More New Expansions

Hey! I'm back with more lazy video posts this week. I can't wait until I get back in the swing of things and start doing regular posts with more meaningful content. In the meantime, however, here are two short video previews of a couple of game expansions I just recently got. First up, an expansion for King of Tokyo. Second, is an expansion for Android: Netrunner. Enjoy!

 

New Expansions

Here are preview videos of a few new expansions I got for some card games - a way for me to burn off some excitement about these new products until I get a chance to play with them. This time: Summoner Wars and The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game.

I'm Back and I've Got New Games!

Hey! It has been a long time since I posted anything to this blog. I got married and moved into a new house about six weeks ago, so things have been hectic. I thought I would get back to blogging sooner than this, but it just hasn't been possible. I don't know when I'll get back to posting regularly like I was. I'm hoping to do so in January. In the meantime, I've got some new games and expansions so I thought I would do some "unboxing"/preview videos, since people seemed to enjoy those in the past and they don't require as much work as writing articles. Today I'm looking at Smiley Face and Tsuro of the Seas. Enjoy!

An Epic Campaign Comes to an End

I’ve game mastered roleplaying games a lot over the past decade or so, but I’ve never had a satisfying conclusion to a campaign – until now.

[Design Review] Dominion

What is Dominion?

This is a “deck building game”, a relatively new concept in game design. Trading card games like Pokémon or Magic: The Gathering have allowed players to build their own decks to bring to their games for some time, but the idea behind a deck building game is that players build their decks from a common pool during play. Here is how it works:

Organizing My Star Wars Miniatures

Sorry for my lack of posts last week. I've been exceptionally busy with personal matters. I don't have enough time to write a proper post for today either, so I'll be doing a quick and easy post about organizing my Star Wars Miniatures game.

[Design Review] The Resistance

This is another video post, for a very specific reason. Enjoy!

[Design Review] Infinite City

What is Infinite City?

Times are good, the economy is expanding, the workers are pouring in, and the largest city in the world is growing exponentially! Only one corporation can control it all. Will it be yours? Infinite City is basically a game about controlling territory. The interesting twist is that you’re actually building the territory that you’ll control, rather than just claiming it from a pre-made map.

[Stacking the Deck: Summoner Wars] Mage Storm

This is the third in a new series of Stacking the Deck articles, focusing on the game Summoner Wars. If you’re not familiar with this fun tactical card game you can read my Design Review here. In each of these articles I’ll present one deck, talk about my process in creating the deck, and some strategies for how to use it effectively. For my first article I built a deck with the Tundra Orcs faction, and for my second article I used the Jungle Elves. This time I’ll be working with the Deep Dwarves. For some details on how deck building works in Summoner Wars refer to my first article.

New Games! (A Video Post)

Hey! I was super excited to get some new games the other day, so I decided to do a video in which I open up the new stuff and talk a little about what I got. I've broken it up into five different videos to make it more convenient for you, if you don't have the time or inclination to watch it all in one go. Enjoy!

[Stacking the Deck: Summoner Wars] Rain of Arrows

This is the second in a new series of Stacking the Deck articles, this time focusing on the game Summoner Wars. If you’re not familiar with this fun tactical card game you can read my Design Review here. In each of these articles I’ll present one deck, talk about my process in creating the deck, and some strategies for how to use it effectively. For my first article I built a deck with the Tundra Orcs faction. For my second article I’ll be using the Jungle Elves. For some details on how deck building works in Summoner Wars refer to my first article.

When Players Stray from the Path

Tabletop, or pen-and-paper, roleplaying games provide something most games do not – an unparalleled level of freedom for players to take control of their characters and go where they want. This is one of the medium’s strengths, allowing players to influence the direction of the game’s story on the fly, without being restricted to a linear path or multiple choice decisions. Some video games try to create a semblance of this, but they can only ever go so far with the idea before they run into the limitations of a preprogrammed world.

As a GM, I try to give players as much freedom as possible in my campaigns. But the truth is that, at least for most games, some degree of preparation is required to run a good game. So what do you do when your players decide to take their freedom and run amok wherever they choose – going anywhere, except where you intended for them to go?

