Designer Advice- Helping Yourself by Helping Others

If you are reading this you are either a regular follower of Dr. Wictz or…OR…you are the purpose of today’s discussion.

Today I am talking about how the Button Shy Rookie series is a concrete example of applying Cardboard Edison lesson on how to help yourself in boardgaming by helping others.

I do not want to completely go over Cardboard Edison’s points, you can see them make those points at the link above.  Instead I am going to focus on how the Button Shy Rookie series helps me by helping others to hopefully inspire you to take on a similar style project.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Button Shy Rooke series, I wrote a series of posts on Board Game Designers whose first published game was released by Button Shy who also later had another boardgame released by a different publisher.  Each post connects something from each designer’s first publication to their most successful non Button Shy publication.

Despite the word order of the adage, the first step is to help others.  There are three key groups helped by the Button Shy Rookie Series.  Designers are getting publicity about their games.  In particular the series introduces fans of specific games to other games made by the same designer.  Because the series focuses on commonalities between games designed by the designer, the series nudges fans of a particular designer to consider if they are in fact a fan of the designer in general. 

Publishers benefit too, especially Button Shy.  The series introduces fans of Button Shy games to titles published by non-Button Shy publishers.  For Button Shy, the benefit is two fold.  First, the series introduces folks unfamiliar to Button Shy to the company’s games.  Second, the series provides a way for current fans of Button Shy games to further explore in-depth the Button Shy Universe they love.  The series may even introduce Button Shy fans to new Button Shy titles they wish to try out.

That last part makes clear who is the third group that is helped out by the Button Shy Rookie series, boardgame players.  The series provides boardgame players with a greater understanding of the connections to the games they love.  Be it a particular title, designer, or publisher.

How does the Button Shy Rookie series help me?  Remember, the key lesson I want you to take away is Cardboard Edison’s advice on how you can help yourself by helping others.  There is the oblivious, some of you are reading a Dr. Wictz blog post for the first time because you saw the reference to this post in the Button Shy Rookie series.  A careful scan of the series will also turn up something else, Dr. Wictz is a Button Shy Rookie.  Creating the series enables me to promote my own games, You Fool and Robotech: Reconstruction.  By writing about other designers, I attract a larger audience to my games than if I just wrote about myself.

While a project like the Button Shy Rookie series takes a ton of work, I started working on it in February 2022, it has the benefit that I  know the project will get published.  Robotech: Reconstruction just hit retail at the end of 2022.  I cannot guarantee any boardgame media will cover the game, but by creating my own media content, I insure there is at least some coverage.

Colloquium on Games of Strategy: Chapter 9

Click here to directly download the MP3

Click here to watch the unedited version on Youtube

Welcome to the Colloquium on Games of Strategy.  Games of Strategy is a textbook on game theory written by Dixit (not the game), Skeath, and Reiley that we are reading to help improve our analysis of board games and board game design.  Paul Owen (owns 3rd edition) and I (own the 2nd and 1st editions) record a discussion about a chapter or two from the book every few weeks.

In the ninth episode we talk about how players respond to uncertainty and information within games.  Highlights include a discussion on the benefits of holding asymmetric information and tactics to counter your opponent's information edge.  Can players provide a creditable signal in your game or is everything just cheap talk.

You can find our previous discussion on Games of Strategy here.

Colloquium on Games of Strategy: Chapter 8

Click here to directly download the MP3

Click here to watch the unedited version on Youtube

Welcome to the Colloquium on Games of Strategy.  Games of Strategy is a textbook on game theory written by Dixit (not the game), Skeath, and Reiley that we are reading to help improve our analysis of board games and board game design.  Paul Owen (owns 3rd edition) and I (own the 2nd and 1st editions) record a discussion about a chapter or two from the book every few weeks.

In the eighth episode we talk about games with mixed strategy nash equilibrium.  Highlights include a discussion on the effectiveness of mixed strategy nash equilibrium when other players cannot do math and the growing importance of knowing game theory at the start of the design process when players are going to repeatedly play your game. 

