Fair Play
Posted by Jason on August 7th, 2010 — in Design, Medical Hospital
Turns out Medical Hospital has a lot of moving parts. There’s a die mechanic that relies on three dice that are always visible on the table. There are 18 objects that can be bought and stolen during the game with the currency you gain (or lose) through surgery, and the surgery itself is very equipment and paper intensive. The currency also needs to be tracked. The easiest way to handle all this is to atomize each of the 18 elements onto a little card, which can literally change hands. People understand this. But it poses two problems. First, production – packaging 18 cards is just a pain on a number of levels. And second, it clutters the playing area to an insane degree, and playtesting shows this is not OK. The surgery itself is hugely cluttered and full of mess (which is very appropriate and fun).
So I’m thinking about trying to consolidate all the stuff onto pages that you can write on, record sheets that tell you:
1. Who the player-surgeons are
2. How much currency they currently have
3. The status of the dice, as well as instruction about what that means
4. The status of each object and who controls it
That’s a lot.
Here’s a Here’s a revised example…I am actively killing my darlings. Complications are gone, relegated to an optional component. Here’s some post-playtest detritus.
I am not sure if this remains too dense, too complex, too hard to use. Let me know what you think, approaching it strictly from the point of view of the usability of the materials. Thanks!
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Posted by Jason on July 22nd, 2010 — in Check this out dude, Design
“Tell me no more! O monstrous homicides!” – Isabella, The Spanish Tragedy
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Posted by Jason on June 21st, 2010 — in Design
I’m judging Little Game Chef again. It is like Giant Game Chef, only with actual rules and a winner. This year’s theme: Comedy! Here are the rules.
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Posted by Jason on June 4th, 2010 — in Check this out dude, Design
Love in the Time of Seið is now available for purchase!
Love in the Time of Seið was designed by myself and Matthijs Holter, and is based on his excellent game Archipelago II. Like Archipelago, this is a low-prep, quick playing story game type deal. Unlike Archipelago, this game provides very strong situation and guidance. There are five tightly-interconnected characters, compelling locations and events, and everything you need to get to the good stuff immediately.
40 pages, ten bucks, five bucks for the PDF. We’re very proud of this game and hope you enjoy it! This isn’t a BPG product, just a one-off thing Matthijs and I cooked up.
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Posted by Jason on April 19th, 2010 — in 9 Roosevelts, Check this out dude, Design
In honor the world’s first playtest at Nerdly Beach Party…
Will, Ryan, Laura and Paul are playing Nine Roosevelts Against the Impossible.
Ryan, playing The Colonel, is Roosevelt Prime. He describes the Roosevelts tramping through the scrubby, sweltering forests of 1898 Cuba, and stumbling into the middle of a Prussian military camp! Prussians? In America’s back yard? Roosevelt Prime lets out a war-whoop and leads an ill-considered charge!
Paul, playing TR-9000, lumbers into a hail of withering Prussian gunfire, instantly identifying himself as Hero Roosevelt. Since Paul has three white chips left and nothing else, he elects to use leadership, rallying the rest of the Roosevelts in the attack. “I want to whip the entire Prussian camp,” he says, and Ryan is OK with that. Paul puts forward all three white chips. Since this leaves him with nothing, which could be lethal, he chooses to take a new chip as his prize. Figuring some violence is in the future, he takes a red one.
Ryan, as Roosevelt Prime, can either stay Roosevelt Prime or introduce his Theme. He knows Laura’s Theme – Treachery – would be perfect here while his – Love – seems like a weird fit. He also enjoys being Roosevelt Prime, so he takes that and gives Laura the last prize, introducing her Theme.
Will describes the Prussian camp and the battle underway, and the four players spend a few minutes one-upping each other in over-the-top lunacy. TR-9000 sprouts steam-powered battle flags. They finally reach a point where they really need to know whether TR-9000 succeeds or fails.
Paul rolls three dice. They come up 2, 2, and 5 – a success, but with Reality Burn! He loses all three chips. Paul begins to describe TR-9000 directing the Roosevelts and protecting Roosevelt Prime before being overcome with nth-dimensional interference. Laura jumps in with some treachery! The Mambie irregulars supporting the Prussians suddenly switch sides and join TR-9000 and his fellow selves. In the commander’s tent – evidence of black magic. And the Prussian commander has slipped away…
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