FallCon - A Cornucopia of Gaming

Here's a new video that we made for Fallcon 22. This is just to whet your appetite for Fallcon 23! Hope you enjoy it!

Are you game?



See you at Fallcon 23!
Tweet

Where is your focus in this Game?

 I am a die-hard “cult of the new” guy, one of the reasons is because I really enjoy the transition in my focus from mechanics to competition. It is during that transition phase where different paths emerge from the mists of the rules and strategy and tactics come into focus. I want to make meaningful decisions in my game that have an effect both on my position and my opponents.  I enjoy exploring new games because they have the opportunity to open up different strategies and tactics using the resources the components and rules provide.

I played “At the Gates of Loyang” (AGL) the other evening for the first time. The players consisted of; one fellow who had played the game many times, one fellow who had played once before and 2 of us who had never played before. The players were all experienced gamers with a wide variety of gaming tastes amongst them. The game lasted for just over 3.5 hours with rule explanations. This is not a review of AGL, but playing it triggered a realization for me that has been brewing for a while regarding many of the newer games from the past couple of years. I am using AGL to illustrate my points, because it is so fresh in my mind and it is now the poster child for me of a game that is seriously lacking in interesting focus.

When I sit down to play a game like AGL you could probably break down my focus into four main areas, Mechanics, Systems, Competition, and Goals. Keep in mind that in a game like AGL I differentiate between a System and Strategy. The amount of focus I dedicate to each of those four areas varies wildly depending on a lot of factors. Briefly, I would define the four areas as such:

Mechanics: How the components work, or interact together. For example in AGL when you plant a field, you take one vegetable from your Cart card and put it on one of the spaces on the Field card, then fill the rest of the field spaces with the same vegetable. Another example would be when you fulfill a customer’s order; you take the vegetables from your Cart card and place them on the Customer card. The rules tell you how the components mechanically work.

Systems: How the Mechanics blend or work together. For example in AGL when you want to fulfill a Customer’s order, you first need to have previously planted a Field (from your Cart), then on a following turn you harvested one vegetable from the Field (back into your Cart), then you take the vegetables from your Cart, place them on the Customer’s order card and collect the money for the sale. To take the example one step further, you can then spend the money to buy victory points. That is an example of one path or system to getting victory points. I do not call this a strategy because really…that’s the primary method the game uses to generate victory points.

Competition: The degrees to which one player’s resources interact with another player’s resources. For example in AGL there is a phase in the game where all players start with a hand of four cards and then take turns either adding cards to a common pool, or dropping out, discarding their whole hand and taking one card from the common pool. If you only have one card left in your hand you play it into your area and also take one of the remaining cards from the common pool. Each player on their turn decides if one of the cards they hold in their hand is better than the cards offered in the common pool.  There is competition for the cards because obviously you want take the better cards for yourself before your opponents do.

Goals: Both short term and long term. For example in AGL the long term goal is to amass the most Victory points to win. A Short term goal would be to plant the all specific vegetables in fields a customer requires for the next four rounds.

Generally when faced with a new game, obviously, the mechanics and basic systems are the primary focus. The faster my grasp of the mechanics come the faster my focus will shift towards the more exciting parts of the game, advanced systems and both kinds of goals. In any game I play the competition focus for me starts as a sliver at the beginning and hopefully by the end of the game the lion’s share of my focus is on the competitive aspect.

In my recent play of AGL it took me a couple of rounds to understand the mechanics and simple systems, a couple more rounds to understand the more advanced systems and both short and long term goals. Then…nothing. I lifted my head from my playing area and looked around for the competition…and everybody else at the table had their head down, focused on their playing area moving vegetables around between cards and tiles…and that’s it. When they finished their turn, the head came up and the inevitable question followed; “Is everybody done?” Wow. For the entire rest of the game I could not care less what my opponents were doing and they could not care less what I was doing because there was only one way for me to interfere with what they were doing; have a Helper card that allowed me to do something to them. If you don’t have a helper card, there is no point to bother even watching them. Put your head down, fiddle your pieces around between cards and tiles, buy some Victory points…then sit back and ask “So how many points did you get this turn?” Rinse and repeat for the rest of the game.

