Game Design Workshop (Tracy Fullerton)

In Game Design Workshop, Tracy Fullerton wants to "help you become a game designer."  She does so by making you "game literate," which means "understanding how games systems work, analyzing how they make meaning, and using your understanding to create your own game systems."  She explains:

- her playcentric approach to game development (keeping player experience always in view)
- the structure of games, both formal and dramatic elements
- the theory of games as systems, with interacting objects, properties, behaviors, and relationships
- designing games (conceptualizing, prototyping, playtesting)
- testing games for functionality, completeness, balance, fun, and accessibility
- working as a game designer, including understanding the game industry and selling your ideas

Each chapter is filled with useful information and peppered with "designer perspective" asides, where insiders across the industry explain their background and approach to the subject.

Below I summarize the structural elements of games, both formal and dramatic.  Quotes and paraphrases are from the text.

Formal Elements
These "are those elements that form the structure of a game."  They include:

- players: those who voluntarily participate in a temporary world, with specific constraints, to achieve an outcome.  The designer must consider number of, role(s) of, and nature of interaction between players (competitive, cooperative, one vs. many, etc.).

- objective: "what players are trying to accomplish within the rules of the game."  They should be challenging but achievable.  They can be one or many, and be the same for all players or unique.  Obejctives are important because they set the tone and shape dramatic elements.  Some generic objectives: capture, chase, race, alignment (arrangement of components), rescue/escape, forbidden act (example: Operation), construction, exploration, solution, outwit.

- procedures: "the methods of play and the actions that players can take to achieve the game obejctives."  Covers "who does what, where, when, and how."

- rules: "define game objects and define allowable actions by the players."  This includes restricting actions and determining effects/consequences.  Define them in such a way to give players meaningful choices and some degree of control of the gameplay.

- resources: objects with "both utility and scarcity" in the game system.  Managing resources is a key element of gameplay.  Resources can include lives, units, health, currency, actions, power-ups, inventory, and time.

- conflict: this "emerges from the players trying to accomplish the goals of the game within its rules and boundaries."  These are often deliberately inefficient, and "do not allow players to accomplish their goals directly."  Done well, this creates challenge and enjoyment by forcing players to use particular skill(s) "to gain an ultimate sense of achievement."  Three common sources of conflict: obstacles, opponents, and dilemmas.

- boundaries: "what separates the game from everything that is not the game."  It could be physical dimensions or rules that dictate the permissible and forbidden (example: you can't introduce your own money into Monopoly).  But boundaries also separate the game from daily life, meaning you're free to do things in the game that would be socially unacceptable (or worse) outside of the experience.

- outcome: this "must be uncertain to hold the attention of the players."  It's always related to the "player interaction patterns" (competitive, cooperative, etc.) and affected "by the nature of the game objective."

Dramatic Elements
These are "those elements that engage the players emotionally with the game experience and invest them in its outcome."  They include:

- challenge: players want "tasks that are satisfying to complete, that require just the right amount of work to create a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment."  Challenges require skill, have clear goals/feedback, give players influence over uncertain outcomes, and can be so engaging that we lose ourselves in the experience.

- play: this is "freedom or movement within a more rigid structure."  It's where the players have freedom to act within rules, creating "the opportunity for emergent experience and personal expression."  Play is subjective, and people play for different reasons (to compete, explore, achieve, tell stories, build, etc.).

- premise: this "establishes the action of the game within a setting or metaphor."  It's an element of drama used to emotionally engage players.  It's an element of story, and sets time, place, characters, objective, conflict, etc.

- character: "the agents through whose actions a drama is told."  Consider protagonists and antagonists, and (when designing) ask "what do they want, need, hope, and fear?"

- story: like outcomes, stories have uncertain endings.  They should be resolved- in this context, by the player.  Part of story is world building- creating "compelling environments that cannot be fully explored or exhausted within a single work" (think Lord of the Rings).  Stories should follow a dramatic arc, maintaining tension with escalating conflict until story climax/resolution.