I cannot help but also point out we took some time in this episode to rip on our good friend Keith Ferguson whose game Santa's Workshop is coming out December 2017.  (Great game, you should buy it).

You can find our previous discussion on Games of Strategy here.

Tips on Making a Rule Explanation Video with Two People in Different Locations

Someone asked me to make a video on how to play Hoboken to share with their friend.  Excitedly I said of course, but then I was faced with a problem, how do I make said video?  The challenge is that Dr. Wictz is not in fact one person, but two (just like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde without the evil), and I wanted both of my personalities to appear in the video.

Quickly, I got together with myself and I hatched out a plan on how to put together a rules video with two two people in different locations.

Separate Video from Voice

The key innovation I came up with was that I can record voice and images separately, with the images being only game components.  This allowed me to have both of my personalities in the video (Aaron & Austin) without ever having to get both of us in the same place.

Write a Script

To keep both personalities on task I wrote a script.  With two personalities, we can easily talk over each other, forget a key point to the game, and ramble (ok, that is just my personality, not because there were two people involved in making the video).

With a written script, I could just focus on saying what needed to be said and not worry about if I was missing something.  All I had to do was look at the script and ask myself if that part was finished or not.

Recorded Different People at Different Times

Writing the script took loner than I expected, so I was not able to record both of my voices at the same time.  Luckily, with a script I did not need to record both of my voices at the same time.  Each voice could make a recording and the recordings could be put together at a later date.

Each Person Reads the Entire Script

Just because I thought pre-recording one personality should say one thing and the other personality should say something else does not mean that was the correct decision.  By having both voices read the entire script I could elect to make any combination I pleased based on who sounded better doing what.  It also speed up the production process because if one voice did something wrong than I could check to see if the other voice did it correctly.

Google Hangout

A Challenge I had was how to record the voices and get it all to the same spot.  That was the magical moment when I realized the internet provided me a solution through the magic of youtube google hangouts.  I could have each each voice record a google hangout that I downloaded to get the audio for the final video.

Separate Video & Voice Bonus

As I watched the final product all put together I discovered one more bonus of recording voice and images separately, I realized that when I update the game components I only need to re-record the images, not the voices.

Congress of Gamers Preview 2014: Austin Smokowicz

There is an unwritten rule (until now since I am writing it down in this post) that I do not do a game preview unless I have seen/played the game myself.  Excitingly for me, all the games that I know of that will be at the UNPUB ProtoZone at Congress of Gamers 2014, September  27th & 28th will be new to me.  Sadly that means I have no one to interview to get us all pumped for two days of board game playtesting heaven...or so I thought until I realized there was one game that will be in the UNPUB protozone that I have personally playtested in the past, my own.  So today one half of Dr. Wictz (Aaron) will interview the other half (Austin) about the games Austin is bringing to Congress of Gamers.  

Dr. Wictz:  Well Austin, I have known you since my freshman year of high school and I have seen many of your game designs over the years, including U.N. the Card Game. What new exciting game are you presenting at Congress of Gamers?

Austin Smokowicz: For this years Congress of Gamers I’m bringing the first in the ‘New Jersey’ line of games called Hoboken.  Players play as real estate developers building luxury hotels in the city of Hoboken, catering to the tourists coming to New York City.  Unfortunately the construction costs are too high for any individual player, so they must partner with each other to raise enough capital to complete construction, and negotiate over the ownership and profits of the new building.

Dr. Wictz: Where did you first show the game to Dr. Wictz? (I had to ask, apparently my questions are part of some sort of standardized form).

Austin Smokowicz: Huh? Where did I first show it to me? Well, I first playtested with some friends over the summer, but Congress of Games will be the first open-to-the-public testing of Hoboken.

Dr. Wictz: How has the Hoboken changed since you started playtesting it?

Austin Smokowicz: There were two major changes after that first playtest, one mechanical, and one componital. For the components, every round tourists are drawn from a deck as they enter the city and try to find a place to sleep. Because this deck is supposed to be random every round, I spent the entire playtest shuffling the cards! I decided no one should be stuck with that burden, and so changed it to chit pull, one simple shake of the bag, and you're good to go. On the mechanical end I had it so that once all of the hotels were available to be built, players drew from a hurricane deck that would end the game. But, I found that by then the game had already been won, and the extra deck drug the game out with little change in players positions.

