Last week I opened a discussion on my effort to quantify game characteristics. I had in mind that I would explore this question on my own, somewhat in a vacuum, based on my own experience and opinions, as something of an exercise to see what defensible conclusions I might reach.
Ridere, ludere, hoc est vivere.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Thoughts on quantifying game characteristics
Gamers tend to characterize games in terms of luck vs. skill, replayability, lightness vs. depth, and so forth. These qualitative assessments help us to evaluate what we might like or dislike about a game before we've played it ourselves, or help to consider which games might be appropriate for a specific social, tournament, or convention setting. These characterizations also help in establishing design goals and parameters as well as assist publishers in determining which potential titles will fit within their product line.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Reactor Scram: early playtesting
I have finally started working in earnest on a co-op idea I've had percolating in my mind for the last few weeks. The theme is that the players are workers in a nuclear reactor plant whose maintenance has been neglected, until finally the bad day comes when everything seems to break at once. The goal is to get the plant into a "safe condition" without melting down a core or irradiating any of the workers.
I ran a couple of solo playtests. I won one and lost one, which made me think that I've got the initial balance at least coarsely in the right neighborhood. What surprised me was how quickly each game completed - roughly ten or fifteen minutes per game. I usually have the opposite problem with the games I design - play times that run way too long. Right now I've got a game that takes more time to explain than it does to play. So I want to figure out some way of extending the gameplay as well as the "story arc" so that I'm not just "making it longer" for the sake of making it last.
First prototype of "Reactor Scram" |
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Winter photos
Saturday, March 29, 2014
PrezCon 2014 Part 5: Finals
(c) Rio Grande Games Used by permission |
Monday, March 24, 2014
PrezCon 2014 Part 4: Social gaming
Part of what I love about conventions is re-connecting with gaming friends as well as meeting new people. This year at PrezCon, I got to meet in person Dan Patriss, whom I'd heard many times on the Geek All Stars podcast. He was with Chris Kirkman of Dice Hate Me Games, and Friday night we got together with Stephanie Straw, T.C. Petty III, and Darrell Louder for a couple of late-night games.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
PrezCon 2014 Part 3: Pillars of the Earth final
As I mentioned in my previous post, I ran the Pillars of the Earth tournament at PrezCon again this year. I had two heats totalling 14 different competitors in five games. Four of the five qualifying winners showed up for the final: Shane McBee, Philip Shea, Jeff Thornsen, and Tom Snyder. I have really come to enjoy watching tournament games, because I get to see some real high-level play. This year's final was no exception.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
PrezCon 2014 Part 2: Friday
(c) Rio Grande Games Used by permission |
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
PrezCon 2014 Part 1: Thursday
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Lorton Monopoly Tournament
By way of background, Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC) is a local charity that looks after the basic needs and means to self-sufficiency of low-income individuals and families in our area. In support of LCAC, the real estate agency Ron and Susan Associates sponsors an annual Monopoly tournament as a fund-raising event. I had the opportunity to participate in Ron and Susan's Seventh Annual Monopoly Tournament last weekend at the Workhouse Arts Center, a converted prison facility that now houses an art gallery and studio spaces for local artists. Ron Kowalski (of Ron and Susan Associates) worked for Hasbro at one time and is something of a Monopoly enthusiast. The event was very well run, and the setting in an art gallery was very pleasant. Lunch was catered by Glory Days.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Alesia
About three weeks ago, my friend Paul R. invited Grant G., his brother W.J., and myself to his house for a game of the classic Caesar: Alesia (designer Robert Bradley, publisher Avalon Hill). This hex-and-counter wargame revisits the Gallic attempt to break the Roman seige of the fortress at Alesia in September 52 BC. I'd read an English translation of De Bellis Gallicus by Julius Caesar, so I was somewhat familiar with the battle and its context. The interesting aspect of the battle is that the Romans had formed a double ring of fortifications around Alesia - an inner ring to keep the occupants of Alesia from escaping, and an outer ring to defend the Romans from other Gauls attempting to break the seige.
Monday, February 3, 2014
UnPub 4 Part III: Sunday publishers
Publishers' Panel
Sunday of UnPub 4 opened with a pancake breakfast sponsored by Eagle and Gryphon Games and a panel discussion featuring eight publishers in a question-and-answer format. UnPub convention director Darrell Louder moderated the panel. Panelists included
Sunday of UnPub 4 opened with a pancake breakfast sponsored by Eagle and Gryphon Games and a panel discussion featuring eight publishers in a question-and-answer format. UnPub convention director Darrell Louder moderated the panel. Panelists included
- Ralph Anderson, Eagle and Gryphon Games
- Dave McKenzie, Game Salute and Clever Mojo Games
- Dan Yarrington, Game Salute
- Patrick Nickell, Crash Games
- A.J. Porfirio, Van Ryder Games
- Chris Kirkman, Dice Hate Me Games
- John Sizemore, Nevermore Games
- Luke Peterschmidt, Fun to 11 Games
Sunday, February 2, 2014
UnPub 4 Part II: Heartland Hauling and Ten-acre Farming
"Great Heartland Dice Game" with Tiffany Bahnsen and Adam O'Brien (r.) |
I was tremendously pleased to get to meet Jason Kotarski (Great Heartland Hauling Company) in person. I got to playtest his dice-game spin-off, "Great Heartland Dice Game," with Shawn Purtell, Adam O'Brien, and Tiffany "Socially Inept Gamer" Bahnsen. This was a fun variation on GHHC, kind of Yahtzee with cows. Actually, there is an element of resource management, since having a gas reserve makes it possible to re-roll dice and score more effectively. It's also possible to sell of extra dice to other players for gas. The result is a clever little filler game that deserves a publisher's attention.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
UnPub 4 Part I: Pitching and playtesting
I spent Martin Luther King weekend at UnPub 4, the fourth annual unpublished games convention for designers in Magnolia, Delaware.
