Use this thread for any comments, questions, requests for clarity, etc., regarding the February 2010 Challenge in the Game Design Showdown, entitled "iBoardgame - there's an AP for that!" found here.
Enjoy, Seth
Comments and Questions on the February 2010 Game Design Showdown
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 07:55
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 09:14
#1
I think, technically, that
I think, technically, that the term is "app".
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 11:27
#2
You say if my entry is about
You say if my entry is about Pirates of Silicon Valley I get 2 bonus votes. Does that mean my entry gets 2 extra points in addition to whatever it gets from the people voting, or that I get two extra votes in addition to the 6 I get to distribute among the other entries?
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 14:33
#4
Bonus condition
You say if my entry is about Pirates of Silicon Valley I get 2 bonus votes. Does that mean my entry gets 2 extra points in addition to whatever it gets from the people voting, or that I get two extra votes in addition to the 6 I get to distribute among the other entries?
The entry will receive 2 additional votes, as if someone else voted for it. This does not affect the nmber of votes each participant may cast.
I do like the idea of rewarding a bonus condition with extra votes to cast - maybe I'll use that next month!
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 18:47
#5
So this blurs the line
So this blurs the line between videogames and boardgames. It will make things interesting.
If you designed say, Ipad crokinole would that be a board game or a videogame? What about a Civ style game that tracks a ton of information that you wouldn't normally be able to track? Sorta the difference between Advanced Civ and Computer Civ.
Should we punish videogames in the voting? But any game that doesn't take advantage of the hardware, and thus tap into the videogame aspects probably shouldn't get votes either.
Thu, 02/11/2010 - 19:44
#6
Up to you!
So this blurs the line between videogames and boardgames. It will make things interesting.
If you designed say, Ipad crokinole would that be a board game or a videogame? What about a Civ style game that tracks a ton of information that you wouldn't normally be able to track? Sorta the difference between Advanced Civ and Computer Civ.
Should we punish videogames in the voting? But any game that doesn't take advantage of the hardware, and thus tap into the videogame aspects probably shouldn't get votes either.
That's going to have to be left up to the individual voters for this one.
I'll note that if you're sitting around the table with your friends, even if you are playing a video game, the atmosphere is more or less that of a board game. Maybe the distinction is (or will be, pending technological advances) less the medium and more the atmosphere of the game. "Video crokinole" ion person with your buddy is different from sitting alone in a dark room with a headset playing WoW - even if you are online with other people.
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 00:19
#7
hmm we are on the cutting
hmm we are on the cutting edge of this one. Maybe the difference is that you are facing one another rather than looking in the same direction at a screen.
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 01:34
#8
Video and Board Game design
Well, indeed, videogame design sometimes (many times) involves "boardgaming" style playtesting, because cards are more easily produced and interactions are more easily simulated by them than the actual program coding. So, there are some videogame ideas that can be presented in a simpler way by a boardgame prototype than with a code blueprint of it. Of course, your prototype would be not much fun to play, but it would serve its purpose to gain easier understanding of the game elements and processes.
I say this contest is about boardgaming with a digital board. Is that boardgaming 2.0? LOL
I have an idea for this contest so be warned
I endure eternally.
Abandon every hope, ye who enter here!
Keep thinking!
Mon, 02/15/2010 - 19:55
#9
Mm - I've often considered
Mm - I've often considered that the design for all sorts of games is fundamentally the same, just with different media projecting differing constraints (Hence why pc and console implementations of boardgames are never as good as the original boardgame - Even if you're doing multiple in the same room, you're losing the element of tactility and not gaining the sophisticated features of computers (Well, at least they can add up right, and you can play with people in other continents, I guess... And they're better at shuffling. Especially if the thing being shuffled is square tiles... ) - They wind up with the disadvantages of both media... Still, good game design can survive the loss of the advantages of boardgames...), especially considering Will Wright has commented about gaming fundamentally being about 'Interesting Choices' in the past, which, well, seems to pretty much be synonymous with 'Agonizing Decision'
Now, while this GDS seems interesting (I'll certainly be voting, even if I don't come up with a design. Hopefully I'm back properly now, after being an occasional poster a few years ago. I'd say real life got in the way, except it was a degree), it's not the 'combined boardgame/videogame' concept that excites* me that it seems to be leaning towards - But it's certainly more topical than my dreams of the future of boardgames.
But, yes, I think 'boardgaming with a digital board' is a good description of what this challenge is asking for... And I also note that, in my opinion, the exercise seems futile if it doesn't require the extra tech in some way shape or form, but that form may take many forms... But as noted by others above it's forcing the entrants onto a knife-edge of boardgame vs videogame, which while it's a fascinating knife edge from a theoretical perspective, I think in reality (and possibly 'outside of this challenge,' but maybe not... Hm.) it's a line that should be ignored to see what emerges rather than strictly followed.
*Invisible computing (Enhanced Reality interfaces and/or ubiqutous computing) enhancing tactile boardgames experiences, and I don't just mean 'projecting 3d render of the Carcassonne city you and your opponent are building' style prettiness.
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 17:11
#10
GDS submission window almost closed!
You still have through tomorrow afternoon to submit an entry into the February Game Design Showdown! This month's challenge is a little outside the box - outside the game box anyway, using the iPad and iPhone as an interface... seems like a lot of creativity is available for this one!
n. Informal
[Short for application.]
A computer application.
AP (ay pee)
n. Informal
[Short for application.]
A phrase that describes a situation where the opportunity cost of decision analysis exceeds the benefits that could be gained by enacting some decision, or an informal or non-deterministic situation where the sheer quantity of analysis overwhelms the decision making process itself, thus preventing a decision. The phrase applies to any situation where analysis may be applied to help make a decision and may be a dysfunctional element of organizational behavior.
pun (puhn)
n.
The humorous use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize or suggest its different meanings or applications, or the use of words that are alike or nearly alike in sound but different in meaning; a play on words.