Dr. Wictz: What inspired the current game theme, I mean New Jersey of all places, was New York City taken already? 

Austin Smokowicz: Well, NYC does have rent control…Honestly it was a mistake of geography on my part, I really thought it was by the beach, and thus the hurricane talk, and when I visited a few years ago I really, really, liked the street clocks.

Dr. Wictz: So you picked the name because you have trouble with geography, even after visiting the place, what next, a cattle ranch in central jersey?  

Austin Smokowicz: Well yes, but we’re here to talk about Hoboken.

Dr. Wictz: If you could see my face you would see a look of puzzlement.  So before you send our readers into a freezie by claiming all of Dr. Wictz games are set in New Jersey I am going to ask you a new question.  How did you get into designing board games?

Austin Smokowicz: I started back in middle school. In my first attempt at making a board game I tried to recreate the computer game Wolfenstein 3D using grid paper. And shortly thereafter I attempted to re-purpose my Stratego set to run football plays. If only I knew Space Hulk and Bloodbowl existed!  

Dr. Wictz: Why do you love making games, other than to profuse your love for New Jersey? (I always thought you would have some sort of grudge against Jersey, aren't you originally from New York state?) 

Austin Smokowicz:  Let’s go Buffalo, but I moved away many years ago. as for my games, nothing was intended to be in Jersey, just like everything else in Jersey, they ended up there. 

For myself, when it comes to the choice between being a consumer of content, or a creator, I’ve always chosen to be the creator. After a while it has become second nature to look at the world and ask ‘what can I make with this?’

Dr. Wictz: This will be your 3rd, 4th Congress of Gamers.  So at this point you must have some favorite past moment from previous Congress of Gamers?

Austin Smokowicz: My favorite past moment of Congress of Gamers came during the first time I attended. I spent the entire day in a room featuring unpublished games for a contest. And had a blast playtesting and discussing the games with their creators. It was only years later I learned that that event was the impetus for the Unpub network.

Dr. Wictz: What draws you to Congress of Gamers?

Austin Smokowicz: I enjoy the people who attend, the location is great, you can’t beat the price point for entry, and I get to play a lot of great published and unpublished games.

Dr. Wictz: Any shout outs to your most dedicated game testers (cough  cough, wife, design partner, etc.)?

Austin Smokowicz: I would like to thank my supportive wife Rebecca, and her good friend Zhanna, who while having never played any of my games likes to be recognized for these sorts of things. 

Dr. Wictz: Is that all? (cough, cough)

Austin Smokowicz: Oh, umm, yes, I forgot to mention my good friend and design partner Aaron Honsowetz. Without whom I would still be sweeping the streets of Trenton…. I mean...

Dr. Wictz: Anyway, If someone wishes to follow you and your game designs where can they go to learn more? (I know, I know, we are in essence interviewing ourselves, but its on the form so I have to ask it).

Austin Smokowicz: If you want to follow me (and Aaron), congratulations, you have. You can check out our profile, twitter, and facebook page through the links on the right side of this web

page.

What Makes a Good Rule Book?

Andy Low of Random Access Podcast asks Dr. Wictz and TC Petty III what makes a good rule book.




You can also directly download the discussion from archive.org here

Emergent vs Analytical Game Design Podcast

Andy Low of Random Access Podcast moderates a discussion between TC Petty III and Aaron & Austin from Dr. Wictz about our different design philosophies.  In particular, we talk about the differences between Emergent vs. Analytical Board Game Design Strategies.  The positives and negatives of each approach.  And what situations/personalities best suit each style.

This discussion is motivated from TC Petty III's retort to Dr. Wictz's statement in Dr. Wictz's post on "Writing Down the Rules."   Dr. Wictz argued that writing down the rules before play testing was so important that he couldn't understand "when people say it's an early design, and so fluid that I have nothing written down."

