![]() |
exactly like this |
With that in mind, I'd like to do a couple of articles for the fine patrons of The Nerd's Table, getting into some gritty design concepts that make good games. As a forewarning, I will be naming some games that may or may not be the best at some of these design philosophies, That doesn't mean that they aren't excellent games, it just means that they are lacking in some areas that would make them My Perfect Game.
Most importantly, though, I want you, dear reader, to get in on the conversation. If this series gets talked about enough in the comments, I'll continue to talk your ear off about the hobby I love the most.
With that out of the way, let's get started!
Design Concept #1: Interesting
Choices for Failure
I have a confession to make: I didn't start out as a
tabletop gamer. I started out playing Mario Bros 3. on my sister's NES. The two
hobbies aren't that far apart, but perhaps they should be. In Video Gaming,
failure means a Game Over screen and (If you grew up in arcades like I did)
spending more valuable quarters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but In tabletop gaming, it doesn't necessarily
have to be the case. Failure can mean multiple things to multiple people, or in
some cases, even be the goal of some players.
This design concept can be applied to individual actions
that players might take, or the overall end state of the game itself. When
failing a roll or a task in a game means something more than losing a point of
health, the game's depth can be expanded to degrees that may not be visible on the surface. Admittedly, this can be one of the more difficult
things to design for, as it requires some astounding lateral thinking not only
for the designer, but for the player. When the "Success/Failure"
binary is expanded to a gradient, or eliminated altogether, tabletop games
really begin to shine in ways that other interactive media simply cannot.
Good Examples: Apocalypse
World, Arabian Nights.


That is the ultimate goal of this design concept, and one of
the things that would make the perfect game.
This game looks more exciting than it has any right to be. With multiple character choices, as well as different ways to win the game, there are more choices meaningful choices to make in this game than most I've seen. On top of that, characters have special goals to meet, which mean failure can actually be a calculated move, much like Battlestar Galactica, or other games with hidden traitors. The difference in Dead of Winter is that everyone may have a different goal than yourself, so things get a little murkier when decision making comes around, but we will talk about that more in the next article.
No matter what choices you make in a game, there should be more
meaningful choices beyond it. Success often has an expanding result, where more
options are opened the more you succeed, but failure should be the same way, if only because I'm terrible at rolling dice.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep it classy, nerds!