrLRtGh1jfzmo-SKB3LoQSgu4qHXWvSKi0wRJtHWWA4U-0JtzcdB4K8oBP77MwDlJtUqgiFpO3R-W6xGI6bytHN24GM0uAjdBys2vCzdRjgZauJ3kDVpj4O2rIdGQw/s1600/pic1113402_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0Ir9Kc9aLDPWHSrLRtGh1jfzmo-SKB3LoQSgu4qHXWvSKi0wRJtHWWA4U-0JtzcdB4K8oBP77MwDlJtUqgiFpO3R-W6xGI6bytHN24GM0uAjdBys2vCzdRjgZauJ3kDVpj4O2rIdGQw/s320/pic1113402_md.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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This is an incredibly fun game that's relatively easy to explain and quick to play. Every time I play I either refine an existing strategy or try something new. And you know what? I get noticeably better every game! That's really satisfying and if you ask me, a sign of good game design. The game has a stronger timing aspect than other deckbuilders and some really subtle player interaction mechanics. I'm a big fan of <i>Eminent Domain.</i><br />
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<b>Electronic Excellence</b><br />
I don't really play electronic games on my consoles or PC much anymore. I find that there's too much repetition in the line up, too much investment required for highly repetitive tasks, and not as many things that excite me anymore. I've been playing console and PC games nigh religiously for a decade now, so the fact that it took ten years for me to grow tired of things isn't a bad sign. And chances are, I'll be back. It'll just take the right game.<br />
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That doesn't mean all is sadness and woe. I still played a few games that warmed my jagged, cold cockles in 2011.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://na.leagueoflegends.com/">League of Legends</a></span></div>
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Note that the image is of one of my favorite Champions, not the game in general. <i>League of Legends</i> is a spectacular, highly polished, FREE, competitive PC multiplayer game. Ten players, five on each team, each player with a unique Champion. Perfecting a Champion is at times a chore, but also one of the most satisfying feats in gaming when you pull it off. What really made <i>League of Legends</i> a killer game this year is the addition of Dominion mode, which expedites the experience and turns a 45 - 60 minute game into a 20 minute game. You still have the original variant, but the bite sized Dominion fits my life much better. It fully brought me back into the game.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.teamfortress.com/">Team Fortress 2</a></span></div>
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I love <i>Team Fortress 2</i> for many of the same reasons I love <i>League of Legends</i>. It's highly polished, incredibly well supported, full of charm and personality, and tons of fun. I love class-based, competitive games on the PC and <i>Team Fortress 2</i> pretty much does it better than anyone else. The game is free now, so it's obscenely foolish of you to not try it.<br />
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Note: I haven't had a chance to play <i>Skyrim </i>or <i>Uncharted 3</i> yet, which is most likely why they aren't on this list. They are sitting in shrink wrap, waiting for my warm embrace.<br />
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That sums up my year of gaming quite nicely! What do you agree or disagree with? Did I make any gross misstatements? What are your favorites? Have a great holiday! I hope you get a chance to play some great games.<br />
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<br />Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-79856891722243291272011-12-12T13:31:00.000-08:002011-12-12T13:31:52.913-08:00Holiday Family Game Recommendations: Crowd Sourced EditionThis morning I asked my twitter feed to provide recommendations for games to play with the family. I had so many great responses I decided to share them here, as well as my own at the bottom. Games that received multiple recommendations were highlighted a bit. All have links to their Board Game Geek entries.<br />
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I've actually played the majority of the games on this list and I think it's an excellent list. What do you think?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK58AfLxqX9yBU53bmRsCJTVsKgCLu_UED6rRfUjT_r8afVijYPWjGETDQnyzjMw0awbiVzRXTZWlNdAdMxl7t4CSHxQsLL0PsbB004u5te71JzFJiW_89PqqAjo53svecXPiZ0dr-sYQ/s1600/pic312999_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK58AfLxqX9yBU53bmRsCJTVsKgCLu_UED6rRfUjT_r8afVijYPWjGETDQnyzjMw0awbiVzRXTZWlNdAdMxl7t4CSHxQsLL0PsbB004u5te71JzFJiW_89PqqAjo53svecXPiZ0dr-sYQ/s320/pic312999_md.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/image/312999/say-anything">Say Anything</a> (multiple recommendations)</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/100901/flash-point-fire-rescue">Flash Point</a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne">Carcasonne</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/88594/eruption">Eruption</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjosQag3vahsWnRfgvRZilhs_CmxmrzSiUy4F1TeMQxJIH0K2ocB_cL-ttk4k1CKPFrtqmf6jX1lKZKJEsrLCO6m6qZTufyoGI48tubLM3QEmPVzbeo_xrtX0MADn43Fv4mXQ7cWgeGvw/s1600/pic761434_md.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjosQag3vahsWnRfgvRZilhs_CmxmrzSiUy4F1TeMQxJIH0K2ocB_cL-ttk4k1CKPFrtqmf6jX1lKZKJEsrLCO6m6qZTufyoGI48tubLM3QEmPVzbeo_xrtX0MADn43Fv4mXQ7cWgeGvw/s320/pic761434_md.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-of-tokyo">King of Tokyo</a> (</span>multiple <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">recommendations)</span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68448/7-wonders">7 Wonders</a> </span>(multiple recommendations)</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/46213/telestrations">Telestrations</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/125/money">Money</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172/for-sale">For Sale</a></span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37759/incan-gold">Incan Gold</a> (</span>multiple <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">recommendations)</span></span></b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/11/bohnanza">Bohnanza</a></span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/20100/wits-wagers">Wits and Wagers</a> (</span>multiple <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">recommendations)</span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41/cant-stop">Can't Stop</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/101930/carnival">Carnival</a></span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25669/qwirkle">Ticket to Ride</a> </span>(multiple recommendations)</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25669/qwirkle">Qwirkle</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10934/things">Box of Things</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6117/nobody-but-us-chickens">Nobody But us Chickens</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/91817/city-square-off">City Square Off</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65244/forbidden-island">Forbidden Island</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16992/tsuro">Tsuro</a></span><br />
<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31105/archaeology-the-card-game">Archaeology: The Card Game</a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/102897/farmageddon">Farmageddon </a>(somebody else said it, not me!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/85990/survive-the-giant-squid">Survive!</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">My personal recommendations were...</span></b><br />
<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31808/gubs-a-game-of-wit-and-luck">Gubs</a><br />
<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/99880/drop-site">Drop Site</a><br />
<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/66171/dragonheart">Dragonheart</a> (super nerdy theme but the game is perfect)<br />
<a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/65244/forbidden-island">Forbidden Island</a><br />
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I focused on games I actually own for my personal recommendations. I tried to pick the ones I have that are super light or quick to play.<br />
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Any others? What did we miss?Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com1San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-77750071596208883512011-11-26T12:07:00.001-08:002011-11-26T13:37:44.342-08:00The Dustbowl Fracas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtPzmw7urt1ukbFBlZdzxi1mXYMN-YcCLOnmNXo-8ck6Wxn99_YGddC7bMwn2bBm7hlrL_41LArRtkGkBiBEzOvGc9c-U1y1lgBj-CikVFe8U6Q7w4Df1CrfJo49-3KTwvDg8Ico8lo4/s1600/theb1365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYtPzmw7urt1ukbFBlZdzxi1mXYMN-YcCLOnmNXo-8ck6Wxn99_YGddC7bMwn2bBm7hlrL_41LArRtkGkBiBEzOvGc9c-U1y1lgBj-CikVFe8U6Q7w4Df1CrfJo49-3KTwvDg8Ico8lo4/s320/theb1365.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's my goal to find a publisher for <i>Farmageddon</i>. The path towards this goal includes a lot of rejection, though oftentimes that's paired with feedback. Some I take, some I ignore. Most of the feedback I ignore is that which pushes <i>Farmageddon</i> outside of the realm of a casual game and towards something more hardcore. It's not that <i>Farmageddon</i> can't be that, it's just it wasn't designed to do that, plus I feel that direction requires more than a tweak, but an overhaul.<br />