Friday night - designers dinner
I had the privilege of an invitation to a designers and publishers dinner the night before UnPub, which I attended with my friend and fellow designer Keith Ferguson ("Santa's Workshop"). It was so great to see so many other designers and publishers again, many of whom I hadn't seen since UnPub 3 last year. UnPub founder John Moller passed the reins to Darrell Louder (designer of Compounded), who hosted the designer-publisher dinner and directed the UnPub 4 convention admirably, with the able assistance of his wife Lesley Louder, Stephanie Straw, and other volunteers.
Friday night - designers dinner
I had the privilege of an invitation to a designers and publishers dinner the night before UnPub, which I attended with my friend and fellow designer Keith Ferguson ("Santa's Workshop"). It was so great to see so many other designers and publishers again, many of whom I hadn't seen since UnPub 3 last year. UnPub founder John Moller passed the reins to Darrell Louder (designer of Compounded), who hosted the designer-publisher dinner and directed the UnPub 4 convention admirably, with the able assistance of his wife Lesley Louder, Stephanie Straw, and other volunteers.
Friday, January 10, 2014
An evening after work
A number of my friends typically get together after work almost every Tuesday for gaming at our local game store, Game Parlor Chantilly. I don't typically make it as often as I like, but this week was a pleasant exception.
I arrived early and met my good friend Glenn W., who happened to have a copy of Lost Cities (designer Reiner Knizia, artist Claus Stephan, publisher Rio Grande) in his car. I'd played this once or twice at PrezCon years ago, so I was familiar enough with the rules to get reacquainted pretty quickly. We jumped right in and played one hand while we waited for others to show up, and I think I won by a pretty narrow margin. Most importantly, this re-exposure has rekindled my interest in picking this up as a candidate for Kathy and me to play during our frequent cocktail-hour games. For some reason it had fallen fairly low on my wishlist, but now I really think it's a good option - not quite as brain-burning as Battle Line, but still a good two-player card game to try out.
(c) Rio Grande Games |
Saturday, January 4, 2014
New Years gaming
The holiday season continues with more socializing around boardgames. On New Years Eve, our friend Sheila D. hosted Glenn W., Jeff W., Kathy and me for dinner and games. After a wonderful Mexican rice bowl dinner with shredded beef, we sat down to spend the last six hours of 2013 playing games.
- We started with Guillotine (designer Paul Peterson, artists the late Quinton Hoover along with Mike Raabe, publisher Wizards of the Coast), which is a lighthearted favorite. I don't remember who won, but it was a great way to start the gaming evening.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Holiday gaming
The holidays provide plenty of opportunity for gaming time with friends and family. (Sadly, for all the gaming we did in the last week, I have no pictures. What's wrong with me?)
Last Friday our friend Theresa H. came over for a game. We had several options, and when I described Le Havre (designer Uwe Rosenberg, artists Klemens Franz and Uwe Rosenberg, publisher Lookout Games [website in German]) as a "deeper version of Agricola," Theresa
chose that to play. We played the three-player shortened version,
which has a few different buildings from the two-player that Kathy and I
usually play. This time Kathy really got her coal-coke-shipping engine
going and made all kinds of money, but I was hot on the building
strategy and constructed enough high-value buildings to eke out a win by
five points. Theresa made a good showing for her first game and had a
good time.
(c) Lookout Games Used by permission |
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Boardgames by candlelight
Early this week a sequence of winter storms came through northern Virginia, and my house lost power for about 45 hours. My kids were pretty bored without their usual sources of electronic entertainment, but one nice thing about boardgames is that you don't have to plug them into the wall. So as we sat by the fireplace trying to stay warm, we broke out the games and had a reasonably good time by lanterns and candlelight.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Qwirkled
Susan McKinley Ross at Speil des Jahres 2011 |
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Saturday afternoon Triumvirate
Joe C. (l.) and Frank H. |
Friday, November 15, 2013
Dice Tower News Interview - the uncut version
Chris Kirkman (l.) of Dice Hate Me Games is introduced to Brew Crafters for the first time by designer Ben Rosset at UnPub 3 in January, 2013 |
[Update: I'd previously tried to post the interview here on this page, but due to technical difficulties, I am just including a link to the interview posted on boardgamegeek instead.]
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