The first suggestion I would give is this: Just go with it. Seriously, your players probably know better what they want out of the game right now than you do. Also, the ideas of four or five other people combined are probably going to be better than what you had planned at least three quarters of the time. Be ready to improvise, and just let the story go where it may. Aside from that advice, if you really need some specific techniques to help you improvise or cope with having your plans derailed, read on as I consider briefly four such techniques.

Let's See How Far We've Come: 6 Months in Review

As of today, Catalyst Games has been live for 6 months. I’ve really enjoyed writing for this blog and interacting with everyone through the comments, so I thought I would take a moment to reflect on what’s been accomplished so far and where I’d like to go in the future.

[Stacking the Deck: Summoner Wars] Fortress of Ice

This is the first in a new series of Stacking the Deck articles, this time focusing on the game Summoner Wars. If you’re not familiar with this fun tactical card game you can read my Design Review here. In each of these articles I’ll present one deck, talk about my process in creating the deck, and some strategies for how to use it effectively. For my first article I’ll be building a deck with the Tundra Orcs faction. But first, let’s talk a little bit about how deck building works in Summoner Wars.

[Design Review] Summoner Wars

What is Summoner Wars?

This is a tactical board game where cards form a major component. Basically, each player gets an army, represented by a deck of cards. Most of those cards are soldiers of one kind or another. You play your soldiers on a board that is a very simple 8x6 grid. You and your opponent take turns moving your soldiers around the board and attacking each others’ soldiers. Each player has a special unit that begins play on the battlefield, called a summoner. If you can defeat your opponent’s summoner, you win the game.

Taking a Hit

This is another case of me throwing out some random thoughts on game design. Again, this time my thoughts are focused on rules mechanics in RPGs. Specifically, I’m thinking about hit points and weapon damage. Basically, my thought was this: What if your hit points actually told you how many times you could get hit?

GenCon 2012: Afterward

August 16-19 was the weekend of GenCon, the biggest non-video gaming convention in the nation. I wasn't able to be there, but I followed a lot of the news and new releases online through bloggers, podcasts, etc. The day before the convention I posted about what I was looking forward to. Now that I've had time to digest a lot of videos and blog posts on the GenCon, I'd like to share what I was excited to see and hear about.

[Building Character: Gamma World] Tajoezoa

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been posting these Building Character articles for the Gamma World roleplaying game. Today I’m posting my third and final article in the series. Creating player characters for Gamma World is very different from most RPGs, because a lot of the character traits are generated randomly. Therefore, these articles focus on how I took the randomly generated traits and tried to imagine a cohesive interpretation of what sort of character this might be. The game’s publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has a very handy online tool for quickly generating the random elements of a character. You can see it here. I used that to generate this characters’ traits.

Growing Out, Not Up

OK, so this article is basically me thinking out loud (or, out written, or whatever). From time to time my brain begins mauling over some random idea for a rules mechanic in a game. I don’t have a specific game I want to use this mechanic in, I just look at how a lot of games do something, and I start thinking about how I might do it differently if I were designing a game. These ideas may end up in some future game if I really like them. For that reason, I’m very interested in getting other people’s feedback on these. This isn’t just an opportunity for me to ramble or rant about the latest rules idea that wandered through my head; it’s also a chance to get feedback from you and to further refine the idea.

[Building Character: Gamma World] Voxva

This is my second in a short series of Building Character articles based on the Gamma Worldroleplaying game. You can read the first one here. Creating player characters for Gamma World is very different from most RPGs, because a lot of the character traits are generated randomly. Therefore, these articles focus on how I took the randomly generated traits and tried to imagine a cohesive interpretation of what sort of character this might be. The game’s publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has a very handy online tool for quickly generating the random elements of a character. You can see it here. I used that to generate this characters' traits.

