Joystiq

Off the Grid Special: Game Design 101

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-06-26T16:55:00+00:00

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

For nearly two years now, Off the Grid has introduced (and reintroduced) Joystiq's readers to some of the best board and card games on the market. The relationship between our modern video games and their non-digital counterparts is very clear-cut. As Gamelab CEO Eric Zimmerman puts it: "a game is a game is a game."

So for those readers who aspire to create games of their own, it should come as no surprise that non-digital games are a great starting place for honing the craft of game design. With no programming skills required, non-digital game design is an easy way to begin thinking creatively about interaction, without the complicated prerequisities of digital game development.

The best leaping-off point for non-digital game design is with the tools. Most gamers probably already have some fantastic equipment in their closets. So let's look at the basic tools of the trade.

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Off the Grid reviews Power Grid

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-06-19T21:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews, Strategy

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

In real life, scarcity isn't fun. Scarcity is the rising price of gas, or the difficulty of finding a job. In a game, however, scarcity can be incredibly compelling, and make for a very unique play experience. Enter Power Grid, a board game by German designer Friedemann Friese which uses scarcity at every level of its design to produce one helluva strategy title.

The player's task in the game is to power as much of the country as possible (United States on one side of the board, or alternatively Germany on the other). As heads of various power companies (think Montgomery Burns or whoever runs PG&E), your tasks are to buy power plants, purchase resources, and allocate those resources to control as many houses in as many cities as possible. Money's not the deciding factor here; players will be judged and ranked solely on the amount of power they're pushing.

At the heart of Power Grid is its resource economy mechanic. Tokens representing coal, oil, garbage, and uranium are positioned on a special resources table on the board, representing the quantity of each resource. As more resources are purchased, the price of each resource also rises, as indicated by the table. These resources replenish after each round of gameplay, but at a dwindling rate through the game's three phases.

The message is clear: the game uses finite resources, and players must be careful to keep track of their resource needs relative to their price and availability on the market. Coal is initially abundant and cheap, but enough power plants rely on the resource to make its price rise dramatically as it becomes scarce in the endgame. Alternatively, oil starts out more expensive, but if few players rely on oil-run plants the price drops rapidly, causing a sudden rush to buy up those power plants in the game's climax. In one play-through, a power plant starting at 49 "Elektro-bucks" went for auction at over 200 -- a true testament to the power of scarcity.

In fact, the only non-scarce element of Power Grid is money, but generating income requires a delicate balance of the game's other components. In the end, careful strategy and keen market watching will win out over brute capitalism. Turns out money can't buy power after all.

Final Verdict: An instant classic for board game lovers. Those turned off by pages of rules and slow learning curves should give it a shot anyway.

Scott Jon Siegel is an awesome game designer, a phenomenal blogger, and a modest mouse. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he still wishes he felt a little less like death. Hooray for illness (again)!

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Off the Grid: The new roommates

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-05-01T15:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Casual

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

One of the most exciting parts about moving to a new place is having new people to play with. One week ago I arrived in California, and moved in with my new roommate and his girlfriend. Jet-lagged, and achy from spending nearly twelve combined hours in airplanes and airports, I still excitedly busted out the board games from my luggage once I arrived at the apartment.

I unboxed Risk: Black Ops under the pretense of showing them how pretty it was. Realistically, I was prodding, waiting for one of the new roomies to say "cool, let's play!" They sure did think it was a nice-looking game, but neither said boo on the subject of playing. I packed it up and passed out.

Of course, over the past week I've learned that this was not merely a single case of cold feet. Compared to the relative ease of playing video games, or watching television or YouTube videos, or renting a film, playing a round of Carcassonne or Kill Doctor Lucky apparently just isn't worth the effort.

And thus, even with a small contingent of possible opponents living in the same space, it's still surprisingly difficult to get my game on.

I certainly don't blame my new roommates; their hearts are in the right places. One even suggested the other day that we play a board game. Of course, the moment I returned with a small stack of non-digital titles her interest faded once more, and our time was instead spent watching episodes of Top Gear (a mercilessly engaging program even for apathetic non-car-lovers like myself, but I digress).

No, rather than blaming the roomies, I blame the lingering attention span of our "entertainment on-demand" culture. Any new board game requires an introductory period: the set-up time, reading the instructions, that first preliminary play-through that "doesn't count." Unless the game follows familiar tropes (or is a well-established title like Scrabble), we don't want to be bothered to learn. Especially when time is short and there's always something to watch.

The exceptions here are obviously the real gamers; those who consider learning the rules to be part of the excitement of playing. I guess the hardest part of moving to a new place is finding where those true believers lurk. I think I'll start hunting sooner rather than later. I'd hate to have wasted all that luggage space on games I'll never play.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he wishes he felt a little less like death. Hooray for illness!

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Off the Grid: Risk Black Ops and Hasbro's wrong direction

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-04-18T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Strategy

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

Risk: Black Ops is one of the most beautiful board games you'll never play. In anticipation of the newly updated release of Risk, Hasbro produced only 1,000 copies of this special edition game, distributing them to bloggers, journos, and gaming hobby sites for perusal and easy publicity.

