Moments

I recently wrote a piece for my application to NYU's Game Center MFA that asked me to consider why I want to go into game design. I talked about why I tell stories in games, and how interactivity defines every story I tell, but it got me thinking about what it is that makes games special for me. The easy answer would be the same as my answer for why I want to make games: they are interactive, and it is a different way of telling stories. That answer is not specific enough though. It's not technically wrong, but it does not get at the heart of what makes games special for me. 

Games are special because they create moments of experience for the player. The other day, I was playing Earth Defense Force 4.1 with a good friend. We took a mission where we had to fight off drones and giant spiders from the roof of a skyscraper. It went pretty well, until my friend accidentally shot the ground in front of himself with an explosive weapon, and fell off the building. Being the good friend that I am, I decided to go revive him. Unfortunately, his body was covered with spiders, and I was injured. Fortunately, I had an idea. I sniped at the spiders until one of them dropped a health pack. Then, again being a good friend, I jumped off the building. As I sailed towards the ground, one of the spiders took a flying leap towards me. I raised my shotgun, blasted it away, and landed on the health pack. My injuries healed, and I was able to dive to safety and revive my friend.

Describing this moment might make it sound cool or exciting, but nothing can compare to the experience of it. That moment sticks with me because I did it. I didn't see it or hear about it, I did it, and it is cemented in my mind. Games are unique because they can provide the experience of a moment like that.

Not all of my favorite games are as campy as EDF, and action games certainly don't corner the market on memorable moments. Losing my buddy in the snowstorm in Journey, shooting the moon at the end of Portal 2, bouncing a balloon on instinct in Steam VR, All of my favorite gaming memories are not about interactivity alone, or even about the storytelling that interactivity can provide. I remember these isolated moments. They are not stories, not completely. They are more like cresting a hill on a long hike, and seeing a beautiful view across a desert valley, or finishing that same hike and taking a long drink of water. These moments are flashes that cut through the hazy memory of experience.

Games at their best are engines for those moments, because those moments can provide meaning and insight to a player. Jumping off that building in EDF was exciting and cool, but it is the memory of doing something exciting and cool with my friend that makes it stick with me. Losing my buddy in the snowstorm in Journey stuck with me because of the kinship I felt with a stranger. Bouncing a balloon in Steam VR felt magical because I then got to watch my Dad put the headset on and, without knowing I had done it, do the exact same thing. I cherish those moments that games have provided, just as I cherish memories of that desert hike. I cherish those moments because they stand out in my memory because I experienced them. This doesn't make games better than other mediums, it just makes them different. That difference makes games special for me, and define what I want to create: just a moment in someone's memories.

Board Game Geek Contest Part 2

Here is draft 2 of the Board Game Geek Contest Game, Siege of Armagh. I put together some better icons, as well as some clarified rules with diagrams.

Board Game Geek Contest

So I have a new project. Don't worry, I will still be working on Vikings and Valkyries, but I spotted a contest on Board Game Geek for Two-Player print and play games. I figured I would give it a shot, and see what I could put together under a more limited time constraint. Plus, I have never made a board game before, so we will see how this goes. I have a post up on BGG here.

The rules will be posted below, and attached to this document as a PDF with the components. If you found this place from the BGG thread, grab the document attached to get the rules and the print and play components.

Siege of Armagh Rules

Setup the Game

Siege of Armagh is played on a standard 8x8 chess board. This game will also come with a game board that can be printed out. First, players must set up the terrain on the board. First, the river pieces are placed. 8 river pieces are laid down in a straight line across the board on one of the two middle rows by the Viking player. The Irish player then must move three, though may move up to five of the river tokens to the other row. The Viking player can then remove a single river tile.

Next, the Villages must be placed. The Irish player will begin, placing a Village between the third row from their side of the board and the fifth row from their side of the board. The Viking player then places a Village, then the Irish, and so forth until all the Villages are placed.

Finally, the Vikings place their troops along the row on their side of the board. Then, the Irish place their troops along the first two rows on their side of the board. The Irish can hold back any number of troops, and deploy those troops at the Villages on the board.

Playing the Game

The Viking player begins the game. Each turn, the players can move up to two pieces. Pieces move one square at a time in any direction. Pieces may not move off the board or onto a river tile. Irish pieces may move through un-looted Village pieces without consequence. Viking pieces can move into an un-looted Village square, looting that Village. This move counts as a push.

If a piece wishes to move into a square occupied by another piece, it can push that other piece out of the square, straight away from the direction the piece is moving. If the pushed piece is an opponent’s piece, a Stun icon is placed on that piece until the end of the opponent’s next turn. When a piece is Stunned, it may move, but not push. If a piece is pushed off the edge of the board, into a river, into an un-looted Village (if Viking), or into an opposing piece, the pushed piece is destroyed.

When a piece is destroyed, it is simply removed from the game. When a Viking piece would be destroyed, flip it over. If the reverse side shows a Berserker or Chief piece, that piece instead remains where it is, and has a Stun counter placed on it. Berserker and Chief pieces can push with the strength of two pieces. When Irish pieces are destroyed, they are removed to the side, and placed on the Reinforcements tracker. Each turn, move the piece one space down the tracker. When it reaches the end, that piece may be played back onto the board at any un-looted Village as if it was held in reserve.

If a player wishes to push an opponent’s piece into a square occupied by another opposing piece, then that player must push with two pieces at once. This move places a Stun counter on the front piece only. This move counts as one move.

Victory Conditions

Players in Siege of Armagh face off in an attempt to garner two Victory Points. The player who gains two Victory Points first, wins.

The Irish begin the game holding one Victory Point on their side of the board: the Monastery’s Treasure. The Irish side can gain further Victory Points by either defeating 4 of the Viking troops, or by defeating the Viking Chief.

The Vikings can steal the Monastery’s Treasure. They can do this by moving a troop to the Irish side of the board. As long as a Viking troop holds the Treasure, the Vikings count as having that Victory Point. If an Irish piece defeats the piece holding the Monastery’s Treasure, that Irish piece takes the Treasure, restoring the Victory Point to the Irish. If the Viking piece holding the Treasure returns to its side, the Treasure is placed on the Viking side, and is safe there. If the Irish piece returns to the Irish side, the Treasure is placed on the Irish side again, and a Viking piece must return to the Irish side to claim the point. The Vikings can also loot the Villages present on the board. If the Vikings loot all 5 Villages, they gain a Victory Point.

Once one player has 2 Victory Points, that player wins.

And that is it. The icons to play the game can be found in the rules below. These icons are sized for a standard chess board, so your mileage may vary depending on the size of board you have. These are just the first draft rules. Updates will be at the BGG thread, but I will post the final game here as well.