GenCon 2012: What I’m Looking Forward To

I wish I could say I was looking forward to going. Alas, it’s not in the cards for me this year. (Maybe I rolled a critical miss!) Truth is, I’ve never been to GenCon, the nation’s biggest non-video gaming convention held each year in Indianapolis, Indiana. But, each year there are certain things I look forward to about GenCon, even though I won’t be there. The convention starts tomorrow and continues through the weekend. Here are some things I’m looking forward to about it.

[Design Journal: Mega Man TCG - Classic Set 5] Perfect Dark

Recently, I had the privilege of taking the lead in designing the newest set of cards for the Mega Man Trading Card Game. The set is called Classic Set 5, and it is based on the fifth game in the classic Mega Man video game series. I’m now posting some Design Journal articles that will discuss some of my process in creating these new cards for the game, and offer previews of some of the new cards. This is the fourth of those articles. In the first article I talked about building synergies among minions. In the second article I talked about expanding the “Marked” and “Trap” mechanics. The third article previewed one of the most iconic bosses from the game. In this final preview of Classic Set 5 we’ll be looking at one more character card that is both new to this set, and breaks a long standing precedent.

[Building Character: Gamma World] Icahbog

Last week I posted a DesignReview for the Gamma World roleplaying game. Today I’m posting my first in a short series of Building Character articles based on the game. Creating player characters for Gamma World is very different from most RPGs, because a lot of the character traits are generated randomly. Therefore, these articles are going to focus on how I took the randomly generated traits and tried to imagine a cohesive interpretation of what sort of character this might be. The game’s publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has a very handy online tool for quickly generating the random elements of a character. You can see it here. I used that to generate this character's traits.

[Design Journal: Mega Man TCG - Classic Set 5] A Sudden Reversal

Recently, I had the privilege of taking the lead in designing the newest set of cards for the Mega Man Trading Card Game. The set is called Classic Set 5, and it is based on the fifth game in the classic Mega Man video game series. I’m now posting some Design Journal articles that will discuss some of my process in creating these new cards for the game, and offer previews of some of the new cards. This is the third of those articles. In the first article I talked about building synergies among minions. In the second article I talked about expanding the “Marked” and “Trap” mechanics. Today we’ll look at one of the new character cards, and how I developed the character’s theme and mechanics.

[Design Review] Gamma World

What is Gamma World?

This is a science-fantasy roleplaying game. An experiment in atomic science went wrong, causing many alternate universes to condense into a single reality. The game pits mutant heroes with advanced technology against renegade robots, feral mutants, alien menaces, and other dangerous threats. It is an action-adventure game, but it is meant to be played with a sense of humor. Rules-wise, it is a stripped down version of the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It features a lot of simplifications though, and is intended for shorter campaigns.

[Design Journal: Mega Man TCG - Classic Set 5] On Your Mark, Get Trapped, Go!

Recently, I had the privilege of taking the lead in designing the newest set of cards for the Mega Man Trading Card Game. The set is called Classic Set 5, and it is based on the fifth game in the classic Mega Man video game series. I’m now posting some Design Journal articles that will discuss some of my process in creating these new cards for the game, and offer previews of some of the new cards. This is the second of those articles. You can read the first article here.

This Is Your Character (Have Fun!)

 One of the core features of most RPGs, is being able to create your own character. It is very fulfilling to come up with a concept, formulate game statistics, get into the role, and see your character develop over the course of a game. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about the implications of playing with pregenerated characters – characters created by the GM for use by the players.

[Design Journal: Mega Man TCG - Classic Set 5] Call Me Joe

I’ve all ready posted quite a bit on this blog about the Mega Man Trading Card Game created by my brother. I posted a Design Review and several Stacking the Deck articles focused on the game. Recently, I had the privilege of taking the lead in designing the newest set of cards for this game. The set is called Classic Set 5, and it is based on the fifth game in the classic Mega Man video game series. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some Design Journal articles that will discuss some of my process in creating these new cards for the game, and offer previews of some of the new cards. This is the first of those articles.

[Open Design: Mercenaries #9] Our Progress So Far

It’s been three months today since we started our Open Design project here with the card game Mercenaries. I thought this would be a good time to review what we’ve done so far and consider where we should go from here.

