Mechanic Sketch – The Limit Break

Just came up with a small idea for a limit break mechanic, and then expanded it some, and decided to jot it down before forgetting. I began thinking of “thematic batteries” while also thinking of the manga Vagabond and the long long fight contained therein, and since I’m also thinking of Go again these days [...]

Pick and Play! Part 2: A “Solution”

In the first post, I discussed the issue: How long it takes you from picking up a game to playing it, or from gathering some friends to playing it, is far too long. Here I’ll address a solution. And ramble some more! Discussing a Solution: So, those 2-3 hours, while they may be ok in [...]

Pick and Play! (“Fluency). Part 1 of 2

Ok, this discussion is going to cover several ideas, they may yet get further exploration later on, both exploring how they interact, or just each of them on their own. The core issue, what it’s all about, is the ability to play games. A “game” does not exist when it is not played. There is [...]

The Friendship Game V2, an Old New Game!

So, after transferring data from my old LJ design blog over here, I went over this blog’s content again, and came across The Friendship Game again, which I am growing to appreciate more and more. The Friendship Game (PDF link) is a small engine, yet quite potent, which deals with creating a story focused on [...]

Game Design Sketch: The Big Bang.

This is for lack of a better term, a game design “sketch”. It’s a rough idea I’ve had and which I am storing here. Quite interestingly, it’s a shape, almost geometrical, for currency and/or story to progress along a game. I do not yet have content to insert into this form, but it’s here, just [...]

Thoughts on Currency, Memory, Prisoners [JRMM]

I think as some friends of mine have pointed out, the most interesting part of the game is the memory interface. How players or rather characters can gain and lose memories. As such, I think a lot depends on how memories are handled, and how you get new ones and such. I think another important [...]

Design Thoughts – Cranium Rats, Competition, Story, Currency.

I thought this might interest others as well. I decided to think again of Cranium Rats while in class today, and jotted down several pages of notes. Of particular interest to most people might be sections 5-7, which explore currency, story, competition, and their interaction. This obviously references Cranium Rats, and its re-design which had [...]

Cranium Rats Chassis to be Made Available under Creative Commons.

I’ve talked recently about what I’m going to do with Cranium Rats. I am going to create the Cranium Rats Chassis which will be character generation, Aspect generation, the interaction between Aspects and Resolution. I will put that content under Creative Commons, allowing other people to meddle with the game and make it explore areas [...]

[Cranium Rats] Identifying What is, and What Can Be?

I had understood what the “problem” with Cranium Rats was a while ago, but I needed to let it sit and stew for a while more. First, I’d like to thank Filip, who tried to break the system as hard as he could, and showed me the gravity of the problem. So, the problem is [...]

[Troll Lands] Chat with Christian.

I’ve designed the game in February and since then didn’t touch it, I guess it’s a long enough cooling period. I asked Christian (chgriffen) to read the game and tell me what he thinks, which resulted in the following: [18:26] xenopulse: So at the core, you have the Liar’s Dice conflict resolution. But it seems [...]