TC Petty III stood up for non-analytical designers and after explaining part of his designed process, called Dr. Wictz out, saying, "The reason I don't write rules is not laziness, but because my brain doesn't process creative information like an analytical system designer until I'm developing a working system."


The podcast can also be downloaded from archive.org.

Game Design Philosophy: Writing it down

Many times when I ask to see the rules at play testing events I am told that I could, but much of it was thrown out in the first hour of the day.  I have no problem with this, it happens, what I don't understand is when people say 'it's an early design, and so fluid that I have nothing written down.'

People use the hard and fast rule of prototyping know to make it fast, make it cheap, and play it as soon, and as often as you can. When they use it to avoid writing down the rules they are missing an opportunity to vastly improve their game.  

Writing out the rules is not only a roadmap on how to build the game.  Writing out the rules forces you to systematically think through your game and allows you to identify ahead of time potential issues within the game.  How many components do I really need to get? How many maps should I build?  How does the turn order really work? How many terms and conditions need to be defined for new players?  Do I put players into situations that have no clarification, or ways to resolve potential scenarios?

Take Underground Street Racing, up until this point I had most of these ideas racing around in my head.  So I got it onto paper. I learned while writing down the rules how to handle the particulars of movement, crashes, stalls, and particularly endgame. Going through the process I started seeing how the game playes and the various game endings. I noticed that all of the cars could be stuck on the side of the road, and how someone could win from that situation. I realized it would be easy for a player to intentionally create this situation, and it did not reward the style of play I envisioned for the game.  So I rewrote my rules to inform players that its such a letdown when no one finishes the race that nobody actually wins the game.

After settling on my controlling idea, figuring out my xyz, going through the iterative design process, and writing out my rules I have a board game prototype ready for play testing.  In fact, if you want to playtest the game, click here for the rules, click here for the print and play, and click here to leave feedback on the game.  

Even with all of these elements behind me, there is still a long way to go in the development of this game. The path has just begun, not ended. The game will continue to change as people start to play.  

But, in terms of understanding my game design philosophy, this is a conclusion of this lecture series.  I have taught you my critical steps in preparing a board game to be ready for playtesting.

Conversation on Trade Mechanic in Board Games

Michael Keller of Visible Hand Games and 1/2 of Dr. Wictz got together to talk about the market mechanism in my game Post Position and his game Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice. 


We get into details on what you need to do to balance a board game centered on players trading.  You can listen to the interview on Michael Keller's Blog Game Designer Wannabe.

Working Paper: UNPUB 4 - Post Position

Working papers are where I review lessons learnt to help improve my board game designs and where I publicly brainstorm ideas.  Today I am going to talk about what lessons I learned about my game Post Position at UNPUB 4.

For those of you not familiar with Post Position here is a quick run down of the game.  If you are familiar with the game you can skip to the section titled “Lessons Learnt at UNPUB 4”.

Post Position is a stock market game with a horse racing theme for 3 to 12 players.  The goal of the game is to be the player that earns the most money at the end, although I like to say ‘if you have more than 100 dollars at the end you are a winner, if you have the most money you are the winner.’

Horses are moved five times in the race.  Players move the horses by secretly picking 3 horses on a straightaway and 2 horses on a turn to move.  After everyone writes down the horses they want to move, the orders are stacked in a pile to be read after the stock trading phase.

During a four minute stock trading phase people buy and sell stock with each other in horses. Players take advantage of their inside knowledge of horse movement to find horse stock that is mispriced.  Stock pays a dividend at the end of the race based on where the horse finishes.

Stock in the games comes from two sources.  At the start of the game the bank auctions a single share in each horse. The bank pays dividends to the shareholders who horses place 1st-6th.

The second source of stock isn’t really stock, but a promise by players to pay the stock earnings of a horse at the end of the race.  I call this second source of stock a “short position”.  When I sell a short position share in a horse, say A.A., I am promising to pay the dividend earned by A.A. at the end of the race.  So if A.A. finishes in 4th place, I owe 7 dollars to the person holding the short position share of A.A. that I created.  I make money if I sold the short position share for more than 7 dollars and I lose money if I sold A.A. for less than 7 dollars.