Review
This is a good resource.  In particular, her discussion on game structure- formal and dramatic elements- is excellent, which is why I summarize it above.  Though geared towards video games, most chapters are fully relevant to those interested in board game design, and this is a good starting place.  It gave me the vocabulary and understanding necessary to intelligently approach my own goal (designing a board game in 2018).

Rating: A

Scrye Magazine

Today's post is a walk down memory lane.  Scrye Magazine was published from 1994-2009 and covered the collectible gaming industry (most notably Magic: The Gathering).  Each issue had price guides, card lists, strategy articles, deck designs, game company advertisements, and previews of new games and/or expansions.  Sometimes, they even packaged exclusive cards with the magazine.

This magazine was a product of its time.  In an era before ubiquitous internet, it was the resource people used to determine card values when trading/buying/selling.  The articles were often written by gamers- meaning they were poorly done- but had information you couldn't get anywhere else on the best strategies and decks.  (Indeed, I picked up a few old issues because this is still the only place you can get information on some long-dead* CCGs.)  The advertisements for getting cards via mail order made me smile and laugh . . . ahhh, the way things used to be.  (As an aside, a quick study of companies in one issue found that only six of the 32 companies are still in business.)  And the price guides remind me that I should have spent my savings on Magic cards twenty years ago, so I could enjoy an early and luxurious retirement today.  Hindsight, as they say.  Anyway, I enjoyed this magazine and continue to thumb through back issues on occasion, mindful of the Internet's obvious advantages while mourning a bygone era (and the demise of physical conduits of gaming information).  R.I.P., Scrye magazine.  Thanks for the memories.

*a dead CCG is a collectible card game that is no longer produced.

Joy, Story & Celebration

Fresh from attending yesterday's Eagles victory parade in Philadelphia, I'm still high on their championship.  But I won't belabor the point, so this post will be my last on the subject.  I'll cover three topics today: joy, story, and celebration.

Joy
When the playoffs began, I said something stupid.  I told my kids I'd give them each $100 if the Eagles won the Super Bowl.  As they advanced in the playoffs, I amended it to be $50 to them and $50 to their college fund- still far too much in the eyes of my wife, who (rightly) pointed out that I should refrain from such promises in the future.  Very true.  But there's an important truth here- when people are joyful, and mindful of what they've received, they give generously.  It's a response to joy.  It's why we give at Christmas, celebrating the gift of Jesus and His overflowing love by giving gifts to each other.  May we always have in mind the gifts given to us, and give to others accordingly.  But be wise about it . . . we must be good stewards.  No more money for Super Bowl wins, kids.

Story
This Eagles season was special long before they won it all, due to the number of stories worth telling.  Here are the main ones:

- GM Howie Roseman returned from 'banishment' to clean up the roster mistakes of his predecessor and build a championship team in remarkably short time.  Roseman was GM before Chip Kelly, but was (effectively) demoted when the latter arrived.  He could have gone elsewhere in disgust, but he hung around.  And, his time clearly served him well, as his personnel decisions this time around were much wiser and reflected wisdom likely gained from his time away.  We can all learn from that; sometimes a step back enables two steps forward.  Demotions can benefit in the long run.

- Coach Doug Pederson, in just his second year, proved his doubters wrong.  He was dismissed from the time of his hiring as too inexperienced; ESPN ranked him the worst coaching hire at the time out of six new coaches.   Well, two of the five guys ranked above have since been fired, one more led his team to an 0-16 record this year, and none made the playoffs.  Pederson went 7-9 last year but improved the squad to 13-3 and won it all.  He's an aggressive playcaller who trusts and listens to his players, commanding their respect.  Now, he has the respect of all. Go Doug.

- Kicker Jake Elliott, who signed on when Caleb Sturgis was lost to injury early in the year.  Jake's most impressive achievement came in week 3, when he booted a 61-yard field goal as time expired to beat the New York Giants.  Nobody expected that . . . and such things can make or break a season.