Pacing as GM vs. Writer

Although I have played a lot of roleplaying games, and I usually am the Game Master in these games, I probably have more experience writing fiction. I really enjoy writing, and I’ve written a lot of short stories. Recently, I’ve found that my expectations when it comes to pacing in an RPG I’m GMing have been frustrated. I think the reason is my approach to writing fiction.

[Design Journal: Terra Machina] Crawling Through the Mines

I’ve been working on Terra Machina for a while now, and I’ve been privileged to have a great group of playtesters helping with this project. The last time we playtested this game, we did a trial run of the game’s Adventure Mode. The mission I’m testing right now has a group of heroes delving into crystal mines where the mechanical drones have been reprogrammed by terrorists to attack the former owners. Overall, the game went well, but we ran into one major problem: the mission takes too long.

[Stacking the Deck: Mega Man TCG] Shortcut to Victory

Following up on the previous two Stacking the Deck articles, this third article will present yet another team and deck for the Mega Man Trading Card Game. If you’re not familiar with this fun TCG you can read my Design Review here.

[Building Character: SWSERPG] VX-3R "Vexer"

This is the fourth post in my Building Character series, and the last one that will feature a character made for the Star Wars Saga Edition Roleplaying Game (at least for a while). This newest character, a droid called Vexer, joins my previous characters and rounds out their crew.

GM Burnout

As a Game Master in a table-top or pen-and-paper RPG, sometimes you hit a wall. It’s the GM’s equivalent of writer’s block. That is what’s happening in my current campaign of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. I still enjoy the game when we’re playing, but I have a difficult time getting myself motivated to put in the work that I need to do between sessions. I’ve thought about what I’ve done right, what I’ve done wrong, and how I would like to do things differently with my next campaign in order to – hopefully – avoid this happening again.

[Stacking the Deck: Mega Man TCG] A Hard Life at Sea

Welcome back to Stacking the Deck! The idea behind these articles is to present deck ideas for various expandable card games that involve building your own deck to play with. Like the first article in this series, this second article will also present a team and deck for the Mega Man Trading Card Game. If you’re not familiar with this fun TCG you can read my Design Review here.

[Building Character: SWSERPG] Phibt

This is the third article in my Building Character series. I'm continuing to develop characters for the Star Wars Saga Edition Roleplaying Game. You can check out the previous two characters here and here. My latest addition is an Aleena mercenary named Phibt.

[Open Design: Mercenaries #8] Tags on Mercenary and Territory Cards

I’m breaking my usual Monday and Thursday posting schedule again to bring you three articles this week. I’m posting this article a day early, and another Building Character post will be going up Friday.

This is another quick update on our Open Design project. You can read all of our previous project articles here. An important factor to the intractability of cards in Mercenaries is something called Tags. Tags don’t do anything on their own, but they can be referred to by rules on other cards, and allow cards to be grouped into a variety of categories.

Humandisaster suggested that we should have a set list of Tags that can be used. This list should also give general guidelines as to what sort of concepts each individual Tag covers. I’m going to present here all of the Tags that we’ve used so far.

[Stacking the Deck: Mega Man TCG] Shock and Awe

This is the first in a new series of articles called Stacking the Deck. The idea behind these articles is to present deck ideas for various expandable card games that involve building your own deck to play with. This first article will present a team and deck for the Mega Man Trading Card Game. If you’re not familiar with this fun TCG you can read my Design Review here.

[Building Character: SWSERPG] Kaili Sorn

This is the second post in a new series called Building Character. The idea is to take a roleplaying game and build a few different characters for that game, writing about the process and posting the end results. I’ve found this to be a useful exercise for getting myself acquainted with a game’s rules mechanics. Plus, it can be a fun creative activity.

Last week, I posted a character I made for the Star Wars Saga Edition Roleplaying Game. This second one I’ve made is Kaili Sorn, a Jedi healer that’s gone mercenary after Order 66.

