Here’s what I’m working on game design wise.
The Survivor – this is a solo rpg that uses a standard deck of playing cards. Drawn cards help you set scenes and determine outcomes of those scenes. Suit, color, and value of the cards all inform different elements of a scene. Elements at present will be located on matrices.
The Gold Rush – This game has gotten an overhaul. I’ve pulled the mechanics from what was comatose and am working on a new system using a deck of cards. There is a card draft for aspects that you then use to build your character. The deck is split into its suits with each player getting one suit. Scene spotlight determined by a ‘War’ mechanic, high card gets the spotlight, second highest is also in the scene. Low card sets the scene while the remaining card determines whether the scene will have a positive or negative outcome. The fact that everyone has duplicate cards calls for some hard choices and strategy.
Comatose has a new dice mechanic. I had been having an issue with the game not mimicking corruption and degeneration like I wanted. I posed an early version of it to a couple of friends and one of them came back with a very nice version that was better. It uses d4-d12 and does a very good job at getting that despiration that I have been looking for.
The Accused – This one will probably use the system from The Gold Rush.
The Interman – I’m revisiting this board game. This is the first board game I designed. It was pretty ok but didn’t stand out. So I put it away. Also because Photoshop wouldn’t run on my computer anymore. So it goes into the fridge for a while. This week I started thinking about it again. Could I incorporate some of the neat mechanics that I have learned from other games that I have played this year. So that is what I’m doing. I’m looking at expanded the action point system and adding an auction. We’ll see how it goes.
As you can see, I like the idea of using a standard deck of cards. Or the idea of using things that everyone would have around the house. I’ve also been very interested in the idea of information dense mechanics. ‘Rich dice’ is an example of this. Cards work too. Cards are tactile and most people are comfortable with them. And they are cheap. They have at least three pieces of information on each card – color, value, and suit. And in combination with one or more other cards you get an increase in information. So I’m working with cards. I’m also looking at Piecepack as a possibility. More on that another time.
That’s it for now. Please post a comment and tell me what you think.
Go Forth And Game.
That’s all for now. Hopefully
Go Forth And Game 
Comments
4 responses to “Latest Game Design News”
That’s pretty cool. I’ve actually had an idea for a solo RPG game that also uses a deck of cards to determine the type and strength of opposition as you play. I just need to actually write it down, though, before it evaporated from my brain forever…
You should exploit your friends more; you let a house full of potential play testers get away! ^_^
Cool concepts. I like your idea of using standard deck of cards – something that everyone has. This way the game can go viral to an extent. I feel like this is part of the key of successful game design – encouraging and decreasing barrier to trial.
Thanks for the comment. That is exactly the idea with using cards. Everyone has them. Everyone understands them. And there is at least four layers of information on each card.