Len Stemberger is a designer in the North Houston design group. He is currently developing an area control game which features marker manipulation–placing and moving markers. His core engagement is to keep players constantly jockeying for position in as many areas as possible at all times. With this core engagement in mind, we began looking […]
Playtesters are the sole authority of their own experience. There is not a single person in existence better qualified to comment on the player’s experience than the player herself. We designers need our playtesters to share their experiences with us. It is critical to gather as much of these as possible. It would be ideal […]
What are the landmark games? Which games created genres? Or perfected them? Or changed the way we look at them? Here’s my list. I’d love to see yours. Rummy Games At its core, rummy games are remarkably simple. Draw a card. Build patterns in your hand (put these patterns into play on the table […]
Greg Costikyan has enjoyed a career to make any game designer proud. He was the locus RPG design when he authored the first Star Wars RPG for West End Games and Toon for Steve Jackson Games. He defined the fringes of RPG design with his deconstructionist works Paranoia and Violence. He understands the science of games […]
Protospiel Houston is only three days away and Protospiel Milwaukee is just one little week behind. Designers–aspiring or otherwise–five hundred miles in every direction are scrambling to prep that game that just almost ALMOST works and get it in front of the crowd with the skill to push it through. Successful playtesting comes in three […]
There will be two Protospiel events this month. March 14 – 16 will see its first appearance here in Houston. March 21 – 23 will see its return to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Protospiel events are big game design parties. Most of the attendees are authors, carrying work that varies in completion from “heading to the printer” […]
Our last column looked at several hypothetical cases to illuminate the proper use of asymmetric card decks. In this column, we look at four examples which are not at all hypothetical. These are published games which feature asymmetry. I found that each one found an interesting way to make asymmetry serve its core engagement. […]
Last time, we compared the schemes at scoring small sets. Each scheme has its own advantages and disadvantages and comparing them enabled us to identify those qualities and how they can serve our core engagement. Today, we move on to larger sets. Comparing The Schemes It is important to keep in mind that these […]
Last time, we looked at schemes for scoring sets. Each scheme has its own advantages and disadvantages. Putting these schemes side-by-side will enable us to identify those qualities and how they can serve our core engagement. Comparing The Schemes It is important to understand first that these schemes tend to change character as the […]
One of the principles of success is the ability to prioritize challenges. With that done, energy can be assigned appropriately. Important challenges get priority attention while less important challenges get less attention. Play-Driven Games Some games are built around engaging play elements that demand its accompanying scoring system be simple and quiet. Scoring needs to […]
Kevin G Nunn 