Oh, one more thing November 29, 2006
Posted by Ian in Game Design, Methodological, [3am] Design Log.add a comment
Yes, this is definitely modeled on the token economy system I have been trying to work out for 3am, probably benefiting from being an entirely different project. So it might be worth looking here for the motivations behind these experiments.
And, of course, there are the many posts you can crawl through by clicking the [3am] Design Log tag.
Been Gone… November 9, 2006
Posted by Ian in About blog, Applied, Theory, [3am] Design Log.add a comment
Whew–talk about unproductive. I’m starting to redirect myself toward some work, so hopefully will get more up here.
The most promising thing right now is the entry I was working on for the MACE Iron Game Chef. I had to drop out of the competition due to time constraints, but I did manage to get a chunk written. It uses a stripped down version of the token economy that I have been working out for 3am (which still needs a better name, I think), so if I can just finish it off it should provide a good test run of it.
It uses the character sheet as interface, a story with two levels, a central space where tokens and themes circulate (here called ‘creation’ rather than ‘cauldron’–what is it with me and ‘c’ words?).
It has some nifty innovations, too. I drew up three different character sheets, the choice of which one you use having mechanical consequences in game. There is a little die rolling, although not for anything like traditional conflict resolution. Instead, it gets used to determine the ‘context’ of certain key scenes.
I’m also working out how to use index cards to facilitate the repetition and association of themes, which should have positive consequences for 3am. I am also finding ways to make the secondary level (in 3am, the interaction of angels, in this game, the interaction of deities) more robust. This includes establishing some firm mechanically supported interactions between characters at this level.
So, keep an eye out! Hopefully in a few weeks you will be seeing a full draft of that game.
[3am] Scene Caps October 19, 2006
Posted by Ian in [3am] Design Log.add a comment
Yes, it has been a little bit since I got to think and fiddle with 3am. This is just a little idea for an optional rule in the game, perhaps ideal in getting acquainted with the game.
Currently, the scene length is controlled largely by the number of tokens players bring to it. Another option is to have each scene come with a cap, a maximum number of tokens that may be spent over its course. This could definitely help players get a feel for how to modulate the length of the game.
It would also require a few modifications to the ante-phase, probably best modified by allowing players to enter a second phase of advancing tokens to the exposed jewel of their crown if the cap had not been met and the current tokens had been used up.
In fact, it might work best if a scene cap rule were an alternative to the ante phase, a way to get a handle on what it means when you ante up a big pile of tokens.
Hmm…just an idea, and the more I fiddle with it, the less attached I feel.
[3am] Principles and Touchstones September 13, 2006
Posted by Ian in [3am] Design Log.add a comment
This is a small but important insight: it is not necessary to choose between principles and touchstones, but to articulate them in a way in which they can work together. It reminds me a little of the early debates over the structures of the eye: “rods,” “no, cones,” “ahh, rods and cones.”
The reason is straightforward enough: playing 3am is a bit like a high-wire act. There is a lot the players will have to do on their own if they don’t want the game to fall flat. So, to maximize their chances of success, I want to guve the most tools possible to operate in that space. Principles help them steer a course–I don’t want to lose them.
The touchstone, too, already has a placed prepared–the yellow jewels. Each other jewel has a principle attached to it, all but the yellow, the representation of the angel’s ‘deep self.’ It could work out very well if each angel had a parable–a small story that they write on a separate sheet of paper and fold up to place on the yellow stone.
Each principle should follow from that parable. The parable is a source of wisdom and each principle is one expression of that wisdom. This sort of thinking also prepares players for the interpretive work that underlies game play elsewhere.
It should be possible for a player to expose their yellow face to the cauldron, but only under the condition that they take on a new parable and abandon their old one. The new parable must be a simplification of a story being told in the game. After that change, the player would also rewrite their principles based on how other players understand the scene. They get to choose one of their principles (the white) but the players to their right and left get to determine the principle for the sides exposed to them.
The eye metaphor isn’t so out of place here–the touchstones and the principles provide the player with a way to see the game as it unfolds, to see opportunities.
