Rule of Carnage - Designing Better Miniatures Games

In Episode 92 when you create a game you create a world, which is great, but how specific should you be about that world? How much creativity should you leave players to build their own version of it, and what exactly does specificity look like in terms of games? These questions and more go totally unanswered in this chat. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

It can happen that halfway through a design that you realize it isn't what you thought it was, that an important mechanic doesn't really matter, or that the setting isn't fitting the game. You may well wonder if you should change whatever's working, if its central to the game. You should.

Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

Many games choose to present themselves as being part of a dichotomy where on one side there is narrative and the other is competitive, as though a game can only be one or the other. We think that's pretty much utter bunk. The two just are not connected, a game can be neither, or both. So let's all agree to stop pretending otherwise shall we? Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

Games are what your players spend most of their time doing. In most minis games, what players have to spend their time doing is experiencing downtime. Your game's downtime defines the nature of your game and its player's experience of it.

So its worth thinking very hard about it.

Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

Every game needs to find its audience, however good it is, if a game doesn't get to the right people it'll never get played, or at least, not more than once. How do you find the right people, or at least, how do you let them find you, or at least work out who they are? Goodness knows really, but here are a few guesses. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

Why are we even doing any of this? Not in a downer way, but does the world need the game you're working on? Does it need any games, yours or ours. Yes, obviously, but why? Let's figure that out. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode, the guys have been playing a range of new games, or at least new to them, recently. Some have been great, some have had issues, one of the worst issues with any game and with some of these has been disengagement. Sometimes its disengagement from the game engine, sometimes from the scenario, sometimes the game as a whole but its always a problem. They consider some of the reasons and even a few possible solutions. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys have been thinking about miniatures agnosticism again. In particular they've been thinking about it in relation to interestingly narrative faction building. Once you say a faction is a certain type of thing, you're saying that people can't use anything to represent them, so your game isn't minis agnostic, but people like factions with story and definition. How do you reconcile those two things? Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode, Glenn has been considering list building and option balancing. He's tried a few times to formalize the idea of pricing things for "piloting" skill, and recently he's been thinking about an idea of "utils", units of utility, and how they might relate to balancing a game. So he talks about that for a bit. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys have been thinking about rules, in particular, Glenn has been thinking about how they're presented. Particularly about the difference between repeating rules multiple times and placing them once in a reference and then referring to it. Both options have strengths and weaknesses so they examine those for a while. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys have been playing a range of new, or new to them, games which have bought up some interesting (hopefully) considerations.

Specifically this time, they've been thinking about rules, or at least the presentation of rules, the ones you're meant to learn, to internalize and have in your head versus the ones that you're meant to refer to the rulebook for. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys have been playing a range of new, or new to them, games which have bought up some interesting (hopefully) considerations. Currently they're considering the idea of measureless movement, which seems to be a bit in the zeitgeist at the moment, how does it work, how can it work, is it a good idea and how can it be made good idea if its not one yet. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys have been playing a range of new, or new to them, games which have bought up some interesting (hopefully) considerations. The first thing to occur is that they previously talked about AI, without fully engaging on the subject of target priority for AI opponents or their pathfinding systems. The time for that engagement is now! As such, they chat about these issues, and a bit about some of the solutions. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Mike has been going through the final stages of developing Hobgoblin before it goes out to meet its adoring public, and as such he's deep into the self doubt and worry parts of the process. Any designer worthy of the name worries about the quality and worth of their work, if you find yourself often in a similar position, or ever, here are some things to consider to get your head right. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys chat about exactly how to design miniatures agnostic games. It might sound easy, but its actually not, and just saying that a game is minis agnostic because you don't have a range of minis to supply doesn't really cut it. Here Mike and Glenn talk through some of the specific problems, and even one or two solutions for them. Mostly just problems though. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys chat about what drives hobbyists. Minis games are almost unique in the level of physical preparation they presume from their players before play can begin, this hobby engagement can attract players to your game and inspire them into a virtuous hobby cycle, or drive them away. Considering their needs and drives can make it more likely to be the first thing and not the second. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys chat about players, specifically player personality types, beginning with the Magic the Gathering player types and then discussing classic Bartle's player types. While everyone is an individual, players are often attracted to the same broad things in games and catering to these drives can lead to you game being played more and more often, so its worth thinking about them. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys chat about how bad scenarios can ruin good games, and more to the point, how to make good scenarios. They've had a few chats about scenarios, but still keep messing them up, so one more can't hurt. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Glenn asks Mike a few piercing questions about the highly successful Kickstarter for Mike Hutchinson's Hobgoblin, what lessons might be learned and what other people might get from it. Listen as Mike wilts under Glenn's journalistic integrity. Its basically Frost/Nixon. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys go through some tips and tricks about physically creating the bits for testing your game. At some point actual people will need to play your game, understanding the process you put them through to do that will help you understand how likely they are to do it and how to make it more attractive to them. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys consider the user interface of your game. Your game presents itself to people as a mental medium in its rules, a visual one in its reference sheets and cards and a tactile one via its dice, miniatures and other elements. All of these approaches have different things you can leverage to make your game easier to understand, easier to play and more fun, so its well worth considering them. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Glenn talks through his inspirations and design goals for his new game, Pukeapocalypse. Pukeapocalypse is a fast playing narrative skirmish game set in a nasty apocalyptic world, its also in its Beta test, so you can check it out by following the links below. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