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Well, I spent yesterday doing one such overhaul. I spent an hour scribbling notes on my notebook at a coffee shop, then several hours at home drafting the rules and refining the content.<br />
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I'm not abandoning <i>Farmageddon</i>, because I think over time it's evolved into a solid casual card game. I believe in my derpy corn. But, there's room for a second entry into the <i>Farmageddon</i> family. I've been working on the game for a year now and that familiarity allowed me to create something new really quickly. That new thing is <i>Dustbowl Fracas</i>.<br />
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Before I go into the explanation of the new game, here are the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1503142615">rules for </a><i><a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzjMF9762QWKMzUzMWI4M2YtNzk3MC00NjVjLWE2MWMtMmM0YmU2NjA2ODg4">Farmageddon</a>. </i>Here are the rules for <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BzjMF9762QWKYzQ2NGYxZGQtMzdiZS00Mjk3LTlhZGItOWFjNDNmZWZhNjcz"><i>Dustbowl Fracas</i>.</a> If you're familiar with the original <i>Farmageddon </i>I think the new game will be both more familiar and more interesting. They are cousins.<br />
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<i>Dustbowl Fracas</i> is a deckbuilding game for 2 to 4 players. It includes some of the content and core elements of <i>Farmageddon</i>, but tweaks almost everything in order to serve its new purpose.<br />
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<b>Each player will take the same four steps on their turn. Let's discuss these steps.</b><br />
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Everything else will be framed by this, so it only makes sense to discuss this first.<br />
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<ol>
<li>Action (Optional): Players may play one red Action Card. You'll note that by default, players may only play one Action Card instead of two in <i>Farmageddon.</i></li>
<li>Farm (Required): Players may Plant, Fertilize, and Harvest Crops. Note that I changed Compost to Fertilize for agricultural accuracy.</li>
<li>Purchase (Optional): Players may Purchase or Score.</li>
<li>Discard and Draw. Like <i>Eminent Domain</i>, players may choose which cards to discard, if any. They then draw back to a hand of five cards.</li>
</ol>
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I think this is pretty straightforward. It adds a little rigidity that <i>Farmageddon</i> lacked, which I think is ultimately better for this type of game.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>There are three types of cards: Crop, Action (previously Farmer Cards), and Farm Building. Let's go through each card type.</b><br />
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The four Crops from the original <i>Farmageddon</i> are back, though now each one of them brings with it a special property to liven up the game and modify your choices. For example, Sassy Wheat can be harvested on the same turn it's planted, though if harvested in this way the money earned can only be used to buy new cards, not Score (more on this later). Grumpy Melon can be planted on top of some Crop cards, which destroys those cards. To balance this out, Grumpy Melon now costs more to Harvest.<br />
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Some of the Action Cards from <i>Farmageddon </i> have returned, like Bumper Crop and Farm Futures. However, almost all of them have been modified to work with the new game. Some of my old favorites, like Foreclosure, have been removed to keep the game focused and clean. I couldn't quite figure out how to get Foreclosure into the new game without being insanely overpowered, so for now it's shelved. I've also added a few new cards, like Irrigation and Shared Harvest. Note that all of the card content is explained in the rules linked above.<br />
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The Farm Building cards are something I've wanted to add to <i>Farmageddon</i> for a while. They are permanent structures that augment the rules. For example, Farm Co-op allows you to play an additional Action Card and Rented Land, which was previously an Action Card, now gives you a permanent, private Planting Field to use. One thing I really like about both <i>Ascension</i> and <i>Eminent Domain</i> is that they add permanent cards like Constructs and Planets that last between turns.<br />
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<b><i>Dustbowl Fracas</i> has similarities to other deckbuilding games regarding how cards are arranged for purchase. Let's go through that. </b><br />
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The four Crop Card types are arranged in four individual decks, as are the four Farm Building cards. The Action Cards are different. Taking a note from both <i>Ascension</i> and <i>Alien Frontiers</i>, the top three Action cards will be drawn from the deck and will be available for purchase. As these cards are purchased, a new one is drawn. I love how this adds variety to both <i>Ascension</i> and <i>Alien Frontiers</i>. Players must modify their strategy based on what's available NOW.<br />
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Here's a quick diagram that should give you a feel for what the board looks like when setup initially:<br />
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The four green cards are the Crop cards. The yellow cards adjacent to them are the Farm Building cards. The grey rectangle with 3 red cards below them is the Action deck and cards. The four brown cards are the default Planting Fields (if you're familiar with <i>Farmageddon</i>, you'll notice I added 1 Planting Field). Finally, the blue card with the arrow is Crop Rotation, which I'll explain now.</div>
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In <i>Farmageddon</i> and <i>Dustbowl Fracas</i>, players must plant Crops and wait until they make it around the table before they can be harvested. In <i>Farmageddon</i>, Crop Rotation is a very popular Action Card that reverses the order of play. It didn't seem right to have it be a card available for purchase in <i>Dustbowl Fracas</i>. However, I thought it would be interesting as a permanent board element. On turns when you have additional money to spend but don't want to buy another card, or you want to mess with an opponent, players can spend money to reverse the order of play. The card is then flipped to indicate which way play is going. </div>
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Will this work? Will it be fun? I'm not sure, but it's an element I really enjoy from <i>Farmageddon</i> and it seems like it could be an interesting and subtle card to use in <i>Dustbowl Fracas</i>.<br />
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<b>How do I buy cards? And how do I score points? Let's go over that.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
In <i>Farmageddon</i>, when you harvest a Crop, you place them in your Harvest Pile. When the game ends (crop deck is empty), the player with the most valuable Harvest Pile wins. In <i>Dustbowl Fracas</i>, you now have two choices with a Crop when it is Harvested: Purchase or Score.<br />
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Every Crop has a value, for example, the most valuable is Wary Squash at $15. When I harvest a Wary Squash, I can purchase up to $15 worth of available Crop, Farm Building, and Action Cards. Or, I can use Crop Rotation to change the order of play.<br />
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I can also Score the Wary Squash in this example for $15 (or 15 points). However, if I score the Squash, it's placed in a Harvest Pile and removed from play/my deck. I can't use it anymore.<br />
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Players can only make a Purchase OR Score on their turn. They cannot do both.<br />
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<b>Why should you care about this when you can already play <i>Dominion</i>, <i>Eminent Domain</i>, and <i>Ascension</i> (the three deckbuilders I own, play, and am familiar with). Let's go over that!</b><br />
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For one, <i>Dustbowl Fracas</i> takes a lot of the balanced take-that gameplay found in <i>Farmageddon. </i>So many deckbuilding games are "multiplayer solitaire," the "go in that corner and build your engine and let's compare" type experience.<br />
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<i>Dustbowl Fracas</i> lets you disrupt your opponents with Action Cards and Crops, fight over shared Planting Fields (which are limited), and even includes some cooperative farming elements where the two of you go in on something together. It also includes the more subtler interaction of other deckbuilders where, by taking something, you prevent your opponent from having it.<br />
<br />
Fans of <i>Farmageddon</i> will find a more grown up game, where instead of choosing how to best use the cards you draw, you choose which cards AND how to use them. I think that's the best part of a deckbuilding game and I am fully trying to embrace it here. Do you focus on crops early? Which ones? Is there an Action card that you think is killer? Will the Farm Building give you that long-term edge to justify its cost?<br />
<br />