- Wide Receiver Nelson Agholor.  Nelson had a horrible first two years in the league; I wanted the Eagles to cut him after a disastrous season last year.  But they stuck with him, and he showed why.  He became a critical piece in an offense suddenly full of weapons.

- Chris Long.  The Eagles' Defensive End decided to donate his salary to educational charities after the heartbreaking violence in Charlottesville early in the season.  His focus on, and dedication to, helping others is admirable and worthy of emulation.

- The quarterbacks.  Carson Wentz displayed humility and a team-first attitude all year, as amazing stats and MVP talk could have destroyed him.  Then, he was lost to injury, and enter Nick Foles- a backup with only one successful year (in his previous stint in Philly).  Nobody thought Foles could do it . . . and he started (mostly) poorly.  Yet, he learned from his failures, and was amazing when it counted, playing excellent football in the playoffs and earning Super Bowl MVP.  And Carson?  He was watching on the sidelines, injured but actively involved in the team, helping Nick the entire way.  That takes humility and sportsmanship.

- Next man up.  The Eagles lost an impressive number of starters to injury this year (6, including special teams), and were without other key pieces for several games.  But their 'next man up,' team-first philosophy saw them overcome anyway.  Not many teams would have a chance if they lost their starting QB, OT, RB, K, LB, and special teams ace.

- Team.  I loved this team.  Every team has standout players, but this group truly played together, with everyone making contributions and nobody making demands.  No locker room drama.  Nobody had gaudy numbers because they spread the ball around.  They had such fun doing it (see my prior post for more on that).  And they were underdogs for the entire playoffs . . . yet they won.  Every. single. time.  This article backs up some of my claims.  And check out some nice Super Bowl pictures here.

Speaking of team . . . below are the depth charts for offense, defense, and special teams at the end of the season (as taken from their official site).  Also included is their injured reserve, as six of those players were starters before they went down, and all continued to play a valuable role in mentoring the next men up.

Wins and losses fade; stories are what we remember.  And I'll remember these 2017 Eagles.

Celebration
I'll conclude with the thoughts of a drunk man.  On the way home from the Eagles parade, we were stuck on the Philly-Wilmington line with a man downing a bottle of hard liquor.  He spoke for the entire hour, meandering from thoughts on money and women to making outlandish boasts (like he had 13,000 followers on instagram and could remotely start a car in Hawaii via satellite).  He was annoying yet undeniably entertaining (and a warning to all on the dangers of inebriation).  One thing he said, though, stuck out to me.  "Disregard my condition," he said, which made me perk up, as I didn't expect one in his state to be capable of such words.  He continued, saying something like "Today, we put aside our differences.  People with different social status, economic status, race, and more came together and loved each other; celebrated with each other.  We may not do that tomorrow, but it's great to be united today."  Agreed; walking down the streets with 700,000 like-minded people celebrating the same happy event was an amazing experience.  It's a small taste of our future hope, united with each other and joyous in the presence of our Lord.  Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Champions

They did it.  For the first time in 58 years, the Philadelphia Eagles are champions, beating the favored (and formidable) Patriots 41-33 yesterday evening (some photos and highlights).  Their season was amazing from start to finish, though they started as longshots to do anything.  Coming off two straight 7-9 campaigns, with a second year coach and quarterback, people viewed them as a squad with future promise but facing a long way to go.  They went that long way in a short time, and it all started in the offseason.

GM Howie Roseman did an amazing job bringing in weapons for offense and defense.  The WRs, RBs, and CBs in particular were bolstered by smart signings and trades.  The offense would score the third-most points in the league; the defense would allow the fourth-fewest.  What a combo.  They dominated throughout the year, going 13-3, often making it look easy.

This team was fun to watch.  They players looked like they genuinely enjoyed everything, and both offense and defense had some amusing (and well-choreographed) team celebrations.  Not to mention high-fives during the game.  They played as a team, with humility and deference to each other, and few superstars.  Each person stepped up when needed.