The logic for selling a short position share is the same as selling a share by the bank.  I sell either share types if I think people are overvaluing a horse because it will finish worse in the race than what buyer believes.  I buy either share when I think the horse is undervalued because the horse is going to finish higher in the race than what the seller believes.

The winner of the game tends to be the person who best reads what horses players are moving up and what horses players are moving down.

Lessons Learnt at UNPUB 4

If (people) give you feedback that makes your game a completely different game ignore it, they are only creating their own game.  But, (if) they tell you what aspect of the game they don’t like, take it to heart because now you can start to craft it.

-Chris Kirkman of Dice Hate Me Games on The State of Games Episode 57

The major feedback I received from publishers was the theme did not match the mechanics.

Game Salute was worried people would expect one thing and get another.  With a title and theme like Post Position, people might expect a typical horse racing game only to discover after they start playing they had purchased an intense stock market game.

Or as Bruce from the Party Game cast put it, when you start playing the game the Chainsaw Of Math starts making a soft buzzing sound - Math Math Math Math.  Next thing you know the engine revs up and saws off your legs.

Bruce and Game Salute emphasized that there is nothing wrong with the game having a little math in it.  There are people who like math games and stock games.  The problem is when people expect a gentle bout around the racecourse, and instead discover they are in an intense game of market manipulation.

Eagle Griffin was concerned the theme did not match player actions.  Specifically, his concern centered on the relationship between stock ownership and horse movement.  Since players keep trading stock during the race, the horses players select to move vary based on what horse stock they purchased.  In real horse racing, horses do not do better in a race because people make bets on them.  Yet, this is what happens when people play Post Position.

He brainstormed with me a bunch of different ideas on how to make the theme consentient.  All of his ideas involved a complete retheme of the game to something like commodities or companies.

All of this feedback left me a little shaken.  Half of me went through a brainstorm of finding a new theme that drastically altered the setup of the game.  The other half of me urged restraint, and pointed out how those drastic changes created a whole different game.

At that moment I remembered the previous night when Bruce Vogel said I should make a convention version with My Little Ponies for horses. He envisioned the My Little Ponies being gambled over by a bunch of large leering men smoking cigars in a back room.  And that is when I it hit me… The Mob.  I can solve my theme problem with The Mob.

People already joke at the end game of Post Position when someone went horribly bankrupt that they were going to be tossed into the river. Who does that? The Mob. And who would have the power to rig the horses at the race track? Again, The Mob. So who are the players pretending to be when betting on horses at the race track in Post Position...mobsters.

I can remake the box cover to emphasize money and betting on the box front to clearly communicate the game involves math at the start to players.  I can even show a mobster paying off a jockey to let players know the race is fixed.

I rolled out the changes for my last game test at UNPUB 4.  I explained to players that they were all mobsters betting on horses with each other.  Bets on a horse paid 22 dollars if the horse finished 1st, 19 dollars if it finished 2nd, 16 if it finished 3rd etc. and bets on horses finishing in 7th place or lower paid nothing.  At the start of the race the house auctions off a single bet in each horse, but throughout the race mobsters can sell and buy bets with each other.  When mobsters sell and buy bets they each have some inside information on the horse race because their influence with the jockeys enables them to push a few horses ahead in the race.

So if your question is “oh, so you changed the game?” the answer is no.   I tweaked the theme to make the mechanic easier to pick up and to help new players to get into the game faster.

Tentative results from the first play testing are good.  The UNPUB 4 playtesters found the tweaked theme to be more intuitive.  I am going to formally rewrite the rules to better fit the thematic tweak and I will talk to some past play testers to see if they buy the theme alteration.  If yes, then I will roll out the newly crafted theme for general play testing.

Say (to yourself), somebody had a really negative reaction to that (part of my game), how can I make it better?

-Chris Kirkman of Dice Hate Me Games on The State of Games Episode 57

A Dr. Wictz List: 11 Dr. Wictz Highlights from UNPUB4

1. Friday night’s standing ovation for John Moller from designers in appreciation for founding UNPUB.

2. The moment everyone else in the room knew Nick Ferris won the raffle before he did, even though he was holding his own tickets.