The single phase where there is any competition focus in AGL is during card selection. Even this competition is fairly muted because you can choose to keep one of the cards in your hand until the end and play it in your own play area and there is nothing anybody else can do to stop you. There is the competition to amass the most points in the nine rounds, which actually is the point of the game. The way you do that is to figure out the systems more efficiently than the other players.

Games that do not eventually shift to a competitive focus feel more like an activity or a puzzle to me.  Some folks would call these games “Multi-player Solitaire” game, but that’s not quite accurate. I have used the term “Process Optimization” to describe some games in the past, and I think it fits perfectly. The way to win is to optimize your systems/processes and the resources that come your way better than I can optimize my systems/processes and the resources that come my way. That just does not sound fun and really sounds more like work.

I enjoy games that have a transition from learning the mechanics to the competition. Give me a focus on meaningful strategic and tactical decisions over a focus on process optimization in my games.

Where do you like your focus?

Peace,
Brent Lloyd

Tweet

Howdy folks!

This is the Fourth installment of our first interview series with local gamers, designers and game shop owners. The first series is with members of the

Game Artisans of Canada, a homegrown Alberta group of boardgame designers.

They are officially joining us this year at FallCon to showcase a lineup of their best prototypes. All of these games are fairly late in development, there are no raw designs, and some of these games have already been submitted to publishers! Now you have an opportunity to play the game and offer your comments on the game play…before it even goes public!
  

 This Interview is with Rob Bartel. Rob is a prolific designer based out of Edmonton who currently works as a designer for BioWare, an Edmonton based video game studio. Seems like a great and natural fit! He will be running three official tournaments this year at FallCon. Busy Guy! He is highlighting a series of small fast play games he has designed in a series reminiscent of sports from the golden era. I have play tested a couple of these and I really like the idea and play of the games.

What are your current favorite three games and why?

Power Grid - This game includes such a wide array of different mechanics in such an elegant way. As long as there's one experienced player there to handle the nuances of the power plant deck, it flows very smoothly.

Container - The economic model can be brittle sometimes but it's so unique and interesting in how it plays out. Certain aspects of it are almost cooperative because you want your opponents to be wealthy enough to buy your goods. The fact that a local Alberta publisher (Valley Games) publishes it is just icing on the cake.

Small World - The game can seem intimidating at first glance and there is a lot of strategic depth and variability to it. The actual game play is very easy to play and simple to teach, however, to the point where I could see introducing it to non-gamers (provided the light-hearted fantasy theme works for them). We'll see if it continues to hold my attention over the coming months and years but, for the time being, it's on my hot list.

How long have you been playing games? What’s your earliest recollection of playing a game?

I grew up on the mass-market classics like Clue, Risk, Operation, and the Game of Life. My cousins were farmers and the Farming Game often came out when we visited, as did Pit and Stock Ticker. On the other side of the family, the speed game Dutch Blitz was almost a family tradition. Games seemed to be everywhere when I was a kid and that probably has a lot to do with my attachment to the hobby today.

Have we heard about any of your games yet? What is the status of them?

I've signed four games with publishers at this point and the first is scheduled to come out this November. It's possible that some pre-press copies will be available in time for FallCon and will be available for play there.

That would be great Rob, make sure you hook up with me, I would love to have a look at it.

How long have you been designing or tinkering with designing a boardgame?

I was introduced to game design back in 1994 when I was introduced to a RISK variant that captured my imagination and I continued to tinker with and evolve that variant over the years. Boardgame design didn't became a major hobby for me until the fall of 2006, however, when I was first introduced to the new game play coming out of the eurogame movement. Since that point, I haven't looked back.

