Use this thread to post constructive critiques of the entries to the January 2013 challenge in the Game Design Showdown, entitled "Time Marches On".
-Seth
[GDS] JAN 2013 "Time Marches On" - Critiques
Wed, 01/02/2013 - 21:03
Tue, 01/29/2013 - 10:39
#2
That was hard
This month I had trouble understanding gameplay. Was it the 3D that was hard to put in words, did I have trouble with english (not my first language)? I used translation-tools, and my imagination in how I thought games could work.
Gold - Faulty Towers
I liked the idea of having to flick your disk in the rondel. It might not neccesarily be a rondel, it can just be a square with the interesting actions on the sides. I thought it strange that the building of the tower did not include balance-talent. When it falls, it falls. Start again with whatever is left. (Rebuilding could be tricky since one might have forgotten where is the top luxery office).
Silver - The Tower
The overseer is a good one. If you need a specific action, you need to put your worker there way in advance, giving the other players a lot of other actions before your action occurs. The building of the tower, and positions with/without windows I also like. I think it is questionable how tossing workers down the tower would work. But I admit, I would like to see it.
Bronze - Population
I could see this hamsterrolle with meeples inside of it, and meeples on top. The ones inside would all glide towards the center, and the ones on top would fall off, when the wheel turns a little!? But maybe the wheel is not all round and has some edges to stick behind, making this a balance game. Could make a great kids game, with a lighter theme!? If you have attack and defence, you could say that the player with most meeples on top may make the next move, and the winner is the first to place all his meeples somewhere onto the wheel. (But of course, you will not have a rondel then)
A survival game
What I made of it: An altering maze game, where the player needs to collect resources, and spends the same resources, to change the maze, walk around, food, etc. No points because rondel and 3D elements were missing. Or, not clear to me.
Revolution
Having three rondels, depending on (your) game status is interesting. I could not understand how the game is supposed to work.
Tue, 01/29/2013 - 13:14
#3
PopulatiOn
Yeah, the HamsterRondel was intended to have edges or ridges to keep the rondel compartments separate. I really like this wheel component: it would be really cool if the wheel WAS the box/tin for the game. Does anyone know of a game printed in a round box? I've seen a couple of round tins (SpotIt).
This was my first GDS: looking forward to next month!
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I have to say that I was really enamored with the idea of a 3-d rondel which uses gravity, but the way I see that working might be a little different than what JustActCasual did...
Rather than some actions clockwise and some counterclockwise around the world wheel, I'd probably just go in 1 direction. This probably means the wheel would have to be supported like a hamster wheel rather than sitting on the table like Hamsterolle.
Players would add pieces to the bottom space, and/or advance them to clockwise spaces. If a piece falls off then it's gone (and players would benefit by having more pieces on the wheel, maybe with stronger actions). In the beginning, with all the pieces at the bottom, you can't physically place too far along or the piece will just fall. So players incrementally move pieces forward, eventually making new bins available. Eventually the wheel will turn far enough that pieces left behind in the original bin will start to fall out if they are not moved forward.
In that way it feels a little bit like the train rust mechanism from 18XX games or Locomotive Works. If you do not upgrade your pieces into later bis, they become obsolete!
It seems like this could create a natural evolution from early game actions, through mid-game, to late game actions. And at a little bit of risk perhaps players could reach ahead to the newest bins as early as possible... or they can play it safe and make sure their pieces don't "fall off the world" :)