I'm still a huge fan of the theme. There's something rich about farming and it's not really a saturated theme. I think farming is accepted by a wide range of people and works for younger children (though I'm not sure this game's mechanics will). Plus, there are already people doing sci-fi and fantasy and zombies so incredibly well -- I don't need to join the party.<br />
<br />
<b>What's next for the <i>Fracas</i>? I'm glad you (didn't) asked!</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
I have enough copies of <i>Farmageddon</i> lying around that I can quickly build a rough and dirty prototype. I need to do initial price tuning for all the cards. I plan to playtest the game this week to see if the idea is worthwhile or just a really bad "port" of a much simpler card game. My friends and I have played a LOT of <i>Ascension</i>, <i>Dominion: Intrigue</i>, and <i>Eminent Domain</i>, so I think we have a good grasp on what makes a good deckbuilder. That doesn't mean I know how to design one, but I can at least identify a stinker rather quickly.<br />
<br />
I'm excited about this test. I've spent a year working on <i>Farmageddon. </i>I know the game so well and I'd like to think I can apply this familiarity to something special. Or, did I spend a day on the worst idea ever? There's only one way to find out!<br />
<br />
Your thoughts are appreciated, as always.<br />
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<br />Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com5San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-86915110542018091632011-11-19T13:01:00.001-08:002011-11-19T14:25:50.856-08:00My Own Worst Fan: A Critical look at Frontier Scoundrels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> has been in development since July and I think I've hit another key milestone, though it's not necessarily a good one. I've held a few complete start-to-finish playtests of the game, and while I think the game is finally mechanically sound, it's too complicated, ill-focused, and lacks the fun element it needs to have. I'm not sure I can fix the game in its current state.<br />
<br />
The past 5 months haven't been wasted though; I know a great deal more about what works and what doesn't. More importantly, I know which of my core mechanics need to change, though that means I need to discard some of my original design focuses.<br />
<br />
This will be a long post, so here's a quick table of contents to show you what to expect. Another thing to note is that I aim for this post to be useful as a design exercise for folks and it hopefully won't require prior knowledge of <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i>.<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Table of Contents</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li>The Current Frontier Scoundrels: Summary of the game flow with a link to the complete rules</li>
<li>Why It's Broken: A breakdown of what's wrong with the current game</li>
<li>Mulligan: Details on where I'm taking the game next, including a mind-map.</li>
<li>Thinking Time: Questions for which I need to find answers</li>
</ul>
<b></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Current Frontier Scoundrels</span></b><br />
If you want to know everything, you can read the rules for the current version of <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZnpSLcFAwTOuE-mereZayIuZl1NOc9RPWYlzb1XyOOo/edit?hl=en_US">here</a>. There are some issues, but I'm not going to spend time fixing the rules.<br />
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<br />
The goals of <i>Frontier Scoundrels </i>are as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li>Create a game with something I call begrudging cooperation. Force players to work together in a an ultimately competitive environment.</li>
<li>Use a dice mechanic. Long before I played <i>Alien Frontiers</i> or knew how it played at all, I heard that the game did really cool stuff with dice. I literally decided to use dice because of this. Since then I've played <i>Alien Frontiers</i>, <i>Elder Sign</i>, and even <i>Stone Age</i>. It's been interesting to see where we came up with similar ideas, but ultimately, they came first, are super popular, and I need to be different.</li>
<li>Make a game based around Lewis and Clark's expedition across the frontier. I love history and I love the variety of hardships they faced, including terrain, weather, friendly and hostile native Americans, plus the fictional entities I've concocted</li>
</ul>
<div>
The game is designed for 3-5 players and is meant to be played at approximately 60 minutes, though getting that down to under and hour would be ideal.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here is a typical turn for <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i>. A 5-player game would have anywhere from 5-10 turns.</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>A player is designated the Expedition Leader. This happens automatically in clockwise order. </li>
<li>The Expedition Leader designates 3 players to be Explorers (i.e. allies). The remaining player is designated the War Party (i.e. foe).</li>
<li>The Explorers each draw 3 Land cards. In clockwise order from the Expedition Leader, they each play 1 Land card. These take effect in order from first to last. </li>
<ul>
<li>Land cards typically provide an advantage to the playing Explorer, something bad for the Expedition Leader, or a way for the War Party and Explorer to benefit.</li>
<li>Remaining Land cards are discarded.</li>
</ul>
<li>The War Party player draws 4 Hardship cards. 1 Hardship card is played face-down on each Land. Hardships are broken into 3 types: Hostile, Diplomatic, and Blizzards. The first two variants do a slight variation on a simple dice mechanic. Blizzards act as Wildcards which are determined by the War Party.</li>
<ul>
<li>Remaining Hardship is discarded.</li>
</ul>
<li>The first Hardship is revealed. The Explorer who played the Land <u>must</u> roll up to 3 dice (their choice) to help resolve the Hardship. Additional Explorers <u>may</u> roll up to 1 each. </li>
<ul>
<li>The Expedition Leader earns 2 points if resolved and doesn't roll dice. </li>
<li>The Explorer who played the Land earns 1 point if resolved. </li>
<li>The Explorer who earns a bonus (from the best roll) gets a choice of 2 points or a dice related reward (i.e. Add 1 die from the central pile).</li>
<li>War Party player earns points if the Hardship is failed.</li>
<li>Involved players may play Action cards to modify dice rolls to help or hinder the dice rollers.</li>
<li>Expedition Leader has two dice they can assign to Explorers. These not only help the Explorers succeed (which benefits Expedition Leader), but the Expedition Leader can subtly steer who wins the Bonus. </li>
<li>War Party may use dice to Augment the Hardship and make it more difficult.</li>
</ul>
<li>If the Hardship is successfully resolved, the Expedition Leader may attempt the next one (up to 3 total). If it's failed, the War Party player earns points and the turn ends.</li>
</ol>
<div>
There are lots of details, but that's the gist. Again, the complete rules are linked at the top of this section. They include all Action and Land card content as well. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Why It's Broken</span></b></div>
<div>
<i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> suffers from a few problems. Some of them are so obvious that I'm really disappointed I've missed them thus far.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>More conflict setup than conflict resolution</li>
<li>Too complicated</li>
<li>Not enough depth and choice</li>
<li>Too many player experiences</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
The focus of the game is entirely off; players spend the majority of each turn creating the Hardship, not exploring or resolving it. You don't watch a zombie movie where the protagonists spend the first hour deciding which shotgun to use. If the premise is being an explorer on this epic expedition, I need to let you live that fantasy. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The game is too complicated and it lacks depth. That's pretty much the worst place to be if you ask me. My rules are currently huge at 13 pages. Granted, that explains a lot of content and provides tons of examples which hopefully reduce or eliminate player confusion, but still, that's about 5 pages more than I want to read as a player, so why would I inflict that on my players? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Furthermore, the game isn't even that deep! The dice roll mechanic isn't much more interesting than <i>Risk</i>'s and the choices players make playing the Land and Hardship cards aren't <i>that</i> great. Put simply, the game is over-designed and it isn't fun enough. Nobody wants to pay $20 for a bag of skittles.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My current cards have too much text. I honestly think many of these cards can be represented with iconography, but I don't know if I can make it as clean as <i>Alien Frontiers</i>, <i>Pandemic</i>, or <i>Elder Sign</i>. Well, that's the competition, so I need to. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To supplement that last problem, there are too many cards that modify other cards. When you combine the amount of information players need to process, it leads players to a point where they think "gah!" and just throw a card from their hand. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Another issue is that my game has the same problem I find with <i>Madden</i> on game consoles. In <i>Madden</i>, players must learn slightly or completely different control schemes when they are controlling the quarter back, selecting plays, playing the running back, kicking, playing a linebacker, etc. It's absurdly overwhelming. I have a similar problem in <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i>; players must learn to play cards as Explorers, a War Party, or the Expedition Leader. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Finally, there's no meta-choice in how to win. Every player does the same thing every turn. It's like a corridor shooter on a game console, but here you don't even get the joy of shotgunning an alien on your conveyor belt experience.</div>