[Design Review] Mega Man Trading Card Game

What is the Maga Man Trading Card Game?

This is a trading card game based on the popular Mega Man video game franchise. First released almost a year ago, the game now has literally a few hundred unique cards in circulation, and an eager player base with a strong trading community and organized tournaments. In the interests of full disclosure, this is not an officially licensed game. It is a fan-made product designed and produced by my brother for us and a few of our friends. Nevertheless, I think it’s a pretty well polished design, and one of the best games me or my brother have made. I’m writing this as a Design Review, rather than a Design Journal, because my total input on the design of this game has been very minimal.

[Open Design: Mercenaries #7] Mercenary Cards Round-Up

This is simply a quick round-up of the mercenary cards we've created so far for the game Mercenaries, our Open Design project. We have close to a third of the mercenary cards that we need to get the game to its first playtest. Thanks so much to everyone who has already participated, and I look forward to seeing this project continue to progress. Look over the cards listed below, and feel free to leave any ideas you have for mercenaries in the comments to this post.

Because this is kind of a quick article that didn't take a lot of work to put together, I'll be breaking my usual Monday and Thursday posting schedule to bring you three new articles this week. Check back on Wednesday for a new Design Review, and look for another Building Character post on Friday.

[Building Character: SWSERPG] Shara Koth

Image from Wookieepedia.

This will hopefully be the first post in a new series called Building Character. The idea is to take a roleplaying game and build a few different characters for that game, writing about the process and posting the end results. I’ve found this to be a useful exercise for getting myself acquainted with a game’s rules mechanics. Plus, it can be a fun creative activity.

A while ago, I posted a Design Review about the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition. One of the things I talked about in there was the process for creating characters. So, I’ve decided to start this series with making some characters for that game. The first one I’ve made is Shara Koth, a mercenary captain of the Zabrak species.

[Design Journal: Castle Siege] A Game of Medieval Warfare

The armies are gathering beyond the castle wall. You strengthen your fortifications while they gather reinforcements. An arduous battle awaits. It will be their aggression against your persistence. Can you hold out long enough to force them into retreat? Or, will they overrun your battlements and claim the castle for themselves?

[Open Design: Mercenaries #6] Designing Territory Cards

Work is progressing steadily on Mercenaries. We have a working model that should be suitable for our first playtest. We are also making considerable progress on designing the mercenary cards for the game. Let’s mix things up by jumping into the design process for the game’s deck of 15 territory cards. I don’t want to distract everyone from designing mercenaries, but working on the territories simultaneously might create opportunities for the cross pollination of ideas. Also, if you’re burning out on designing the mercenaries, trying your hand at territory cards for a while might be a nice change of pace. Territories should be much simpler to create, because each card only has a couple of substantial features. I’ll explain the format below, and then give a few examples to get us started.

[Design Journal: Terra Machina] Adventure Awaits!

Artwork from the Mega Man Zero video game franchise.

In the year 25XX, humans no longer dominate the Earth. Some believe that they went extinct when the world became so damaged it could no longer support them. Others believe they simple abandoned the planet for more fertile lands elsewhere. Either way, they left in their place a hardier species of mechanical men, dubbed the Progeny. Centuries have passed. The Progeny have multiplied and formed their own cultures. Unity City seeks to forge bonds between disparate nations, but the terrorist acts of those with radical views threaten to tear apart this fragile peace…

[Open Design: Mercenaries #5] Designing Mercenary Cards

Monday I posted a working model for this game. Using this model, we’ll be able to begin playtesting once we have the necessary components in place. The first set of components we’ll need is the 60 card deck of mercenary cards. I could really use your help in designing these cards. I’ll explain the format below, and then give a few examples to get us started.

[Open Design: Mercenaries #4] Getting a Working Design in Place

So far, in the Open Design articles, we’ve talked about possibilities for the game’s bidding system for hiring mercenaries, the battle system for putting those mercenaries to use, and how your success could be measured by conquering territories. I’ve had some very good feedback from my co-designers – people have brought up good ideas that I genuinely would not have thought of on my own – and I’ve really enjoyed the process so far. Now it is time to collect all of these ideas and mold them into a working design model. These are a basic set of rules for the game that we can use for our first playtest.

