Kobold Pt 1
- In your opinion what should every game have? Why do you like your favorite game?
- Elements of a game as discussed in the text: fun, players, rules, a board/cards/dice/pieces, finite play time, winner/loser, turns/phases, luck/strategy, replayability
- Most of my favorite games are those that reward skill. This means that the way the game plays out is contingent on how much you are able to improve at it. There is a high skill ceiling and it may involve practice outside of the game to even approach a high level of play.
- List the games you’ve played and currently play.
- I doubt I would ever be able to compile a complete list of every game I have played. I can, however, outline some of the more prominent and influential ones, as broken down into categories below
- Video Games (series):
- Legend of Zelda
- Counter Strike
- Rocket League
- Super Smash Bros
- Mario Kart
- Pokemon
- Super Mario
- Trading Card Games
- Magic The Gathering
- Pokemon
- Cardfight!! Vanguard
- Tabletop/Board Games
- Settlers of Catan
- Ticket to Ride
- Kingdom Builders
- Dungeons and Dragons
- Betrayal at House on the Hill
- Sports
- Ice Hockey
- Volleyball
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Can you apply the three act structure to your favorite game? What is its pacing and how long do you find yourself in each act?
- One of my favorite games is anything in the 3D Mario series of games which all follow a similar structure. In the beginning, Mario and in some cases his companions are introduced and Princess Peach is captured by Bowser. The levels in the first world are used to make the player comfortable with the types of control that they have and to introduce mechanics that will recur throughout the game. The middle of the game is all of the platforming levels between the first and the final world. Finally, the end is in sight upon reaching the last world. Elements of earlier levels are remixed in a final challenge that ends with finally beating Bowser and saving the princess which resolves the conflict.
- When coming up with ideas where do you find you start, with the metaphor or the mechanic?
- As the textbook talks about, this is dependent on what the project you are starting actually is. Personally, I feel that I tend to start by finding a mechanic that I enjoy and working to make that fun, and finding the metaphor later on.
- Over the course of this semester, who would you like to collaborate with and why?
- I am open to collaborating with anyone in the class. A fair number of people here I have already worked on projects with in other classes, and I enjoy the collaborative process.
Kobold Pt 2
- What is the difference between a game designer and a game developer?A game designer is a person who decides the mechanics that define a game, while a game developer builds the actual product
- What commonly occurs during the game development process?
- Iteration of the game. Rules can be changed, and mechanics modified to better suit the objective of the game. Entire parts of the game can be added or removed depending on what is needed
- What commonly occurs during the game development process?
- What are the challenges of balancing a game?
- Creating systems that are easy enough to understand, while keeping the game fun and engaging for players. There can often be tradeoffs between the potential changes that need to be made
- What should every player of your game believe? Why?
- A player should believe that they have a reasonable chance to win until the moment that the game ends
- How can you avoid stealing players’ fun?
- Don’t kick a player out before the game is over
- Kingmaking sucks
- Don’t reward the leader
- Include inherent deceleration
- A player’s ability to influence other players should fall between “none” and “lots”
- Don’t force a reverse
- What 10 maxims should you follow when writing rules?
- Use no intermediary terminology
- Use real words
- Make no more work than necessary
- Add flavor (but not too much flavor)
- Make your text no smarter than your reader
- Discard rules that can’t be written
- Take a breath
- Go easy on the eyes
- Get your final version playtested
- Fix it in the FAQ
- How has play testing changed your game?
- Who from class would you like to playtest your next game or version 2 of your first game?
- Max will most likely play my game before it even comes to class. Within class, I think Ronan has a solid base of knowledge of both video games and board games, and I think that Luke has a good mindset for developing the theme of the game
- Who is the audience for your game?
- The primary audience for my game will always be myself. I want to make things that I enjoy first and foremost, and that often can have an overlap with other people’s tastes
- Who from class would you like to playtest your next game or version 2 of your first game?
- Who should playtest your game outside of class?
- Anyone who is willing to playtest for it. The more people who are able to give feedback, the more clear what things will need to be changed for it to work best with a large number of people
Kobold Pt 3
- What Mechanics would you like to use for a game with a theme that revolves around being the size of a nanometer?
- Playing with the scale of game elements to allow for interactions between the player and things that you cannot do at full human size. I imagine that this theme would be very fun to design for; it would be like living a day as Stuart Little
- Who are you making games for?
- This is a bit of a repeat answer from a previous question but I make games for myself and the people around me. I want to be able to enjoy my own games with friends and family
- Who will be your play testers outside of class?
