tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48618066093482208962024-03-05T16:57:09.582-05:00Arcane Journeys BlogJim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comBlogger162125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-23320411493343582002024-02-19T12:11:00.000-05:002024-02-19T12:11:57.752-05:00Engaging Game Design<blockquote><p>The trick is to make your material so fascinating that you cannot stay away from it, so intriguing that you ignore negative feelings and second thoughts, so rich with interest that the concepts of "good" and "bad" hardly occur to you. <br /><br />- From 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, by Jane Smiley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author</p></blockquote><p> </p><div class="min-h-[20px] text-message flex flex-col items-start gap-3 whitespace-pre-wrap break-words [.text-message+&]:mt-5 overflow-x-auto" data-message-author-role="assistant" data-message-id="16033611-6653-4255-8322-8307f1741441"><div class="markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light"><p>While Smiley's words are intended for writers, I found that they offer good insight for game designers as well. Crafting a game is not merely about following design principles; it's a creative pursuit that benefits greatly from engagement with the material.</p><h3>The Essence of Engagement</h3><p>At the heart of Smiley's quote lies the concept of engagement—the deep, immersive connection that creators forge with their material. For game designers, this means more than just understanding the mechanics, rules, or components of a game. It's about cultivating a deep interest in the world you're creating, the elements of your game, and the experiences you're crafting for players. When designers are genuinely engaged, their enthusiasm permeates every aspect of the game, from its thematic elements to its game-play dynamics.</p><p></p><p></p><h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_o9etozYmK2ILnbRdmt5kd8JF4ItXapnFLrrwk2haLrhs2FmS4hxEEHm8fI_z3hdXf84kybkF77pKBvDRS7zRiqe0_hs4LeEfdjwCcwF7-qHXfYsemCpjrys5eubwxu1lMdiJpPrVtEGZ5wHpNSAoua0pcrQF7nurHDinQtStL4H39NIzX54ux670msin/s1024/_2da28766-39d7-4a73-bc83-eb00d20be416.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_o9etozYmK2ILnbRdmt5kd8JF4ItXapnFLrrwk2haLrhs2FmS4hxEEHm8fI_z3hdXf84kybkF77pKBvDRS7zRiqe0_hs4LeEfdjwCcwF7-qHXfYsemCpjrys5eubwxu1lMdiJpPrVtEGZ5wHpNSAoua0pcrQF7nurHDinQtStL4H39NIzX54ux670msin/w200-h200/_2da28766-39d7-4a73-bc83-eb00d20be416.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Ignoring the Noise</h3><p>When designing a game, you will often encounter obstacles, doubts, and critiques. Creating a game is involves challenges, both internal and external. However, as Smiley suggests, when you're deeply engaged with your material, these obstacles fade into the background. The engagement with your game propels you forward, allowing you to navigate challenges with creativity, resilience, and determination. By focusing on what truly excites you about the game, you can overcome doubts and second-guessing, and more easily continue the work of developing the game.</p><h3>Measure your Engagement<br /></h3><p>Some questions I like to ask when evaluating how engaged I am by a game I am working on are:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Are there boring or tedious parts? If yes, can I remove, shorten or enliven them? How?</li><li>Do I gloss over any parts?</li><li>Do I get tired of telling any particular rules while playing the game?</li><li>Are there any parts or concepts or themes that I really like that I could expand upon?</li><li>Do I want it be longer or shorter when I play through it?</li><li>Do I want to play again soon?</li><li>Are there exciting discussions after a play? Is there "telling the story of the game" after?</li><li>Are there any "if I only I had done..." statements afterward?<br /></li><li>Are players interested in and paying attention to each other's turns, just to see what happens? </li></ul><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAKx5KUSUTJK79vIO6BI8A4_0-dizWauix5AeB0HkRFHlgFct6_gTf7wbMSOLC217i4yNY5oHc7qRfNOq1gsrVHkCww1IJGkMZ4G_3AlPCIEeJc7Qkr-9SsIZ9kSfBgYyj8sPzQv-8GAPF4gXn4odrBelyIyVcP2KimPFHQQpJU4pgG3Vl_tQRquFX8fq/s220/Chart.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="123" data-original-width="220" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAKx5KUSUTJK79vIO6BI8A4_0-dizWauix5AeB0HkRFHlgFct6_gTf7wbMSOLC217i4yNY5oHc7qRfNOq1gsrVHkCww1IJGkMZ4G_3AlPCIEeJc7Qkr-9SsIZ9kSfBgYyj8sPzQv-8GAPF4gXn4odrBelyIyVcP2KimPFHQQpJU4pgG3Vl_tQRquFX8fq/w200-h112/Chart.png" width="200" /></a></div> <p></p><h3>Beyond Good and Bad</h3><p>Smiley's assertion that the concepts of "good" and "bad" hardly occur when deeply engaged with material apply directly to designing a game. While clearly evaluating a game's mechanical merits is essential, being overly preoccupied with rigid definitions about games can stifle creativity and hamper your progress. Instead, focus on creating game experiences that are interesting, meaningful, and that grab your attention. By thus immersing yourself in the creative process, you can ignore limiting notions of what you "should" be doing and other ideas that may hold you back from crafting your game.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Jane Smiley's insight into the creative process serves as a good reminder for game designers: engagement contributes to forward movement and compelling design. By cultivating a deep connection with their material, designers can navigate challenges, keep themselves interested, and continue work on their game. Ultimately, the more time, effort and thought you put into a game, the better it turns out, so finding ways to keep going is essential.<br /></p></div></div><p> </p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-5815507853701508452024-01-04T10:02:00.000-05:002024-01-04T10:06:16.095-05:00Hits & Misses<p>I've been making games for most of my life, ever since I was a kid. In my twenties I got a job as a professional game designer. After that I created a lot, in a lot of mediums: Web games, Palm Pilot games, card and dice games, conceptual games, board games. </p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjfX7yVHVe2-LmBNymP9HvL4w7sVtULgnFMUUlmtOQ0XLEzCfebDVOSd_7UwTJlYvAqkW_lMXtBcBKwCidI7mlU7nOzRF8Zrs7s5k9BMM9XFjkXGjVgGyiUxNvP46fdjf6_LR77c-fgen-OW2CeyG-F1L0hp1obJz0VF5w5Kvt3fR-ff5chXLVdpd3FJf/s100/UncleIvan100x100.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="100" data-original-width="100" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjfX7yVHVe2-LmBNymP9HvL4w7sVtULgnFMUUlmtOQ0XLEzCfebDVOSd_7UwTJlYvAqkW_lMXtBcBKwCidI7mlU7nOzRF8Zrs7s5k9BMM9XFjkXGjVgGyiUxNvP46fdjf6_LR77c-fgen-OW2CeyG-F1L0hp1obJz0VF5w5Kvt3fR-ff5chXLVdpd3FJf/s1600/UncleIvan100x100.jpg" width="100" /></a></div><p></p><p>One thing I've learned is that every game you make can't be your best game. Sometimes due to circumstances, your game is underdeveloped. Sometimes you try a new idea, and it doesn't work out. Sometimes you make a good game, but it falls flat anyway. Sometimes there are hits, and sometimes there are misses. </p><p>This is not to say that your effort has no influence. It's to remind you that there are circumstances and influences in the world in addition to you that affect what happens. Development timelines, funding, marketing, shifting costs and norms, what medium you're working in, who's on your team, publishers and distributors going out of business or being acquired, trouble in your family and personal life: all these can impact your project.</p><p>I remember a period of time when I was having incredibly bad insomnia, and was still developing web games. I got through my current one, The Journey to New Earth, and it worked! But afterwards I kept finding very weird bugs and also realized the game needed much more development to play well. So I took the opportunity to revise it.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOX3ngQGuN0oYFcL51lgoVO4mr7JR78vhskujcDmvn_Wlor_0afXUKQ2LvgTOf3EtFoc-AsBHN-ks7rJufwmk4R0arHl2YMvUqwWwUsGJlj0atxO7bo69bKDlRJ6AyYpM6YSUQQxFWn_H7pVNXWeQ-l5M256eiI-r5l_VYmQom-zJfM8OwFN7_2MM4ZI6i/s300/NewEarthPreview.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="300" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOX3ngQGuN0oYFcL51lgoVO4mr7JR78vhskujcDmvn_Wlor_0afXUKQ2LvgTOf3EtFoc-AsBHN-ks7rJufwmk4R0arHl2YMvUqwWwUsGJlj0atxO7bo69bKDlRJ6AyYpM6YSUQQxFWn_H7pVNXWeQ-l5M256eiI-r5l_VYmQom-zJfM8OwFN7_2MM4ZI6i/s1600/NewEarthPreview.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>My games on the Palm Pilot gained dedicated and excited players. Many players of Adventure Solitaire counted it as their favorite game on the Palm OS. And I made a modest living for a while. But then the Palm OS itself got overshadowed by new and exciting cell phone technology -- smart phones. So there went that for me. And yes, I could have ported them to phones, and then other phones, and so on. But learning each phone and OS is a big project, and I decided against it. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MDAHKW5nw-kihvBOaqF8GqrPOmYOFELgf9GF4jaFpVkoiOlSuWQWSSpo08uIm_D_dXueUD4c72YRbBsy3qM7aqhvRnWXiq5AGcHeIqCxSIOnomcFetCfVdwgyGCNn6ljoxJBgFGT4xg8S60iUfBkcDII0RY_bCzGre4Pwuh2OGZ-YQfz2CfcuJ8V3UNF/s160/ASmain.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="160" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4MDAHKW5nw-kihvBOaqF8GqrPOmYOFELgf9GF4jaFpVkoiOlSuWQWSSpo08uIm_D_dXueUD4c72YRbBsy3qM7aqhvRnWXiq5AGcHeIqCxSIOnomcFetCfVdwgyGCNn6ljoxJBgFGT4xg8S60iUfBkcDII0RY_bCzGre4Pwuh2OGZ-YQfz2CfcuJ8V3UNF/s1600/ASmain.gif" width="160" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I ported one of my web games to Java. It took four months. Did anyone
play it? Maybe one guy. So much time, so little result. I ported some Palm Pilot games to Windows. Same thing. They'd been successful on those other platforms, but not on the new ones. So then I chose to make board games, in part to avoid the obsolescence issue for digital games. <br /></p><p>Some luck's bad, some luck's good. Majesty wouldn't have been the game it was if it hadn't had several extra years of development due to switching publishers a couple of times, once at least because the then current publisher was going out of business. So that was some good luck that led to a great game.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cznC_zX2AeiAKzEdHHPdVLDvgftd6BOipZMK3dL04cZPHWDiYNDBMlZoxu4cO_4l_MDm9WZhg0HnL3dD1IcwQotjKNICINaQofVDW68oeijUQzNYzblcrL8B0Lz9XuLso40E9rXIXXyVcW0j2NsAyLJpe5yGyKJNKcCH2ubW_ryFrH4iKN0ddfeWUXJr/s403/jim222-1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="403" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cznC_zX2AeiAKzEdHHPdVLDvgftd6BOipZMK3dL04cZPHWDiYNDBMlZoxu4cO_4l_MDm9WZhg0HnL3dD1IcwQotjKNICINaQofVDW68oeijUQzNYzblcrL8B0Lz9XuLso40E9rXIXXyVcW0j2NsAyLJpe5yGyKJNKcCH2ubW_ryFrH4iKN0ddfeWUXJr/s320/jim222-1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I think it is helpful to think of your entire pantheon of created games as an iterative, interactive process of design. You can learn something from each one, and that experience contributes in some way to the next one. This view also helps you not get too attached to whether one particular game succeeds or fails. Work as well as you can on your current game, understanding that all the circumstances and events will have effects, and see what happens. And then make your next game!<br /></p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-50827548416863572532023-10-23T11:43:00.001-04:002023-10-23T11:43:54.510-04:00Information Design in Board Games - Part Three: Layout<p><span></span></p><blockquote>Information design is the practice of presenting information in a
way that fosters an efficient and effective understanding of the
information. The term has come to be used for a specific area of graphic
design related to displaying information effectively, rather than just