<div>
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<div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mulligan</span></b></div>
<div>
I spent approximately 6 hours last Saturday working on a new, re-envisioned <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i>. I'm not completely blind and I knew the current <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> needed more than a tuning fix. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I focused my ideas into a mind-map of sorts, which I created using Google Drawings. You can see my brainstorm <a href="https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1vOL6N61rA0lxfJjK-dyxfOFqKrzfTRMdddy8jUjwBjY/edit?hl=en_US">here</a>. Note that this is a brainstorm and that it has evolved in the week since I created it, partially from me thinking about it, but also as a direct result of Thursday's playtest. In fact, it's evolved to this napkin drawing.</div>
<div>
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<div>
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<div>
The new direction is inspired by storytelling, particularly <i>Dixit</i> and a hint of <i>Dungeons and Dragons</i>. I'm a little fascinated at the notion of bringing more story into a game without making it a story game. This is something <a href="http://danielsolisblog.blogspot.com/">Daniel Solis</a> does. I must admit I don't like story enough to make it a primary component of a game, but I think a dash of it helps. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've recently played a few Euros and I really like the broad range of strategies players may employ towards victory. They are also very elegantly designed, though they tend to take too long to play. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here's my current thoughts for the game. I'll begin drafting the rules as soon as I hit publish on this post.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>2-5 players</li>
<li>30-45 minute play time</li>
<li>There are 4 Storytelling decks, each with 10 cards. Where, Who, How, and Hardship. These cards will be drawn and played -- no complex player driven process.</li>
<ul>
<li>The four cards combined form a scenario that must be resolved by the players. They tell the story and create the gameplay. </li>
<li>The hope is that these 40 cards can be properly mix and matched to create a highly-replayable experience.</li>
<li>Each card has a challenge or opportunities for player input, as well as varied rewards and outputs.</li>
<li>Some cards will require players to work cooperatively</li>
<li>Players will be able to assign dice to hinder others</li>
</ul>
<li>Each player is given an explorer card with a unique ability. I am doing this to give each player a way to be different and develop a strategy against others.</li>
<li>Players will have three resources to obtain and manage: Dice, Points, and Action tokens</li>
<ul>
<li>Points needed to win</li>
<li>Dice rolled and assigned to the 4 Storytelling cards to complete tasks. </li>
<li>Action tokens spent in conjunction with dice to complete tasks, but also to "break" the game and do things like re-roll dice, hinder opponents, and more. </li>
</ul>
<li>Players will roll their dice, then go around in order assigning one die. Repeat until all die are played or players are finished.</li>
<li>One player is, or can be, the Expedition Leader</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Thinking Time</span></b></div>
<div>
I desperately need to avoid being just a competitive <i>Elder Sign</i>. I need to NOT recycle <i>Alien Frontiers</i> dice mechanics. How do I stand out?<br />
<br />
I need to figure out which player abilities will be interesting, broadly applied, and balanced. Or, reasonably and equally imbalanced?<br />
<br />
How do I create a deep experience that can be communicated with icons and simple symbols? How do I add enough variety with the storytelling cards to make the game highly replayable?<br />
<br />
How do I incorporate the Expedition Leader? I don't think it can exist like it does in its current state. But, I think the game needs a global modifier that tweaks everything. I thought <i>Notre Dame </i>did a good job of this with the 3 cards drawn each turn. Not sure what they are called...the ones that dictate the strength of the plague. The roles you may hire. <i>Elder Sign</i> does this each round of the clock with the "hey, this thing happens at Midnight" card. Again...the name escapes me. Could the Expedition Leader be this external modifier? Something players buy to take hold of, or earn?<br />
<br />
It's time to write the rules. This will allow me to get far enough into the flow to know what type of content is required. I can then design some of the content, a vertical slice, so that I can then complete the rules.<br />
<br />
Game design is hard. I'm envious of those who are better at it than I am! I appreciate any comments or thoughts you may have.<br />
<br />
Did you actually make it to the end? Wow. I'm shocked. Here's your reward.<br />
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</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-35042317304277129772011-11-06T13:20:00.000-08:002011-11-27T11:16:00.831-08:00The Status of the Expedition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
My current lead design project, <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i>, has traversed some difficult terrain lately. I finally played the game from start to finish, which was excellent, but also showed me just how far I needed to go.<br />
<br />
The feedback from the test was as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li>Explorers didn't have enough interesting choices. They were basically pawns while the Expedition Leader and War Party battled it out. They had little incentives for either outcome, as well.</li>
<li>Event cards (now Action cards) played almost no role in the game. They were too hard to obtain and didn't matter much.</li>
<li>Resolving Hardships was too easy.</li>
<li>The Land mechanic was interesting on paper, but nobody really liked it as executed. During the test, each Explorer selected 1 Land card (from a hand of 3) and gave it to the Expedition Leader face-down. </li>
</ul>
<div>
I tried to solve these problems in a few ways.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I made it so that Explorers played a Land card in clockwise order. Instead of the Expedition Leader choosing the order, the Explorer picked it. This actually simplified the game, sped it up, and made the Explorers' choices more interesting.</li>
<li>I modified the Land to benefit the Explorers more and the Expedition Leader less. This made it so that Explorer's could play cards that leaned in their favor.</li>
<li>I made it so Explorers earned points as well as the Expedition Leader (though fewer), but also would gain more dice to use throughout the game. </li>
<li>I gave players more Action cards at the start of the game and added several ways to get them (primarily tied them into Land to once again make the Explorer's choice more interesting). </li>
<li>I made Hardships more difficult by increasing/decreasing the numbers and putting more restrictions on how the dice could be used. I also cleaned up the mechanics here to be more consistent. Just a better change overall. </li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I sent these rules and content to a design friend who has been incredibly helpful for past games. In addition to cleaning up the words and flow of the rules, he gave me the comment "I think as an Explorer I'd be bored." That's pretty much the worst thing I want to hear, so I went back and realized I needed to change the flow of the game.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Before his comment, the Expedition Leader chose who would come along (i.e. which Explorers would help and play Land cards). The Expedition Leader would then dictate who would have to assist him with the Hardship. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No more!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now, the Expedition Leader chooses who comes along. Then, the Explorers play the Land cards, in order. The Land cards have received yet another scrub to make the Explorers' choices very interesting as there are now multiple paths to victory (i.e. earning points) and the Explorer can lean into one or the other. Finally, multiple Explorers now work to resolve a Hardship...if they choose to do so.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Only the Explorer who played the Land card <i>must</i> participate in the Hardship. Therefore, the Explorer is picking their arena when playing the Land card. This Explorer may play up to three of their own dice. Then, in clockwise order, each Explorer may choose to participate, or not. If they choose to do so, they can select one die to roll. Once all Explorers have had their say, the Expedition Leader may distribute dice to the participating Explorers to use. I'll explain why these choices matter.