I chose to play Factorio as part of the Games for Change review and podcast. It was a fun experience, and yes, it does make it clear how it feels about the environment. The basic mechanics of the game are to collect resources to expand your factory to complete all types of technology and all planets. However, in the process of doing this, the trees will die, the water will get polluted, and the local ecosystems of bugs will inflict damage across your base. During my playthrough, we didn’t get too far; we only made it about 5 hours in. However, I was playing with experienced people, so they helped me get some of the information. The game does a good job at making it clear what you are doing, and you start to feel bad as you see the slow progression of what happens to the world due to overmining and pollution.
The major mechanics are: mine and collect resources, grow your factory, and watch the pollution rise. There is actually a pollution meter in-game, as you can see how much damage you are causing, and what material is causing it. Overall, the game was fun to play. I am unsure if I would play it again.
Was it fun? It was very fun, I liked this game a lot
What were the player interactions? Player interactions consisted of dealing with the people next to you but still being aware of what the other players were doing – cards are passed around in a circle
How long did it take to learn? Maybe one game which is like 20-30 minutes, you start to understand the strategy and mechanics after playing a round and then more once you play a whole game
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? There are a lot of little pieces and a few rules to remember so that is frustrating at first
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? The strategy is really fun, there are several different ways to get the most points and I think that is very cool
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Maybe like block the ability for your neighbors to buy stuff from you
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Make the rule book easier to understand lol
Is this a game you would play again? Yes, it’s complicated yet really quick to learn and play and comes with many different ways to win and get more points
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. Well there are three distinct “eras” in the game so that’s probably what the 3 Acts would be, 1st era which is setup and gaining resources, then 2nd which is building more structure and then the 3rd which is gaining extra advantages to gain more points before the end
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? It is mostly competitive, trying to take cards that would benefit other players later and gain the most points, but a little collaborative with who you decide to trade with so you don’t lose too many coins
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is trading and building ancient civilizations – the mechanic of passing the cards and taking one each turn is really simple yet effective and adds more strategy then simply picking from a card stack or other methods of gaining cards
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku. Seven game boards To win with coins and cards Defend your borders
In regard to meaningful games, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily activist or trying to make you think about serious topics, but it does make you think and develop strategies so it could be a little bit of an educational game, learning about the seven wonders and trade and so on.
Similar to the original Plague Inc game, the cure version is literally the complete opposite of the original games main goal of infecting everyone. In this version the players goal is to cure and save everyone from the infection spreading. So its the same mechanics and gameplay as the original but with a different theme.
This is the game I choose and played from Games for a change. To start off you decide to create a virus, bacteria, infections, etc and choose your starting location. From there on you have to strategize whether or not to upgrade virus quickly or slowly. Do it too fast and a cure will be made too soon. Do it just right and they may not find a cure in time. The game is really about pacing and trying to find the best way to infect as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. You play pretty much until everyone is dead or a treatment is made to cure the people and slow down the spread of the disease.
The people that played it thought it was really cool and understood in a funny way why I made it. Not really a lot of recommendations just little things like making it look a little better, ui wise.
Other than that they told me to get rid of the prestige system in it, which I agree with because I feel like with the way the game is now it kinda serves no purpose.
I got two groups of people to play it outside of class and here were a few recommendations they gave.
They thought the concept is cool but they wanted a more adult version lets say, like more similar to Cards Against Humanity. I said no because I intended on this being more like a kids friendly family game.
The next big thing was the rounds. Instead of choosing how many rounds they prefered there to be a certain set of rounds instead of them choosing.
Lastly they just said I need to fine tune the rules a lot more because there are a few bugs I need to fix
