Game Design Forum

In typical wargames there is no player input outside of the movement phase and no chance within the movement phase - you move your pieces a predetermined amount and the positioning of those pieces then dictates the probability of success in resulting combat. I believe I've mentioned this earlier, but I'll say it again: that's not a bad thing! In fact, it matches very closely to the commander's point of view of battles throughout history - they have maps in front of them, send out orders to units to hold, maneuver, or attack, try to understand the disposition and intent of the enemy forces, and wait for updates about units in combat. But I don't like it for a skirmish game, or any game that isn't attempting to be a military simulation really. I want player involvement throughout the game, a game caulk full of meaningful decisions that players can agonize over. In Blast of War players have a choice with each movement action - allow units to walk at a set pace,...

One of my design goals for Blast of War is to avoid allowing total victory, the total elimination of your opponent, to be the most common method of victory. Assuming all goes well the "will" mechanic I am using will provide a manipulable upper bound to game length that will encourage players to attempt to achieve objective that provide victory points at the end of the game. My current problem is how to create those objectives in a way that rewards intelligent play, can create an organic narrative to the battles - even pick-up games, and makes total victory a risky strategy. As this blog is more a design notebook for me and less intended for general viewing (which is good, as I'd be very disappointed with the number of visitors otherwise) I'm going to discuss the types of victory conditions I've seen in tabletop games then roll over to rambling about ideas that might help meet my design goals for BoW. Narrative Scenarios I am a huge fan of narrative scenarios...

As a kid who grew up playing Battle Masters, Star Fleet Battles and SPI/Avalon Hill hex map games I learned to appreciate the value of hexes to simplify movement and terrain rules. Have you ever heard someone argue line-of-sight rules in a game using a hex map? I thought not - nor will you run into "front of base" vs. "center of base" measuring silliness. Now that my nephews are playing and loving Battle Masters I've been toying with improving the game by, you know, having the players need to make decisions! With that in mind here is a simple set of rules I cooked up - remember it is intended as a gateway game that still includes player decisions. QUAD Setup Units have four stats - Quality, Unit Speed (I admit this one is a naming stretch), Attack, and Defense. Each player requires a deck of regular playing cards and a few D6. Players begin by identifying each unit with a number card (10's represent my heavy cavalry, etc.) and taking 3 of that card a...

Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial Era Wargames Page This blog has come up so many place where people have been inspired to return to wargaming, try new project, or play The Sword and The Flame. It hasn't been active for a ling time, but thanks to the wonders of internet archiving you and I can still enjoy the riveting battle reports and humorous anecdotes (How can my Scots die? I just painted them last night!). Contains how-to articles on terrain design, gaming philosophy, and a load of battle reports to enjoy. The Major General via the Wayback Machine Delta Vector Delta Vector offers critical evaluation of both game rules and an insightful look into wargame design. The main platform of Delta Vector as a game critic is the inclusion of "decision points" (his term) in a game - that is, when and where does the player make a decision about how his units will act. A decision point is not rolling dice but rather where they move, who tries to move, who...

In Blast of War (BoW), my skirmish miniatures game, I had three design goals for the activation portion of the game. 1) Player Involvement      Too often I play (and design) games in which the player is only making decisions in the movement phase. In a typical game turn - activation (or initiative), movement, ranged combat, close combat - the active player is alternating or determined by a roll of the dice, that player then makes decisions about where to move their units, then dice are rolled to determine the effect of shooting, then dice are rolled to determine the effect of close combat. So out of four phases in the turn a player is only making decisions in one phase. 2) Create Battles the "Swing"      History is full of battles where one side was making ground at one point, then something shifted and the other side began to see success. Some battles saw these shifts happen many times through the course of a battle, sometimes associated with an eve...

Creativity is a community effort. The following four categories cover my favorite styles of games, and for each category I've included the four games with the greatest influence on my ideas of gameplay elements - and I will only be commenting on the unique features of the games, not writing a thorough reveiw. My hope for this post is to get your thoughts on the games that have influenced me and to hear the rule sets and designers that have influenced you. Grand Strategy -      Shogun (Samurai Swords/Ikusa) - Features of this game include a resource allocation phase allowing players to allocate their resources in a variety of influential options, multiple units with a phased combat sequence lending more player involvement than simply rolling dice and removing the weakest units. What really sets Shogun apart though is its concept of provincial forces and armies. Each player starts the game with three armies, led by irreplaceable daimyos, outside of which a player is res...

Working Name: Asteroid Miner Design Goals: fast play, aiming for 15-20 minutes per game                         family/social game                         no player elimination Design Features: no randomization                             all actions are pre-planned by laying, face down, the action you will take                             variable difficulty set by the number of moves ahead a player must plan Description:      In Asteroid Miner each player takes the role of a mining pods' pilot, racing through an asteroid field trying to outmaneuver each other and collect the most minerals. Players hold identical hands of action cards allowing them to, among other actions, accelerate, turn, and...

Welcome! I have been designing games - typically tabletop war games and grand strategy games (Axis and Allies, etc.) since about seven years old. I have notebook after notebook filled with designs and scattered to the four corners of my home, so when I come up with a new rule set and want to incorporate something from a past work-in-progress it takes a cross between Sherlock Holmes and American Pickers to find it. The Game Design Forum is intended to be my design notebook moving forward with the intent that a) I will be able to find my notes and b) the comments will provide feedback, insights, and suggestions for the rules as my - creative? - process moves forward.