[Design Journal: Terra Machina] Androids Do Battle in the Distant Future

It is the year 25XX, and the Earth has been abandoned by humans. Nuclear and biological warfare, coupled with rampant industrial exploitation and waste, made the planet uninhabitable for humans. As homo sapiens went into decline, the last leaders of science began developing a race of artificial humanoids to replace them – a more hardy species that could survive the rigors of the barren Earth. These mechanical men and women, dubbed the Progeny, now walk Terra Machina, a land of machines, in place of their ancient forebears. Will they be doomed to repeat the same joys and tragedies of their creators?

For a short while, I’ve been developing this new board game with the working title of Terra Machina, Latin for “Machine Earth” or “Land of Machines”. Thematically, the game takes inspiration from the Mega Man Zero video game series. Mechanically, the game mixes concepts of tabletop miniatures games and card games.

Creating an Experience: Why I Design Games

A major subject of this blog is designing games, so I figured it was time to ask myself the question (and answer it): Why do I design games?

It is a good question. Boardgamegeek.com lists over 50,000 published board and card games, and rpggeek.com lists over 3000 published tabletop roleplaying games. With that kind of selection, you would think it would be easy enough to keep yourself entertained with games by other people, without having to create any of your own.

[Open Design: Mercenaries #3] Conquering Territory

In the last Open Design article, we talked about the game's battle system - specifically, how complex or abstract it should be. The general consensus seems to be that it should be more on the complex side. Humandisaster brought up the subject of having some kind of system for fighting over territories. So, I've thought up two general designs for how the battle system could incorporate the concept of conquering territory. I'll layout the two designs below and see what anyone thinks of them.

“Yes” and “No”: A Game Master’s Guide

As a Game Master in a table-top or pen-and-paper RPG, it is important to know when to say “Yes” and when to say “No” to your players. As referee, it is your responsibility to enforce the rules of whatever game you are playing. Sometimes the rules aren’t very specific on how to resolve a particular scenario. Then, it’s your job to make a call. As the GM, you are likely going to have the greatest impact on how much or how little the other players at the table are going to be able to enjoy the game. So it’s important that you do your best to make the right call as often as possible.

A Tale of Obsession: How I Started Roleplaying

So, this will probably be a rather long-winded story, but I know that it will be fun for me to write. Hopefully it will be fun for you to read. I got the idea to write this from a couple of blog articles I read recently that were discussing how a couple of independent game designers were trying to sell their horror-themed RPGs at a horror genre convention. Their efforts met mostly with failure. The subsequent discussion on their blog went on to talk about how hard it is to get an RPG into the hands of a non-gamer, or a non-roleplayer. One of the points of their discussion was basically this: If you saw a book in your local bookstore that said on the cover “Star Wars Roleplaying Game” – or “[anything] Roleplaying Game” – and you had never played an RPG, or seen one played, what are the chances that you would buy that book and play the game? Probably zero. You might even wonder, ‘How is this book a game?’ This got me to thinking: ‘How did I ever get into RPGs myself?’

[Open Design: Mercenaries #2] Battle System

This article continues my Open Design project to build a new game from the ground up with the help of my friends here on my blog. The game we’re working on has the working title Mercenaries, and game play consists of two important phases – bidding and battling. Last week we discussed ideas for the game’s bidding system. I’m going to let some time pass for those thoughts to percolate before we settle on a specific model. In the meantime, let’s talk a little bit about the games battle system.

My Games Library in Flux

I’ve been buying games – board games, card games and roleplaying games – for a while now. At present I own about 70 games in total. At one point I had an extensive wish list of games I wanted to add to my library, but the more games I’ve come to own, I’ve gradually become less interested in owning more.