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If the Hardship is successfully resolved by the Explorers, the Expedition Leader earns 2 Points and may attempt the next Hardship.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If it's successfully resolved, the Explorer who played the Land card earns 1 Point. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Finally, if it's successfully resolved, the player who rolled the best earns a reward; +2 Points or the ability to Add/Trade/Steal 1 Die. Note that an Explorer may earn the bonus even if they played the Land card.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Explorers are competing with each other to earn points. They are competing with the Expedition Leader to help him (while they help themselves) or hinder him. They may side with the War Party...or not.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This shift makes it so that everyone is involved the entire game. It means players choose how they want to succeed. It actually cleaned up several of the more fiddly aspects of the design. I'm <i>very</i> excited about these new changes. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I realize that your knowledge of <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> may vary greatly, which means this post may be interesting or indecipherable. I've written about <i>Frontier Scoundrels </i>before:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/10/fixing-trainwreck.html">Fixing the Trainwreck</a></li>
<li><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/09/frontier-scoundrels-second-playtest.html">Frontier Scoundrels Second Playtest Results</a></li>
<li><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/09/testing-testing.html">Testing, Testing</a> (a post going over some OLD card art ideas)</li>
<li><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/08/and-so-our-adventurers-set-out-on-grand.html">And so, our Adventurers Set Out on the Grand Expedition</a></li>
<li><a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/08/lets-go-exploring-my-new-game-at-high.html">Let's Go Exploring: My New Game at a High Level</a></li>
</ul>
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But, if you aren't interested in trawling through my old posts but ARE interested in the game, post a comment in this thread or send me a message via Twitter and I'll send you the rules. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback. </div>
</div>Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com0San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-75401305319530604872011-11-04T22:24:00.000-07:002011-11-05T07:18:12.248-07:00My Thoughts on KickstarterThis post may be controversial to some. My intent is not to stir controversy, anger anyone, or be a jerk. I made a comment on Twitter today after reading an article that generated many comments. My comment was that with the huge number of board game projects on Kickstarter and no barrier to entry, this can lead to something bad.<br />
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Before I go further, I want to provide some quick disclaimers. This is just my opinion, which is based on <i>my</i> perspective. Your perspective and opinion will be different. I'm going to try to back up my statements with logical thought and examples where possible. That doesn't mean I'm right. In some cases it's purely subjective, in other cases I may have the facts wrong and I'd appreciate it if you would correct me in the comments.<br />
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If it helps, my perspective is that of a consumer. I've backed 9 projects on Kickstarter (<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1312152563">my profile</a>) and, when the right project loads into my browser, I will do so again. My perspective is also that of a designer. I'd love more than anything to be published. Well, not more than Peaches. But most things!<br />
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My thoughts below will sometimes meander beyond <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/board%20&%20card%20games?ref=sidebar">Kickstarter</a>, but I think that's a good focus for most of my thoughts.<br />
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<b>What I Like About Kickstarter</b><br />
Kickstarter allows nobodies to compete with somebodies. The board game industry is a very niche, small, discretionary income-based leisure activity that has to compete with movies, electronic devices, video games, television, social networks, and even eating out for dinner. This means that traditionally, a few big publishers publish a few safe-bet games a year. This makes it very difficult for the majority of creators to break into the space. In fact, it puts a huge emphasis on luck and knowing somebody. Safe bets don't create deckbuilding, however!<br />
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Kickstarter also works in tandem with fairly new distribution models. A decade ago, people had to sell games through local game stores (which are few and tend to be expensive) or, if God himself is on their side, in Walmart and Target. By leveraging Kickstarter, a well-designed personal site built upon a Paypal payment system, and an Amazon listing, folks can access millions of customers that were previously unavailable to them.<br />
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That makes this an exciting time for creative and entrepreneurial people!<br />
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There's been similar revolutions in other game spaces. Without Steam the PC gaming industry might be languishing. Hundreds of developers now have access to Steam, where previously they were solely at the mercy of Activision, Electronic Arts, THQ, or Ubisoft. The iTunes App store has done a similar thing for developers who now have millions of palm sized computers floating through millions of consumer pockets.<br />
Raising capital is difficult. Raising capital for something like a board game, which will never interest venture capitalists and won't be a massive business is even harder. Kickstarter allows entrepreneurial creators within this niche to kick-start their idea.<br />
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<b>What I don't Like About Kickstarter</b><br />
Kickstarter has effectively no barrier to entry. Many people corrected me on this comment via Twitter, which is why I've added the word effectively to my statement. Get your red pens ready, because if I say something false, this is where I'll do it!<br />
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Based on the Kickstarter <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/proposals/guidelines?ref=proposal">guidelines</a> and my assumptions, this barrier is no more that than an application to the local community college. I imagine you must prove you meet their guidelines, answer a questionnaire, then do the basic things like create rewards and reward levels, create a video, fill out the page. I do NOT mean to belittle the effort people put into videos and setting these things up, but in the grand scheme of setting up businesses, this is not a barrier to entry.<br />
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If Kickstarter checked your prototype and verified it was fun, that may be a barrier. If they asked for a business plan and verified that the funding you request will cover, say, your production costs, that may be a barrier. I'm not saying these things are feasible for Kickstarter, I'm just stating examples.<br />
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No barrier to entry doesn't mean there cannot be quality. Far from it! <i><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clevermojogames/alien-frontiers-factions?ref=live">Alien Frontiers</a> </i>is a beautiful game with amazing components that's also incredibly fun. Same for <i><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/627547359/eminent-domain-the-next-evolution-of-deck-building?ref=live">Eminent Domain</a></i>. I'm ready to say these are two of my favorite games. But, removing the barrier to entry puts the burden of quality on the consumer, not the creator. At least initially (long term, the customers will stop supporting bad businesses). This reminds me of my vacation to Belize, where the bartender warned me about buying groceries because there was no law preventing grocery stores from selling spoiled meat.<br />
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I've only received 1 game that I've backed via Kickstarter, so I honestly cannot say whether I've bought a lemon. I <u>can</u> say some of the components and materials as well as business practices from the campaigns I've supported have been amateur at best. I didn't withdrawal my backing, but on one or two occasions I came close.<br />
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I have bought and played several games from <a href="https://thegamecrafter.com/">The Game Crafter</a>, a print on demand website that allows board game designers (like me!) to "publish" their games and sell them to the public. Some of these games have been downright bad. A few had some fantastic elements and just needed more polish. A few were good. The reason I bring this up is that, like Kickstarter, The Game Crafter has effectively no barrier to entry.<br />
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<i>Farmageddon</i> is sadly a good example. Had I put <i>Farmageddon </i>on Kickstarter in July when I first launched it I may have received backing. I say this because my game became the #1 selling game on The Game Crafter -- people clearly like the theme, the name, the art, and the price. <i>Farmageddon</i> in July was well-tested. Unfortunately, well-tested didn't cut it. There were balance problems. New players found issues I hadn't encountered. Some rules were confusing. Even my aunt called me to yell at me about typos in my rules. <i>Farmageddon</i> now is a good game, but I've probably lost some customers forever due to <i>Farmageddon</i> then. Had there been a barrier to entry, an editor, something, I wouldn't have burned those bridges.<br />
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Another issue I have with Kickstarter is that in some cases, probably very few, it completely eliminates risk for the stakeholders. In more cases it greatly reduces the risk. I think both of these situations may lead to bad results for consumers because <u>risk forces businesses to make better decisions</u>. A lack of risk leads to bad decisions. A game of Texas Hold 'Em isn't much fun if you're playing for tokens. It doesn't matter! If you play with a dollar, suddenly you're paying attention.<br />
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I think Kickstarter should be used to kick-start your plan. It should not be a recurring, risk-free solution. Why? At some point somebody is going to make a very poor decision with very bad implications for customers.<br />
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Because there is effectively no barrier to entry, and because a successful campaign may eliminate much of the risk, you have a flood of entrepreneurs entering the Kickstarter frenzy. It dominates my Twitter feed. There are so many games now that good games risk going unfunded. Good games risk not making that New and Noteworthy or Popular this Week sort, which means they're effectively buried.<br />
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It also means we may just enter a new version of the old status quo. Folks who expect a successful campaign must have a huge Twitter following. They need to buy ads on BoardGameGeek.com. They need to be at conventions. They need to ship out dozens of copies to reviewers (which I've done for <i>Farmageddon...</i>it's not cheap). They need to have a brand name. Suddenly, this sounds a bit like the old game? A few big names dominate the market. A few overused themes dominate the play space. New, innovative, unknown projects get buried. Just scroll through <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/board%20&%20card%20games/popular?ref=more#p1">this list</a>!<br />
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I know I'm shouting doom and gloom here, but the fact that millions of dollars have been raised on Kickstarter won't go unnoticed. We've all seen established game companies use the site to promote their new titles (no risk!). We've seen folks who previously had overwhelmingly successful campaigns return for a second or third sip. And we've seen bad ideas get in the way of quality (no barrier to entry). I do not think me whining is useful, so I've brainstormed some solutions.<br />
<ul>
<li>Kickstarter could limit the number of campaigns active at once. This would limit people in many ways, but it would also mean that customers would not have to scour through dozens of games simultaneously. It also increase YOUR game's chance of standing out.</li>
<li>Kickstarter could limit the time a campaign can last. This pairs with the first point. I don't have the stats in front of me, but if I recall correctly, most games that ultimately get funded do so quickly. Does a game need 60 days? I'm leaning towards no. Perhaps Kickstarter could take a bigger cut if you have a longer campaign? Perhaps you can extend your campaign if you've surpassed your goals and still have momentum? Successful campaigns should be allowed to keep going. Move unsuccessful campaigns off the shelf and make room for others.</li>
<li>Kickstarter could require entrepreneurs to file a business plan. Tell them how you will build your product, how you will market and distribute it, how you will use this to take your business to the next phase. I don't think Kickstarter is ultimately in the business of reviewing business plans, so this ultimately isn't feasible. </li>
<li>Be sure to show folks how to play your product. Explain the guts (somewhat). I thought <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dicehateme/carnival-a-deck-and-dice-game?ref=live">Dice Hate Me's Carnival video</a> did an excellent job of selling the company, establishing the theme, but also showing the game. I watched it and thought "man, I want to play that." Also, explain the game somewhat in your write-up. Don't just tell me the theme. </li>
<li>Kickstarter could limit an entity's ability to re-use the site too often. This is a stupid idea for a few reasons. For one, someone could simply create a new email or have their friend register. Secondly, why would Kickstarter, a business, limit the revenue they could earn from previously successful folks? But, it's a brainstorm!</li>
</ul>
The good news is, MOST of the games I see look good. There are a <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1225737959/miskatonic-school-for-girls-deck-building-game?ref=category">few</a> <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelmindes/kings-of-air-and-steam-a-steampunk-themed-board-ga?ref=category">games</a> <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1325766284/d-day-dice-board-game?ref=next">that</a> I want to support right now. I just worry about the future. A key to success in the world is recognizing a problem before it becomes one and adjusting.<br />
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Note: I develop games for mobile platforms for a living. On the iTunes App store there are approximately 50,000 apps, which makes it incredibly difficult to stand out. Moreover, much like <i>Call of Duty</i>, <i>Halo</i>, etc. in the traditional game space, a few key titles absolutely dominate the charts. Because of this, good companies with good games falter, you see a LOT of copy cats and copy/paste games, and really sleazy practices like incentivized downloads have come about. It takes approximately two weeks for Apple to approve an app. They actually receive the build, play it, and check it. Yet, this "barrier" hasn't stopped thousands of bad apps from flooding the platform. If you're curious why I'm preaching measured doom for board games, it's because I've seen it appear elsewhere.<br />
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<b>Miscellaneous Comments</b><br />
It's been my dream to have a game I design published. If the stars align and somebody says "hey, we want to publish <i>Farmageddon</i>," there's a chance they'd use Kickstarter to do so. So, I'm not opposed to the platform. I wouldn't support it so much if I were opposed.<br />
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One of the reasons I want to be published is that I want someone to take a risk on it. I want someone to help me polish it. I want someone to push back on me and force me to make it better. I'm NOT trying to be elitist. I just know how easy it is to push out a mediocre game. I've done it. I want my name on an <i>Alien Frontiers</i>, not a <i>Farmageddon</i> circa July.<br />
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A final thing I want to throw out is that I personally find the indie vs. non-indie argument/discussion completely irrelevant. I'm noting this here because it's something that comes up often and I think it pertains to the Kickstarter discussion. I afford no handicap to indie products simply because they are indie. A bad game is a bad game, a good one a good one. We need to not make exceptions for people because they are indie. We need to support each other because success for us requires a lot of hard work, luck, and a long road. But, if we make excuses merely because we don't have big name affiliation, we are only hurting ourselves.<br />
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I believe I've bloviated enough for one night. I'm not sure I've contributed anything, which is worrisome. To my (many) friends and acquaintances who have run a Kickstarter campaign -- I'm not calling you out. You've done nothing wrong. I don't associate with folks who create trash.Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com5San Francisco, CA, USA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-28644724480435257412011-11-03T16:49:00.000-07:002011-11-03T16:49:55.215-07:00The Trial Will Re-AdjournI'm trying to make consistent progress on <i>Witch Trial</i>. I've made a few decisions since my last post.<br />
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If you're just now joining us, I'm doing this for National Game Design Month. My first post (brainstorm) is <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/09/brainstorming-witch.html">here</a>. My second post is <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/11/opening-arguments-designing-witch-trial.html">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Decision the First</b><br />
