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Common mechanics needed to build games

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Mon, 01/23/2012 - 18:30
curtis.lacy
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Joined: 11/14/2011

Hi everyone,

Last week I posted a list of "29 Features to Build ANY Table Top Game" (http://www.globalgamespace.org/index.php/blog/29-features-to-build-any-t...) and was hoping to get some designers to weigh in and see if I missed any. Some people have gotten back to me with some good input on creative things you can do with a deck, bag, etc., and I'll be posting a follow-on list in the next couple of days to cover the things I missed.

If anyone has a couple of minutes free, and is interested in helping me out with something that I think could take a lot of the pain of finding playtesters, could you take a look at my list as it stands and let me know if there's anything you've seen that's still been overlooked?

And if there's a game that uses something truly unique, I want to play it myself!

Thanks,

Curtis

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Tue, 01/24/2012 - 05:59
#1
Cogentesque
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Heya curtis, I cant watch the

Heya curtis, I cant watch the video at the moment but the list looks pretty exhaustive.

It's tricky to do a list like this though, each aspect could have a hundered different implementations!

On dice: how about look for "a number of different rsults" like - three 4's or "doubles" or something?

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Tue, 01/24/2012 - 08:32
#2
curtis.lacy
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Joined: 11/14/2011
Hi! You're right, there are

Hi! You're right, there are a lot of specific implementations of each aspect, but I think there are some fundamental "building blocks" that make everything up. Sort of the way that any software product can be built from the basic components of the Turing Machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_machine). It's been afun exercise to pull everything apart.

So as far as getting multiple results on dice - I think that's covered. I'm not looking to make an engine that imposes game rules right off the bat; I'm aiming for more of a collaborative space with a board game focus. A player would be able to roll as many dice of whatever types the game requires, and see the results on-screen.

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Tue, 01/24/2012 - 08:49
#3
Cogentesque
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Oh I see, so you're going to

Oh I see, so you're going to design a piece of software or something that "includes all possible boardgame interactions" ? That's cool.

In which case I will have to have another look :)

(if I have got the right end of the stick, I would therefor say that you would need to have variable dice numbers (d6, d8, d10, dn).

Also, putting stuff ontop of other stuff (loading up a caravan, adding a flag to a ship, putting tiles ontop of other tiles etc)

But only if ... I have the right idea for what you are doing lol!

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Tue, 01/24/2012 - 09:41
#4
curtis.lacy
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You've got it!

Yup, you've got it exactly right! As tedious as I am to listen to on the video, I run over a lot of those capabilities, and compare components from the games I have lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting animations showing a proposed interface, and that should help make it clearer how this will work (and help me work out some kinks along the way!).

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Wed, 02/01/2012 - 14:05
#5
curtis.lacy
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The OTHER 31 features

I got a good amount of feedback on my list of 29 common features, and I've expanded the list to include 31 more! Please take a look and let me know what you think: http://www.globalgamespace.org/index.php/blog/31-more-features/

Thanks!

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Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:34
#6
Aquilius
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Joined: 04/08/2011
Simultaneous?

What about simultaneous order token systems?

This mechanic first caught my eye in the net-epic wargame rules in 2006. I know net-epic owe much to the original Titanicus game by Jervis Johnson from the late eighties, which eventually became Epic. And it was nice to see others pick up and improve the idea, notably the free Seeds of War rule set. It was not so nice to see fantasyflight try and rip the idea with their runewars game. I always take umbrage when people fail to credit those who originated the ideas they use so freely. But on the other hand FFG bungled it, a rather common result of you grab someone else's idea and don't bother to understand it properly.

I've developed this mechanic a bit further with the deployment system I used in my board games. And I'm perfectly willing to admit the heritage of my mechanic and gladly credit Jervis Johnson and Andy Chambers.

This is a tip you might want to add to your site: if you like a specific game mechanic and want to use it in your own design it is usually a good idea to study it a bit further. Find out how it was used in various games, you are guaranteed to broaden your understanding significantly. And remember to give credit where it is due.

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