[Open Design: Mercenaries #1] Bidding System

Last week I announced this new Open Design project with the purpose of designing a new game on this blog with my friends. I also polled to see which of three ideas people would like to develop. The votes resulted in a unanimous decision to develop the idea for Mercenaries (check out the original game idea article to refresh your memory on the premise and concept of the game). So, now we begin designing.

[Design Review] No Thanks!

This is a “design review”. These are basically reviews of games, but with a focus on what can be gleaned from the game in terms of game design.

What is No Thanks!?

No Thanks! is a simple card game with a bidding mechanic as its central element. The game consists of 33 cards with numbers from 3 to 35, and 55 playing chips. One card lies in the center of the table, face-up. On his turn, each player must decide: Either he takes the card and puts it in front of himself, giving him points equal to the value printed on the card, or he declines the card by putting one of his chips next to it. The turn to play passes clockwise, and the next player faces the same decision, except subsequent players gain all chips next to a card if they accept it. Once a card has been taken, the next card is revealed from the deck, and the next round begins. The game goes on this way until all cards have found someone willing to accept them.

The player with the fewest points wins.

[Open Design] Would You Like to Help Me Create a Game?

Tuesday I made a brief post about a new project I would be undertaking on this blog. So, this is it. I want to design a new board game or card game with your help. I'm calling this project Open Design because every aspect of designing the game will be open for your input.

A New Project on the Horizon

Hey everyone, Catalyst Games has been going strong for a little over a month now. I've been posting about twice a week, and I think I have enough material to keep that schedule going for a while yet. I'm excited about working on this blog, and how well the ideas have been flowing. I've been very happy to read all of your comments, too. I really appreciate your input and participation here.

So, I'm excited to tell you that I'll be starting a new project on this blog that will really benefit from your involvement. The first actual post pertaining to this project will be going up Thursday morning (4/12/2012). Your timely participation is key to making this project thrive, so please check back in to make your voice heard and have a role in moving this project forward. Thank you again for your participation thus far, and I look forward to having your help with this new project.

[Design Review] Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition

This will hopefully be my first of several “design reviews”. These will basically be reviews of games, but with a focus on what can be gleaned from the game in terms of game design. I would be very interested in reading other people’s thoughts on these games and their designs.

What is the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition?

This is a roleplaying game based in the Star Wars universe. Rules-wise, it is based off of the “d20” game engine developed for the 3ed edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This makes it more on the denser end of the spectrum of rules complexity. This game is called the “Saga Edition” to make it distinct from the previous original and “Revised” editions of the Star Wars RPG by Wizards of the Coast.

[Game Idea] Mercenaries

From time to time I have a spark of an idea for a game, but it doesn't grow into a full-fledged concept. I'm going to post some of these ideas here just to share these ideas that may never be developed into a finished game. If I get a lot of positive feedback on these ideas I may do some further development on them. For the most part, though, I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on these.

 Working Title: Mercenaries
Inspiration: Modern Art, various tactical board/card games

Premise: In the distant future, it is illegal for any government to have a standing army. So, when conflicts arise, various factions turn to mercenaries to fight their battles. These mercenaries lend a variety of specialized skills and weaponry to the highest bidder.

The Complexity Barrier

I’ve noticed that some people really enjoy simple games, while others like a lot more complexity. Let’s look at some levels of complexity in games.

[Game Idea] Phantom

From time to time I have a spark of an idea for a game, but it doesn't grow into a full-fledged concept. I'm going to post some of these ideas here just to share these ideas that may never be developed into a finished game. If I get a lot of positive feedback on these ideas I may do some further development on them. For the most part, though, I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on these.

Working Title: Phantom

Inspiration: The Phantom of the Opera  

Premise: A disfigured genius lives beneath the Paris Opera House, and is desperate to woo one of the budding actresses. He tries to manipulate the goings-on of the Opera House in order to advance the career of his beloved, while the manager tries to turn a profit and rid them self of the "Opera Ghost".