The game will come with a deck of ten cards called the Townspeople deck. This will be an assortment of men and women, interesting characters like the constable, the merchant, the fisherman, the baker, and more.<br />
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What will be interesting is that each one will have a certain quirk that creates a gameplay element. It'll need to be simple enough, as there will be many, but imagine something like the benefit on a card in <i>Dominion</i>, but you must "control" the person to use it. OR, it'll affect the cards you play.<br />
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At the start of the game, you'll randomly deal cards from the Townspeople deck to determine the jurors (currently I'm thinking there will be six jurors) and the Judge (one). The last three will comprise the witnesses, who may or may not be called to the stand to testify.<br />
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My goal is that, like <i>Dominion</i>, each game is different. Like <i>Dominion</i>, you cannot use the same strategy every time. And finally, like <i>Dominion</i>, you can learn new combos and experiment.<br />
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I'm worried that this will be very difficult to balance. I'm also worried that so much information will be difficult to parse for new players. But, if I follow the standards set by <i>Dominion</i> and <i>Eminent Domain</i> (not hard, right?) it can be done.<br />
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<b>Decision the Second, Son of Decision the First</b><br />
I've decided the Witch will not affect gameplay. She'll always be the same, misunderstood character. She'll be a comically tragic figure who is ultimately always innocent (weren't they all?). I don't think I can have a varying jury/judge/witnesses each game AND a different Witch. It's too much and something has to give.<br />
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So, the witch will never actually <i>be</i> a witch. But, if the prosecution plays their cards right, she'll sure as Salem be guilty!<br />
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The two lawyers (i.e. players) won't be unique, either. Players will essentially create characters and strategies based on their personal play style and the conditions on the board (Jury, Judge, Witnesses).<br />
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<b>Decision the Third, estranged spouse of Decision the Second</b><br />
The game will be broken into three phases: Opening Arguments, the Procession of Evidence, and Closing Arguments. I really enjoy phases for a few reasons.<br />
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Firstly, they help focus a player's decisions, while keeping a certain richness. What do you need to do in order to best maximize your efforts in the <i>current</i> phase AND help you win the overall game? You may have a great initial phase, but you could peter out.<br />
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Secondly, I think the broad possibilities of many deckbuilding games can be overwhelming for some. I don't mind simplifying this genre if new players try it out.<br />
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Thirdly, it gives a distinct ending to the game. This has been a sticking point for me since my very first unsuccessful game. I like it when there's a clear ending that everyone understands and can work against.<br />
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Finally, I really enjoyed the phases in <i>7 Wonders</i>. I have no clue how I'm going to do it quite yet for <i>Witch Trial</i> but I think that it's a good element to borrow and evolve.<br />
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<b>Decision the Fourth, this joke isn't funny</b><br />
Players earn points by using their cards (i.e. legal maneuvers, evidence) to manipulate the various entities. This will also, in some cases, be how you earn cards. So, play a set of cards to manipulate the judge and acquire a powerful card from him. Use a set of cards to influence several members of the jury, then cash them in to rake in several points.<br />
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The game will be point based. Player with the most points at the end wins the case. The poor, poor witch.<br />
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Finally, there will be a card or a concept known as "Objection!" I don't know how it will work, but by god it will be in the game.<br />
<br />Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com1San Francisco, CA37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-18859389961081867092011-11-02T10:15:00.000-07:002011-11-02T10:15:11.100-07:00Opening Arguments: Designing the Witch Trial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've decided to steam ahead full on my design of <i>Witch Trial, </i>the sudden urgency being that this is National Game Design Month and I desire so much to be cool and hip. And what better way than to design a board game in a month!<br />
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I wrote about <i>Witch Trial</i> <a href="http://exiledhere.blogspot.com/2011/09/brainstorming-witch.html">previously</a>, but to save you time here's a quick summary. Initially, I wanted to create a detective game. I love <i>Law and Order: SVU </i>and <i>CSI: Miami</i>. They are just fun. But, I didn't want to make a game based in modern times. I feel it's not exciting or different enough. I love history, so I began thinking about mystery-like novels such asUmberto Eco's <i>The Name of the Rose</i>. From this, a friend suggested the witch scene from <i>Monty Python's The Holy Grail</i>. From there, I took the concept of a witch trial, picked colonial Salem, Massachusetts as a setting, and decided the game would be about the trial itself, not the discovery or the escape, but the trial.<br />
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I have been trained at work to design <i>very</i> quickly due to deadlines. However, designing board games are my hobby, so I take my time. Really, I work in two phases: concept and design.<br />
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My goals for the concept phase are to pick a theme, a few core mechanics, number of players, time to play the game, and general flow and feel of the game. Basically, my concept phase is when I put a line in the sand for high level and philosophical concepts that will guide the rest of the game. This phase takes me days, weeks, sometimes months. I often do it passively, and by that I mean my best ideas come to me when I'm walking my dog and I stop to write them on my iPhone. Or when I'm in the shower. Or when I'm running. I don't set a deadline on this phase and I don't force it.<br />
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Interestingly enough, my game's best ideas and often the things I change the least are created during this lazy, lethargic phase.<br />
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Here's what I have currently for <i>Witch Trial</i>:<br />
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<b>Two-player game.</b> <i>Farmageddon</i> is 2-4 and <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> is 3-5 players. I've played some incredibly good games lately that are either two players only, or work well with two players. In particular, <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55427/mr-jack-in-new-york">Mr. Jack in New York</a></i>. I thought focusing on two players would provide me with a new design challenge, but also, would focus the game. Besides, if one player is the prosecution and the other the defense, I'm not sure there's room for a third or fourth.<br />
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<b>Courtroom Entities.</b> I want there to be various courtroom entities the two players must manipulate, work around, and compete over. In a way it's an area control mechanic, but I also want these entities to have a certain amount of life to them. In electronic games we'd refer to them as NPCs. For <i>Witch Trial</i>, this means the judge, whom you might manipulate for short-term parliamentary trickery. It means the jury members. It means the witch on the stand and witnesses you call forth.<br />
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<b>Deckbuilding.</b> I know, I know. This is the flavor of the month (year?) and there's a lot of me too games. But, I think deckbuilding is a brilliant mechanic. I think it's a mechanic we've just barely explored -- hell, most of the me-twos are just inferior <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40834/dominion-intrigue">Dominion</a></i> clones. <i><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68425/eminent-domain">Eminent Domain</a> </i>brought in several new elements that made it compelling. <i>Princess of the Dragon Throne</i> uses deckbuilding and based on the description it sounds amazing. A friend of mine created an excellent racing game that's based upon a deckbuilding mechanic. Another friend in my board game group just bought a war game that uses a deckbuilding mechanic. Ultimately, I feel that saying I'm going to go with a deckbuilding mechanic is no better or worse than me saying I'm building a game with dice. It's a tool to create an experience.<br />
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A few things made deckbuilding compelling for me. One, I really like it. Two, the phrase "build your case" came to me rather quickly and it just seemed perfect for the setting. You're the defense lawyer trying to prove your client's innocence. How will you do it? How will you stop the prosecution?<br />
