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Game Types for # of players

4 replies [Last post]
Sat, 09/20/2014 - 00:20
Tbone
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Joined: 02/18/2013

The game that I am working on (Monumental Resolution) seems to have different balancing issues for differing amounts of players. Where a duel needs to be catered differently than a four player game.

I was wondering would it be unpopular to have a different game type for each number of players?

Example:

2 Players: Duel - two players battle each other

3 Players: Co-op - two players battle a Augmented third player (typically given an advantage)

4 Players: Arena - Two teams of two across from each other

Would you rather have this? Balanced but highly varied or would you rather just have the game be 2 Player?

Thoughts.

Tbone

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Sat, 09/20/2014 - 07:30
#1
X3M
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Actually, go for it. I had

Actually, go for it.
I had the same problem in my game.

With 3 players, if possible, a FFA design would be funny. Of course you need to make sure there is no stale mate situation. Or a way to break through the stale mate.

With 4 players, a 2 vs 2 can be treated as a duel.
But the FFA rules can be applied for 3 or more players any way.

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Sat, 09/20/2014 - 15:33
#2
McTeddy
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Joined: 11/19/2012
It's your choice but I'd

It's your choice but I'd probably recommend leaving it two players.

Balancing one game with one set of rules is an extremely difficult challenge. Having different rules for will multiply this work.

Remember, even after you balance it for two players, you may unintentionally unbalance it when making it work for three. This entire process will be a pain in the backside and probably won't effect a large portion of players.

If you wanted to have "Unofficial" variants for 3 or 4 players will overlook minor balance issues. But if you advertise "For 2-4 Players" they'll expect it to work perfectly for all combinations.

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Sun, 09/21/2014 - 13:27
#3
Zag24
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Joined: 03/02/2014
Make it two or four

I don't think that there's any problem with saying that the game is for two or four players -- duel or team combat. Throwing in the three players mode as a completely different game seems like a hack and loses credibility, IMHO.

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Mon, 09/22/2014 - 10:46
#4
DifferentName
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Joined: 09/08/2013
A game that did this.

Tash-Kalar is a fun game with multiple modes that work for different numbers of players. The different modes affect the victory condition, whether it's to score victory points by making certain patterns, or just smashing the opponents stuff.

If I remember correctly, 2 and 4 player have a couple options to choose from, while 3 player is always a free-for-all. Free for all has a clever mechanic where you score points in the color of each of your opponents, and your overall score is whichever of those is the lowest. This way, it encourages you to spread your points around and not gang up entirely on one person.

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