The response was unanimously positive. The updates to the rules -- handled by Risk 2010 designer Rob Daviau -- lower the game's initial barrier to entry, and make it possible to play through in under two hours (which is significant for Risk). Most media attention, however, was lavished on the slick, modern redesign, devised under the command of art director Lindsay Braun and visual designer Jason Taylor.

Risk has always wanted to be taken seriously, but Black Ops is the first version of the game to look deadly serious. A matte black finish on the box is accented by imagery of barbed wire, dog tags, and the faintest hint of blood spatter, all rendered in a subtle gray. "History is written by the victors," the box declares in a modest sans-serif font. The game board itself is designed to look like something out of our modern war-rooms, with a visual style not unlike Introversion's apocalyptic strategy game Defcon. This is not the Risk you remember.

Gallery: Risk: Black Ops

And sadly, it won't be the Risk future generations remember, either. When Hasbro unveils the new version of Risk this fall, the commercial release will eschew the subdued aesthetic of Black Ops for the standard bright colors and decided optimism of the classic conquest title.

Make no mistake: the new Risk will still be new in many ways. Rob Daviau's revised rules will be in full effect, and the board is still receiving a visual upgrade from Lindsay Braun and Jason Taylor. Unfortunately, gone will be the fresh-faced look of Black Ops, leaving us to wonder what a new approach to visual design could have done for the languishing board game industry.

According to a representative from Hasbro's PR firm, the decision to introduce the slick visual look of Black Ops, and then revert to old faithful was entirely intentional: "The Black Ops version was designed to set the stage for the skirmish before the big battle" she said. "The design suggested a time of stealthy maneuvers - the Black Ops - and a preview of things to come.

"The bolder and flashier colors of the Risk game board are symbolic of larger battles and struggles between opponents. It is meant to be bold, proud, defiant and inspiring."

Meanwhile, a cursory look at eBay reveals the continued appeal of Black Ops: copies of the limited edition game have reached $300 each in bids. Here's hoping Hasbro takes the hint and reconsiders the road less traveled.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he's holding out for Hasbro to release Monopoly: Black Ops. He thinks that would be sweet.

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Off the Grid: Travel edition (part two)

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-03-27T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Features

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

Last time we boarded a trans-continental flight, we discovered that non-digital gaming options for solo flyers were sorely limited. The feasible solution? Invent new games! Here are some (questionably) fun, single-player activities to occupy your time on those lengthy jaunts across the ocean.

The Newest Steward(ess)
Carefully watch the various flight attendants as they perform the synchronized pre-flight intstructional dance (you know, the one with the seatbelts and air masks). Try and spot the newest additon to the flight staff, based on which attendant is least in sync with the others. Bonus points if you eventually ask him/her how long he/she's been on the job.

What you win: A smug sense of self-satisfaction and superiority. Not to the mention the chance to flirt with a potentially cute flight attendant. Which is a game in and of itself.

BING!
This is a game of wagers, played with yourself. Open up a few bags of those airline pretzels. Start yourself off with three pretzels, and put the rest aside as the "house." Each round, bet one, two, or three pretzels on which side of the cabin will be next to press the "flight attendent assistance" button (the one that makes that "BING" noise and puts up a little light). If you win, you take from the pot as many pretzels as you put forward. If you lose, put your betted pretzels in the pot.

Strategy comes in watching out for the tell-tale signs of a potential button-press, like someone searching for a pillow, or that all-too-familiar sound of "getting sick."

If you lose all of your pretzels, you can kindly offer them to the person sitting next to you. Or just eat them yourself. Whatever.

What you win: Pretzels. Duh.

Radio Head
This is a drinking game. Wearing your stylish in-flight headphones, peruse the radio stations made available to you on your armrest, looking for something you actually find tolerable. For every time you make a complete revolution around the stations without finding anything, take a shot. See how quickly you go through those tiny bottles of liquor.

What you win: Either something enjoyable to listen to, or utter drunkeness. You win either way, really.

Seatback
This game is a standoff between you and the person reclining into your lap. The game is simple: Do all you can to convince the person to stop reclining their seat, short of asking them directly (since that never works). Suggested strategies include elbowing, forcing your knees up against the seat, or coughing violently in their ear.

What you win: Slightly more mobility in crowded economy seating.

Sleeper
Try to sleep through the majority of your flight. That's it. You can use any tools you have at your disposal: sleep masks, ear plugs, pills, and copious amounts of alcohol are all viable resources. Just try to sleep through it all.

What you win: An international flight not spent staring out the window or playing stupid games.

Cellphone Standoff
Before the plane lands, try to guess the number of cellphones that will be turned on / make noise from the time the plane's wheels touch tarmac, to the time the seatbelt signs are switched off.

What you win: A startling realization of just how phone-obsessed your culture really is.

Human Traffic
Get off the plane as quickly as possible once the fasten seatbelt signs are switched off. Strategies include gathering your luggage quickly, and hovering one hand over your seatbelt.

What you win: What do you mean "win"? Don't you want to get off that airplane as fast as humanly possible? This isn't a game, man. Run!

Any other good solo airplane game suggestions? Place them in the comments! (preferably before 2:00pm CET tomorrow. Thanks.)

