I like the thought experiment of what chess would ...

2010-09-02T12:33:00.545-04:00

I like the thought experiment of what chess would be like if made as a eurogame. My guess:

*Players would have a set number of movement points to spend each turn, which they could divide up between pieces.
*A player can move either color's pieces, but to move a piece, you need to spend a card matching that piece from hand
*Each piece you capture is worth a certain number of victory points
*The game ends when one color advances a pawn to the last rank or loses all of its pawns
*Since colors don't belong to players, up to 5 players can play

Great question! First, I need to knock out a quic...

2010-09-01T21:50:04.737-04:00

Great question!

First, I need to knock out a quick point that a friend of mine made about complexity vs. complication. He was talking about computer systems, but he used a game analogy.

Chess is complex. You can fit all the rules on one side of notebook page, but you won't live long enough to fully master the game.

Mousetrap is complicated. It has many moving parts, but the engine behind it is a straight line with little variation. It's half a step above Chutes and Ladders.

Complex systems, and games, are wonderful. Complicated systems, and games, might be entertaining, but they cannot deliver long term.

Anyway, I was thinking the other day about chess. I pondered - what would chess be like if it had been developed today, in Germany.

* It would have just shy of 700 pieces.
* You would have to buy or trade something before you could move a piece.
* It would have to allow 2 - 5 players.
* Some of the best pieces would only be available in certain countries.
* Once check was declared, the threatened player would be allowed to negotiate himself out of the situation.

I dunno. It's a half-baked idea. I don't mean to knock Eurogames. It's just that once in a while I have to sit back and say "Holy carp - that has a LOT of stuff going on there."

I love Carcassonne and a few others. I'd rather play Tsuro or cribbage than Settlers of Catan or Dominion. I'm not saying that the latter games are only complicated (from my earlier point), but I will say that the kind of strategic "ah ha!" reward they provide is not my cup of tea.

Similarly, I used to have just about every Munchkin product known to man - but I had only played the game once or twice many years ago. Last year, I sat down and actually played a few of them for several hours. After a few games, the giggles faded and the frustration came in. I put the lot on eBay the next week. It's a fun diversion, but it's all theme and very little game. Like Mousetrap.

Comments on Game Designer Wannabe: Economy of Design

I like the thought experiment of what chess would ...

Great question! First, I need to knock out a quic...