What was the first boardgame you designed? What ever happened to the design?

The first boardgame I designed from scratch was Caribe, a strategy game about colonizing the Caribbean islands in the age of sail. I sent it around to some international design competitions in France and Italy where it always placed highly. In 2007 it won the Hippodice Award (Germany) for Best Full-Length Game. Despite the accolades, however, it's still looking for a publisher.

Where do you start the design process?

It varies. Some of my games start from taking an existing game design in a radically new direction. Caribe, a 90-minute strategic brain burner, began with the concept of taking a speed-based card game like Dutch Blitz and playing it out in slow motion. Others begin with a cool theme or with an innovative mechanic that I want to explore. Still others come from a particular emotion I want to evoke or from specific component limitations that I impose upon myself.

What’s the creative spark that gets you excited about one of your designs?

Much like my design process, I find inspiration from a wide range of sources. I'm not prone to designer's block so there never seems to be a shortage of ideas so it's just a matter of picking the ones that excite me and following through. Sometimes games get abandoned once the excitement for them fades; sometimes they just get put on the shelf temporarily while I work on another design.

What are your favorite game mechanics?

At this point, I don't have any specific game mechanics like Gerdts' Rondel or Knizia's auctions that I find myself repeatedly returning to. Perhaps I'll settle into a specific game play style or choice of mechanics over time but, for the time being, my games remain fairly diverse.

What themes (if any) are your favorites?

I work with a lot of fantasy and science fiction themes as part of my day job so, for the most part, I find that my boardgames tend to explore real-world themes of a more historic or modern nature.

Can you let us in on any designs you are currently working on?

Sure. I can't talk about any of my games that have been signed for publication until they're officially announced but the big project I'm working on right now is a series of vintage sport-themed card games that I'll be self-publishing in 2010 under the Famous Games label. There are currently six games in the series (baseball, tennis, car racing, football, hockey, and golf) each of them designed for two players and half-hour playtimes. They're small enough to fit in your pocket or take on the plane and will be affordable enough that you can purchase the whole series for less than you'd spend on a single typical board game. I'll be hosting some Famous Games tournaments at FallCon on the Saturday and Sunday so sign up early to secure your spot. 

Can’t wait to try them Rob, the covers look very attractive. See you at FallCon in a couple of weeks!

Thanks for the interview Rob, good luck on getting some of your designs published and with your future ideas.

 Peace

 

 

Tweet

Howdy folks!

This is the Third installment of our first interview series with local gamers, designers and game shop owners. The first series is with members of the Game Artisans of Canada, a homegrown Alberta group of boardgame designers.

They are officially joining us this year at FallCon to showcase a lineup of their best prototypes. All of these games are fairly late in development, there are no raw designs, and some of these games have already been submitted to publishers! Now you have an opportunity to play the game and offer your comments on the game play…before it even goes public!

This Interview is with Dylan Kirk. Dylan (AKA Wen Xiang) is a local Calgary designer who currently lives and works in Shanghai "doing all sorts of things". He will not be running any official tournaments this year at FallCon, but I am sure if he is able to attend he will be seen floating around the open gaming area with his recently published game Genji. Perhaps you could get him to autograph your copy!

What are your current favorite three games and why?

Go. This is the masterwork of all games. No other game comes close to it in purity, strategy, and philosophical depth. The interplay of atsusa and moyo, of extension and penetration, and of strategy and tactics make this a game for the ages. It's a game for the whole brain; a game to live, not simply to play.

Xiang Qi. IMHO the best of the Chess family. With only a half-rank of pawns, the games start fast and have a tendency toward the offensive right from the get go. The cannon is a unique piece and adds another tactical layer to the play: not only can you force the opponent onto the defense through aggressive play, but you can, through the creative placement of your cannon, deny him the opportunity to defend in certain places.