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he has an eight-hour flight back to the States to look forward to tomorrow.

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Off the Grid: Gygaxian game design

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-03-13T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Adventure, RPGs

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

The passing of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax means the passing of one of gaming's most notable and influential designers. The legacy of Gary Gygax, however, is more difficult to discern than most realize. After all, the evolution of D&D is credited to both Gygax and co-designer Dave Arneson -- not to mention Gygax's other games, both before and after the golden age of his company Tactical Studies Rules. So what kind of designer was Gary Gygax?

Gaming was already social when Gygax came on the scene. He was only one of a growing force of war-gamers. But it was Gygax that made gaming personal, with his own designs uniquely focused around the role of the individual. Instead of controlling the army, Gygax wanted to control the soldier. Instead of manning the fleet, Gygax wanted to man the ship.

While such a transition was hinted at in expansions and additional rules for Gygax's early games like Don't Give Up the Ship! and Chainmail, the idea would truly hit its stride in 1974 with Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, with individualism had to come rules for individualism, and here is where Gygax flourished.

From his earliest designs, Gygax excelled at creating order from chaos. In a way, Gygax was one of gaming's first stat-heads. If it had a role in a game, Gygax wanted it bound with values. Gygax wanted definition.

For those random aspects of life that could not be defined by set integers, Gygax turned to dice. Unhappy with the short range of values offered by the standard six-sided dice, Gygax brought the five remaining platonic solids to game design, giving him 4, 8, 10, 12, and 20-sided rolls accompanying the standard 6. He contributed to the design of Tractics, the first game to ever make use of a 20-sided die.

Though Gary Gygax spent a great deal of time devising rules, he also felt that people relied too heavily on rules. The rulebooks and parameters dictated the dimensions of each universe Gygax created, but the flavor and color of the worlds was generated through improvisation. In a piece recently published at Wired, Gygax sounds off on the attachment of war-gamers to the stipulations of rules: "[Players] would write in and ask the publisher of the game what to do... Whatever they were told, they did. And I said, that's silly - just make it up."

This may seem contrary to the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons, a game infamous for its sheer number of rules, and accompanying tomes of stats. But perhaps it was the tension between anarchic and rule-bound play that made Gygax such a potent designer. Whether digital or non-digital, games are constantly walking the fine line of "constrained freedom." Gary Gygax was one of the first designers to walk that line with unabashed confidence. Perhaps that -- more than 20-sided dice, or stacks of rulebooks, or dungeon-crawling elves -- can be considered truly Gygaxian.

For more information on Gary Gygax's legacy, check out David Kushner's "Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax."

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he's STILL anxiously awaiting either a copy of Power Grid or Marrakech to review.

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Off the Grid reviews Ghoulash

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-02-14T09:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

Last time on Off the Grid, we looked at the über-complicated Universal Fighting System. Attempting to ward off a headache, this week I've decided to look at Ghoulash, a dungeon-crawling 2-player paper game that doesn't do much in the strategy department, but makes up for it with easy-to-learn gameplay, and a stylish means of publication.

Ghoulash is best described as a pared down version of Dungeons and Dragons, where both players are DMing for each other. Game boards are sold in Ghoulash "Scenario Pack" magazines, each featuring three unique scenarios, with four copies each. Each scenario features a map of the 2D terrain, and special instructions on top of the basic rules. Both players use copies of the same map at the same time, making the game a race to see who can complete the objectives first.

At the start of each game, players decide where to place items, hazards, and the game's titular Ghouls on the grid. Once all obstacles are placed, players take turns moving, dictating to their opponents where they'd like to move on the grid, with the opponents in charge of telling them when they've encountered something. Both players track the movements and obstacles of their opponents on one copy of the map, while keeping track of their own movements on another.

For each player, the game is technically a one-player experience. The object therefore becomes to make your opponent's version of the game board as difficult to traverse as possible, allowing you to secure a win first. There's not a lot of complexity here, making each play-through a lightweight experience with little depth to unlock. Sometimes, however, this isn't a bad thing. The accessibility means anyone can literally pick up a scenario pack and begin playing; the game requires only a pen or pencil in addition to the packs, garnering Ghoulash bonus points in my book for its minimalism.

My only real guff with Ghoulash is the price per scenario pack. The magazines' interior pages are printed on flimsy newsprint in greyscale, and each pack has a definite "comic book" aesthetic in terms of its size and portability. So why, when comic books cost around $2.99 USD each, does each "issue" of Ghoulash set you back a whopping $6.95?

Final Verdict: Price pet peeve aside, Ghoulash's slick look and unique publishing format make it a good portable option for any casual non-digital gamer. Gamers born and raised on the hard stuff might find Ghoulash to be a bit too simplistic, but they should probably just deal with it and enjoy the damn game. I know I did.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he's super-excited to be attending the Festival des Jeux in Cannes this week.

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Off the Grid reviews Universal Fighting System

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-01-31T18:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews, Fighting

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

Chun Li versus Seung Mina; Nightmare versus Morrigan; Akuma versus Tycho Brahe: Ultimate showdowns we're likely never to see outside of crudely-written fan-fiction and our own fevered dreamings. Luckily for us, Sabertooth Games has devised the Universal Fighting System, a collectible card game that allows players to mix and match licensed decks to create legendary one-on-one battles.