Foles and Wentz.  It took humility for both to succeed as they did

The story of the year was injuries.  Darren Sproles, Caleb Sturgis, Jason Peters, Chris Maragos, Jordan Hicks, and Carson Wentz all were lost for the season.  Most clubs would fold; the Eagles had a "next man up" philosophy that served them well and shocked the league.  Nobody would have expected, especially once Wentz went down, that they'd be able to sustain their success.  But they did.  Nick Foles went from uneven backup QB to Super Bowl MVP.  The coaching staff did an incredible job changing the offense mid-season to suit Foles' strengths- a leadership lesson indeed.

Some season highlights that will be fondly remembered:
- rookie Jake Elliott hitting a 61-yard FG to beat the New York Giants
- four wins by 27 points or more
- two away games (both in LA) that felt like home games due to the Eagles fan base there
- Wentz the escape artist
- the defense scoring two last-play TDs on turnovers after offenses tried 'razzle dazzle' plays
- scoring 38 unanswered points in the NFC Championship
- Nick Foles in the Super Bowl
- the humility of the players and coaches, several giving glory to God when interviewed after big victories
- the choreographed dance routines (examples above and below)

Fly Eagles Fly.  They even bowl well.

Power Grid

Today's review is of the 2004 release, Power Grid.  For 2-6 players, it takes 2 hours.

Overview
You are a power company, vying for dominance in the industry.  You'll buy power plants, each requiring a number of resources (coal, oil, trash, uranium, or wind) to power a number of homes.  You'll purchase resources to fuel those plants.  You'll extend your distribution by adding more cities to your network.  And, most importantly: you'll earn cash each turn based on how many cities you power.  The game ends when a player has presence in 17 cities.  At that point, whoever can power the most cities wins.  Do you have what it takes?

game components; image from here

The game is played over rounds.  Each round has the following phases (simplified for brevity):

1. Determine player order.  
- The player with the most cities goes in slot 1 and is the first player, next most in slot 2 and so on.  This determines order for the round.  Some phases will go slots 1-X; others will go in reverse, from slot X-1.
2. Auction power plants
- The first player chooses to bid on one of 4 power plants (see below illustration), with a minimum starting bid equal to the number on the card.  When a plant is purchased, a new one is drawn and placed in the market, inserted in the lineup based on its number (example: 14 would be placed between 11 and 23).  Though 8 plants are visible, only the 4 lowest numbered are able to be auctioned.  Since the draw deck is random, that means the order will change as players buy plants and new ones are inserted.  Power plants are auctioned until each player buys one (they cannot buy more) or passes.  Nobody can own more than three power plants, so as the game progresses players will have to discard earlier purchases to remain at three.

power plants; only the bottom row is available for purchase.  image from here

3. Buy resources
- This order is reversed: the last player buys resources first.  They cannot purchase more than twice what their available plants require.  Cost will vary based on the available number of a resource (bottom track on the board, as shown in the picture above).  The more a resource gets depleted, the more expensive it gets.  So if many people have coal plants, coal increases in price.
4. Build
- Order still reversed: the last player expands to new cities if they wish, paying city and connection cost each time (you'll want your cities close to minimize connection fees).  Cost and how many companies can be in a city depends on step*.
5. Bureaucracy
- Back to normal order: the first player uses resources to fire plants and power cities, spending resources and collecting income based on the number of cities powered.  Resources are then re-stocked a certain amount depending on the number of players and step*.

Rounds continue until the aforementioned victory condition.

*The game is played in three "steps."  During step 1, only one company can be in a city; step 2, two companies; step 3, three companies.

Review
Ironic aside: my home lost power when reviewing this game.  Coincidence? ...

