So much of the conversation about a game’s design bounces from the very broad to the very specific without stopping to consider what really matters: the human emotion game dynamics give rise to. But if designers can spend more time at this level they can make more innovative games. If there was one maxim every designer should know by now, it’s this: “Different strokes for different folks”: We know that what precisely makes a good game is incredibly subjective. Even when conditions are ideal – a perfect teach, the right amount of space and time for the game to occupy, quantity of noise or quality of ambience and a willing audience – no one game can be guaranteed to please...
In my second adventure into forging designer-focused reviews, I start my look at the well-loved co-op Flashpoint: Fire Rescue and go for the world record number of colons in a blog post title. If you haven’t played this game, please read the BGG link for a description. While this review will cover a broad outline of some game mechanisms, it will assume some prior knowledge. Player activity summary Flashpoint is a co-operative game very much in the 'traditional' mode popularised chiefly by Pandemic: players are pitted against a random jeopardy creation mechanic which - if left unchecked - will result in them being overwhelmed; in this case, by fire in a house. They attain victory by reaching a given score...
In my first foray into trying to create a design orientated “functional” boardgame review, I look at a game I have distinctly mixed feelings about: Century: Golem Edition Why this approach and a crucial caveat As I explored in my previous post on the topic, what I want to create is the kind of review I want to read more than any other. A review that really gets under the skin of how a game operates, for the benefit of an audience of designers. Not a description of the mechanics, but the bit where the real magic happens: how the mechanics create experience. It seems from the success and interest in my previous post that this is something other people...
There’s something missing from the boardgame review landscape. This is what I think it might be – and what I am going to experiment with to fill it. Why even bother with more reviews? I’ve wanted to do more reviews for a long time, but I’ve not had the courage to even make the effort. It’s not just that the space seems saturated; everyone seems to have a review-oriented youtube channel or a blog these days. But that the prospect of trying is genuinely daunting, because so many of the reviewers out there are doing what they do so well. While most reviews may still only be exploring their subject at a relatively basic level, as the recent editorial from...
Last week, I posted about why making print and plays is a great thing for designers to do. This week, I navigate my first two creations and see what I can learn from the whole process. My first time: Cutting stuff up with Barbers! The first game I set-about printing and creating myself was Barbers!, a game designed to fit into a mint tin about cutting the head and facial hair of people in a barber shop. I first discovered it when it’s creator Harshad Deshmukh was looking for testers for a solo mode of the game. Given it was small but had a quirky intriguing theme, lots of fun looking artwork and involved trying to do useful things with...