There's one problem, or maybe I should call it a caveat: UFS isn't going to be for everybody. Beyond the gorgeous illustrations, and clear appeal to video game fans, this is most definitely a gamer's game; cards are littered with special icons, point values, and ancillary functions that dwarf the relative simplicity of CCGs like Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. Of course, the reward for this technical complexity is depth, with an incredibly strategic experience waiting to be unlocked by the hardiest of players. Not to deter you, but let this be a warning: A casual card game this is not.

Sabertooth packages UFS cards in several different configurations. Players can purchase starter character decks, battle packs consisting of two character decks, or booster packs of cards, all themed to different fighting game franchises, such as Soul Calibur III, Street Fighter, and Darkstalkers. Though the character decks make it easy to purchase and play, cards from different sets and series can be intermixed to create custom decks, making UFS fully playable as either a CCG or standalone card game.

However collected, UFS is always played with two players each having their own decks, capped off by character cards. The character cards define certain stats, such as the maximum number of cards in a player's hand, and the amount of health a player has at the start of a match.

The gameplay is turn-based, with players putting into play cards of several different types. Foundations represent training the character has had previously, Assets represent objects in battle or the environment around players, Actions are the physical maneuvers enacted during a battle, and Attacks are the basic kicks and punches. Any card making it successfully into play is dependent upon its "difficulty," as weighed against the randomized "control check" value. The more cards a player plays in one turn, the higher the difficulty for each subsequent card, although certain cards will also allow players to push higher-difficulty cards into play.

Though difficult to explain, this system tempers the pacing of the game, allowing more complicated turn structure later in play, while forcing earlier turns to remain moderately short and sweet. When attacking, values such as speed and range affect the opponent's ability to defend, and successful attacks build up momentum, which can in turn lead to more complex combos in later turns.

Of course, all this complexity comes at the sacrifice of basic usability. By far, UFS's biggest flaw is the convoluted nature of its rules and features. The instruction manual does little to alleviate the glut of special terms and cases, with each new glossary definition introducing at least two more vocab words to the mix. A simplified gameplay variant drops most of the heavy-handed features -- such as symbol-matching, enhancements, forms, and two of the game's four classes of cards -- but still manages to be worthy of head-scratching. Blame the rules, the unlabeled attributes on each card, or simply my own ineptitude, but don't expect to get this one right on the first, second, or maybe even third play-through.

Fighting-based card games are a great idea, and the franchise-mixing, customizable approach of Sabertooth's Universal Fighting System is nothing if not ambitious. If I haven't made it abundantly clear, my play experience with the game was not the most positive one, but I'd urge readers not to take my opinion as canon. After all, I am the guy who really dug the game about horses. Who'd trust what I have to say?

Final Verdict: If you're a fighting game fan, and bred off dice-rolling, stat-happy series like D&D and WarHammer, then you'll be right at home with Universal Fighting System. Those that love the button-mashing appeal of Soul Calibur, and are hoping for the card game equivalent, might want to demo this one at a local game or comic shop before investing.

UPDATE: Anyone interested in trying UFS can fill out this form to have two free demo decks sent to them. Thanks to Sabertooth for this special offer.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he'll cry if they don't include Lizardman in Soul Calibur IV.

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Off the Grid reviews Horse Fair Card Game

Scott Jon Siegel — 2008-01-10T16:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

We're not supposed to judge books by their covers, and the same can logically be applied to games. We are, however, supposed to judge books by their content -- the story, the writing, and everything else that falls between the first and last pages -- and here is where games are slightly different. While sharp writing, or a good story can often strengthen a non-digital game, ultimately it's the design that determines whether it's any good.

So yes, Custom Game Co's Horse Fair Card Game has a pretty bland cover. And yes, the story is pretty much explained by the title. And yes, it does come with plastic horsies. But the only thing that really matters is the gameplay, and there Horse Fair Card Game proves that it's a lot more than just a game for little girls.

By all appearances, though, Horse Fair Card Game really is meant for little girls. The fiction states that all players are judges at a (you guessed it) horse fair, voting for their favorite horses. The gameplay doesn't strongly support this story, however, and you could injure yourself trying to justify the plot's connection to the mechanics. So, we won't.

Each turn, players play cards representing different horses. Each horse has its own name (like Snowflake, or Rascal, or Dandy), and all cards for that horse share the same number (Snowflake is 6, for example, and Rascal is 3). Once there are that many of that card in play, the play space resets, with all other cards in play getting discarded, and points going to the players who have cards of that particular horse. The player who completed the set gets a horse figurine. Collecting four figurines automatically wins the game, otherwise the points are tallied once there are no more cards.

Custom Game Co's first published game, Horse Fair originally caught my eye because it was unique. This wasn't a well-worn mechanic with horsies slapped on the front. This was something genuinely new to the field. The crazy thing is, it works. The simple rules introduce an interesting bluffing element, and since all players benefit from completed sets, winning is never as straightforward as collecting the most figurines. It's not the deepest game you'll ever play, but as a 20-minute gameplay experience it's certainly more than meets the eye.