- The most likely candidates for my out of class playtesters are the people who are already in close proximity to me. My roommates and my girlfriend are all usually willing to help me with a project that I happen to be working on
- Can you think of a game you were able to play without referring to the rules?
- When I learned chess, I was able to memorize the movements of the pisces and correlate it with the unique shapes of each piece fairly easily. By the time I played my first game I was able to play without needing to ever reference rules
- How do you define what a game is?
- Rob Daviau defines a game as “an interactive mathematical system, made concrete, used to tell a story”. I agree with this statement although I think the heaviest emphasis is on the interactive element
- What features can make your games more intuitive?
- Taking into consideration the pieces, colors, and size of elements is important to making a game intuitive. Also simplifying rules so that the amount that needs to be read in the manual prior to starting can make it more fun because it’s easier to pick up
- What was your gateway game?
- I can’t recall one specific game that got me hooked because I was always surrounded by games. As a teen I would go to the Mall on Tuesday and Friday nights to play trading card games in local groups. My parents and family friends often introduced me to new tabletop and board games
- What do you play to introduce others to gaming?
- I have had moderate success with introducing my friends to Rummikub. It is a variation on classic rummy but something about gathering and playing with the tiles, as opposed to playing cards, and having autonomy of which tile to draw makes it a bit more engaging
- What features do gateway games share?
- A gateway game is easy to learn, has a compelling theme, a lack of complexity, interactivity, luck, an appropriate duration, originality, and replay value
- What are the 10 beautiful mechanics and what should you aim for with your own?
- Kingmaker’s noblesse oblige
- BattleTech’s heat
- Set’s set-making
- Magic’s card tapping
- Battle Cattle’s cow tipping rule
- xXxenophile’s popping
- Bohnanza’s hand order rule
- Mississippi Queen’s paddlewheels
- Time’s Up!’s communication breakdown
- Dominion’s constant shuffling
- How does luck and strategy factor into game play?
- Luck is beyond the player’s control, strategy is making plans and decisions in game, and skill is outside knowledge that allows you to make the correct decisions in a given situation. Games usually contain all of these elements to varying degrees
Kobold Pt 4
- What is the difference between a “working” and a “display” prototype?
- A working prototype is a functional attempt to make the mechanic work in a way that can then be tested. A display prototype focuses on the visual and aesthetic qualities that are being aimed for
- What is required of a working prototype, and what might cause one to fail?
- A working prototype should include everything that it takes to play the game, it should be thoroughly tested, focus on function and not let visuals dictate gameplay, and it should be user friendly
- What makes for a good prototype according to Dale Yu?
- Cards, card sleeves, stickers, paper, bits, bags and baggies, boxes, a color printer, computer, and laminator are all helpful to have available to make a prototype
- What advice from Richard Levy will help you pitch your game?
- Be prepared, information is power, sell yourself first, don’t be deterred by rejection, control your ego, consider the timing, consider multiple submissions, don’t deal with invention marketing firms, get a good agent, build a good prototype, respect brand power
- Where might you pitch your game?
- Pick a game publisher that is currently accepting submissions from the general public and make sure that the game aligns with the identity and goals of that specific publisher
- What do publishers look for in a game?
- Something that is well tested and easy for others to test to get a sense of the game
- What makes a good set of Rules?
- Sections outlining: Overview, Components, Setup, Gameplay, Card types, Endgame and winning, Example of play, and Credits
- Describe the best game you’ve made this semester in 250 words? Follow Michelle Nephew’s outline.
- The best game that I made this semester in terms of enjoyment that people have seemingly gotten from it was also my simplest. It involves two minor dexterous tasks that people are not always great at; picking up cards that are flat on a table and spinning a coin or token. I chose to call this game Countermand which is a word meaning to revoke an order because often a card that was just flipped is then overturned back to its previous state the following turn. The best aspect of this game is its simplicity; it can be played with a standard deck of cards, is easy to learn quickly, and the rounds are short but also able to be replayed several times in a session. Every turn is a gamble of how much progress you are able to make in your own favor, and a single bad spin can completely change the momentum of a game. It generally takes several net positive turns in a row to win so the victory feels very earned as well. One of the aspects that I tested was different amounts of cards that should be on the board for a given game. A small number of cards can make it too easy for one player to dominate without an opportunity for the opposing player to recover, however too many cards can make it difficult for either player to gain an upper hand and end the game which borders monotony. The balance that I found is right around 30 cards total, with the option to add or remove a few to tailor it to a specific pairing of players.