Boldly Going... (A Guide to the 4X Genre)

I see many bright stars in your future...

When we dig into the details of board games beneath ground level, we often talk about mechanisms and theme.  Mechanisms to a board game are kind of like the rules of grammar to a book; they are tools to help a designer (or author) connect with the end user to create an experience.  Authors attempt to create emotional connections or communicate ideas, game designers try to create enjoyable game play, but the tools do not inherently create great end products.

Theme in a board game equivocates to the setting of a book; time, place, context for the activity that is going on.  In a book, setting is usually pretty important to the story, although we've all seen remakes, fan-fictions, and retellings that change the setting of a story.  Theme in a game gives context to a players actions; in some cases, theme is central to a game experience.  In others, it simply facilitates the connection between the mechanisms that make up the game.

But there certainly more levels that we can dig into.  Something we haven't really talked about before is genre.  In books, genres are very closely related with settings; science fiction, drama, romance, historical - these all imply a sense of location, at least on the surface.  However, the genre simply defines certain characteristics of a book and sets up expectations for the reader.  What kind of book is this going to be? In the same way, board game genres define certain characteristics of the game, characteristics that are not necessarily tied to the theme directly, nor are they tied directly to mechanisms.  Yet the three can be somewhat intertwined.

So the genre I"m going to talk about today is the "4X" genre, one of my favorites.  This genre is not a set of mechanisms, and it is not directly related to a specific theme (although many 4X games are set in space).  It is simple a set of expectations and characteristics of a certain type of game.  What type of game is that? Well, read on to find out.

Are You Ready for Some Football? (A Review of 1st and Goal)

Are you a loyal fan of the home town team?  If so, no doubt you bleed the home colors and root for your boys (or girls) through think and thin, victory and defeat, glory and agony.  But yet, every so often (or more), watching your team on the TV, you just know that you could play better or make smarter decisions.  If only you were calling the shots and given the chance to slip that jersey on and get in the game.  Well, now is your chance!  R&R Games’ family-friendly design puts you in charge on the sidelines.  Make the call to roll, pass, and kick your way to victory!

Monster Mash (An Interview with Benjamin Radford)

Benjamin Radford is one of the world’s few science-based, paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into mysterious phenomena in sixteen countries on four continents including psychics, ghosts, exorcisms, miracles, Bigfoot, stigmata, lake monsters, UFO sightings, reincarnation, and crop circles. He is an editor for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, has authored six books, and has written articles and/or appeared on television for Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, Learning Channel, BBC, and CNN, among many others. His latest project draws upon his vast experience in studying the fact and folklore of monster myths around the globe – a fascinatingly unique board game now seeking funding on Kickstarter: Undead Apocalypse: War of the Damned. As you might expect, messin’ with Sasquatch is a full-time gig, so we really appreciate Ben’s time in sitting down to discuss his recent venture.

When Theme Matters

In gaming circles, people tend to fall into two groups (when you oversimplify things): the gamers who prefer highly thematic (and often highly complex) games, and those who prefer the often simple-but-strategically-deep eurogames, whose themes are often pasted on and rarely affect gameplay all that much.

As with all "there are two types of people..." shticks, it's really more complicated than that, but I've simplified for simplicity's sake.

FDQ: What Theme Grabs Your Attention?

Whether theme or flavor, the package a game comes wrapped in can greatly affect its enjoyment. Abstract games can be fun, but even Reiner Knizia gussies up the packaging with pictures of times and places (most of the time, anyway). So that brings us to today's question: what theme grabs your attention? Answer in the comments!

@FarmerLenny answers:
I've mentioned elsewhere that theme usually doesn't matter to me in a game as long as the game itself is fun. I say this, but there are themes that appeal to me. Most notably, I like novel themes that make me think about things differently. My own master of theme is James Ernest as his themes are usually quirky and cause an enjoyable narrative to permeate his games. Good examples of this are Kill Doctor Lucky and especially The Unexploded Cow (which is also now available as a free print-and-play game!). I'm also a sucker for medieval stuff (yes, I am the reason glowering Renaissance men keep appearing on game boxes; sorry!).

@Futurewolfie answers:
I'm looking at my board game shelf right now.  Apparently the theme that appeals the most to me is  "things in space" followed by medieval fantasy.  Oh man do I love space.  Or really any sci-fi thingummy in general.  You know, if you pretty much take any idea, and then put it in space... it becomes that much more awesome.  Imagine your favorite game.  Or just any game you like.  Let's say...  Tobago.  Yes, that's right, deductive treasure hunting.  Now it's in space.  Awesome!  Or how about Dominion.  You're still building an empire.  But it's a space empire.  Dude.  Sweet.  Imagine Shadows over Camelot... but in a futuristic reality where each Knight of the Round Table commands a starship, spreading justice across the galaxy.  I'm totally geeking out.  I think I'm a little obsessed with space.  Have you played Portal 2?  The audio track of the "Space" core was my ringtone for a while.

Don't forget! Each comment made today before midnight (central time) counts as an entry in our Dominion: Hinterlands giveaway. This is your last chance for an extra entry!

A Game By Any Other Theme...

Tobago's theme fits right alongside its solid gameplay

Over at the iSlaytheDragon headquarters, the topic of Theme often surfaces in our conversation.  Essentially every single modern game has at least some theme attached to it, whether it be something extremely light such as in Money, or a bit more central to the gameplay like in Tobago, or the backbone of the game, such as Arkham Horror or Last Night on Earth.

It may be the issue of creating a salable product - it's my understanding that one cannot copyright the rules of a game, only the art and specific designs - or maybe just the goal of trying to make your product stand out in a crowd.  Whatever the case, unlike the ancient classic games such as Chess, Go, or even Tic Tac Toe, modern games come inside shiny, colorful, packaged themes.

The question is, then, does the theme of a game really matter?  Is a game required to have a strong theme to be a truly great modern game, or is it better for the theme to take a backseat to gameplay?  Leave your thoughts in the comments!

This is a land of Armies... and Land!

this game requires many dice

This morning, I ran the first test-run of Armyland.  In case you didn't know, Armyland is the current title of the board game I am working on inventing.

The first test run of a game is an interestingly mixed experience.  A peak and a valley, so to speak, at the same time.  It's very exciting to get an idea you've been working on for years and years to a physical product that is actually playable.  There's a lot of energy in that.  It's fun to see everything that was on paper, now played out.