Final Verdict: If you're interested in fast-paced card games, enjoyed Chain Factor, or are just a really big fan of horses, it's worth picking up. If you have some bizarre hatred of / traumatizingly violent obsession with equine creatures, you may want to avoid this game and possibly seek psychiatric help.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he wants you all to know that he played the role of Alan Strang in Equus during college. And you all know what that means...

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Off the Grid: Long-distance gaming

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-12-27T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

"Non-digital games are awesome" is the line I usually insist upon in this column. But even awesome analog games have their faults: namely, if you don't have anyone to play with, you can't really play.

So, as an end-of-year treat, let's look back at the last year+ of games reviewed, and find some ways to play those suckers against some internet folk:

Settlers of Catan
I still haven't gotten around to reviewing Settlers, but I did chat with Brian Reynolds about the Xbox Live Arcade version of the game, which is probably the best bet for consistent, high-volume net play.

For those who don't have an Xbox 360 (like, well, me), Aso Brain Games hosts an unofficial, Java-based version of the game called Xplorers. After a free registration, the site allows users to player ranked and un-ranked versions against other users and bots, and features a number of expansion and additions to the base rules, which can be toggled on or off. Don't let the low-fi look of the site dissuade you; Xplorers is a well-put-together Settlers clone, with a solid interface and a consistent number of users online at any time.

Carcassonne
As with Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne was blessed this year with its own multiplayer-friendly Xbox Live Arcade adaptation, handled by Sierra Online. Again, great news for 360 owners; irrelevant news for everyone else.

Luckily, Aso Brain Games comes to the rescue once more with a Carcassonne clone, cleverly titled Toulouse. Ranked and un-ranked matches apply here as well, and players are able to toggle on and off Carcassonne's two expansions. Though simplified, the game retains the charm of its predecessor, and the interface creates practically no hurdles for fans of the non-digital edition to leap into the realm of the online; the only rule not made readily apparent is right-clicking on your tile to rotate it, but I suppose you know now, don't you?

RoboRally
Alas, if only it were so easy with Richard Garfield's RoboRally. A short demo on the Wizards of the Coast site teases at the potential for a digital, multiplayer version, but the best attempts out there still leave much to be desired.

EyePlay Games offers Robo Runner, which appears to be largely based on RoboRally, although the game runs poorly on the site, and players must complete several "objective" missions before being allowed to play against other users.

The other option, Bots 'N' Scouts, plays in a downloadable Java applet (compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux), but is plagued with glitches and suffers from poor interface design. Since neither of these really satisfy our desire for true online RoboRally mayhem, we'll keep on wishing for an XBLA adaptation (pretty please, Microsoft?).

Kill Doctor Lucky
No, I never reviewed this classic Cheapass board game, although it's definitely one of my all-time favorite non-digital titles. Cheapass Games has a deal with GameTableOnline, who host the only official online version of the murderous board game about the luckiest man alive. Registration on the site comes with two weeks of free gaming, although further playing requires paid-up membership, which comes in monthly, quarterly, or yearly plans.

The Java applet in which all of GTO's offerings run is a bit sloppy, with a lot of security certificates to click off on before starting an actual game. The interface is a tad confusing, but it is relieving to have all the Doctor Lucky movement managing fall on the very capable hands of the computer. For those who are friend-less, GTO also offers bots for solo play, although Kill Doctor Lucky is never as much fun as when you're playing with buddies.

Ticket to Ride
One of our most recent reviews also happens to have one of the best online versions to offer, with Days of Wonder hosting the official Ticket to Ride web game. Using a special code printed on the instruction manual of the board game, purchasers can access the web version, which features a bustling community of human opponents, as well as bots for the shyer folk. Unlike other web versions, the interface is extremely clean, retaining the look and feel of the non-digital version, while keeping it playable and, most importantly, fun.

A disc-based version of the game is also available for PCs and Macs (also including online play), and both the web and disc-based versions feature several of the game's popular expansions and maps.

Fluxx
Love it or hate it, Fluxx (and its newborn Zombie brother) is here to stay. Looney Labs has arranged to bring to the internet masses through Volity, which offers an online, multiplayer version of the ever-changing card game. Players download the Mac-and-PC-compatible Gamut application, and are ready for solo or multiplayer Fluxx action. The online version keeps the loose and colorful style of the original, but sacrifices usability in its compact, oft-confusing interface. It's hard to keep track of other player's actions, and the game doesn't make it clear enough what actions the player is supposed to be performing at any time. We'll take the non-digital version over this any day. Sorry, Volity.

Treehouse
When we looked at Looney Labs' unique suite of Icehouse games, we were a bit confused as to how to play some of them. If Volity's version of Treehouse clears up one thing, it's that these games were meant to be played with the Icehouse pieces, and not with digital versions of them. Sorry, Volity. Again.

Give Me the Brain!
Sadly, there is no online version of this ever-so-excellent card game, although there is one for its more popular sequel, Lord of the Fries. GameTableOnline also hosts this fast-food-themed card game, which builds upon the brain-dead fun of James Ernest's original.