Random Thoughts: Examining the Role of Randomness versus Skill

Today I want to relate some musings on the role of randomness in games. Many games – be they card games, board games, or role-playing games – include some elements of randomness. Some games contain more than others. The role that randomness plays in a game generally runs counter to the role that player skill has in the same game. For example, games like Chess or Othello contain no randomness and rely entirely on player skill. Games like Candy Land or Left Center Right are entirely random and do not rely on player skill at all. Most games fall somewhere in between these two extremes.

[Game Idea] Galactic Breakout

From time to time I have a spark of an idea for a game, but it doesn't grow into a full-fledged concept. I'm going to post some of these ideas here just to share these ideas that may never be developed into a finished game. If I get a lot of positive feedback on these ideas I may do some further development on them. For the most part, though, I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on these.

Working Title: Galactic Breakout

Inspiration: Lilo & Stitch, Pandemic

Premise: Alien genetic engineering experiments have broken out of a lab and are running amok throughout the galaxy. A team of specialists have been sent to recapture them before they cost the company too much in damages and bad PR.

Concept: The game is played on a board representing the galaxy, with different planets marked on the map. Each round, the experiment creatures (represented by mini-figures or cardboard standees) move around from planet to planet and cause damage (tracked by tokens on the board) on the planets they move to. The players (represented by different-colored pawns) move around and use actions to repair damage, research the creatures, or apply the data they've gathered to apprehending the creatures. Each experimental creature is unique (one moves more often, one causes more damage, one is more dangerous to apprehend, etc.). Players must cooperate to apprehend all of the creatures before the damage they've caused exceeds a certain limit, and the genetic research company gets shut down.

The Death of a Player Character [Re-Post]

I am re-posting this article from my other blog. I posted the article there in April 2009 and got no response to it. Perhaps this is because, at the time, most of my readers had little or no experience with RPGs. Now that my audience is a bit different, and I have this entire blog devoted to gaming, I thought I would give it another go here. I've only made a few slight edits to the original article. The ideas presented are basically the same.

It has only happened rarely in any of the games I’ve played in or run, but most roleplaying game systems do provide for the possibility that a player’s character (PC) might die. Many games give characters hit points to measure their staying power in battle, and when those hit points are depleted they might die. Some games measure the number, and severity, of wounds a character receives, with too many wounds resulting in death. Other games have other systems for injury and character death.

The Perfect Melding of Game and Story

I really love roleplaying games. Here’s why:

I enjoy playing board games and card games. I talked about why in this article. I also enjoy telling stories. I like creating interesting characters and engaging scenarios. Roleplaying games (RPGs) allow me to combine both.

A Dicey Situation

I have a few dice. Probably more than I'll ever need. Some of them are rather unique, though.

How I Roll: My Approach to Gaming

I approach gaming with what I would like to call “good sportsmanship”. What I mean by that is basically this: When I play a game, I’m going to play as well as I can. I’m going to seek every advantage I can find. I’m going to play to win. At the same time, I don’t really care if I win or lose. That might sound like a contradiction, but let me try to explain.

New Blog: Welcome!

Welcome to Catalyst Games, my new blog about designing and discussing board games, card games, and roleplaying games. If you’re here, you probably know me, and you probably know that I love playing all kinds of analog games. I also like to tinker around with designing games of my own. I hope to someday publish some of my own creations, but we’ll have to wait to see how that turns out.

The purpose of this blog is to give me a forum for sharing my thoughts on games and game design. In the coming weeks I’m going to publish a number of posts wherein I talk about my approach to gaming, my thoughts on randomness in games, and why I enjoy roleplaying games so much. I will also publish reviews of games that I’ve played, giving special attention to any observations I may have on how these games give insight into the art of game design. From time to time I’ll publish a fully developed character for an RPG I own - as a creative exercise, to explore the game’s system and setting a little, and to offer inspiration to others. I’ll also be posting occasional updates on my own game design projects.

In all of this, I’m hoping to get as much participation from you as possible. An important part of game design is getting feedback and implementing new ideas based on the experiences of your audience. I’ll be paying close attention to any remarks you might post in the comments on this blog.

Thank you for joining the discussion here on Catalyst Games, and happy gaming!

-Nathan