The one were i admit that i was basically wrong
A rant against myself
You saw the post yesterday? About move mechanics?
Yeah, that was a bunch of crap!
Playbooks are not there to show how clever you are with mechanics. They are there to fascilitate a specific role in the game. When most of what your playbook says is “hey! look at these fun mechanics!” then you failed. Of course you can and should write move that make people exited; but they should primarily be exited to play that type of character.
So don’t focus on being clever with moves. Be thematic with moves. Write moves that speak loud and clear to the archetype you are presenting. Players should look at your playbook and get what it is about, be able to point to characters with that playbook.
I think i fell into the trap of thinking of gamedesign as a game. I want to be extra clever, but being extra clever is not about writing moves that push at certain boundaries. It is about writing the RIGHT move for THAT playbook.
Think about moves not as an end in themselves, but as the paint you use to paint and colour your playbook.
Am i correct in this?
I think that moves must be thematic to the character concept, but that is not to say that moves can not be clever (so long as it furthers the concept of the playbook and the setting). It does no one any good to have playbooks that do not explore the game setting and what it means for people to be in that setting.
Also, I want to play the game design game, that sounds fun
Yes. Except for some minor spelling errors. =P
(it’s late. I shouldn’t rant late)
we love ya anyway.
you are too kind.
Moves are a way to express ideas in the game. The ideas you want to express should reinforce the theme and emotional drive of the playbook as well as incentivize some actions over other.
No need to throw a clever move mechanic away if you have it though, even if it does not fit in this playbook it might always find just the right home somewhere in the big realm of AW engine games.
So I would say design away. Go where you are creative and take notes for everything. But when it comes to the actual Playbook take what is best for the role.
But if you have a box of tools you can use later on that can only be an assett.
Moves should make players feel like they can’t wait to use them because (1) they want to see what happens in the fiction and (2) the result and choices are not at all obvious.
Use your clever move as a Custom Move for an NPC baddie!
Also, if the move is clever to read rather than awesome to play out, trash it or fix it.
I think in general, it’s important as a designer to come up with new expressions of game mechanics. Fiddle around and see what intricate weirdness you can create. Play with the inputs and outputs.
But on the other hand, don’t just slot them into whatever you’re working on. I carry them around in my head for years, until I find a place they fit and do what I want them to do.
I’ve recently found a game where my idea of “stats from 1 to 6, roll a pool of d6 equal to your stat with target equal to the opponent’s stat” works. I’m still carrying around an idea of using dominoes as the core of the resolution system.
What Philipp Neitzel and Craig Judd said. A cool/clever/boundary-pushing move isn’t a good reason to design and publish a playbook, but such a move is always worth tinkering with and sharing. Even if its initial manifestation doesn’t work out or doesn’t go any further than a neat idea for a playbook that no one ever plays, you’ve learned something and put something in your toolbox.
Hey, look at that, I’m catching up with posts! Well, clearly, I disagree. I think any game design is good game design. It really just comes down to: Is it fun to play?
There’s plenty of bad game design that people have tons of fun with, and bad vs good game design is always extremely subjective – otherwise there wouldn’t be a thing called “edition wars” for D&D. Personally, I think RIFTS is the supreme example of bad game design and yet, they were successful enough to make 30 to 40 books for that system so what do I know?
I know I like playing Apocalypse World.
Moves should
☆ make characters unique
☆ make characters awesome
☆ make their players say interesting stuff. (This last bullet is a quote attributed to Ben Lehman)
So clever mechanics do the above simply and elegantly.