With a less hectic interface than Kill Doctor Lucky, Lord of the Fries makes the transition to digital a bit more gracefully.

Scrabble
Bonnie Ruberg of Heroine Sheik filled in a guest-spot for Off the Grid, and extolled the virtues of this classic word game. So, where on the internet can one find the best version of Scrabble? Why, on Facebook of course! If you haven't already caught the fever, Scrabulous is one of the hottest apps on the social networking site, and pulls the feat off quite gracefully with its casual, take-your-time approach to the title. Though I disagree with her opinion somewhat, Bonnie does a much better job describing how Scrabble becomes fabulous on Facebook.

That about wraps up our list of options for long-distance gaming. Hope your holidays are filled with friends, board games, and many presents that are also board games. Happy New Year, too.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he'll see you all in 2008.

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Off the Grid reviews It's Alive!

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-12-13T09:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews, Strategy

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

Oddly enough, it's a very appropriate time to review designer Yehuda Berlinger's debut game. In its original incarnation, It's Alive! was a Chanukah-themed title known as The Menorah Game. Upon being picked up by publisher Reiver Games, however, the theme was changed to something a bit more universal: building monsters from the remains of the dead.

Aside from the bizarre re-skinning, It's Alive! remains mechanically identical to its holiday-oriented ancestor. Two to five players compete to be the first to assemble their monster by collecting the eight different types of body parts required. It used to be candles, and now it's body parts. A simple transition.

More than just a monster game, It's Alive! is hand-published by Reiver Games, with care and attention given to the game's presentation. From the stellar illustrations, to the individually-numbered editions, It's Alive! embodies the indie aesthetic of non-digital games, and that alone is most definitely worth something.

Players take turns drawing cards, and either buying the body part on the card, selling it for profit, or holding an auction in an attempt to get the part for less, or get rid of it at a higher profit. Villager uprising cards are mixed into the deck, which if drawn force the player to sacrifice either a body part or an amount of money to appease the pitchfork-wielding mob.

The game's strategy comes from knowing what cards your opponents have or need, as well as knowing how much money your opponents have. Does your opponent really need that arm up for auction, but only have three coins total to bid? An unusually high amount of satisfaction comes from screwing an opponent out of a card he wanted, or not bidding on a card your opponent is trying desperately to get rid of.

Advanced rules are also available, which reward players for most points at the end of the game. This adds more strategy to the game at every step, as players are more likely to hold out for the body parts with higher point values, rather than simply trying to assemble their creature as quickly as possible. The game is enjoyable with two players, but the bidding mechanics truly shine with three or more.

As of writing this, It's Alive! is already in short supply. Reiver Games has only run off an initial set of 300 copies, making the game a very limited edition. If you're interested, we recommend ordering sooner rather than later from the publisher's website.

Final Verdict: Fans of strategic bidding games will enjoy the gameplay, and proponents of indie games would do well to support this stellar designer and his publisher. It's Alive! is a fun take on a classic Mary Shelley theme. Get it before it's gone.

Scott Jon Siegel is an fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless. Who likes horsies?

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Off the Grid reviews Ticket to Ride

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-11-29T16:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

Alan R. Moon's Ticket to Ride is widely considered to be one of the greatest board games of the last decade, but the reason for this may elude players at first. After all, Ticket to Ride is deceptively simplistic, with a weak fiction to justify a gameplay mechanic that's little more than connecting dots on a board. Players who invest in the experience, however, can quickly find that Moon's award-winning game is greater than the sum of its parts.

The original version of Ticket to Ride takes place in North America at the turn of the 20th century. Players compete to travel around the U.S. (and parts of Canada), claiming various train routes between cities in order to earn points. The game would like you to believe that it's a grand race across the country; even the back of the box states that the objective is to travel to the most cities by train in just 7 days. Unfortunately, the rules and gameplay don't really justify this grandiose storyline.

Players take turns drawing train cards of various colors, which correspond to different-colored routes on the board. Once a player has collected enough of one color to complete a route, he or she can play those cards to claim that route, placing plastic train pieces on the board, and earning an amount of points based on the route's length.

Players can also earn points by connecting several routes together in order to connect one city to another. These paths are dictated by special Destination Tickets, which players have the option of taking every turn. The longer the route described on a card, the more points a player can earn by completing it.

Ticket to Ride is basically a points game. Once all players have exhausted their train pieces, the player with the most points wins. Players are therefore always trying to claim as many routes as possible on the board, but the biggest points come from the Destination Ticket cards, which each player keeps secret until the end of the game. The more Destination Tickets a player has, the more points that player can earn by completing those routes. That same player, however, takes a risk with every additional Destination Ticket collected, as any left uncompleted by the end of the game detract from that player's score. This gives the game a nice risk-taking element, as players must be cautious not to take too many Destination Ticket cards, for fear of heavy penalizations at the game's conclusion.

It's this balance that allows Ticket to Ride to succeed as a board game. As fewer and fewer spaces become available on the map, the tension increases, as players' options become more and more limited, and the uncompleted Destination Tickets in their hands become harder and harder to complete.