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I fully realize I need to create something new. I'm not sure I'll have a big, killer new mechanic, but I believe it's perfectly fine to create several small, cohesive changes that create a different experience on the whole. Blizzard has been doing this for years!<br />
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Most deckbuilding games start each player with identical cards every game. For <i>Witch Trial</i>, the prosecution and defense will begin with one or two unique cards each game that are incredibly powerful if used correctly. I've really wanted to build in such a mechanic to guide a player's strategy for a while now and I think this is a right place to do it. I believe this is one of the features that the <i>Alien Frontiers: Factions</i> expansion adds and if so, awesome.<br />
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I also want players to interact more with each other. I love <i>Dominion</i>, but I don't love how in each game the players can play in isolation, then come back and say "hey, my strategy earned X points. How about yours?" This doesn't mean I want this to be a sucker punch, "haha my cards are better" type game. I more intend this to be a bit of a cat and mouse, chess-like experience where you have a strategy, you work to execute it, but also work to counter your opponent's. I think the fact that this is a two-player game will help this further. I know all too well how hard it is to balance a game with three players get to take a turn before you get to go again.<br />
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I also think there is something interesting about having more single-use cards, or single-use options. <i>Alien Frontiers</i> does this with alien tech, in that each card has a useful option that you may use every turn, or an incredibly powerful option that you must discard the card to use. <i>Dominion</i> does this with a few cards and <i>Ascension</i> gives you a way to get rid of bad cards and trim your deck. I want to make this a more common element to bring the sense of timing more forward.<br />
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I'd like some of your decisions to span multiple turns. Again, many current deckbuilding games have very little persistence aside from your deck. I want to do something that will change what you do on your turn in a more meaningful, dramatic way. This is perhaps a component of the single-use mechanic I listed above. I get to use a card once, but deciding when to use it, and on whom, is the real issue.<br />
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Finally, I currently envision a mechanic where you build favor with the jury then spend it to create a big combo. If you have 4 of 6 jurors believing every word you say, then perhaps it's time to reveal the key element of your case. Or is it? The challenge is whether I can make this system robust enough where it's not just a matter of building up the jury and cashing in a card. How can I make the jury a tool but also a liability? How can I factor the judge and witnesses into this?<br />
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<b>Components</b>. This will be primarily a card-based game. However, I want to get some nice colored wooden tokens for the jury. I'm a big fan of cards. Initially I thought about having a dice-mechanic to modify things, but I'm leaning away from that. I'm not sure it's fun to have random drawing and random dice.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Questions</span></b><br />
I still need to answer a few questions.<br />
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Will the witch's actual innocence or guilt factor into things, or will that be irrelevant? I think it'd be a little disappointing if the Witch was just a nameless token you were fighting over.<br />
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I'm currently trying to figure out how many decks there will be to draw from, how that's decided (like <i>Dominion</i>? <i>Ascension</i>?), and how that factors into the rest of the game. Not a small question!<br />
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What will be the phases of play? What do I do on my turn and in what order? Last night I was drawing out the play space with decks, discards, various entities, and I started thinking about how a typical turn would play out. It was a very useful exercise and I think I'll have a first pass shortly.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Next Steps</span></b><br />
I'll need to answer some of the questions listed above and start creating some content. Facts, witnesses, questions, statements -- these are all things I need to start creating. Game design is often a chicken and egg scenario where you cannot finish your systems without some content, and you cannot complete content without systems.<br />
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<br />Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com4Redwood City, CA 37.4852152 -122.236354837.3844177 -122.3942833 37.5860127 -122.0784263tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716059104678276751.post-76321232914147409472011-10-08T13:21:00.000-07:002011-10-08T13:28:29.471-07:00How My Playtime De-Evolved<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few years ago the entirety of my discretionary income was spent on games for my Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. The entirety of my free time was spent playing these games as well. The only games I played were digital. I sought Achievements and life was good.<br />
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Around this time I went on a trip to Australia with Beth and two friends. While shopping in Melbourne, I found a small, hole in the wall board game store. After hours of ogling clothes I didn't want, I escaped into the board game store like Peter leaping into the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' tale.<br />
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Honestly, I had no idea what I was looking at. The board games of my life to that point included <i>Scrabble</i>, <i>Monopoly</i>, a brief stint of <i>Stratego </i>in college (my roommate stopped playing me after 9 straight defeats), <i>Risk</i>, and <i>Heroscape</i>. Even in such a small store the walls were lined with hundreds of boxes. It was fascinating and overwhelming. Like a child in a candy store, I knew I couldn't leave empty handed. I sought my metaphorical lollipop.<br />
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I was limited by two things: price and luggage space. This quickly culled many of the choices from the store. My eye was drawn to the game <i>Munchkin </i>by Steve Jackson Games. Viking horns, sneakers, and a chainsaw in a fantasy setting? Go on. I'm listening.<br />
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The store clerk had mentally checked out, so she was no help. But, the box art, the description on the back, and the price all sold me and I departed from Narnia with my prize intact.</div>
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We played the game several times late at night in our hotel and a few times on the long flight home. I found the game immensely entertaining, not so much for the deep and robust strategy, but for the simplicity of the game, the back stabbing, and focus on player interaction. </div>
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Within weeks I decided to start designing my own board games. My first attempt, <i><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b-vkYZkxpPl7YNn4Gaqg5xQMRGRRw6h44gPOf8EbeYI/edit?hl=en&authkey=CJrMovcF&pli=1">Space Encounters</a></i>, never quite became the game I wanted it to be, but <i><a href="https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/farmageddon">Farmageddon</a></i> did. <i>Frontier Scoundrels</i> will as well. And one day I'll return to <i>Space Encounters</i> and make it the game it deserves to become. </div>
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(Note: If you click the <i>Space Encounters</i> link above you can read the full rules and content for the game as it existed when I last worked on it).<br />
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More than just shifting my focus to designing these games, I now spend my discretionary income on buying board and card games and my free time playing them. I rarely play games that aren't physical and require the presence of others. I enjoy the player interaction too much to spend time on a single player console game. It's fascinating that one silly game so fundamentally changed how I spend my free time.<br />
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My blog doesn't exactly have a huge audience, so writing a post that ends with a community question may be a bit cart before the horse. But I imagine there was a game, digital, card, or otherwise that led you into this obsession. I doubly imagine there was one that, if you spend time designing them, pushed you into that boat as well.<br />
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What was the game? Why? Is there a story behind it? I think such things are fascinating and I'd be curious to hear your tale.Granthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241948588788333431noreply@blogger.com4San Francisco, CA 37.7749295 -122.419415537.6745235 -122.577344 37.8753355 -122.261487