One thing that seems easy to do in video games is to build the game as you play. It's what I call additive design. You start with 1 mechanic, play it. Then add another mechanic, play and repeat until satisfaction. The objective is to have a playable game ready during early development.
In board game design, it seem more complicated to achieve as most mechanics are entwined with each other. Which creates the egg and the chicken syndrome. You cannot design and test mechanic A because you need mechanic B. And you cannot design mechanic B because you need mechanic A. So you must design everything at once.
So I am wondering if there was some game genre or mechanics, especially for solitaire play, that would be more friendly to additive design.
For now, special text abilities seems to be a plague for such kind of design. They have to be used sparsely and probably at the end of the design. You need to have a working game before adding text abilities.
One idea I had in mind was a solitaire worker placement inspired by Lords of Waterdeep (LOW) and Ancient World. Maybe that could be playable as design as you play. Here is an example from what could have been LOW's design process.
- First you need to design objective: In LOW it's make the most VP.
- Second: How to I made VP: Completing quest and buildings. That implies, I'll need actions to collect quest and make buildings. So I can design them immediately.
- Third: Since making building by just selecting an action, Building should cost money, so I need money as a resource.
- Fourth: As for quest, how to I complete them: Money and resource cube. So I need actions to collect those cubes and money.
So as you can see, it seems possible to be able to play the game very early and constantly add stuff and make adjustment while playing.
Is there other genre that could allow such type of design?
Or is my theory wrong, and there is still an egg and chicken syndrome in the example above?
I think "legends of Andor" have that idea of teaching as you play system. Many video game tutorials, use the same technique.
Maybe there an idea in there that could be used for designing games as you build them since it's the same principle, but you're designing and playing at the same time.
It could also overlap some ideas with Toy Play design methodology I had in the past, where you play the game as a toy. That means in an environment without rules, or with rules that can be changed on the fly in order to explore possible game mechanics.