Viktory II. Admittedly, I would probably rather be playing a good, tabletop miniatures wargame than anything else in the world, but as a working dad I simply can't get the table time anymore. Nowadays, I have come to love ViktoryII as something of a replacement for my tabletop wargames and Star Fleet Battles. ViktoryII is fast, aggressive, has elements of both tactics and strategy, and forces the players into strategic compromises.

I agree Go is a fascinating game. I once read that the fastest way to learn Go was to lose your first 200 games as quick as you can.

How long have you been playing games? What’s your earliest recollection of playing a game

Started with chess at the age of 5 or 6, and that game is still my earliest recollection. I remember clearly being soundly beaten by my dad and not letting him away from the table until I had exhausted all possible board configurations to try to save my king. Of course, when all was said and done, I cried like a little baby. Obviously the loss didn't affect my future love of boardgames.

Have we heard about any of your games yet? What is the status of them?

Genji has been on store shelves for a while, and I have a few other games in the pipe, but nothing else is on the road to publication at the moment. I'm currently doing work on a space combat card game, a custom deck of cards with six suits, a game about Soviet collective farming called Kulak, and an abstract wargame about the Long March.

 

How long have you been designing or tinkering with designing a boardgame?

Forever. When I was in Elementary School I would get books about games and try to build the boards. In grade 6 I started into Dungeons and Dragons in a big way, and we of course made house rules for that. I had also started work on an Ironclad wargame in grade 6 that allowed players to build their ships with points on either a Monitor style or Merrimac style hull. I designed a couple games in Jr. and Sr. High school, and then in University during my war history degree my friends and I did all sorts of unholy things to Axis and Allies.

What was the first boardgame you designed? What ever happened to the design?

I'd have to say the first complete boardgame I designed was in Jr. or Sr. High. It was an abstract that allowed for different moves based on the configuration of your pieces on the board. I may resuscitate that one for a print and play game, it was actually rather good as I recall.

Where do you start the design process?

Experience. I start with an experience I want to have. For example, I want to know what decisions I might have to make as a commander of a tank troop, so I'll want to play a game that simulates those decisions adequately to satisfy my curiosity. If no game does so, I make my own.

For my space combat game, I did a lot of research regarding what games were out there, and the large proportion of them didn't seem to encompass the experience I wanted in the game. I started to design my own that was a break from the games I researched. Sometimes reading about something on wikipedia will excite me enough to think "I wonder what went through his head when he made that decision?" or "what would I have done when presented with a similar set of circumstances?". Then I will build a game with that theme and mechanics that try - as close as possible - to recreate some of the problem solving that went into that situation.

What's the creative spark that gets you excited about one of your designs?

The "eureka" moment when theme and mechanic begin to sing in tune. That point after a lot of sitting around and reading and sketching and card layout and charting turns into one beautiful whole.

What are your favorite game mechanics?

I haven't any. I kind of reject the idea of design from mechanics as too tactical an approach. Mechanics must fit the game, not the game the mechanic. If a mechanic that emerges in my game fits a certain classification, that's not intentional, it just happened to be the mechanic that fit. Even if I use mechanics that have been used before, I still design them from the ground up each time.

What themes (if any) are your favorites?

History, war, and politics. That's what I've studied my whole young life, my whole school career, and it's what I continue to do today, to a degree. The problems and experiences in these subject areas are simply limitless.

Can you let us in on any designs you are currently working on?

Well, I am certainly ready to get down to play testing this space combat game, and I wish more people would give me feedback about a little abstract I made called Block Kriegspiel. I've also got this card deck in the works, but there's no secret about that one, it's mainly revolving around how fast I can do the art. Every card will have its own Norse mythology picture on it. The art is somewhere between Alphonse Mucha, Nordic knotwork, and Marvel comics.

Sounds interesting Dylan. Hopefully if you can attend FallCon we will see some of these prototypes. I would really like to try your Space Combat game, and the Long March game sounds interesting as well.

Thanks for the interview Dylan, good luck on your future designs!

Peace

Tweet