Unlike a lot of designer games, Ticket to Ride succeeds in its approachability, making it as appealing as classic titles like Monopoly or Sorry, while still being as compelling as Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne. In other words, it's a "gateway game" -- fantastic for new players, and equally fantastic for hardened veterans of the non-digital fare.

Final Verdict: Like games? You'll like this. I mean, come on. It's Ticket to Ride.

Scott Jon Siegel is an fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he fully intends on reviewing another zombie game next week.

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Off the Grid reviews Zombie Fluxx

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-11-15T12:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Reviews

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.

I'm a little late for Halloween, but that shouldn't mean I have to miss out on all the spooky fun. Luckily, Looney Labs have sent along Zombie Fluxx, a standalone expansion to their ever-popular card game with the ever-changing rules.

Zombie Fluxx isn't just a clever re-skinning of the original, but rather a new set of rules and cards built on to the existing mechanics. The base game remains the same: 2-6 players amend and append the game's starting rules, while attempting to win by collecting Keepers to meet the conditions of the goal, which is constantly in a state of, well, you know.

This time around, Looney Labs have included some new mechanics to spice up the gameplay. Zombies enter the fray as "Creeper" cards. Unlike the helpful Keepers the Creepers can actually prevent players from winning, as some goals dictate that a player needs to be zombie-free to claim victory. Unlike all other cards, Creepers go immediately into play once drawn, rather than into the player's hand, making every draw from the deck a possible immediate zombie encounter.

Combating Creepers are special Keeper cards, such as the baseball bat, or the car. While these Keepers can be used to win the game, they can also be used as weapons to eliminate zombies, provided the right rule card is in play.

And therein lies the primary problem with Zombie Fluxx: as potentially exciting as the new features are, most of the game plays out very similarly to the original. While some Goal cards clearly state that the winning player can not have any zombies, other Goals simply don't, meaning that having an army of zombies can often have no consequence on who wins. And the Keeper cards that double as weapons are only usable once one particular rule card comes into play -- why bother having a baseball bat if you're not allowed to swing it?

The zombie features are great in theory, but in practice feel poorly executed. A special "un-Goal" card in the deck dictates that if a certain number of zombies are in play, the game ends and everyone loses. This could add an interesting cooperative element, except that no player would willingly play that card if it were in their hand, and the un-Goal could quickly be vetoed by any other Goal card.

Normally a purely competitive game experience, the introduction of zombies into the Fluxx equation seems to be a conscious step in the direction of collaborative play. What if the game-ending un-Goal card were always in play? What if, amidst trying to claim victory, all the players had to cooperate to make sure they don't all lose? Sadly, with the current (and constant) rules that ship with Zombie Fluxx, the game is still Fluxx as we all know it, albeit a little greener.

Final Verdict: Those who liked the original Fluxx are going to enjoy Zombie Fluxx just as much. Those who weren't fans of the first, however, won't care for this undead iteration much either.

Scott Jon Siegel is an fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, and he promises to review something non-Looney next time. What will it be? He's not telling.

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Off the Grid: Out of country (part two)

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-10-25T17:29:00+00:00

Filed under: Mac, Peripherals

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column normally about gaming away from the television screen or monitor.

I got a lot of interesting comments in response to last week's piece on gaming while abroad. More people empathized with my situation than I had originally expected, and had their own unique solutions to the problem.

Overwhelmingly, most expat gamers seem to rely on portables to keep playing games internationally. Some gamers took the full dive and purchased new consoles for their new region. Still others suggested using VGA cables and computer monitors, or reminded me that most modern televisions sold in Europe support NTSC signals, nullifying the problem entirely.

But I'm not going to buy a television, because they're bulky and I don't feel like it. Instead, I invested in a tiny, tiny piece of hardware that lets me play my console games on my laptop. It's called the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid and, irony of ironies, it's for Macs only.

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Off the Grid: Out of country

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-10-18T10:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii

Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column normally about gaming away from the television screen or monitor.

I'm breaking from tradition to answer a nagging question: What happens to a gamer when he moves to another country?

And I'm not talking about board and card games here. I'm talking about the console and portable gamers. In the face of voltage conversions, video signals, and region-locking, how does an invested gamer stay on the grid?

I ask the question because I went through this same problem very recently. Two weeks ago, I made the move from the east coast of the United States to the south of France. Being invested in games not only casually, but professionally, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to bring along my consoles, and therefore be out of the gaming loop for the entirety of my European residency.

Luckily, however, I was able to devise a feasible solution, and my American-born consoles have been operating overseas without any problems. So, waving a temporary bye-bye to the non-digital gaming focus of this column, I'd like to share my recipe for international gaming success.

Before we get into the technical side of it, let's discuss just what the problems were. As I was preparing to make the move to France, I saw three large issues with playing my American consoles abroad: Region encoding, the difference in standard voltages between the two countries, and the difference in NTSC and PAL video signals. I had hoped to bring along the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, and Nintendo DS to France, and each of these systems required slightly different fixes for each problem.

1) Region-encoding: Consoles have region-locking in place to prevent customers from playing imported titles. For the sake of simplicity, I did not bother hacking or attempting any workarounds for the region-locking on the Wii and PS2. Instead, I brought a number of US titles with me, and I plan on importing future releases from the United States (though the idea of importing from the US still tickles me). The DS, like all portable systems, is happily free of region-encoding, meaning I can pop in any old French DS or GBA game and play away.