Pukeapocalypse beta: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VDAW2D2F0hOXnyTK6kHZfMI_VZEcfqSD/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104183437917872472969&rtpof=true&sd=true

In this episode the guys discuss some of the digital tools that they use in the process of designing and prototyping their games. From concept to first draft, the tools you use can really speed up your design process and make your inspirations get to the tabletop faster, here are a few ideas how to use them. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Mike has been reading about randomized openings in games of competitive Checkers, when there was such a thing. Its led to much consideration of the ways that we mess with set-up conditions, whether with initial deployment or with early moves. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Glenn has been thinking about the information that a miniatures game offers its players. They can see the tabletop like a god, the position of every trooper is public information. Some of that, as a general, they should have access to, and some they should not. At the same time, they are allowed to ask questions and check facts, some of which they would, again, not have access to. How, or should, you seek to control their access to information to better match their in game perspective? Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys chat about ludonarrative dissonance, the tendency of games to have gameplay and mechanics that fail to match up with the story attached to them. Glenn suggests that in the case of tabletop games it has far more to do with a break between the "front end" experience of the players and the "back end" systems of running the game. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys imagine an alternative history of tabletop miniatures gaming. They previously talked about how Chess was one of the major sources of modern miniatures gaming, now they imagine how modern gaming might have been different if that source had been instead, Go, Parcheesi or Hnefatafl. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Glenn talks about Saga. Saga is a dark ages set Skirmish level combat game and it does a whole bunch of very clever and interesting things with its design, here Glenn goes into a bit of a deep delve on some of them with some analysis and suggestions. Glenn is the developer of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys talk about campaigns. Or more properly, progression systems. Or more properly, suitable endings for progression systems, how to get out while the going is good and keep people coming back for more. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys talk about miniatures agnosticism. We all hear the term, but Glenn has recently been thinking more and more about how its used and what it means. Often it seems to be a negative term, defining what a game isn't, maybe its time to talk about what it means that they are. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode Mike takes us through the history of miniatures gaming from its origins in the 1780s through to the 1970s. Its not only fascinating as a history lesson, but many of the games and mechanics he talks about have a lot to offer today. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys talk about uncertainty. It may well be that uncertainty is an absolute necessity in the design of games, but what sort form should it take? Is it possible to create uncertainty by the means of complexity in a miniatures wargame, and if possible, is it a good idea? Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys talk about turns, which players take during a game and rounds, which break up a game to allow elements to refresh and reset. They wonder if rounds are necessary, and what might replace them in your game. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.

In this episode the guys talk about where games choose to leave gaps for their players to fill out, options to choose and the like. This sort of personalization seems to have died off with games becoming more professional products, they wonder if its something that we're now missing. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews.