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Solo story based game with partially defined rules

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Fri, 01/02/2015 - 10:09
larienna
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I was thinking about this and was wondering if it actually existed. The idea is for a story based game similar to Arkham/Eldritch horror where the core rules of the game are supplied. But the player can decide to be creative and do things no listed in the rules. In this case, he makes up the rule on the fly or just make it work.

For example, a player could make a diversion to draw enemy units out. Maybe there is no AI rules to handle this, but since it's a solo game so it cannot be unfair for other players, so you could just select a random unit to fall in the trap. But afterward the combat resolution follows normal rules.

So yes players could cheat more easily, but maybe explaining them that the key to a good experience is to stay in flow between challenge and boredom could help reduce cheating.

Else some rules could be made up by the community. For example, a player could have designed some bribing rules that anybody could reuse. One thing I intend to do is give all components of the game some generic values from 1 to 5 so that it can be checked against a single die roll. So if you come up with a new idea, and you want to resolve it, roll 1D6 against any game component you want to affect to know if it works.

Did anybody attempted something similar before?

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Fri, 01/02/2015 - 10:40
#1
The Professor
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Joined: 10/25/2014
Interesting premise

larienna,

While I've not built such a mechanic into any of the games I've developed for others, I'm interested in incorporating such an idea into my current project. As a huge fan of AH, one of its most clever aspects is playing against the game itself. To that end, you could use a series of cards to determine external forces at work, ala "Shadows Over Camelot" or any cooperative game.

I'm interested in monitoring this thread to read what others' posit as possible solutions.

Cheers,
Joe

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Fri, 01/02/2015 - 11:29
#2
LordBrand
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Joined: 12/27/2014
I think there are some difficulties

I like this idea, and I think players will do similar things already in games.

I really like the idea of making it community-centric. You could create a solid web page for the game that has a section devoted to ad hoc rules, with the ability to vote rules up or down. Players add their rules to the page, and the top of the list shows the highest voted rules, with random either unbalanced or just poorly conceived rules settling on the bottom. This mechanism creates a way for your second tier players to find some quick add-ons to change the dynamic of their game.

As a mechanism for solo-play that I add "on the fly," I'd be curious what you are going for.

Would it be mostly a flavor concept, or would it truly be a dynamic "rules engine"?

Examples:

Flavor: You face monsters. You must get by them. The "rules" have the D6 system designed to win, with escalating failure/success, but as a player, I can determine what that means: IE: I snuck by. I met them in single combat. I willed one into the next reality. I converted one to my cause. Net result: I got by.

True Rules Changes: I would be nervous a system like this would ultimately result in people growing bored swiftly. The ability to add new rules is great, trying to do it dynamically in play ultimately results in a game that devolves.

Imagine- I have come to a room with 3 monsters. The rules give me the ability to meet them in combat, but that's not really what I'm going for. I think I want to reduce their numbers first. So, I'll add a rule that lets me try to trick one to fall into the trap. Roll a D6, on a 5 or 6, one has been eliminated from the fight. I rolled a 4. The fight breaks out. Now I add a rule to let me escape unscathed. Now I add a rule to let me reset the fight. I think it gets out of control. People may make things more challenging for themselves, but that falls apart the moment "I'm about to make it" gets threatened... unless the person has discipline, and usually that would be manifest in "I set the rules before I begin, and they don't change for this game."

The game Illuminati had a section for "cheating rules" and while it created a hilariously funny "game", we never did it again because it devolves so quickly that the game was just a dressing for hanging out and being silly (not wrong in its own right, but ultimately not worth it if the goal is a game).

To me, this mechanism is better served in the table-top RPG element where players have the freedom to make choices, and thinking entity (the GM) has the ability to approve or deny, to set the difficulty or feasibility of the attempts. The GM does this with an impartial interest in creating a balanced, fun, and hopefully potentially challenging game experience.

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Here's the TL;DR version:

I could be wrong, but if you add a system for people to change the rules on the fly, one of three things will happen:

1) People looking for challenge are going to hope your game offers it automatically and not use the rule

2) People will overuse the rule-changing to the game will be a nifty mental experience that they probably won't replay. They'll read your cards and flavor text to see the things in the game, but actually playing probably won't happen more than that first time leaving them with a feeling the "game was too easy."

3) People will use your system to add a rule between games to make a new experience next time. Those people might need a system like this in the first place because I suspect they'd do it anyways. If you build a great way to publish/share these rules, I'm sure it will get exposure. I just don't know that it needs to be formally built into the game rules.

I could be way wrong! Let me know how it goes!

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Fri, 01/02/2015 - 11:43
#3
DifferentName
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Joined: 09/08/2013
Light role playing

I think I've seen that sort of thing in a light role playing game when I was a kid. The kind of game that can be played completely as a board game, moving people around using normal abilities, but with the option of doing something creative.

I could see something like that fitting well in an Arkham/Eldritch horror style game. I wonder if it would need to be something with a game master, though. Someone who's not on your team and not opposed to you, who can be the judge of what effect your ability has. Maybe it doesn't have to be, but there could be weird results from it like lord brand said. There are plenty of games where players tell stories, so maybe it would end up something like that?

I wonder how this kind of creative action would work in a semi-coop game. Maybe the group decides how effective a creative ability can be, making them more likely to vote up your creative ability if they think you're on their side.

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