Any game designer probably knows this. It’s easy to have an idea. Changing it to something that actually works is the key.
Still, dreaming of ideas is so much fun, so I want to share some (crazy) ideas about games or mechanics in this post. Feel free to use it if you like it (send me a percentage of the royalty 😉 ).
non-competitive game
A game where any number of players can win or lose. Each player has their own goal and whoever achieves the goal before the game is over wins.
For best results, a significant amount of player interaction is required, and this interaction should be both “positive” and “negative” (see this post for more information on the different types of player interaction). This can be done in an “economical” environment. If I deliver iron to the city, I can turn it into a weapon. The third player can then use it to defeat the attacking dragon. But of course if player 4 delivers that iron before you I’ll take hers, not yours. And if player 4 defeats the dragon, he can attack me more easily.
The result will be where players collaborate and compete with each other.
There are semi-cooperative games that do something like this, but what I’ve found is that there are usually “core” goals that must be met, and once they’ve been met there can be other winners or losers. There is no core goal in my proposal, but in reality each player wants to optimize for themselves (while interacting with other players).
asynchronous game
I imagine a game on my little table top at home and one of my friends can move once or twice every time it’s over. And I can move on my own when no one is there.
One option is a kind of co-op game where everyone can move the same piece. Perhaps this can be done in a magical maze-like manner. Everyone has a different ability to help the game in a unique way.
Another way to do this is to have players compete against each other, but with a (strong) bonus. ~ no do anything: anytime Other As the player moves, they gain resources.
The game would ideally be fairly small (so it could be put on a small table) and not overly complicated. You don’t want a friend to stop by and stare at the board for an hour before coming to someone else. Important things (like drinking beer and gossiping or playing other games).
Event Deck Card Reuse
I like event decks because they can tell a story about what’s happening in the world. However, event decks tend to be fairly “separated”. Rebellion today, dragons tomorrow, pirates the next day!
You have quite a few available event cards, but what about using only three or four? When the event deck runs out, shuffle and play the same card again. In this way, the player knows what kind of event to expect (though not exactly when).
This is off topic. If pirates are a problem in one year, they won’t go away the next year.
The player can then learn “what the world is like” (what kinds of problems it has) while playing the game. And every game world is different.
This can be strengthened a bit. Before the game begins, all players will see 1 event card. “My father sits on his lap and tells him about the fearsome pirate that has swam this sea.”…
To change things up a bit, you can remove 1 card and add 1 to your deck each time you shuffle.
And perhaps the event gets worse (or will it get better?) the more it is drawn: the first time you draw a pirate card, every boat in the sea has to pay 10 gold, the second time you pay 20 gold and the third time you draw a pirate card. It’s time to sink.
Streak Event Deck Cards
Related to the previous idea is to have event cards continue to affect the game beyond the current turn. I’m thinking about the weather here. Start the game with two weather cards open, showing the sun, rain, wind or snow. If there is sun and snow, it will be a cold but bright day, rain and sun will be intermittent rain, double wind will be a storm, double sun will be a heat wave.
Then, at the start of the next round, remove the first card and draw a new card. Where it used to be rain-rain (heavy rain!), now there is rain-snow (sleet). And the next round will be snow – wind (blizzard).
As a result, players know what will happen, but not all. The game becomes a little more predictable, allowing players to plan ahead, and perfect planning is still impossible.
That also means players can gamble on what’s coming: in the next round we’ll see rain and other things. Sun or wind would be great for growing plants, but another rain would drown them. Is it a coincidence?
You can read about four ways to use the event deck here.
Receive now and pay later!
It is common to give players new abilities. expense: You can exchange money for weapons in this building, but you need wood and stone to build it.
How about giving players a new ability “for free” but having them pay for it later, giving them a chance to experience the consequences and not suffer?
An example of how I see this: Vinny “the Face” will be happy to give you a job (new employee), but it’s better to pay him $20 before the game starts. points).
Of course, this is not entirely new. In some games, “keep” is done on certain items. At Agricola, for example, they regularly “pay” for food for all employees.
But the change I’d like to suggest is the “risk taking” part. At Agricola, there is not much risk in hiring other employees. They actually pay for themselves.
but if you pay every Later improvements can significantly increase risk factors. Add enough to this to play pranks with other players, or otherwise add a bit of randomness to keep players tense about whether or not their gamble will pay off.
I’ve already explored this concept a bit here: Economics in the game: Debt
It’s magic!
I like fantasy novels. Magicians break the laws of physics to do the impossible.
There are no laws of physics in board games. they have rule However, the functions are almost identical.
How about a game where you can “break” the rules of the game and change it in a way that works better for you or disrupts your opponent?
An “easy” version of this would be a game with two sets of rules. One is how to play the game and the other is how to change/ignore/break these rules.
It may not be possible for a few seconds, but a nicer idea is to have a single set of rules that contains how to change the rules. Which Include the possibility of changing the rules on how to change them.
final thoughts
It’s great to do new things! even thought Cool about the new! I had a lot of fun dreaming of stuff I’d probably never use. And I probably won’t use the idea exactly, but maybe someday I’ll use something similar?
It’s a good idea to at least keep your brain sharp, avoid the rut of doing the same thing over and over again, and consider new options and different directions of attack.
And did this inspire exciting innovations?
About the author
Hello, I’m Bastian. The goal of this blog is to learn about game design. It is good for you as a reader, but also for me as a writer.
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