attractively or for artistic expression.</blockquote> <p></p><p>In my previous posts about information design in board games, I talked about the <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2021/12/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">significance of component size</a> and <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2022/01/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">the use of shapes to convey information</a>. This time, I'll talk about the often underestimated yet crucial element of layout, and how thoughtful layout choices can convey information effectively. The layout of text and graphics on a game component can make a huge difference in how players interpret and interact with the game. </p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>The Hierarchy of Information</b></h2><p>Much like in a book or a web page, the layout of information in a board game should establish a hierarchy. This hierarchy guides players' attention and understanding. Typically, more important or frequently referenced information is placed prominently, while secondary or context-specific details are presented in a less prominent manner.</p><p><b>Example 1: Ticket to Ride</b></p><p>In <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride" target="_blank">Ticket to Ride</a> layout communicates essential information. Destination tickets showcase the points awarded for completion prominently at the bottom right, with the cities the player needs to connect as the title. The point value is made more prominent on the card by making it the largest element, and by offsetting it in its own circle - which brings it into the foreground, making it look like it is set on top of the rest the background, instead of integrated with it. The cities of the route are also important and the rest of the card information is dedicated to those. This layout encourages players to prioritize the point values of the routes, and then figure out where those are on the map.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF8yHBZ8-uUinR8hXYsiAdD6Gm4V0qxcw60bwLCF4wvckoFROfGvcz0C-4m9g5uALekhECGKVSWY0GzCCNaDCyyE9FqB8-Ld9Vtk_GHgJcsmca-ldc5Bhkhb86CgVKl9bBr1kXeC7gFkTTHl4w6HDxgzkXVwqr92l-NdSYWQvqeyT99_5ZqQyEE0O19ZJv/s547/TTR.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="547" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF8yHBZ8-uUinR8hXYsiAdD6Gm4V0qxcw60bwLCF4wvckoFROfGvcz0C-4m9g5uALekhECGKVSWY0GzCCNaDCyyE9FqB8-Ld9Vtk_GHgJcsmca-ldc5Bhkhb86CgVKl9bBr1kXeC7gFkTTHl4w6HDxgzkXVwqr92l-NdSYWQvqeyT99_5ZqQyEE0O19ZJv/s320/TTR.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Clarity and Readability</b></h2><p>A fundamental principle of information design is readability. Readability hinges on clear fonts, sufficient contrast, and appropriate spacing. The goal is to make text and graphics easily legible to all players.</p><p><b>Example 2: Carcassonne</b></p><p><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne" target="_blank">Carcassonne</a>'s tile layout is a great example of readability. The city, road, and field sections are crisply defined and intuitively designed, making it simple to recognize the type of feature and its potential connections. The ease of readability encourages quick and accurate tile placement.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BDxSmOaFpdVAEjjMeFGh_hIw4s-bVN7XqQczmGVBeO0X3ENlfTQ2423d480chBt_Ju8BF7xtxdksPd-tbpE8Ym5ghCJqvNKeeLcl7m6eRf6JgxQWVFOmtizbZE5cATv6niN36-dp1zEPucHULqqlSXvD30YMQZagbZfF3-T7Gamwt1QOJeFFU760NvkC/s625/zm7810_tilefan.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="625" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BDxSmOaFpdVAEjjMeFGh_hIw4s-bVN7XqQczmGVBeO0X3ENlfTQ2423d480chBt_Ju8BF7xtxdksPd-tbpE8Ym5ghCJqvNKeeLcl7m6eRf6JgxQWVFOmtizbZE5cATv6niN36-dp1zEPucHULqqlSXvD30YMQZagbZfF3-T7Gamwt1QOJeFFU760NvkC/s320/zm7810_tilefan.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIv2Qu3Ovvy1VL1ttrQp2jLzvO0XniW-tfemx1XQV5n5LB0eXSbMGiVvIDav4kzWWtyxQcE6s3DJ6OnzO4bh0Ttjgv4AGtto5CwI1wmtbLxoKASeCQhyphenhyphenWSzt3zwGr6OGzdzfCISPT1A3sQOrfMCZF2RyesBmAwAzKdb2S8LDKZvnMHClGuHvn6Axeg-BXS/s1024/a16ca1b0-6ff2-476e-9b6a-564b1a32b9aa-d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1022" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIv2Qu3Ovvy1VL1ttrQp2jLzvO0XniW-tfemx1XQV5n5LB0eXSbMGiVvIDav4kzWWtyxQcE6s3DJ6OnzO4bh0Ttjgv4AGtto5CwI1wmtbLxoKASeCQhyphenhyphenWSzt3zwGr6OGzdzfCISPT1A3sQOrfMCZF2RyesBmAwAzKdb2S8LDKZvnMHClGuHvn6Axeg-BXS/w224-h225/a16ca1b0-6ff2-476e-9b6a-564b1a32b9aa-d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e.png" width="224" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Example 3: Codenames</b></p><p>In <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/178900/codenames" target="_blank">Codenames</a>, the word cards' layout is designed for readability. The words are presented in a grid, ensuring they are easy to see from across the table. This lets players quickly scan the words and make word-association connections with their team. Also, the words are printed twice on each card, so that the words can be read right side up from either side of the table.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QTXORaAKg3WMyKfZ7A91uhNeQAlAgY8a-uNDUB-ZlxIg4gEHbV1ZlvxSNGPubU0BR498pZM1fCVOnzg7Woa8lpLAGXU-IXYO_7tCaFPz9g0UB794ZlpQNUwaJet-RRydtMZ_jz-9OY5Dr1CumVTdh8Yls8RlD4Zg7vLNJj3nt5JInY7iAgdIKeScV5kr/s1600/codenames-word-grid.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1107" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QTXORaAKg3WMyKfZ7A91uhNeQAlAgY8a-uNDUB-ZlxIg4gEHbV1ZlvxSNGPubU0BR498pZM1fCVOnzg7Woa8lpLAGXU-IXYO_7tCaFPz9g0UB794ZlpQNUwaJet-RRydtMZ_jz-9OY5Dr1CumVTdh8Yls8RlD4Zg7vLNJj3nt5JInY7iAgdIKeScV5kr/w443-h306/codenames-word-grid.JPG" width="443" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Information Grouping</b></h2><p>In board games, effective layout often groups related information together. This approach reduces visual clutter and supports quick comprehension of complex concepts.</p><p><b>Example 4: Power Grid</b></p><p><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2651/power-grid" target="_blank">Power Grid</a>'s power plant cards use information grouping simply, but well. Essential details like the power plant's resource type, capacity, and fuel cost are neatly clustered together along the bottom, in front of a background color bar. This layout allows players to evaluate the power plant's value efficiently and more easily make informed decisions. The big number in the top left of the card is separate from the other icons, since it is referenced at a different time and in a different way - in order to determine when the card comes into the for sale queue as well as a minimum bid.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMy7PSV1jJEMFAQHa6E64ZxHodg5uE1SZycSs5Ud23MIIUydSluSCtSil427llBG209LHDac5efpIhOaRhwfIQuHezp9AMuMY_fN6uBFrcN2Ry4PZr4XMshBRmYaENjMm1SkLMpszRI7Pjyzk96aXP2a3ua9gWxad38r6HzeHsuGbksozlcu9SwTjRl43/s225/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrMy7PSV1jJEMFAQHa6E64ZxHodg5uE1SZycSs5Ud23MIIUydSluSCtSil427llBG209LHDac5efpIhOaRhwfIQuHezp9AMuMY_fN6uBFrcN2Ry4PZr4XMshBRmYaENjMm1SkLMpszRI7Pjyzk96aXP2a3ua9gWxad38r6HzeHsuGbksozlcu9SwTjRl43/s1600/images.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Some things to avoid</b></h2><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="flex flex-grow flex-col gap-3 max-w-full"><div class="min-h-[20px] flex flex-col items-start gap-3 whitespace-pre-wrap break-words overflow-x-auto"><div class="markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light"><p>Bad layouts in board games often cause confusion, hinder game play, or compromise the overall experience. Here are some common elements of bad layout:</p><ol><li><p><b>Overcrowding</b>: When there's too much information or components crammed into a small space, it can lead to visual clutter. This makes it challenging for players to interpret the game state. A cluttered board can confuse players and slow down the game.</p></li><li><p><b>Unclear Text or Icons</b>: If the text is too small, fonts are difficult to read, or icons are unclear, players may struggle to understand the rules or components. This can lead to constant rule-book referencing and frustration.</p></li><li><p><b>Inconsistent Visuals</b>: Inconsistent graphic design, color schemes, or iconography can confuse players. When similar elements have different meanings or when the same meanings are represented differently, it can hinder understanding.</p></li></ol></div></div></div><b></b></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Conclusion: Layout in Board Games</b></h2><p>Effective layout design in a board game is essential for creating a smooth, enjoyable,
and immersive gaming experience, and poor layout can detract from the
overall enjoyment of the game. From establishing hierarchies and readability to grouping related information, effective layout helps players understand the game and make strategic decisions more easily. </p><p>The next time you sit down to play a board game, take a moment to notice how the layout impacts your gaming experience.</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Read <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2021/12/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">Part 1: Size</a> or <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2022/01/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">Part 2: Shape</a> of this series. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">More posts about <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/search/label/Information%20Design">Information Design</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">More posts about <a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/search/label/Game%20Design">Game Design</a>.</span><br /></p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-90916965891162027482022-01-27T13:48:00.001-05:002023-10-23T11:45:48.509-04:00Information Design in Board Games - Part Two: Shape<p></p><blockquote><span>Information design is the practice of presenting information in a
way that fosters an efficient and effective understanding of the
information. The term has come to be used for a specific area of graphic
design related to displaying information effectively, rather than just
attractively or for artistic expression.</span></blockquote><p></p><p>I played a lot of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/472/dungeonquest">DungeonQuest</a> back in the day, and then got the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157958/dungeonquest-revised-edition">third edition</a> much later when Fantasy Flight reprinted it. It plays out in a classic fantasy dungeon-crawl setting. A fun overall game where you die a lot, no matter what edition you play! Yet there were some changes that didn't work well in the new edition. One of which was in the information design regarding the shape of cards.</p><p>In DungeonQuest there are a lot of different card piles to shuffle and draw from and put cards into the discard piles of. What they did well in the original edition was to make all the cards different interesting shapes. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYessNtXDF1kpGYS0ZOWVAmV26liIo_1SvCtjWCCeciy-nw__tWKbjSWd7jpY8MU_L0NW_qOmC7kGwYs159-LEFdXnSTrhyzei6rAGgsFnaoVJFJ2vC4igmIFl2zo2-7Tn_MxurLN5Y3CsUW3a-Ehs4xax3sv__l-SH54khEEsjWhZqPaSrG7C_b7U7w=s1701" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1701" data-original-width="1071" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYessNtXDF1kpGYS0ZOWVAmV26liIo_1SvCtjWCCeciy-nw__tWKbjSWd7jpY8MU_L0NW_qOmC7kGwYs159-LEFdXnSTrhyzei6rAGgsFnaoVJFJ2vC4igmIFl2zo2-7Tn_MxurLN5Y3CsUW3a-Ehs4xax3sv__l-SH54khEEsjWhZqPaSrG7C_b7U7w=s320" width="201" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cards from the original edition of DungeonQuest.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p>At first it seems like over elaborate theming. But when you compare the play experience to the Fantasy Flight third edition, where all the cards are differentiated by just an image on the back, you realize the shapes in the original edition serve an important function: they let you know by shape where each card goes back to. This is less relevant when drawing, since you see where it is coming from (but still a little relevant since the shape reinforces the game "function") but it is hugely relevant when you need to know where to discard the card to. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5H0Zvf2M7PjcctKQx3wCLsi7DycQUdmfN1ehgMMqAKwaJ6ctPjbjaKEtzWEDbvMMrmbtJEiNzEXYrwfdgTTwy44lR97IXHcT4DlRTgzlmPER1zGBUBO3DSF1lnpnu1SYqAXnrLnRGBghUXuj67RsK9vmbQjhaiDJbCBJAVQCzLHpyPY_fFkisls56tA=s1663" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="1663" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5H0Zvf2M7PjcctKQx3wCLsi7DycQUdmfN1ehgMMqAKwaJ6ctPjbjaKEtzWEDbvMMrmbtJEiNzEXYrwfdgTTwy44lR97IXHcT4DlRTgzlmPER1zGBUBO3DSF1lnpnu1SYqAXnrLnRGBghUXuj67RsK9vmbQjhaiDJbCBJAVQCzLHpyPY_fFkisls56tA=w400-h135" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DunegonQuest third edition. All cards in a row there are the same shape. Different shapes would have helped identify them.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>In the third edition, when it comes time to discard a card, you look at it, try to see if you can guess which pile it came from, don't usually succeed since there is a lot of overlap in the game content in each deck, then flip the card over to check the back, scan the eight piles of cards to see if the image matches any of them (those murky images didn't help either but that's for another day), and then discard it to the right pile. At the end of the game, you have to check all the piles to see if any cards were mis-discarded, which is often the case, and them put them in the right piles. This never happened in the first edition, since the unique shape lets you know instantly where it gets discarded.<br /></p><p>Both editions used shape and size to differentiate the character cards from the rest of the cards though, so it was easy to visually pick them out on the table amidst all the other things.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaqlQ2jBuyL-nst_Fph7dApmUTp_x1zJyPB8xHE1MtTB3j8aojLX4pwseye7aIlsHOFKh-jHdKMQdrPoDVXQVrJ01YbVlyIhrkywQkhplxq9FPp7z8HltDrT3KZI-TDUiZ4s0VyvIV1L3yK1SkmgO-ksZSETS1WwaOeCQLqa8KEDmyf1U6Yadq4MJseQ=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="600" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaqlQ2jBuyL-nst_Fph7dApmUTp_x1zJyPB8xHE1MtTB3j8aojLX4pwseye7aIlsHOFKh-jHdKMQdrPoDVXQVrJ01YbVlyIhrkywQkhplxq9FPp7z8HltDrT3KZI-TDUiZ4s0VyvIV1L3yK1SkmgO-ksZSETS1WwaOeCQLqa8KEDmyf1U6Yadq4MJseQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Character card from the third edition of DungeonQuest. Larger than other cards, also oriented sideways relative to them. Makes it stand out.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwo_H5ky_d35OlHcpNfdncVn15Cs2AgSHfn63qBpOYEwmWsWp5o_cY38wYS-0fi768ykllbWuSwGwZL8PQMsQik2_qSx9QNKAJGq320uOuCahudCWPiTDDWiRTbgKtUeo2ZfBo9mNTpDYdaAQeM8cjjg4NNj1y0XS8P5XcA6kLMTaDgrlXUG65wLaEJg=s874" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgwo_H5ky_d35OlHcpNfdncVn15Cs2AgSHfn63qBpOYEwmWsWp5o_cY38wYS-0fi768ykllbWuSwGwZL8PQMsQik2_qSx9QNKAJGq320uOuCahudCWPiTDDWiRTbgKtUeo2ZfBo9mNTpDYdaAQeM8cjjg4NNj1y0XS8P5XcA6kLMTaDgrlXUG65wLaEJg=s320" width="146" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Character Card from the original edition of DungeonQuest. Long and thin and larger than the other cards, so it is easier to visually find.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /> </p><p>So why does this matter? Because you want a player to be involved in the core aspects of your game, such as the strategic choices, or the imaginative immersion, or the flow of the experience, or the social experience, or whatever your goals for the game are, instead of focusing on the "interface", which in board games is highly connected to information design, as well as rules clarity, game mechanics, and ergonomics.<br /></p><p>The less a player has to struggle with, or pay attention to, the "interface", the more they can play the game.</p><p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This is part 2 of a 3 part series. Read part 1, about size in information design, <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2021/12/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">here</a>. Or continue to part 3, <a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2023/10/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">here</a>.<br /></span></p><p></p><p></p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-45528322713283862532021-12-06T14:12:00.003-05:002022-01-27T13:49:43.386-05:00Information Design in Board Games - Part One: Size<p>This is part one of a 3 part series on Information design in board games. Part two is Shape, and part three is Layout.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span>Information design is the practice of presenting information in a
way that fosters an efficient and effective understanding of the
information. The term has come to be used for a specific area of graphic
design related to displaying information effectively, rather than just
attractively or for artistic expression.</span></p><p><span>The size of something tells us things about it, whether we have designed that or not. The larger it is, the more important and/or powerful it is. The smaller it is, the less important and/or powerful it is. So you can have size hierarchies in a game that tell which things to focus on, be afraid of, etc. Size can be overall size, vertical or horizontal size. Ie, something can be wider or slimmer, taller or shorter, more or less massive.</span></p><p><span><br /></span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span>Good Examples of size hierarchies:</span></h4><p><span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNJ8vkqu3ekaXOELoQy4fgNgN5anTzGg8_MmSJ2bnuiMvFyKYh2aG8edADLrffSm1QwNCYI3iRWOt351k-OqjLi3DBnqjwYmxOIR69Kphyphenhyphen1NP9q0rC8h8IU226-9EkxtXV_s1CS1K18uY4/s600/StarWarsRebellion.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNJ8vkqu3ekaXOELoQy4fgNgN5anTzGg8_MmSJ2bnuiMvFyKYh2aG8edADLrffSm1QwNCYI3iRWOt351k-OqjLi3DBnqjwYmxOIR69Kphyphenhyphen1NP9q0rC8h8IU226-9EkxtXV_s1CS1K18uY4/s320/StarWarsRebellion.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star Wars Rebellion. Those death stars loom over everything!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span><br /> </span><p></p><p><span><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/187645/star-wars-rebellion">Star Wars Rebellion</a> - the death star and big battleships are much larger, and it lets you feel and know they are more powerful. Also, the standees with the heroes in them are very large, which lets you know they are an important focus of the game. The standees are cardboard, so they are not in the exact same hierarchy as all the plastic pieces. Also the death star and star destroyers are on pedestals, putting them literally above every other piece. Really great usage of size hierarchy.<br /></span></p><p><span><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/169786/scythe">Scythe</a>: your main mini is larger. The mechs are larger than the workers. These size differences let you know the focus of the game and story.</span></p><p><span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2of4xT550vYcXhCa0UTSriP-UTnE9dHw1DCaqKJZ1dbbiNxBMFT3Lmyh6SJqgYLd3Mn1XYk2jVml_MJ06gmcWwOjj0dgoL6R0Ff8XOVi_MI_9buaJm4k7iNUpz80QNm0CkQyja-EKQMh/s596/Bloodrage+Minis.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="596" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp2of4xT550vYcXhCa0UTSriP-UTnE9dHw1DCaqKJZ1dbbiNxBMFT3Lmyh6SJqgYLd3Mn1XYk2jVml_MJ06gmcWwOjj0dgoL6R0Ff8XOVi_MI_9buaJm4k7iNUpz80QNm0CkQyja-EKQMh/s320/Bloodrage+Minis.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blood Rage Minis. Those monsters are huge!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span><br /> </span><p></p><p><span><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/205896/rising-sun">Rising sun</a>/<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170216/blood-rage">Blood Rage</a>: The monsters are bigger, meaning they are more powerful, more fun, more cool. You feel that when you get a larger monster on your team. That is part of the imaginative immersion of those games.</span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><br /> </span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span>Examples of missed opportunities to use size hierarchies:</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4QoueIXHyp4NxFK0dd-Nn6vvQTpMep0e38ykpHQlogX7mf2GKr6fHMNsVSnrazel2M3VFodm-Y8tm05luqswL9N6w4qqssPM3wbrc7qGKnOEjM4A-nGZvQtLd_GmyOnIyH7fr6PbN24qj/s499/xia2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="499" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4QoueIXHyp4NxFK0dd-Nn6vvQTpMep0e38ykpHQlogX7mf2GKr6fHMNsVSnrazel2M3VFodm-Y8tm05luqswL9N6w4qqssPM3wbrc7qGKnOEjM4A-nGZvQtLd_GmyOnIyH7fr6PbN24qj/s320/xia2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xia minis. Some of these are NPCs, but you can't tell from the height.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></h4><p><span><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/82222/xia-legends-drift-system">Xia</a>: The PC and NPC ships (and comets), all are meant to go on clear stands. If you do that, it is harder to differentiate between the PCs and NPCs, especially since the models are not very iconic, being more realistic. An easy fix is to not use the stands for NPCs and put them directly on the board. It creates a size hierarchy among the pieces, helping you focus on the PCS as well as differentiate them from the NPCs. Another thing that could be done is have the NPCs on half-height stands.<br /></span></p><p><span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpE4HqPnMFqQWO2Qw_LpZoFX3yC-ItbdjC_6MMnuTdbbxGQx1Dt8-lcvGtEuwCZ1TYLIQKDWFFGGsDWBawVaq0EgsXyZQm8Y0om7GW64H0he9ksMHXGZODMjyyPFlw6yjp5td4_zpmG9U/s2764/Runebound+Char.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2764" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpE4HqPnMFqQWO2Qw_LpZoFX3yC-ItbdjC_6MMnuTdbbxGQx1Dt8-lcvGtEuwCZ1TYLIQKDWFFGGsDWBawVaq0EgsXyZQm8Y0om7GW64H0he9ksMHXGZODMjyyPFlw6yjp5td4_zpmG9U/s320/Runebound+Char.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Runebound Second edition. A PC on the left, and an ally on the right. No way to tell them apart from size.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span><br /> </span><p></p><p><span><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/21523/runebound-second-edition">Runebound Second Edition</a>: The character cards are the same size (bridge sized) as the items, allies and monsters. If they made the characters twice as large, it would have helped differentiate them when in your play area, find them amongst the clutter easier, let you put more counters on them, as well as help highlight the importance/focus of them in the story. I think in Descent and Runebound Third edition, they did this.<br /></span></p><p><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2022/01/information-design-in-board-games-part.html">Continue to part two: Shape</a></span><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/search/label/Game%20Design">More posts about Game Design</a>.</span></p><p><span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/search/label/Information%20Design">More Posts about Information Design</a>.</span><br /></span></p><p><span><br /></span></p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-17825504551104522762021-11-12T12:48:00.001-05:002021-12-07T14:48:51.155-05:00I'm Hoping for a Day... (state of mobile gaming)<p>I am hoping for a day when there will be no more gold, gems and also mega-gems in games. No coins, tickets and also blue super-mega tickets in the same game.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5I6SM8gF5swg8n7IS0836UyTqx2lM9oM1rafC7k5UWB5ZNI1omGHdBs_quZsA-kUqm_8l5gvYm1FaAXyDGpq8-zCfaJMQKbvsGnS6qFqJBoCOZCUu7sbiNBpX1W_pru-ZDWiPH-krcp-/s2048/ruby-gemstone-vector-clipart.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2045" height="73" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5I6SM8gF5swg8n7IS0836UyTqx2lM9oM1rafC7k5UWB5ZNI1omGHdBs_quZsA-kUqm_8l5gvYm1FaAXyDGpq8-zCfaJMQKbvsGnS6qFqJBoCOZCUu7sbiNBpX1W_pru-ZDWiPH-krcp-/w73-h73/ruby-gemstone-vector-clipart.png" width="73" /></a></div> <p></p><p>I am hoping for a day when there will be no more waiting 5 minutes to a day for your energy to regenerate so you can play the game again.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLyfQwILQruNdGdUztOTfbpxsLehOxVk2lpClhWGndEUiqfbSw3uwMxLyHo7U-54bz_gW8bfjqmYe29-2V4aZLu39ArlrhqvgQFKbWxHe3f2fqyNbT9qldnR2YHjE2uIsoRanAk8JhO5f/s1920/stopwatch-1502459279O5r.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="67" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLyfQwILQruNdGdUztOTfbpxsLehOxVk2lpClhWGndEUiqfbSw3uwMxLyHo7U-54bz_gW8bfjqmYe29-2V4aZLu39ArlrhqvgQFKbWxHe3f2fqyNbT9qldnR2YHjE2uIsoRanAk8JhO5f/w89-h67/stopwatch-1502459279O5r.jpg" width="89" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>I am hoping for a day when there will be no 'Epic Quests' which are actually just daily chores. In fact, I am hoping for a day when there are no more chores in games! If I want to do daily chores, I can just clean my house!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoke8qsOXlOne35u8WRsnPu4ta0k60-dm73xHaBP5M2hbXIb2ktGiAsEJbpXUBENNPBji1sVRCTgEF-hAQVdBMeILHFRb4uZuMEoi4iWBjZ5NdmSFLbn54Bp4cuGVoqBFgwC7_9bzGUaLj/s286/tasks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="176" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoke8qsOXlOne35u8WRsnPu4ta0k60-dm73xHaBP5M2hbXIb2ktGiAsEJbpXUBENNPBji1sVRCTgEF-hAQVdBMeILHFRb4uZuMEoi4iWBjZ5NdmSFLbn54Bp4cuGVoqBFgwC7_9bzGUaLj/w87-h142/tasks.jpg" width="87" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>I am hoping for a day when there are no daily sign-in bonuses that are hard to remember and make you feel bad when you miss them.</p><p>I am hoping for that day when you don't have to slowly unlock 1000 features of gameplay over a year.</p><p>I am hoping for a day when I am never again told I could watch a video to increase the gems I earn for winning a level.</p><p>I am hoping for a day when there are no more Limited Time Events I must act now to enter.</p><p>I am hoping for a day when there are no 3 star ratings for finishing levels!</p><p>I am hoping for a day they stop turning fun things into tedious exercises.</p><p>I am hoping for the day when they stop disguising boring dull tasks as games. </p><p>I am hoping for a day when I don't have to create an account to play a random game I never heard of.</p><p>I am also hoping for the day when I don't have to wait while a game updates with its latest patch which is 100s of megabytes.</p><p>I am still hoping that someday, somewhere, a game will let me play it WHEN I AM NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET!<br /></p><p>I am hoping for a day I can just play the darn games! And enjoy them.<br /></p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-55978476500404913652021-06-10T12:45:00.000-04:002021-06-10T12:45:09.139-04:00Don't Do Mystery Math!<p>I have been playing this tower defense game, <a href="http://www.haypi.com/guardians/index.htm">Guardians</a>, on the iPad for a few months now, and I am up to level 526 (?) and I was thinking about how a score is calculated in a game. In Guardians, I have no idea. I just finish the level and there is a score. Sometimes 1000, sometimes 10000.</p><p>As I was wondering about this, I noticed a "?" in a circle next to my score for the current level. I was like, "Oh, maybe I can click it!" (Which says a few things: 1. I hadn't noticed it in over 500 wins of the game, and 2. I wasn't sure it was a button. Maybe they could have made it larger, and shaped like all the other buttons in the game...) </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibogU_9cuxGJtPDp6PN0ew6dmuQMuUpUAcYk68s117LSdTiGoGoWBGABJNDEA4nLNb7wu9zrco4iWDburc3D1aXeiC1R7KFJI4L0wniY2yI5Do2wIwxJwZ4qG3n_uGLD53squ_Y55HBYMp/s2048/Photo+May+29%252C+11+39+24+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibogU_9cuxGJtPDp6PN0ew6dmuQMuUpUAcYk68s117LSdTiGoGoWBGABJNDEA4nLNb7wu9zrco4iWDburc3D1aXeiC1R7KFJI4L0wniY2yI5Do2wIwxJwZ4qG3n_uGLD53squ_Y55HBYMp/w400-h300/Photo+May+29%252C+11+39+24+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br /><p></p><p>So I click it and it takes me to a screen which tells me the general idea of how to get a good score: finish fast, use as few towers as possible, and a few other things. And... I am still in the dark about how my scores are formed, since they made a mistake that is particularly easy to make in digital games (as opposed to board games) which is not showing the numbers. I wrote about that <a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/07/mistakes-in-digital-games-show-numbers.html">here</a>. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZ5iWO5tosqdA47HxgOHGtv9NNosHB5dGDEnoBIqcHM5_3SEdzzGfNqHQf7iCFiHiQ4LM8KTzptQn_YxOsFyaEhxBZFo0E0fv9FZRne9stVSylBwOZXLbSuriuH7EF67_YPOk_0D89hKX/s418/index.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZ5iWO5tosqdA47HxgOHGtv9NNosHB5dGDEnoBIqcHM5_3SEdzzGfNqHQf7iCFiHiQ4LM8KTzptQn_YxOsFyaEhxBZFo0E0fv9FZRne9stVSylBwOZXLbSuriuH7EF67_YPOk_0D89hKX/s320/index.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Without numbers, you can't really evaluate, or weigh the different elements in your score. Was finishing fast more or less important than using fewer towers? I will never know because they didn't show the numbers! That screen would have been a great spot to show the exact numbers for each section, and then the total, so if I wanted, I could try to maximize my score. Which I don't, since I don't care. I just like to finish the levels.<p></p><p>Mystery math is that behind the scenes calculation that comes up with a score for something. Don't do it. Always tell the players the numbers that form their score. Or better yet, ask if you really need a score in your game? Can you just record if they finish a level or not? Or maybe the three stars thing? You know: one star for finishing, 3 stars for finishing without losing any health, and 2 stars for... for... some other random thing. Which I also hate, but it is slightly better than a mystery score.</p><p>My favorite thing for tower defense games, since they are real-time, is to simply record how fast you solved it. That encompasses a lot of different elements of the game, and has an easily understandable result.</p><p>If that is not the feel you want for your game, is there any other one number element that you think determines the core elements of the game? Maybe the best score in your game equals spending the least money, ie, being the most efficient.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8brBifoPou7fDezKLzLwwZk1nTJ-1R0SxAVMU14MEZObdLdHnJKv37PQT9QBxANXLCt0oVfLPWiDUi3LA5l3VDI_PcznIWUEGRWesPsrSRudzwiCqIA0IumHQhZfmpGyM4dRHB2KJVVv/s220/220_F_100089655_uHa3l2U8Dkxu30iYQmw9u1iNeJfLPEy9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="220" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8brBifoPou7fDezKLzLwwZk1nTJ-1R0SxAVMU14MEZObdLdHnJKv37PQT9QBxANXLCt0oVfLPWiDUi3LA5l3VDI_PcznIWUEGRWesPsrSRudzwiCqIA0IumHQhZfmpGyM4dRHB2KJVVv/w134-h134/220_F_100089655_uHa3l2U8Dkxu30iYQmw9u1iNeJfLPEy9.jpg" width="134" /></a></div>Me and my game night buddies came up with the "Mystery Math" phrase while playing board games on <a href="https://boardgamearena.com/">Board Game Arena</a>. Since the end scoring of a game is automated, it just starts adding up behind the scenes things and showing the end result. Albeit usually afterwords with a chart breaking down the categories, which does really help. But in many games the interface is hard to follow and you're still not sure what happened, especially while it is happening. This is a particular interface problem that comes from "porting" a real life game to an online game. Really, new interface elements have to be thought about and added to make the game play well on the new medium. Like light up outlines, and animations to help draw your eyes to whatever element is being referenced. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApvKORSD6-or4whS5kG-z9NfMl5yRd1F7mGbuDWPov5c_I4zkmj7cQHeqqAYQpxjK-wLrQ_q3luMZ1LCjgF6m2Vt-Ss3oqW39CF0V3auSmZMm2jCZ-EE32W79kPvDOkhcPjrAw9tMre4n/s1400/boardgamearena-logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjApvKORSD6-or4whS5kG-z9NfMl5yRd1F7mGbuDWPov5c_I4zkmj7cQHeqqAYQpxjK-wLrQ_q3luMZ1LCjgF6m2Vt-Ss3oqW39CF0V3auSmZMm2jCZ-EE32W79kPvDOkhcPjrAw9tMre4n/s320/boardgamearena-logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>When playing a board game in real life, you get a better sense of the numbers that add up to your final score since you have to add up the categories by hand. (Sometimes, like in Carcasonne, with those &%$^ farmers, you still aren't sure why you lost or won.) </p><p>I understand why many modern board games obscure each player's total points until the end. It is so that you can't tell who's ahead exactly, and be discouraged about it. It can let a player feel like they might catch up. It can help a player focus on the game dynamics and experience and not the competition. It can keep dramatic tension high until the end. Who will win? But it also feels like mystery math until the end, even though you could often do the math during play.<br /></p><p>Its not my favorite, but I don't hate it, at least, in board games. I prefer point-threshold games (when someone reaches X points, they win), and goal oriented games. Or just whoever has the most points at the end wins. No mystery math in those.</p><p> </p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-92064574579924515862021-04-26T14:15:00.003-04:002021-12-06T14:09:54.460-05:00Mistakes in Card Layout - 4 More Points<p>This is a collection of other common mistakes made when laying out cards for board games, to end <a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/search/label/Card%20Layout">this series</a> on the blog.<br /></p><p><b>1. Low contrast</b>. If you have gray text on light gray background it is going to be hard to read. Make sure you use high contrasting colors between your text and the text background. White on black or black on white is the best.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p><b>2. Not enough White Space</b>. White space is the gap between the edge of your text and the box it is in or the sheet it is on. When there is too little, your eye will "catch" on the bounding box, and make reading slower.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieh59GpUpnbDRRnhsJudwTZM3RBYgIqR3ij0MhS0OhD0SPSOq8IhLmq4YRq5QDw3G33rFk8RBExf_6FQ46LmA6Gn_3QZLmo0PnEzoqwad0SYJ40sXxCYiUGqEWHeYbHYovwB0SMzA-8xmz/s526/67d0df8f84a3967bcd80c132c67d02a4.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieh59GpUpnbDRRnhsJudwTZM3RBYgIqR3ij0MhS0OhD0SPSOq8IhLmq4YRq5QDw3G33rFk8RBExf_6FQ46LmA6Gn_3QZLmo0PnEzoqwad0SYJ40sXxCYiUGqEWHeYbHYovwB0SMzA-8xmz/s320/67d0df8f84a3967bcd80c132c67d02a4.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The text is too close to the bounding box on this card from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/122522/smash">Smash Up</a>.
They also centered the text which additionally slows down the reading
and comprehension. <br /></p>
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<p><b>3. Text Background box over graphics is too transparent</b>. So the fun graphic you put behind the text box shows... but also interferes with the text. Make the box opaque or only very slightly transparent. The goal is the most readable text.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPNrhSOsAqkr1PejfJtHjA4woNTZKJxn4Ae5LhKlomJ5vAFlgvyPo0ueqJ3YLtBVWkFlpODMQchCWbsCiK6_sOTd28QjXpBXWy-JZ-ZcznoPogdjfeapT7Yfgm9HpzHpOiOcXz864e_g-/s679/71fUN306iIL._AC_SY679_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="490" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPNrhSOsAqkr1PejfJtHjA4woNTZKJxn4Ae5LhKlomJ5vAFlgvyPo0ueqJ3YLtBVWkFlpODMQchCWbsCiK6_sOTd28QjXpBXWy-JZ-ZcznoPogdjfeapT7Yfgm9HpzHpOiOcXz864e_g-/s320/71fUN306iIL._AC_SY679_.jpg" /></a></div><p>This card from the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/79073/resident-evil-deck-building-game">Resident Evil deck building game</a> is a good example of a transparent text box behind text, done right. They have the right side, where there is no text, more see-through than the middle, where the text is.</p><p>One other problem with the layout is: title not at the top. It would increase the immersive feel to have "Jill Valentine" at the top of the card, especially instead of "[Character]" which is dull as well as useless to have there.</p><p>This card is never used in a hand of cards, otherwise I would say it has a full bleed problem. See my next point.<br /></p><p><br /></p>
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<p><b>4. Full bleeds!</b> This is when the graphic on the card goes all the way to the edge of the card, instead of being interrupted by a border of some kind. It sure looks nice, but it blurs where the edge of the card is, and can result in making it hard to differentiate between individual cards, especially from the back when they are overlapping. If your cards are always face up on the board, and never overlapping, maybe this is ok, but if they are overlapping, held in a hand multiples at a time, then it is not. If you HAVE to have the image go to the card edge, at least put a pseudo border around the edge by darkening or lightening the image there.</p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNj5_j6_c1Nu8cg7rlOPtvrv2coRGuNU158-VCaWAIJSZp8POabNmbhu__hs4S1j83qBrvU_aICh9lgf1mk38MjnWIddVTglH8TQYgvrZH4SttrKqt3O-gnlfNx-dDSZPHMKCTZdY-aP5K/s1080/matt-paquette-tsqshots2-56413.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNj5_j6_c1Nu8cg7rlOPtvrv2coRGuNU158-VCaWAIJSZp8POabNmbhu__hs4S1j83qBrvU_aICh9lgf1mk38MjnWIddVTglH8TQYgvrZH4SttrKqt3O-gnlfNx-dDSZPHMKCTZdY-aP5K/s320/matt-paquette-tsqshots2-56413.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These cards from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/215341/thunderstone-quest">Thunderstone Quest</a> illustrate my point. See the middle
left of the top card? Very hard to find the edge between it and the card
below it, so it becomes a usability issue in terms of differentiating
and picking up. But the white text on blue background has good contrast.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCKzwbveKxzYkvzA61HwPcttT0mFJfDbX7lBf3U_gptU25nCp1Vh4idQbIhl34r6pXAPbYxCIHY6BL8WndGYpHJTfJY6eBjUsKBzwrAOsVpcKozsaMRNRlIFqzhXM_phCD9N16XQEn7Cc/s620/en_afvqwhtqoq_souls.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="620" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCKzwbveKxzYkvzA61HwPcttT0mFJfDbX7lBf3U_gptU25nCp1Vh4idQbIhl34r6pXAPbYxCIHY6BL8WndGYpHJTfJY6eBjUsKBzwrAOsVpcKozsaMRNRlIFqzhXM_phCD9N16XQEn7Cc/s320/en_afvqwhtqoq_souls.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>See what a solid border does to differentiate the cards? From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering">Magic the Gathering</a>. </p>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div div="" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">See the other entries in this series: </span></div><div div="" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/06/mistakes-in-card-layout-titles-not-at.html">Mistakes in card layout - Titles not at the top!</a> </span></div><div div="" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/05/mistakes-in-card-layout-centered-text.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Mistakes in card layout - Centered Text</span></a></div><div div="" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/07/mistakes-in-card-layout-mixing-symbols.html">Mistakes in card layout - Mixing symbols and text</a><br /></span></div>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-58557891815894374852021-04-15T13:15:00.000-04:002021-04-15T13:15:06.233-04:009 Ways to Stress Test your Mobile Game<p><span> </span>So many games (and apps) seem like they are developed in a perfect environment: the best hardware, the best lighting, and with the best accessories like stands and headphones. Unfortunately, most of us don't use the games in anything close to those environments, so in order to address that, I have made a list of ways to stress test a mobile game, for developers to follow and make their games more usable to more people.</p><p> </p><p><b>1) Play on the couch, while eating a bag of chips.</b> </p><p>Take the iPad you are testing on out of the stand and go sit on the couch holding it. Put a bag of chips next to you on the couch. If you hold the iPad with one hand, can you reach all the game controls with the other? Ie, do you need to have a two handed grip because there are buttons on each bottom corner in landscape mode? Check for constraints like that. Maybe your game can't be played with one hand. But then it also can't be played while eating chips, which is a serious trade-off!</p><p>Now try laying down on the couch and playing it. Go ahead, just do it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG86DTPGkrKLCfhQMiMDl1nR2rwl4fqGDG3SNBAPdWU7Aa7D9EFy5dyuBfJtpO1e0Uf566OaolXCio3c023nNZDspv18ban5NO4VpMEgmYhevD-hTSl9UpfS2dhULjPLUNw3Igw9Pncl8A/s2048/image2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG86DTPGkrKLCfhQMiMDl1nR2rwl4fqGDG3SNBAPdWU7Aa7D9EFy5dyuBfJtpO1e0Uf566OaolXCio3c023nNZDspv18ban5NO4VpMEgmYhevD-hTSl9UpfS2dhULjPLUNw3Igw9Pncl8A/s320/image2.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">A screen shot from Gravity Rider on the iPad. Notice the controls are on the bottom left and right. You need two hands to play this. No eating chips and playing this one! (Also the pause is in the upper left... you will probably crash your bike often trying to get up there in time!)</span><br /><br /><p><br /></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHLEe_inJbvt5bCV6nURFkgzcfv-w0CX-PjrN4IwfFW7uNau03LOvnm-FBYHuX4UhF0B9eGeHevdKM39bw8IbOlo_ABu918YEB5cuDmGihyphenhyphenCxKU2W4Dc9FS7pxAtmvgjiAOoy6ubFMOMU/s359/ipad-vs-iphone-screen.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="359" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeHLEe_inJbvt5bCV6nURFkgzcfv-w0CX-PjrN4IwfFW7uNau03LOvnm-FBYHuX4UhF0B9eGeHevdKM39bw8IbOlo_ABu918YEB5cuDmGihyphenhyphenCxKU2W4Dc9FS7pxAtmvgjiAOoy6ubFMOMU/w169-h158/ipad-vs-iphone-screen.jpg" width="169" /></a></b></div><b>2) Play it on the tiniest screen you can find.</b> <p></p><p>I know you can play it on phone or tablet and it is the same game, but go try it on the phone for a long time and realize you might need an interface there that is different because it is so much smaller. </p><p>A fingertip sized button (and buttons shouldn't be much smaller than that!) takes up so much more room on a phone than a tablet.</p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>3) Turn off the sound and play it!</b> </p><p>Many people play with the sound turned off or very low, because they might be in a group setting or it is night or something. Are all the things the player needs to be notified of (especially in a real time game) clear enough without sound? Do you need to make the animations bigger or more central when something happens? Do you need to pause the game with a pop-up dialog?<br /></p><p><b> </b></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguI8RUJeyxXbbxPliZPlMheaCCPQU4nQt8vel1ulN8E0-l0s6Fm1bGvXoz1PDvUbYz6Klvl6oddWIMBj7eK8HwGSsZnjjrVWZWhfajhpqxRuLmJm4J_UC0DaPL9oVVweeMrExqnMaSC-Uf/s615/music-note-silhouette.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="615" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguI8RUJeyxXbbxPliZPlMheaCCPQU4nQt8vel1ulN8E0-l0s6Fm1bGvXoz1PDvUbYz6Klvl6oddWIMBj7eK8HwGSsZnjjrVWZWhfajhpqxRuLmJm4J_UC0DaPL9oVVweeMrExqnMaSC-Uf/w170-h129/music-note-silhouette.jpg" width="170" /></a><b>4) Listen to the music of your game... for 3 hours.</b> </p><p>Did it drive you crazy with its repetition? Because most in-game music does that to me, and I shut it off after the initial play or two. If your game lasts a long time your music should ideally keep up. Maybe you need a dynamic soundscape or computer generated music.<br /></p><p><br /> </p><p><b>5) Listen to the sound effects at a medium volume, not on headphones!</b> <br /></p><p>Are they annoying? To you or anyone nearby? Ask yourself for real. The same goes for the voice acting. Bad voice acting ruins everything. I played Smallworld 2 on the iPad, but the voice-over they had for the die roll win and loss was SOOOO gratingly bad, I had to turn off all sounds. (Partly because there was no option to just turn off the bad voice acting.)<br /></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxHcFMM-OYYPxnf-BUUeN_SePP50aHzPvPvDlCnNhI29m8bWUm4Miu2Xe5gBE-iiR4Z1kJ7PxY8KyvnmkhclFJeZoD1C_pOXC_vM-K8aHJJpD6TMpdB0XcWQmE4hLx2bOPt8T9-Ic2Q6K/s2000/IE-021c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1614" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxHcFMM-OYYPxnf-BUUeN_SePP50aHzPvPvDlCnNhI29m8bWUm4Miu2Xe5gBE-iiR4Z1kJ7PxY8KyvnmkhclFJeZoD1C_pOXC_vM-K8aHJJpD6TMpdB0XcWQmE4hLx2bOPt8T9-Ic2Q6K/w141-h170/IE-021c.jpg" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ok, not this old!<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b></p><p><b>6) Play it on an older tablet or phone.</b> </p><p>Many people hold onto their old hardware until they are forced to upgrade. Does your game take that large audience into account? How did your game function on that older tablet? Was it slow? Did it crash randomly? Did it work at all? Maybe you can't make it work there, but maybe you can. It is something to think about.<br /><br /></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>7) Give it to someone who doesn't work with you and who you don't know.</b> </p><p>Watch them play it, and don't tell them anything about it. What are they not understanding? What are they not doing? If they are frustrated and acting stupid, that's probably your fault as the designer, not theirs.</p><p>I like to playtest a game with people that don't play games much, because it gives me a certain kind of feedback that is more useful and different than from people who play games a lot and have ingrained ideas and preferences.<br /></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>8) Play your "tutorial" 10 times, and see if you hate the world after, or anytime during it.</b> </p><p>Do you really need that "click here, click here, click here" thing you are calling a tutorial? Because most people know how to play a mobile game. And if your interface is too complex to figure out, maybe you need to have a better interface rather than a boring tutorial that people click to get through and don't learn too much from anyway.</p><p>I have quit an enormous number of games due to these type of tutorials. I like if I am given an option to try the tutorial, or just start the game, and I really prefer the term "how to play" to "tutorial".<br /></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>9) And as I usually recommend, play that game for 100 hours at least.</b> </p><p>And another couple hundred hours after that. More or less, depending on how complicated your game is. Notice anything that becomes tedious in the mechanics of the game, or in the use of the interface, and revise them! Try weird strategies, do random things while playing. </p><p>Games are a dynamic medium and have many pathways through them. This is what makes them unique and interesting compared to other media. But it also means you have to put in more time traveling those pathways in order to make a good game.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you like board games and this post, go read <a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/05/7-ways-to-stress-test-your-board-game.html">7 Ways to Stress Test you Board Game</a>.</p><p>Or read more about <a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/search/label/Digital%20Games">Digital Games and Design</a>.<br /></p>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-48614983603758452452021-03-25T11:17:00.000-04:002021-03-25T11:17:03.393-04:00"Focus" in Game Design<blockquote><i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Focus</b>: a state or condition permitting clear perception or understanding.</span></i></blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_5Xu4DkNUCw4eyw5foeU0uDACbgPIyVQrg8z39C98Nsk31S2QWTSsPBzytawyy6_eSjf9PkPnnEQg4UNJGfx9lTlSInIi7wsmoHtJwMbUzMeGg_NlHHDygV4URXMkf0YLooh8unnYEps/s904/Magnifying_glass_01.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="904" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_5Xu4DkNUCw4eyw5foeU0uDACbgPIyVQrg8z39C98Nsk31S2QWTSsPBzytawyy6_eSjf9PkPnnEQg4UNJGfx9lTlSInIi7wsmoHtJwMbUzMeGg_NlHHDygV4URXMkf0YLooh8unnYEps/w242-h240/Magnifying_glass_01.svg.png" width="242" /></a></div>Focus is one of the tools you have for managing complexity successfully. <br />
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When a player has ten disparate things to do, they are less focused than when they have one thing to do.<br />
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When a player has one thing to do with with five relevant sub goals or parts, they are more focused than when they have six unrelated things to do. Hierarchies of information help focus because a player can focus on the level they need to and ignore more fine detail.<br />
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When a five player game says the way to play it with less players is to have some players play more than one character, that version of the game is less focused. It also makes it less immersive often because the focus is gone and you don't identify with the characters the same way. You switch your attention between being two characters, instead of always feeling like, "this is me."<br />
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When a game has nine phases to go through a turn, it would be easier to focus if they were grouped together in some turn sequence hierarchy, such as Income, Main and Clean up. And do you really need those nine phases?<br />
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Eliminating extra detail increases focus. Are those extra stats on your hero worth the loss in focus? Is that one action that is only taken rarely worth the loss of focus?<br />
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When something is less focused, it takes more concentration to pay attention to. This can be good or bad, depending on what type of game you are making, but there are still limits despite the type of game. For example, a board game with 200 independent pieces per side would probably turn off all but the most extreme players. <br />
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When something is less focused, it is harder to come back to later and remember what was happening, or how it works. Think of an overly complex rule set for a game, and what it is like picking up the game to play a year after your last play: check this, check that, how does that go again, and so forth. Think of a game that you haven't played in a year that you can remember how to play: oh right, that's how this goes, and you can do this, and you win by X. <br />
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There are other factors, of course, and there are trade-offs between complexity/depth and rememberability/focus. The important thing is to know and decide where your game fits along the spectrum of focus and why it is there.<br />
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Also, different players prefer different levels of focus, and the same players might prefer different levels at different moments.<br />
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I think a general rule of game design ought to be: err on the side of simpler and more focused. Especially if you can't explain why you are not doing that.Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-20768200674886057422020-09-17T12:04:00.000-04:002020-09-17T12:04:24.702-04:00What Does My Kitchen Have to Do With Game Design?<p>I have this experience every time I go into my kitchen because I hear a series of beeps:<br />
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What's that beeping?<br />
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Was the fridge left open? Because that beeps when it happens. Let me check, nope.<br />
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Is the microwave beeping for some unknown reason? Someone else's food is done? Someone left the door open. All communicated with a beep that sounds like all the other beeps. Nope, the microwave is fine.<br />
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Is it the oven? Did someone press a button on it? Is it preheated? All told via beeps!<br />
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Does the clock on something need setting? Is a battery low somewhere? They beep at you!<br />
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The only thing that seems to have a distinctive alert sound is our dishwasher. When it is done, it plays a tri-tone melodic beep-like tone. I have learned to recognize it means the dishwasher is done, but my sweetheart hasn't. So, it's better than the plain beeps, but could be better still.<br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgihqKfNGK8vVFtahS-LPmawdSwnKLJE6DcQDZQ4-S37XR_pRxnz8dzYT0Ep5554ktgF8hoiZFsx-wKpAcjH1mioUVccG3KVjirXQqnPawWlki5JXaIIPU6jPz-Ku-i33SRGmElsPXHlr/s2048/Dishwasher.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgihqKfNGK8vVFtahS-LPmawdSwnKLJE6DcQDZQ4-S37XR_pRxnz8dzYT0Ep5554ktgF8hoiZFsx-wKpAcjH1mioUVccG3KVjirXQqnPawWlki5JXaIIPU6jPz-Ku-i33SRGmElsPXHlr/s320/Dishwasher.jpg" /></a></div><p><br />
And the kitchen is only one area where there is bad design...<br />
</p><p>I have dreams where I am flipping a light-switch back and forth, and each time it does something different, and I can't figure out what it is doing.<br />
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I ALSO have several real-world appliances that have one button on them that does different things each press! It's like a user interface nightmare. Maybe it is easier to construct, but it is much more of a pain to use.<br />
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There's my bike light that you have to cycle through all the modes before it goes off. How many was that again? Oops, I pressed too many times! Got to do it again. Where was the bright light setting? And one of the settings is a flashing light. So you pull into the drive way, start a strobe light for a second, then the light goes out. It draws a lot of attention to yourself.<br />
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And there is another light I think that cycles through settings, but also has a weird setting that flashes SOS, which I activated by accident once and couldn't find again. Was it a long press on the on/off switch? Maybe. There was only one button. And it did all that!</p><p> </p><p>How does this apply to game design? The basic lessons are: <br />
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1) feedback from a system or device needs to be clear and understandable. Oh, that noise, flashing blip, word, or whatever, means X and nothing else. Different subsystems need different names for their parts, and different, unique ways of telling a player that something happens. </p><p></p>So, for example, if you have a real-time game, the sound for a unit is ready and the sound for a building is ready need to be identifiably different. In a physical game with cards that represent different things, the layout for each class of things should be different. Items go sideways, people go upright, legendary items have special outlines around the picture. Maybe different cards need to be different sizes to help emphasize their function or theme.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyD2MuhyNcSky-eKahj5ORPpa1tuKqMuVi_5n5aRLfV2_viIu3acYDna5XHwB05TSH7BE3HjjiT7W7-dMK81SPdfc1IbxUqKa-Xq4wpV4cunfkv10J5SNULuT3i6lLMoKS2oIlIPp5eSg/s601/ff125c33a32afa22129711fba6e955a2_large.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="601" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyD2MuhyNcSky-eKahj5ORPpa1tuKqMuVi_5n5aRLfV2_viIu3acYDna5XHwB05TSH7BE3HjjiT7W7-dMK81SPdfc1IbxUqKa-Xq4wpV4cunfkv10J5SNULuT3i6lLMoKS2oIlIPp5eSg/s320/ff125c33a32afa22129711fba6e955a2_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><blockquote>(an example from <a href="https://www.starrealms.com/">Star Realms</a> by White Wizard Games. Bases go sideways and ships go upright, in order to help remind players of their different functions.)</blockquote><p>
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2) controls (ways to interact with a system or device) need to be understandable and easy to remember. Not as simple as physically possible, but as simple as possible to avoid confusion by having too many controls or few controls which have overloaded functions. </p><p>Long-presses in a game or app on iOS are terrible. Reminder text and/or icons on cards in physical games is very helpful if you have room.<br />
</p><p></p><br />Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-63861016603643944372020-09-11T12:47:00.001-04:002020-09-11T12:47:49.215-04:00Majesty review many decades laterA few times a year, someone contacts me about Majesty, the computer game I designed a couple of decades ago. It gratifying to know that something I created has impact and meaning for people, even after so much time.<br />
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This time, someone wanted to interview me about the game. Here is a link to that interview:<br />
<a href=" https://genesistemple.com/an-in-depth-analysis-of-majesty-the-fantasy-kingdom-sim?fbclid=IwAR1jaq-WZoy6uRa93I2b2GWbxxxGac9MeWALpg-j-0TZDlbV-3H4rSvlF04"><br />
Majesty, the Fantasy Kingdom Sim – one King to rule them all (2000)</a><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwIjODc0AFQGOanEalbqsFlyYe2wz2R_C35yzQY0wFk8jdxKluAqO41hfYkIx9uk0T1JgGujqj9BZRroLO6K9GRLFmt2IFbM4etyaLIhhe8POSrhVV3wFkoT94Km1hCrDWuu4I0PLtQxp/s1600/majesty.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCwIjODc0AFQGOanEalbqsFlyYe2wz2R_C35yzQY0wFk8jdxKluAqO41hfYkIx9uk0T1JgGujqj9BZRroLO6K9GRLFmt2IFbM4etyaLIhhe8POSrhVV3wFkoT94Km1hCrDWuu4I0PLtQxp/s320/majesty.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br />
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Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-25369689033542512692020-08-24T15:19:00.002-04:002021-12-06T14:09:54.459-05:00Mistakes in Card Layout - Mixing symbols and textYou've seen those cards. You've tried to read them before the rulebook. You've been mid-game and stuttered over them.<br />
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They look like this:<br />
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Take 1 @ to activate & as long as you have the %.<br />
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An you go, "Uh, take one, um, round thingie, a coin maybe? to activate a squiggle as long as you have something that looks like a slash. Maybe zap power or something?" And no one gets it!<br />
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Mixing symbols inline in text is a bad idea, because visual symbols are more ambiguous than text and they are harder to draw definitely. It actually slows down comprehension, and reading, and elegance. The more symbols you have in the game, the worse it is if you mix text and symbols.<br />
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Having symbols on a separate line, or a sidebar alongside the text is fine, because the words help define the symbols, and when they are clearly defined in people's mind from play then they can use the symbols as a shorthand, possibly.<br />
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Having symbols count as their own thing outside a sentence is fine.<br />
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Also naming something is part of creating a feeling and theme in your game and when people don't know the name, and go around calling it "thingie" or "zap power", it undermines the hard work you did to make the game how you want it.<br />
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I noticed while doing the research for this, that is a mistake that most professionals are not making, but many beginners are making.<br />
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Good examples of text and symbols together:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9BfWiaG7_2eBqPc4yimnpyuI_tBVjglxCY49p8qp_EEXmk_YOQ3lffxEFqQ26Cb51Iv6-BXqSJMNVVGsbDqy1QutVyAKZtRC1bmvKAV_43S6HfY1wZwWiAwynVClMzOrlurw4v8ZV2Ll/s1600/pic3899967.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9BfWiaG7_2eBqPc4yimnpyuI_tBVjglxCY49p8qp_EEXmk_YOQ3lffxEFqQ26Cb51Iv6-BXqSJMNVVGsbDqy1QutVyAKZtRC1bmvKAV_43S6HfY1wZwWiAwynVClMzOrlurw4v8ZV2Ll/s320/pic3899967.png" width="229" height="320" data-original-width="450" data-original-height="630" /></a></div>From <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/167791/terraforming-mars">Terraforming Mars</a>. Separate lines for symbols and text. Well done. The text defines precisely what those symbols above it mean. After a while of playing the game, you will be able to read the symbols.<br />
<div style = "clear: both;"></div>Examples of bad mixing text and symbols:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAAUUbkOV_EQN-C5z-_w7tlyNYnxkK3yZw6vlnSX_YgGUFMLO4x9H_bWQc5j3kUekdxJrCVnTIqmI75gcCHfpQ1OQZUP-xX0Bva0hItk9Jx6mOTbkfaICAucLxmCTOZ7gyYT75qMYRWSY/s1600/TQuestCard.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAAUUbkOV_EQN-C5z-_w7tlyNYnxkK3yZw6vlnSX_YgGUFMLO4x9H_bWQc5j3kUekdxJrCVnTIqmI75gcCHfpQ1OQZUP-xX0Bva0hItk9Jx6mOTbkfaICAucLxmCTOZ7gyYT75qMYRWSY/s320/TQuestCard.png" width="230" height="320" data-original-width="716" data-original-height="998" /></a></div>If you have a wound, +2, um, manhole covers? bottlecaps? I'm not sure. If it is a disease, also take 1 something totally undefinable. There are a lot of other mistakes on this card besides the mixing text and symbols. From <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/215341/thunderstone-quest">Thunderstone Quest</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXS6FL2bBVxqauMN5SVqCUjMES-XJxMTEB-yGxG6FHshRoxUV4yUnsoWHANMSNwD4G8VcfYJjj4J_8ga4UMgdcAW5eMR2uSjuK5wz5Bh9W-wx8gIfLBBsNaj3nnhE0uwPcEFVmjwg4nIh/s1600/dragon-hybrid.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXS6FL2bBVxqauMN5SVqCUjMES-XJxMTEB-yGxG6FHshRoxUV4yUnsoWHANMSNwD4G8VcfYJjj4J_8ga4UMgdcAW5eMR2uSjuK5wz5Bh9W-wx8gIfLBBsNaj3nnhE0uwPcEFVmjwg4nIh/s320/dragon-hybrid.png" width="206" height="320" data-original-width="300" data-original-height="465" /></a></div>From <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181530/runebound-third-edition">Runebound third edition</a>. There are too many weird symbols mixed in the text. I can guess some of the meaning, but would like it to be clearer. They could have put a box around the costs (2 zappies) to separate it visually, and that part would be fixed. Good things they did: title at the top, left aligned text in the reading area, and a border to the whole card.
<hr style = "clear:both;"><br>
<div style = "font-size: larger;">
Previous posts in this series about mistakes in card layout:<br>
<a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/05/mistakes-in-card-layout-centered-text.html">Centered Text</a><br>
<a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/06/mistakes-in-card-layout-titles-not-at.html">Titles Not at the Top</a>
</div>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-30783564527873523722020-07-27T11:00:00.000-04:002020-07-27T11:00:12.632-04:00Meaningful Choices in GamesSomething which sets games apart from other mediums is dynamism, ie, the ability to travel through a game by a different path when you play a different time. And that ability to go by different paths requires choices to be made by a player. But not all choices are created equal! The best choices are ones that are meaningful, and by that I mean choices which are understandable and affect the dynamic environment in response to having been chosen. <br />
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There can be apparent choices when there are actually none, which is the poorest kind of dynamism in a game. For example, in this iPad game, <a href="https://www.sodadungeon.com/">Soda Dungeon 2</a> (also available on Steam and for Mac), I have been playing lately, every time your party of adventurers defeats a boss, you get to pick a treasure!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xYKNZaXVGYkfg8UAOot4ESMmx4Bpc-b3GneKJ3eitHjGUMqjq42DJQUVN1-8Nq2_jDAqNme_yvTFoxCIiapvmtbYiKDQq-I1DsbPZcplavVDaQxI-WnBEPW7PA7RJ76vDJL197efkM_E/s1600/IMG_0327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_xYKNZaXVGYkfg8UAOot4ESMmx4Bpc-b3GneKJ3eitHjGUMqjq42DJQUVN1-8Nq2_jDAqNme_yvTFoxCIiapvmtbYiKDQq-I1DsbPZcplavVDaQxI-WnBEPW7PA7RJ76vDJL197efkM_E/s400/IMG_0327.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div><br />
And yet, there isn't really a choice, because you have no information to use to help you make a choice. They could have just given you a random treasure and the effect would be the same. There is not actually a choice here. What they could have done to make that a more meaningful choice is to label one chest as "gold", one as "equipment" and one as "mystery". That's not perfect but it lets you think about what you need in the game a little, and if you want to take a risk, you can pick "mystery".<br />
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Also, every once in a while on your adventure in Soda Dungeon 2, you get to pick an alternative path:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIykr11a8uFG3EqCQCxHZysK6YxtPsZLeN519AHflLLAg2qWh6bRjfyGeJ-zvjmGpRZgqm53l_IfRVxluUJFL0QfEpI66kNfb06qoRrVV1sUEyanOXqem2kWN4EyjF_iTV2HupVSEEKpe/s1600/IMG_0330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIykr11a8uFG3EqCQCxHZysK6YxtPsZLeN519AHflLLAg2qWh6bRjfyGeJ-zvjmGpRZgqm53l_IfRVxluUJFL0QfEpI66kNfb06qoRrVV1sUEyanOXqem2kWN4EyjF_iTV2HupVSEEKpe/s400/IMG_0330.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div><br />
While this is slightly better, since one of the choices is labeled (yet locked, so again, not a choice a lot of the time), the other two choices are complete mysteries, and since they give you no information about anything which might happen if you choose one over the other, there again is not actually a choice.<br />
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Now maybe there is something clever in their code that says the right most choice is always more dangerous or something, and you could learn that over time, but that alone isn't enough. There has to be more information presented to the player to make an informed choice with. In this example, maybe they could label the two mystery choices "risky yet rewarding" and "safe but less rewarding" and it would at least let a player pick a play style at the moment.<br />
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The bad side of including these types of non-choices in your game are two: 1) they sort of paralyze the player for a second while they try to figure out with no information which thing to pick, and 2) they add in extra clicks, which I am a fan of eliminating. Why not just pop up the found treasure? Over time, less clicks, less time wasted. Also, making choices meaningful makes a game more strategic, more replayable, and more dynamic.<br />
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<hr><br />
<a href="https://www.sodadungeon.com/">Soda Dungeon 2</a> is a fun and silly game, despite these spots where it could be made better. You hire heroes and send them through a simple dungeon to collect loot and defeat bad guys.Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-631215576993449102020-07-03T12:01:00.000-04:002020-07-03T12:06:09.639-04:00Mistakes in Digital Games - Show the Numbers!I've played a lot of <a href="https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/gravity-rider/id1279780896">Gravity Rider</a>, an iPad game, lately, and it made me think of some user interface feedback for digital games.<br />
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Gravity Rider is a motorcycle racing game with a futuristic twist. Racing the bikes around the track is pretty fun. Everything that surrounds racing the bike is pretty tedious. Upgrade, get chests, lots of gamification and pay to play stuff, which never help a game play well.<br />
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The item to discuss today is the garage. You can flip through and see the different bikes you own and their stats... I mean you can sort of see their stats. Because the stats are just shown as bars! And you don't really have a sense of what those mean, and you definitely can't precisely compare the stat of one bike to another. I mean, sometimes you can say that THAT bike is definitely faster, and THIS one has a higher rotation stat (whatever that means, a different UI problem). And if the bars are even vaguely similar in length for a stat on different bikes, you just can't tell what is what.<br />
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The main way to fix this is SHOW THE NUMBERS!<br />
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Say, "this one has a speed of 5. This other one has a speed of 4." Put the actual number near the bar. Very helpful. In a real-time game, you might even say this one moves 3 feet per second, and this other one moves 4.5 feet per second. Even more helpful. Then people can evaluate the game better. Like, they might then say, "Oh, this one is 1 lower speed, but 2 higher acceleration. There are a lot of stops and starts on the upcoming race track, so maybe that is a good trade off." Otherwise it is more like, "Maybe I'll just try this one."<br />
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Let a player know what the numbers are, so they can make precise choices instead of approximate guesses. <br />
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Imagine your game was a board or card game. Without the numbers, it literally wouldn't be functional. So not showing the numbers in your digital game and letting the computer just use them makes the interface non-functional, even if the game runs fine with those hidden numbers.<br />
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Maybe you want to have a sense of mystery. Fine, don't show the numbers if that is what your game is all about. Otherwise, SHOW THE NUMBERS! They help a player understand and make meaningful choices in your game.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLj3UdIl5wwWEMuynMop0K-RobAm0nfIEGYJqjc_j_hxv__wjQtgxln45xXSqxNfRIOj3YF-fLKuHG83G3vytlwe3HdsPeuZ5_Da9uY4KcIpuhKkIz8R0BNVKf11VPEqUvivixxj6fayun/s1600/thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLj3UdIl5wwWEMuynMop0K-RobAm0nfIEGYJqjc_j_hxv__wjQtgxln45xXSqxNfRIOj3YF-fLKuHG83G3vytlwe3HdsPeuZ5_Da9uY4KcIpuhKkIz8R0BNVKf11VPEqUvivixxj6fayun/s400/thumbnail.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="1080" data-original-height="810" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMMaYqGL6WjNZxqgw5vBUQrRgKhOHyXO42uHss0oLYT2y7UbECs-C55xDxivaLw2z0oGqLcJlue67xZEQrIgj8s1Z_4zhT3TOGsUGqy_ioL4nJHEDlfiN-qbI7dR-iXkQMeT9af5x8Wri/s1600/thumbnail2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMMaYqGL6WjNZxqgw5vBUQrRgKhOHyXO42uHss0oLYT2y7UbECs-C55xDxivaLw2z0oGqLcJlue67xZEQrIgj8s1Z_4zhT3TOGsUGqy_ioL4nJHEDlfiN-qbI7dR-iXkQMeT9af5x8Wri/s400/thumbnail2.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="1080" data-original-height="810" /></a></div><br />
Images above are from Gravity Rider. Notice they do have a number, which is a conglomerate of all the stats. Possibly. But we don't know for sure. It is mostly a useless number to base a decision on. Except to say, overall this bike is better.<br />
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Here is the link to <a href="https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/gravity-rider/id1279780896">Gravity Rider</a>. Give it a try. It is actually fun to ride the bikes around, yet could be a much better game overall.Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-45156755140793812572020-06-19T13:36:00.001-04:002021-12-06T14:09:54.459-05:00Mistakes in Card Layout - Titles not at the top!Continuing the series about card layout in board game cards, we come to Titles not being at the top of the card. They should be, if the card is ever in a player's hand and there is more than one card. Also, it is the most prominent position on a card, and usually putting a title at the top helps to solidify its identity. Occasionally a picture there will do that. But most often if the title is not at the top, the identity is more vague.<br />
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Here are some visual examples:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIX5d7n9QKCNkO7TNLH82PJ6_-DYPMoh7Xglmd6xGtzg_Ob43vnaTjY0uNBoeHswjdc1NXnDTI3yS9IKdzeq8-o2k5hJSvxtAD7i_jfFOjl9rZGcd8bVum2enFecIvjXVTZN-OyeKEAOIb/s1600/MKStack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIX5d7n9QKCNkO7TNLH82PJ6_-DYPMoh7Xglmd6xGtzg_Ob43vnaTjY0uNBoeHswjdc1NXnDTI3yS9IKdzeq8-o2k5hJSvxtAD7i_jfFOjl9rZGcd8bVum2enFecIvjXVTZN-OyeKEAOIb/s320/MKStack.png" width="229" height="320" data-original-width="220" data-original-height="307" /></a></div>A stack of cards from Mage Knight. What the heck are those cards below the ice bolt? When I play the game I never refer to the cards by name, since the name is not available to be visually focused on most of the time. Thus the thematic identity of the cards is weaker. Too bad. I love Mage Knight!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZuOO331ax34D8Nw-mufx5X3XIV2MGWbxJeXqGvK-kDfYtgaHUwJohTcX6MMFpnogF4ptKNsZvZXyNsmUnlqpk7akNanTZPaTz-VixvLzjNEaX-2BWMAaIPu_OFmPTSdY8yH1CAX4Nuuw/s1600/MTGstack.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZuOO331ax34D8Nw-mufx5X3XIV2MGWbxJeXqGvK-kDfYtgaHUwJohTcX6MMFpnogF4ptKNsZvZXyNsmUnlqpk7akNanTZPaTz-VixvLzjNEaX-2BWMAaIPu_OFmPTSdY8yH1CAX4Nuuw/s320/MTGstack.png" width="216" height="320" data-original-width="786" data-original-height="1162" /></a></div>A stack of Magic the Gathering cards. You can tell what the lower cards are. I always refer to these by name when playing. Much stronger thematic identity. And usability in a hand of cards.<br />
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<div style="clear:both;"></div>If a card is never in a player's hand of cards, there is more leeway:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmGpjV4QJAJbz50V2UFlioDaLtU_4fLBtUJxQzBIar7oMlCKroQvSSjUFWkxxBsDCRDfCd8JUlSwKtJg68OGnlqLl9Xg3cbreHqAax7orA41ZCvpPEfsVPG4FD421fsuNLIbwEvLW7KV2/s1600/mk61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmGpjV4QJAJbz50V2UFlioDaLtU_4fLBtUJxQzBIar7oMlCKroQvSSjUFWkxxBsDCRDfCd8JUlSwKtJg68OGnlqLl9Xg3cbreHqAax7orA41ZCvpPEfsVPG4FD421fsuNLIbwEvLW7KV2/s320/mk61.jpg" width="230" height="320" data-original-width="140" data-original-height="195" /></a></div>Units in Mage Knight are played to the table, so they look nice and are perfectly usable. And their identity works because you can see the name and picture at the same time.<br />
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<div style="clear:both;"></div><br />
<div style = "font-size:larger;">Check out the previous entry in this series:<br />
<a href="http://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/05/mistakes-in-card-layout-centered-text.html">Mistakes in Card Layout - Centered Text</a>
<br><br>And the next one:<br>
<a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/07/mistakes-in-card-layout-mixing-symbols.html">Mixing Symbols and Text</a>
</div>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-64961805541868727822020-05-26T10:44:00.000-04:002020-05-26T10:44:08.995-04:007 Ways to Stress Test your Board Game<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl6-37YwOZVxPeTOoEeybbRia7v4tXkFqWrTaPUy524UyXgJMDjy64om5S_bhuIJrdIAKEwtX44vkx4mZlbTGkazM4Y7oMkt3kMBCQvtg7BD7jMJ5n3n1YswOgmj8ReQThRbIEoGnKVQO/s1600/Photo+Feb+22%252C+2+56+38+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl6-37YwOZVxPeTOoEeybbRia7v4tXkFqWrTaPUy524UyXgJMDjy64om5S_bhuIJrdIAKEwtX44vkx4mZlbTGkazM4Y7oMkt3kMBCQvtg7BD7jMJ5n3n1YswOgmj8ReQThRbIEoGnKVQO/s200/Photo+Feb+22%252C+2+56+38+PM.jpg" width="200" height="200" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div>Doesn't it seem sometimes when you sit down to play a board game that some parameter or other is out of whack and you come up with an idea, in a couple of minutes of brainstorming, that actually makes the game better? It does to me anyway, and I think sometimes not enough testing, and not enough variety of testing gets done before a game's release. So, here is my light-hearted, yet serious in many ways list of how to stress test your board game! Some are more universal than others.<br />
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The whole point of these tests is to look at your game from a different angle than your habitual one. It doesn't mean every game has to pass every test, or fit every person. It's just a way of making sure you decide the parameters of your game, instead of just letting them happen unawarely.<br />
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<b>1. Play in low light.</b><br />
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Really, people have different lighting, different visual acuity, are of different ages. Simulate that some! Maybe afterwards you realize you want more contrast, larger text, more white space, less text, clearer icons, and so forth. Also color changes according to the amount of light. Subtler colors are harder to make out in low light. Maybe more saturated colors?<br />
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<b>2. Play with a color-blind person.</b><br />
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This one's personal: I am color-blind and seriously dislike a game that doesn't take that into account, especially since there are several things you can do to make it a non-issue, like put symbols paired with colors as identifying marks. And 1 in 10 men is color-blind, so its a large audience. And from personal experience, I can tell you that not every person sees color in the same way, so just choosing a palette one person says is OK is not a robust solution.<br />
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<b>3. Play at a smaller table.</b><br />
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There was something going around saying "Fantasy Flight Games doesn't want you to have any table space left." Because sometimes their games plus a couple of expansions don't fit on a regular person's table. I pictured them testing on their big conference tables, and was like aha! They needed to get out and play in someone's kitchen. That is not to say that every game has to fit every table, but this is an interesting thing to try and think about your game.<br />
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<b>4. Play at a bigger table!</b><br />
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I know, it's the opposite of the last one, yet it is another interesting angle. Can you read and decipher parts of the board from another 2 feet away? Do you have to get up and go around the table to see something? Doing this can shed some insight. Maybe you need larger text, or clearer graphic design, or help cards for each player.<br />
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<b>5. Try to put your game into a backpack and walk to a friend's house.</b><br />
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If you can't even get it into the backpack, that tells you something about who you are making the game for. Which is useful information. If you get it in, and take it to your friend's house, and it is all jumbled about, think about bags, inserts, etc. Some people, if you can believe it, don't put everything into baggies, they just throw stuff into the box. What is setting up your game like from that? A good perspective to help you think about the players of your game, and the contexts they play in.<br />
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<b>6. Play over Zoom. (In honor of the covid-19 pandemic)</b><br />
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Is it even possible? Was it tedious? Was it impossible to decipher visually? When people describe a part of it over the voice, do they stumble to come up with words for parts, or is it clear what to call everything? Just think about it.<br />
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<b>7. Play your game for at least 100 hours.</b><br />
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Plus or minus some depending on your game's length and style. I am dead serious about this one. This is just what should happen. What bored you? What became tedious, and after how many hours of play? This filter can and should improve your game design and game design skills. Then play it for another 100 hours. How was setup? Do you need to take out a fiddly rule that only came up 2% of the time and no one could remember without looking at the rules anyway?<br />
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I remember when I was testing Arcane Journeys the Fantasy Adventure Game, and I made two rules changes after 200 hours of play. And those changes made the game much much better. But I needed to get there. They were easy to overlook things if you played or designed casually. But to be an excellent designer, you can't be casual in your approach, you need to put in the time. <br />
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I used to make computer games, like Majesty, and for those you often need to put in many more hours of play, and take a lot of notes, due to their complexity, and that helped me hone my discipline as a designer.<br />
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Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-84440204482864135892020-05-11T11:08:00.001-04:002021-12-06T14:09:54.459-05:00Mistakes in Card Layout - Centered TextCentered text is harder to read, especially in a block. It slows down people's interpretation slightly, and that adds to the inelegance of the game and to the cognitive load and eye strain. Don't do it, except maybe in one line titles of cards or headings.<br />
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Indentations from the left justification line cause a pause in the flow of the reading. That is why new paragraphs are started that way. An empty line between text lines also causes a pause. You don't want a pause in the middle of your sentences or paragraphs.<br />
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Here are some good examples of left-justified text:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_C518C9ngwGhMas3x87lRzeNKeSS5G8lh-A_w_4JkvV3T4IRgoHXGOXs9mQF3P9Gz9GdxHOnbkHRGWlOmS_0LowUIyy3yZ4R3N_wM9w8jf0N8ekzygP6YJ51UCfvLFHQyRvqy4B9XCvC/s1600/m10-146-lightning-bolt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_C518C9ngwGhMas3x87lRzeNKeSS5G8lh-A_w_4JkvV3T4IRgoHXGOXs9mQF3P9Gz9GdxHOnbkHRGWlOmS_0LowUIyy3yZ4R3N_wM9w8jf0N8ekzygP6YJ51UCfvLFHQyRvqy4B9XCvC/s320/m10-146-lightning-bolt.jpg" width="230" height="320" data-original-width="672" data-original-height="936" /></a>Lightning Bolt from m10 Edition of Magic the Gathering.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKKN-G1VcytGsmzlNm491f-czYZ1Si9YJAzRRxKQAmf-oDDXfnJmy7R12TWXrLC_eucHmuTECJrFnnh77Cd9dcGWJsT658RJZe4VLMOHsN4sOOAjXp6q5sxIITLsPqw_jeJLr_JXPwjWE/s1600/blood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKKN-G1VcytGsmzlNm491f-czYZ1Si9YJAzRRxKQAmf-oDDXfnJmy7R12TWXrLC_eucHmuTECJrFnnh77Cd9dcGWJsT658RJZe4VLMOHsN4sOOAjXp6q5sxIITLsPqw_jeJLr_JXPwjWE/s320/blood.jpg" width="229" height="320" data-original-width="300" data-original-height="420" /></a><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/116998/thunderstone-advance-towers-ruin">Thunderstone Advance</a> card. They fixed the text alignment! (See old card in bad examples below.) I don't like other things about this card, but that's another blog entry.</div><div style="clear:both"></div>Here's some examples of center-justified text:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbfJopcU70c3dH2HGIjv2z22sPpfivu59_Cr52SIXHOZ19GG4bMGfPUg7kzRfPCl5kYXoF_r8x_OKbgchSfHpOMQH_xVzC_r4u35ZqEzeUi5EfIPmEnvTn-M3cXHnkR438BZaDM-9poH1/s1600/m11-149-lightning-bolt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbfJopcU70c3dH2HGIjv2z22sPpfivu59_Cr52SIXHOZ19GG4bMGfPUg7kzRfPCl5kYXoF_r8x_OKbgchSfHpOMQH_xVzC_r4u35ZqEzeUi5EfIPmEnvTn-M3cXHnkR438BZaDM-9poH1/s320/m11-149-lightning-bolt.jpg" width="230" height="320" data-original-width="672" data-original-height="936" /></a>Lightning Bolt from m11 Edition of Magic the Gathering. What happened?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CzZsxb6qQTs6WHH7a8I6b6s_Z3CXAFiu1gES0eFvKFz8Rw3r5m6pjXPlt7pt9q_dmgQKNx0xQbLvaIGVT4ObpsGuDBXg4XCAiTtSMpTTkCgM4qQjR-CEBntyrZO0fb8TgTdEwF4zkmg7/s1600/pic913257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CzZsxb6qQTs6WHH7a8I6b6s_Z3CXAFiu1gES0eFvKFz8Rw3r5m6pjXPlt7pt9q_dmgQKNx0xQbLvaIGVT4ObpsGuDBXg4XCAiTtSMpTTkCgM4qQjR-CEBntyrZO0fb8TgTdEwF4zkmg7/s320/pic913257.jpg" width="228" height="320" data-original-width="214" data-original-height="300" /></a>Older <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/53953/thunderstone">Thunderstone</a> card.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KmQgh_GyB3T9z5MxYSoECRMcqoLq4Iwv_4iR-__LZ6eSPqNokp7GCnQ7GAgNmepo0oytUw0lmC8DRxMv4XDVOCebqG91-BRILc7-0MV19i_8N9aBSsnvKxStzCsHc8sQ8ZHsEx6TxTQ1/s1600/pic1090653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KmQgh_GyB3T9z5MxYSoECRMcqoLq4Iwv_4iR-__LZ6eSPqNokp7GCnQ7GAgNmepo0oytUw0lmC8DRxMv4XDVOCebqG91-BRILc7-0MV19i_8N9aBSsnvKxStzCsHc8sQ8ZHsEx6TxTQ1/s320/pic1090653.jpg" width="228" height="320" data-original-width="357" data-original-height="500" /></a>A card from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/96848/mage-knight-board-game">Mage Knight</a>. That game has enough going on! It would be a little easier to process if the card text was left justified. I think it is a great game, despite layout flaws.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XN3pv1opDoG_lFBjzo5qJzuL1xQ38JJhP_ZDbedJkpia4iwWvFAP-JDL4GDS_IStsnU7j-FA9pGffrgHYEnhdok3085pGxmHCCTuijkkoaqHoWy2ErZ63Ofd3RkG0XnL_uZ6xMwoMTfh/s1600/love_letter_card_guard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XN3pv1opDoG_lFBjzo5qJzuL1xQ38JJhP_ZDbedJkpia4iwWvFAP-JDL4GDS_IStsnU7j-FA9pGffrgHYEnhdok3085pGxmHCCTuijkkoaqHoWy2ErZ63Ofd3RkG0XnL_uZ6xMwoMTfh/s320/love_letter_card_guard.jpg" width="229" height="320" data-original-width="300" data-original-height="419" /></a>From Love Letter. It seems it is a common mistake, even with prominent publishers and games.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: Left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKXsYPU9diYLG-81XiVyiHdveqUwlZZha2NRYg1Px4ZoX7p0vvkAYxHBrEW6grSnnkGlHZJDRtulvoCdrfh1WHp5c3TaYwPEpPIQp4igUaMauLtQYc1jpzb2v41yvAhsbyRDaG3tSNQCr/s1600/SmashupCard.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOKXsYPU9diYLG-81XiVyiHdveqUwlZZha2NRYg1Px4ZoX7p0vvkAYxHBrEW6grSnnkGlHZJDRtulvoCdrfh1WHp5c3TaYwPEpPIQp4igUaMauLtQYc1jpzb2v41yvAhsbyRDaG3tSNQCr/s320/SmashupCard.png" width="230" height="320" data-original-width="310" data-original-height="432" /></a>From Smash Up. This card suffers from many other mistakes I will cover in other blog entries, including hard to read fonts, lack of whitespace, and full bleed graphics (usually a flaw, really, the way it is done).</div><br />
<div style = "font-size:larger; clear: both;">Next in this series:<br />
<a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/06/mistakes-in-card-layout-titles-not-at.html">Mistakes in Card Layout - Titles not at the top!</a><br>
<a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/07/mistakes-in-card-layout-mixing-symbols.html">Mixing Text and Symbols</a>
</div>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-39278010292677821742020-04-26T14:01:00.000-04:002020-05-11T11:10:42.142-04:00Nuts and Bolts Skills of Game DesignSome of the nuts and bolts skills of being a game designer include information design, graphic design, as well as a good ability to use numbers. I notice that people who haven't done a lot of designs can tend to think game design is only about the ideas and mechanics of the game. But it is more than that. It is the interface and the arrays of numbers that underlie the game, the data that populates the mechanics and game space. And on another level, it is about the experience that arises from a person playing a game, not the game components or mechanics themselves alone.<br />
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Typically I see games with good ideas, and interestingly defined game spaces and mechanics, but often they are then filled in with the nuts and bolts details in a much more erratic way. For example there will be a nice system of acquiring items or cards for your deck, but the relative costs of the different cards are not balanced. For example, you will always choose card A over card B at the same cost. Even if you would choose Card B 10% of the time, it is not balanced, nor does it allow for much meaningful choice. Understanding ranges of meaningfulness in choices is a skill to be learned. Crunching the numbers of an array of item's costs is a more time consuming and detail oriented skill.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LKmM-q4xwfosISjjm3T9l2pSisdYS9fpdzNWt3ZAhf3ExZ9RiX2KHIlb0yjbxP5Q3YaLWMmwThbAGDcKjj0UbSBdbYnwHgoYj7hlZkJ7gOBLi7PdvEXuB7MX-VyBs2onNLqA3wXQPHRo/s1600/index.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LKmM-q4xwfosISjjm3T9l2pSisdYS9fpdzNWt3ZAhf3ExZ9RiX2KHIlb0yjbxP5Q3YaLWMmwThbAGDcKjj0UbSBdbYnwHgoYj7hlZkJ7gOBLi7PdvEXuB7MX-VyBs2onNLqA3wXQPHRo/s320/index.jpg" width="320" height="92" data-original-width="418" data-original-height="120" /></a></div><br />
Or there will be a fun choose your ship part of a game, yet the ships are not well crafted to be unique enough to make meaningful or interesting choices about. Some simple changes to the dynamic range of the ships abilities could change that easily. If every ship has a very similar speed and attack, say different by 1 only from each other, then the differences are probably too slight, depending on the game. Why not have the ships be the same, and save some rules and set up time, or on the other hand, change those ranges so the ships are unique? Make one ship the really fast one and one ship the really good at fighting one.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V1d7Ycjia-T1ldlpVPhlwNPaXzrXOUWrt3OaAdEGmeUdDgCWs45IxqxK3KQjxVmCln4AGFHG1C_xknqcGTfmBjJ4XrQb1MZkSkCGD7WnmbOBHSxvHaG7R2LneMzO_IPoXAsSwvX5JW2g/s1600/ShipFast.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V1d7Ycjia-T1ldlpVPhlwNPaXzrXOUWrt3OaAdEGmeUdDgCWs45IxqxK3KQjxVmCln4AGFHG1C_xknqcGTfmBjJ4XrQb1MZkSkCGD7WnmbOBHSxvHaG7R2LneMzO_IPoXAsSwvX5JW2g/s320/ShipFast.png" width="320" height="183" data-original-width="797" data-original-height="456" /></a></div><br />
Equally as often, if not more often, I see a game with good mechanics and play that has really bad information design and user interface. That includes hard to read and understand cards, badly worded and organized rulebooks, bad icons and board layout. But luckily there are concrete things that can be learned and fixed in these cases, and since I haven't seen anything addressing them in specific, I decided to write a little about them myself, in a series of posts here.<br />
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<b>See other posts in this series:</b><br />
<br />
<a href="https://arcanejourneys.blogspot.com/2020/05/mistakes-in-card-layout-centered-text.html">Mistakes in Card Layout - Centered Text</a>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-87082142373109347022020-02-14T21:35:00.000-05:002020-02-14T21:35:07.117-05:00Instagram for Arcane JourneysI have an Instagram for Arcane Journeys where I post pictures of the board games I am playing lately, and very occasionally a picture of a game I am working on. I love to see what games other people are playing too!<br />
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B74g0puBbHi/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B74g0puBbHi/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div><div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div><div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div><div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div><div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div><div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B74g0puBbHi/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Working out a new edition of a game of mine. It’s better than it was but I am not satisfied yet. #boardgames #cardgames #gamedesigners #games</a></p><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/arcanejourneys/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Arcane Journeys</a> (@arcanejourneys) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2020-01-29T00:12:47+00:00">Jan 28, 2020 at 4:12pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote><script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-77369364136442947892018-03-21T13:28:00.002-04:002018-03-21T13:28:41.195-04:00Where to find Vampires Vs UnicornsWe have been busy getting Vampires vs Unicorns out to stores. Some of the places around Western MA you can find it are:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN38waYEA5pHkRguxVmKWH1sy8mBI_sy4dkiWMfJm2ySVYhPiiGgz8F-7jB3lKZpvTyrXhDDRfPE8CErn2aq7_ein1_-zOyNIpu4QVlxG3j_s2Wt4evz4etjNUWGo3uvBveZCVMejFGhWM/s1600/At+Modern+Myths.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN38waYEA5pHkRguxVmKWH1sy8mBI_sy4dkiWMfJm2ySVYhPiiGgz8F-7jB3lKZpvTyrXhDDRfPE8CErn2aq7_ein1_-zOyNIpu4QVlxG3j_s2Wt4evz4etjNUWGo3uvBveZCVMejFGhWM/s320/At+Modern+Myths.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a></div><a href="https://modern-myths.com/">Modern Myths</a>, in Northampton MA<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapL4jfhNZgR1oNI5woM1sWlm1XqtK48qqUkrALxdsGeSBDqao5N5Mvorb-MP-CE4pQIhkYfIpnocmG8yzyvtNIc4IvxVUOnph2jphKHMhyf8jzktbbuadj3cQzzATIkbzlNEy7r9AjtCX/s1600/At+Off+the+Wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapL4jfhNZgR1oNI5woM1sWlm1XqtK48qqUkrALxdsGeSBDqao5N5Mvorb-MP-CE4pQIhkYfIpnocmG8yzyvtNIc4IvxVUOnph2jphKHMhyf8jzktbbuadj3cQzzATIkbzlNEy7r9AjtCX/s320/At+Off+the+Wall.jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="1024" data-original-height="1024" /></a></div><a href="https://otwgamestore.com/">Off the Wall Games</a> in Hadley MA<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVShOO4_gzikmeykOYjFzORBgk5dmsHXb-6YbnefB1JozBARsMX3Ox0BFLH_d917Ktl04yHvATNo7XgKt8aCwWumCnPhcZeKkVSE8nVQfBgOjbsoTlVtfCq0YAJA2tC6hhom9lN-wOKBH/s1600/At+X9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVShOO4_gzikmeykOYjFzORBgk5dmsHXb-6YbnefB1JozBARsMX3Ox0BFLH_d917Ktl04yHvATNo7XgKt8aCwWumCnPhcZeKkVSE8nVQfBgOjbsoTlVtfCq0YAJA2tC6hhom9lN-wOKBH/s320/At+X9.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/X9Games/">X9 Games</a> in Hadley MA<br />
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Also available online at:<br />
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<a href="https://store.hifructose.com/products/vampires-vs-unicorns-floor-war-game">Hifructose Online Store</a>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-41033804022322308942018-02-28T12:10:00.000-05:002018-02-28T12:10:02.760-05:00Vampires Vs Unicorns at TotalCon 32A few more cases of Vampires vs Unicorns are loose in the world, after I attended TotalCon this past weekend as an industry guest. We played and taught the game to many people, and gathered a lot of attention from the cards being thrown around.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sE5E_080VptE9TjnjBWnBZF9qOgPXvVFF1cX6mtO7WfLjsKoe6r9RSJlu42aGBQCL7pxiDN46iUV_zVQU5jtgWjPZuYneqriBQpUxIu2prpHuGnwuoUt8Jc-WnIMWi0hFTVk0cffnCxA/s1600/Photo+Feb+22%252C+2+56+38+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sE5E_080VptE9TjnjBWnBZF9qOgPXvVFF1cX6mtO7WfLjsKoe6r9RSJlu42aGBQCL7pxiDN46iUV_zVQU5jtgWjPZuYneqriBQpUxIu2prpHuGnwuoUt8Jc-WnIMWi0hFTVk0cffnCxA/s320/Photo+Feb+22%252C+2+56+38+PM.jpg" width="320" height="320" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddo1F8MwoNzSRbYGvM_sv6iOxap2KY6jL34FKAN-9880H5rvXNqz9MWCpsn9a38DJvqW9azJJFaSa6oJgFmuUfl43_KBgWN62ocPTEq_bJn605-mTYS1qiafnUbDWpjSJAu3tskhm8Czr/s1600/Photo+Feb+23%252C+2+34+13+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiddo1F8MwoNzSRbYGvM_sv6iOxap2KY6jL34FKAN-9880H5rvXNqz9MWCpsn9a38DJvqW9azJJFaSa6oJgFmuUfl43_KBgWN62ocPTEq_bJn605-mTYS1qiafnUbDWpjSJAu3tskhm8Czr/s320/Photo+Feb+23%252C+2+34+13+PM.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzaTAhxt_UT4KLajNfm4cJIdfVhwyjnvQGRXt2T3vhimqAQlGJzh1EkpFqA8oozsN2EeBt-sXN2tgdw78PdasZXtILsHQRm1tpbJtnNPsJG-Rim55xRUoHSLbzZJDWzTxWrlXk_E2IpI-/s1600/Photo+Feb+23%252C+2+34+16+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzaTAhxt_UT4KLajNfm4cJIdfVhwyjnvQGRXt2T3vhimqAQlGJzh1EkpFqA8oozsN2EeBt-sXN2tgdw78PdasZXtILsHQRm1tpbJtnNPsJG-Rim55xRUoHSLbzZJDWzTxWrlXk_E2IpI-/s320/Photo+Feb+23%252C+2+34+16+PM.jpg" width="240" height="320" data-original-width="1200" data-original-height="1600" /></a></div>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-52585195499278992132017-11-07T13:30:00.000-05:002017-11-07T13:30:09.289-05:00Seven Treasures, New Edition!<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5zA_1yXhzWU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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I got a case of these in the mail last month! Pretty exciting. They are the published in Brazil, bilingual Portuguese and English version, which contains a few card types not present in previois versions. If you want a copy, send me a message! Or look for them in Brazil...<br />
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Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-31276629132271587532017-09-21T10:00:00.002-04:002017-09-21T10:00:47.242-04:00Pre-Production copy of Vampires Vs. Unicorns!A package arrived last week with my pre-production copy of Vampires Vs. Unicorns! Very exciting! Just holding the box felt very good and inspiring.<br />
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So here's a video of the box!<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2RkngFZ8UsE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Production starts now, so it ought to be ready for the holidays.Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4861806609348220896.post-5871651543560067682017-05-24T13:07:00.000-04:002017-05-24T13:07:13.176-04:00New page on Arcane Journeys for Vampires Vs. Unicorns!I know Vampires Vs. Unicorns has not been manufactured yet, but I am so excited that this is getting made that I created a page on my website, <a href="http://www.arcanejourneys.com">Arcane Journeys</a>, for it. I'll put up links to get a copy and other things as they get made.<br />
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<a href="http://www.arcanejourneys.com/Othergames.asp?og=11">Check out the new page</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBGVWbZVN7IpU-aoVRZUUwuz95n0_CX3Ns94ZY9cQhi77ExnirQYuFHb4R8Z0REFxZVYU-q1opBANHAuVuwve-PTr-kvBGZFEJOFMUFYGSXINeZaXSYpDbuTKO7q9gzhuD19TVmpMiMLf/s1600/BoxCover300px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZBGVWbZVN7IpU-aoVRZUUwuz95n0_CX3Ns94ZY9cQhi77ExnirQYuFHb4R8Z0REFxZVYU-q1opBANHAuVuwve-PTr-kvBGZFEJOFMUFYGSXINeZaXSYpDbuTKO7q9gzhuD19TVmpMiMLf/s1600/BoxCover300px.jpg" /></a></div>Jim DuBoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05152605292266714976noreply@blogger.com