2) Voltage-conversion: Still not a show-stopping problem, but definitely a deterrent. Voltages for outlets differ from country to country. It's not just the shape of the plug that's the problem. American outlets give out 120V of electricity, while French outlets (like most of Europe) operate at between 230V and 250V. Though some American electronic devices work within a wide range of voltages, others are only intended for up to 120V, and plugging these devices into a European wall socket can short out the device, start a small fire, or electrocute someone.

Step-up and step-down power transformers exist to solve this exact problem, but these devices are bulky and often expensive. What's more, there's an easier solution.

The voltage conversions always occur in the AC Adapter, which for many systems is outside of the system housing. Checking the power brick or charger plug of a game system will usually give some indication of its range. The US Nintendo DS, for example, comes with a charger that can only take up to 120V. The European version of this charger, however, covers a range of at least 120 - 240, and purchasing one at a local game shop while abroad will allow you to charge your DS without fear of hurting the portable. These adapters can also easily be found on eBay prior to a trip, though make sure that the adapter has the right range, and the right type of plug for the country you're headed to.

For the slim PS2, the external power brick lists a range from 100V to 240V, meaning that all I needed was an adapter to convert the American-style plug into a European-style. These can be often be found in electronics stores like Radio Shack, or in the travel sections of larger stores for under five dollars USD.

Like the DS, the Wii's power adapter was only suitable for 120V. I was able to find a European power brick for the Wii on eBay, however, that accepted a range from 120V all the way to 240V. It cost $10 USD, and plugs into the Wii the same way as the American power brick. Simple fix, and it works brilliantly.

3) The television: With games to play, and a way to safely plug in my consoles, the final and most challenging hurdle was hooking the systems up to a European television. This proved difficult, partly due to the difference between the American NTSC video signal, and the European PAL video signal. American consoles are formatted for NTSC, meaning that the frequency and framerate of the video and audio signals sent aren't compatible with French televisions.

Of course this is all unimportant, because problem number one is that I don't have a television in France. Unwilling to fork out over 200 euros on a French TV, I needed a different solution. And it just so happens that I found it.

Next week, I'll discuss my crazy plan to play video games without a television. And it works, too.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, a professional blogger, and a mediocre cook. His words and games can be found at numberless, but he makes it a point not to post his recipes. It's for the best.

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Off the Grid: Travel edition

Scott Jon Siegel — 2007-10-11T12:20:00+00:00

Filed under: Portable

Returning from hiatus, Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.

What happens to a gamer when he moves out of the country? Well, for one, he loses his group of gamer buddies -- the people he could call up to come over and play a cool new card game or board game with him.

He also loses a lot of his games; those hefty Carcassonne and RoboRally boxes are a bit too big to fit in his already-stuffed luggage.

But before he arrives in his new country of residence, our traveling gamer first has to get on a plane, prepared for many, many hours of recycled air and the same crappy film over and over again. What's our gamer to do?

Well, if he's smart, pull out his DS or PSP. But if our gamer is trying to keep it off the grid, or if he forgot his portable, then it might be time for some travel-sized game choices. It's a good thing he reads Off the Grid, huh?

The biggest problem with gaming on international flights is space. At best, you and a travel companion are seated next to each other, and you have the combined space of two tray tables to work with. At worst, you're flying solo in the most literal sense, and you're pretty sure the snoring woman on your right wouldn't make a very friendly (or willing) opponent. We'll work with the best case scenario for now.

A lot of good card games take up an unfortunate amount of space, rendering them unplayable in those tiny coach seats. Chrononauts, for example, uses up a lot of space in laying out the timeline, meaning there won't be any time-traveling for airborne gamers. Instead, when choosing a game to throw in your carry-on, pick something that puts more cards in your hand than on the table. Give me the Brain! is a perfect fit for cramped spaces, allowing players to keep most cards in their hands at all times, and only needing the tray space for the cards currently in play, and to roll the brain.

Dice games have a similarly small footprint, only requiring tray space for the dice, and having most of the gameplay occur on scorecards. A gold standard is the classic dice game Yahtzee, which has players rolling five dice to achieve certain number combinations. If your fellow fliers object to the sounds of plastic dice on plastic trays, lay down some of those napkins they pass out with the drinks and pretzels to cushion the sound.

None of those ideas pan out? See how many rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors you can go through before convincing yourself that you finally figured out the trick to winning. That's a game in-and-of itself. Beyond that, the next best alternative is hitting the "travel games" aisle in your local Barnes & Noble. Magnetic Scrabble ain't such a bad idea after all.

The lone gamer is, sadly, a bit more screwed. Anyone with a deck of standard playing cards can play a multitude of solitaire games (Klondike, Freecell, Pyramid -- as seen on your PC). For the player who neglected packing playing cards in addition to his portable system of choice... well, maybe the inflight movie won't be so bad this time.

Scott Jon Siegel is a fledgling game designer, and fancies himself a bit of a writer on the topic as well. His words and games can be found at numberless, which is almost always a work in progress.

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