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Okay, so in order to make the game more attractice to the general public and to significantly reduce the cost of the dice component, one recommendation I have received has been to toss the concept of combat using different dice types (d4, d6, d8, d10) and simplify back to the ‘standard’ d6. The main pro is cost. Six-sided dice can be produced in bulk for next to nothing whereas the other dice types are considered ‘specialty dice’ and generally only used by roleplayers and available through specialty manufacturers. The ‘general public’ have very little understanding of these other dice types; some may even find their use confusing. All good reasons Continue reading Elegance vs. Simplicity in Dice Combat→

Post Geekend 2013, an annual convention of roleplayers and boardgamers held each year in Mangaweka, as well as various meetings and conversations with gamers and industry folk, I have begun a large-scale rules revision. The point of this is to move the game closer to a commercial footing where all elements are simplified and rationalised wherever possible and components are tweaked in preparation for further playtesting. This has a cascade effect throughout the entire rules system – for example, one piece of feedback was that my choice of using different types of dice to represent the various factions in combat over-complicates the game and that I should instead look to Continue reading Rules Revisions→

So in June, I took the latest iteration of the game to Geekend – an annual informal get-together of friends who boardgame and roleplay – for some much-needed playtesting. This is actually only the second time the game has been in play and a lot of work has gone into making changes to improve the game from when it debuted in 2011. Ideally, I would have a dedicated group of seasoned boardgamers in my garage working 24/7, providing me with a stream of feedback so that I could tweak the game and then re-test on an endless agile ‘wash and repeat’ cycle until it is ‘right’ (the ideal state). The Continue reading Emergent Properties in Gameplay→

Originally the concept of ‘Sympathetic Magic’ – where Great Old Ones gain additional power from occupying two or more Nodes in an Alchemical Ring – was intended as a Rule Variant. However, play-testing revealed some game balance issues that moving it into the main rules of play hopefully addresses in the early phases of the game. Particularly the  Ether/Yellow player, being at the terminus of the Nodes, experienced distance issues when moving around the board. Certainly deciding which Nodes to occupy so as to be able to move your forces towards locations that feature as part of the winning condition is vital and Ether (and to a lesser extent Fire) Continue reading Sympathetic Magic & Game Balance→

One area of concern in any game is ‘down time’ – the amount of time other players spend waiting until they get to do something. This is an issue of meta-game balance and is probably one of the hardest areas to get right. Tactical games that involve moving resources around and making decisions based on fluctuating fortunes are particularly prone to players spending time considering their actions more carefully, and this has the inevitable effect of slowing play. This can be particularly frustrating if you are the last player to act in a game turn, so down time is to be minimised wherever possible. Even games that involve complex asset Continue reading ‘Down Time’ in Game Play→