3. Almost missing the turn off the highway to UNPUB 4 if not for spotting an UNPUB 3 sign pointing the way.

4. Realizing I was with a group of designers when the free Danish were offered and the roll of tape next to it is selected first for last minute board game prototype repairs.

 5. Bruce H. Voge and Mike Goldman from the Party Game Cast signing a contract stating they must attend the conference debut of an enlarged game of Post Position using My Little Pony plush as figures.

6. Alf Shadownsong becoming a hawker for horses in the back of the race. “I.S for a dollar, I.S. For a dollar. Look! I was selling P.C. for a dollar two turns ago and now it’s in first. the same thing will happen with I.S. It’s a guaranteed winner.”

7. In the same game, total cash held by all players at the end of the game $527, total debt Alf Shadowsong still owed other players at the end of the game, a record breaking $528.

8. “Hey, when did you do that?” --Dr. Wictz

 “Sorry if the game was being played when you weren't looking.” --Other Playtester

9. Meeting and playing Charlie Hoopes’ Firebreak at the most difficult setting with Jeff Watson who has playtested the game over 200 times.

10. Selling my entire orange crop in a future for $4 an orange when each orange was worth $20 while playing Michael R. Keller’s Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice.

11. Having a playtester ask to buy a prototype copy of Post Position to take to conventions.

Lessons Learnt On What To Ask On a Blind Play Tester Feedback Form

What did I learn about blind play testing questions from my recent blind playtest of my game Post Position?  Back in October I came up with a series of questions to help me to construct a blind play tester feedback form.  (Link to: What to Ask on a Blind Play Tester Feedback Form?)  The feedback forms are now back and I will give a quick run down over the questions that worked well and the one that did not.

 

Did you like the game, why or why not?

 

Here is a question that was not on the original list of questions to try.  The question was a standard question on the old UNPUB feedback forms.  I discovered for a blind play testing this question was wasted ink.  The problem with the question was that people are way too nice.  

No one ever said they disliked the game, even though some players found the game to be difficult and too long.  Plus answers were short on detail so it was not clear what they really liked or disliked about the game.

 

That said, the sort of questions that did provide useful details about the parts of the game play testers enjoyed and the parts of the game they disliked was when I asked the straight up “What was your favorite part of this game?” and “What was your least favorite part of this game? “  Players were liberated from trying to come up with a reason why they liked the game or disliked the game and just went straight to the details about the parts of the game that were good and bad.

 

What I discovered was the most important question was actually a group of questions that I will call the four essential questions.

 

What was your least favorite part of the game?

 

Name one improvement you would make to the game?

 

What strategies did not or did work for you in the game?

 

What was the hardest rule to learn and why?

 

These four essential questions not only highlighted which rule in the game was the hardest for players to learn, but they also provided illustrations on how that rule affected overall game play.  In form after form, when a player listed their least favorite part of the game they would look to find an improvement to fix that part.  When they talked about their game strategies you could observe how that mechanism made it harder for them to succeed.  And when they talk about the hardest rule to learn it almost always was the player least favorite part of the game.

 

The four essential questions combined gave me an insight into not only what rule gave the player a problem, but how that problem affected their gameplay and what sort of things I need to try to fix that problem.  

 

For example, short position selling in my game Post Position could be a player’s least favorite part of the game.  Then the player would suggest a change to the short position selling form as an improvement to the game.  When the player talks about game strategy they then talk about how short position selling was a bad strategy for them and that there were uncertain why a player would ever engage in short position sales.  Finally, when asked what was the hardest rule to learn the player listed short position selling.

 

What did I learn? I learned the player did not understand the purpose of short position selling and was therefore not able to execute the maneuver in the game.  This means I need to do a better job of not just explaining how to conduct a short position sale but also include a short explanation on why a player might want to engage in a short position sale so they have a little intuition when it should be used.

 

This is concrete feedback that I will use to improve the game.  No matter the issue with the game, the four essential questions produced similar feedback.  These are the questions I am convinced should be in ever blind game play testing feedback form.