Actually, Dan is wrong on this one. The age on the box is 12+. But it’s not because I don’t think 10 year olds can play it (my 9 year old girl does just fine). Instead, it’s because this game is more consistent in ‘difficulty’ and ‘complexity’ with other games that list themselves as 12+.
So heck, I dunno. Best bet is to read the rule book as suggested. I think if your kids can grok Memoir (which I dearly love by the by), then they should roll with GE too!
I have to sound off on this because I really believe computer/console games would benefit greatly from the study and design of board games. Board games really break the elements of gaming into essentials. I look at designing a board game as going back to my roots more than switching over. One of the big reasons I got into making computer games is so I could play a board game by myself!
Looks nice, I’ll be buying it soon. “Gotta support the team”, … and play boardgames too!!! :p
This reminds me of a bit I saw in Game Informer a few moths ago, in the article about the forthcoming Command and Conquer FPS. Apparently, they designed a bunch of boardgame prototypes to test out the design of various systems, multiplayer modes, etc. They had pictures of a couple. I thought it was a pretty neat idea then, and I wonder how widespread the practice is.
So, Adam and Dave, you guys are in Indy? Any chance you’ll have this up for demos at GenCon come August?
Dan. DAN. Dave’s my older brother, you have no IDEA what dark memories of schoolteachers calling me “Dave” you’re recalling!
Yeah, we’ll definitely be there. In fact, we’re running a fun little Galactic Emperor tournament.
Damn, you guys are making me want to pick up my design of “Tee Pee” again.
Wow, I’d love to see a write-up and pics!
The thing you’ll learn from making a board game is how to pack rules into the relationship of elements rather than having to constantly rely on the number crunching under the hood
Congrats to Adam and Dave. This thread brought me indirectly to this one, and that was enough for a preorder. And it also drove me out of lurking for, er, a few years now.
So the game better be good! [/shakes fist]
Agree 100%…I started with board games, and my designs are still heavily influenced by board and card games. PC designers could definitely benefit from spending some time with high-quality board game designs. My new company is basically board/card game hybrids of various ilks adapted for the PC.
Derek
MindToy Games
www.mindtoygames.com
I tried to take a similar board game/card game approach when I made my PC strategy title, and I’ve got a couple of board game prototypes floating around that I hope to fully cultivate some day.
I think it’s easiest to leverage board game mechanics and/or philosophies in strategy games, but I find it pretty exciting to hear cases like the C&C FPS where they try to leverage some of those ideas.
Hey! I remember that- I was in the playtest group for Your/Jason’s post apocalyptic thing. That was fun.
This must be the one time I wish I had kept an issue of GI. I get 'em, flip through them, read one or two articles, and into the recycle bin they go.
This might drive you back into lurking for another few years.
If you were responding to my post, then I think the board game you’re thinking of was all Jason. I was at one of the playtest sessions, but that was definitely his baby. It was a pretty cool design. If it had any issues, I think it’s that it suffered from being 2 distinct (and each great) games being crammed into one oversized design.
Jason and I were working together on a different, post-apocolypticish PC-based project around the same time (which I’ve recently started working again as a grassroots hobbyist thing), so maybe that’s the source of the confusion.
But back on topic, I think I’ll have to scrape together the scrilla to order me a copy. I’d love to support a member of the community, and my collection could use another gem.
I’m sure Hiro’s own boardgame designs are better thought-out and more playable than that playtest game, which was a mess of my own making. What you’re probably remembering was that it used a setting and units that I developed for a PC game he was working on. So he’s at least partly responsible for its existence, but I take full responsibility for the poor design :)
EDIT: Never fast enough…
Welcome, Diddums, and thanks for the link. That’s a great “making-of” story, Adam!
Yeah, that’s the one I was thinking of, and I didn’t think the design was that poor. I’ve come to realize that some games are just like that. Some people I’m playing in a wargame campaign with play Titan every Thursday- and have for the last 15 years or something absurd. I was questioning them about the mini battleboard in that game, and how long fights take to resolve on it- I was told ‘anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour’. ‘What do the other players do?’ ‘stand around and watch’. Look at the hype that game’s getting over the reprint. I think a bunch of the other systems in the game were neat, too (the wildly asymmetrical sides/win conditions especially, and of course the art)
Sorry for derailing the discussion. I’ll go preorder your game as pennance, guys (and because I think the idea of a TI3-like game playable in under 2 hours sounds fucking great.)
Keep the faith, Derek. I love your stuff!
It might well at that. Sorry Dav–I mean, Dan. Looking forward to the game.