That's no' bad!

I'd maybe clarify your second point, because it's an important one. You initially say 'what player characters do' and then say 'what the players do'. Splitting the motivations of the players and their characters up is _important_. Like in Buffy - Buffy wants a quiet life, but her player (writer) wants to fuck it up. The tension between the two makes for fun. I think you understand that, but it's good to remember.

There's maybe something of a sacred cow to your third point. Some effective mechanics aren't about uncertain or dramatic situations. BUT, by and large, that's what my own designs focus on. I like falling back on the dice when I, as a player, have a dilemma. And some mechanics are a good way of representing a player's investment in a conflict.

And to expand on your first point, it's often good to pick apart what the setting/situation is about from what the game will play like. Cold City and Spione produce different play, but have overlapping settings. There's a dozen western games out there, but Aces & Eights plays differently to Dust Devils. Sometiems it's a genre emulation thing, sometimes it's play structure.

Joe.

Gaz, I'd say a good guide would be:

1. Have a clear idea what the game is about.
2. Make sure your rules support that idea. All of them, the whole way through the game.

A really common thing is: people say "What do you think of my conflict resolution mechanic?". And all we can do is shrug our shoulders and say: "It depends what the game is".

So start with that idea of what the game is, then design the mechanics so they support that idea.

Like...let's say I'm designing a caveman game. I need mechanics to support that. Strength might be an attribute, but Dexterity sure as hell won't be. I need rules to handle conflicts of strength, but there probably won't be social conflicts or mental conflicts.

And perhaps I need an Alpha Male mechanic, to reflect my status within the caveman tribe. And maybe there's a Technology attribute, which lets me create create flints and discover fire.

That's a bad example, but do you see what I mean? Decide on the game first, then design the rules to support your idea of that game.

Graham

An elevator pitch for point (1). Not so much for pitching the game yet, but for keeping you focused on what the game is about.

For example, Good Morning Britain is... Super Heroes in Thatcher's Britain (1979-1990).

Whenever I'm writing it or thinking of things for it I have to keep coming back to that. It helps me stop wandering away from what the game is really about.

I think you can really see this laser focus in Malcolm's games, it why he always has such a hot hook and big-time buy-in to his settings.

Gaz,

Don't forget:

4) Write a game text which clearly explains how to play the game. I cannot overstate the importance of this. If you design a game, but your text does not clearly and concisely explain how it works in practice, then no fucker can actually play the thing and you might as well not have bothered.

I have very little to add here apart from keeping these 3 questions in mind at all times:

1) What is your game about?
2) What do the characters, not players that is imporant, do?
3) How do you reward the behaviour you want to see?

Keeping that elevator pitch in mind is good, and something I personally struggle with at times. Getting better at it though.

I will email you a doc about the way I approach games design and testing, you may even be able to find it somewhere on this site.

Cheers

Iain

Mob Justice now available!

'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

It was in the Furnace 07 con booklet wasn't it Iain? Not terribly helpful for most people, but Gaz was there so might still have it.

Yeah I got it put into that as well. Hopefully some people will have found it useful.

Iain

Mob Justice now available!

'The Giant Brain':Small games, big ideas.

5. Where's the FUN?
Why would anyone want to play it?

6. Lurve it
You must love your game, it must be something your heart and soul compel you to write. You want to play it over and over.

+++
JoE
+++

Prince of Darkness Games
Rock N' Role-Play....

I think the FUN bit is answered in 1 & 2 isn't it? If you've worked out what your game is about and what your protaganists (for want of a better word) do, then that should be something that is clearly fun. If it isn't, why are you bothering? So I agree, but think its already covered.

I had to smile at point 6, given the sheer number of ideas and games that the more prolific CE members produce and constantly have bubbling away... Lurve just one game? hee hee

I think I've got what I wanted from this thread. Three or four Golden Rules to keep in mind and help Stay on Target.

Thanks

Gaz

Totally. I am a complete games slut. I tend to have 15-20 designs all bubbling away and cross-pollinating. Some become design competition entries. Some will be published. Some will go nowhere.

That's my method. Keep a lot going on at once. Track all your notes. Write them in a wiki. Have a sense of your own history. That mechanic for the sniper game might actually make more sense in the popstar game.

But yeah. You have to love your game. And it's ok if there's a desperation to that. Or if it's a rebound fuck.

Not speaking with authority here, but I think design ideas are worth absolutely not much. Clever mechanics are similarly cheap. Awesome settings are a dime by the dozen. Getting something workable and kinda fun is easy and fairly pointless (except for personal use I guess).

The idea becomes worthwhile only when it has been refined, playtested, rewritten a dozen times, condensed, etc. I think it has to be a long process to create a decent game that's worth making. Even a really short simple game. Maybe especially with short simple games.

For me, when I got my killer idea, I try to imagine how it would work at the table. Like, specifically how the game would play out. What the players would do and say, etc. As much detail as possible.

Then you write the text so that anyone in the world could pick it up and make that idealised play session a reality. Then you do the testing and whatnot to make sure it actually does make that kind of session, and that it's fun, etc. Its a process.

I get burnt out easy though, so switching between projects is useful. Then when you go back, you'll have fresh eyes to tear your text apart and fresh ideas.