01-30-2013, 01:31 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Oregon
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Rules on board games:
I don't know if this is the right place to place this thread but it was bugging me all the time I was working on some projects for my deadline. The thing I was thinking about was:
"Every time I play a board game there are a few things I KNOW could have been changed to streamline, simplify and otherwise make the game extract as much fun as possible in the timeframe playing it." A few things stood out: 1. Trying to set a time frame and tension pertaining to time on a turn based game where time is not that relevant at all to strategic gameplay. We have all seen this in board games we have played. Most of the time we see this in role playing games where periods of times are all detailed out to the minute for certain consequences (poisons, diseases, ect.) and good outcomes like gaining 2 extra minutes or some such. Time is only relevant in games where time is present and the GM cannot control it. In an RPG, time is arbitrary and should be mainly used as flavor. Use time as a tool to explain how things work in a game to connect it to reality and that's all. 2. Too much effort is spent on flavor and details players will never use. We have all seen this how reams and reams of material is written for a game that was supposed to fire the imagination. Excess written material is at the detriment of imagination and creativity and only serves to sell more books. Now if the material jump starts other wise unknown ideas that can be carried into new directions I applaud new material. One only has to look at D&D 3.5 where reading the material is more interesting than actually using it to play. Publish material to lay down simple ground rules and keep additions to that material simple and useful to the imagination. 3. Too much time is spent in setting up the playing equipment and pieces. I now some games where the pieces are necessary to the accuracy to the simulation (like Axis and Allies). It is when pieces and maps are placed there to flavor the game, I find myself just playing with the carefully crafted items and say "pew! pew! ba-blam-o Got ya!" and all that. Yeah, spend an hour to set up a hour game? Yeah... not really. Keep the number of pieces relevant to the needed gradation of elements. List any more things you can think of that game makers should think of when creating a game. :)
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HCobb's OGRE Maker Yet another OGRE designer FJCestero OGRE Maker CP Alpha's new home My email Last edited by Toltrin; 01-30-2013 at 01:40 AM. |
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