This game is solid.  A lot of interesting aspects and good mechanics (I particularly liked the auction and resource costing systems).  It's clearly well thought out.  But it has one drawback- and it's significant enough to move it from "great" to "good" in my book.  All games have three 'segments'- the early, mid, and late game.  Designers must balance each so that they matter without prematurely ending the game by allowing a player to build an insurmountable lead (if a player can get an insurmountable lead in the early game, the latter phases become irrelevant, and those trailing lose interest).  I see that flaw in this game- I believe victory can be determined early on, or at least require leading players to make serious mistakes to let others catch up.  That sours an otherwise enjoyable offering.

Rating: B+

X-wing Miniatures Game

Today's review is of the 2012 release, the X-wing Miniatures game.  For 2+ players, it takes 30+ minutes.

Overview
X-Wing Miniatures is a tactical starship combat game, where players choose Empire or Rebellion in the fight for galactic dominance.  To begin, each player prepares a squad of ships and upgrade cards, each of which has a point cost to play.  (Upgrade cards can be pilots, weapons, or other enhancements that improve your ships' performance and capabilities.)  Players agree on a total point cost (example: 100 points) and assemble a fleet based on that.  This is a living game, where you purchase the starter set and can buy individual ships to expand your options for fleet construction.  So you might choose more 'vanilla' ships cheaper to play, or focus on fewer ships with powerful upgrades.  The choice is yours!  Once players have their squads, the game can begin.

contents of the starter set; image from here

Each player places their ships on opposing sides of the board.  Gameplay proceeds in four phases:
1. Planning Phase: each ship has a maneuver dial, which contains that ship's range of movement possibilities (ships move along lines or arcs, shown in the image above).  Players choose one movement secretly for each of their ships in this phase.

2. Activation Phase: each ship has a pilot skill value.  The ship with the lowest pilot skill reveals its maneuver dial and performs the indicated maneuver.  The ship with the next higher pilot skill does the same.  Repeat until all ships have moved.

3. Combat Phase: each ship may perform one attack (if able).  This time, the ship with the highest pilot skill goes first, and play proceeds in decreasing skill order until all possible attacks have been performed.  Attacks are made rolling a stated number of red dice, indicating hits or other effects; defense with green dice, indicating evasion or other effects.  Comparisons are made to the red and green dice, and any hits that 'get through' either diminish the shields (if the ship has them) or do damage.  Once a ship's damage exceeds its hull value, it is destroyed and remove from the board.

4. End Phase: Any cleanup (as indicated in the rules) is performed.

game in progress (using some custom components); image from here

The phases are repeated until one fleet is destroyed.

Review
This is a great game.  It moves quickly, gives players lots of meaningful choices, and is suspenseful/exciting, with plenty of action.  Though I (conceptually) prefer capital ship battles, this game is better than its big brother, Star Wars Armada, because it moves faster, has better/more frequent engagement, and is intuitively easier to play.  With any living game, it can get pricey and addictive fast, so use a friend's collection if you can't be trusted (like me) to be responsible.  The rules for X-wing are here.

Rating: A

The History of the Renaissance World (Susan Wise Bauer)

In book three of her world history trilogy (the first two covering Ancient and Medieval times), Susan Wise Bauer looks at the world from ~A.D. 1100 to 1453 (when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks).  A survey history, the bulk of her work covers Europe (Britain, France, Holy Roman Empire, Italian regions, Iberian peninsula, Byzantines), Asia (China, Korea, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, Mongolian areas), and the Middle East/North Africa.  Other areas (Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, Scandinavia, eastern Europe) receive marginal treatments (due in part to lack of written records, I think).

As with her other volumes, this is largely a political history, tracking the rise and fall of rulers, their relations with other rulers, and the ever-shifting borders of nations.  And her writing, as before, is done well: clear, succinct, occasionally amusing (intentionally).  The chapters are always short (less than 10 pages), making this very digestible and easily enjoyed in small chunks.  Survey histories are valuable to show context and connections in the big picture of the world; Bauer does that here.  And, she whets the appetite for more, introducing the reader to a variety of fascinating stories that encourage further independent exploration.  I hope she continues the series.

Rating: A