Surprise! Ever since I got back into designing my super-secret therefore super-awesome board game, the story has been getting a good 95% of the attention and time spent. Don't get me wrong, gameplay design ideas are rattling away back there, way behind my eyeballs... But I'm deeply engaged in writing out the background history of all the characters a player can play.
So tonight, I plan to devout my time to gameplay design. It's going to be interesting to see if there's anything there...
In other news, I haven't seen my baby store crush in, like, at least a week or something. News is going around that she's got a stomach bug. Shoot. I'd bring her the broth, warm and delicious. And that's not even a euphemism. An euphemism? A euphemism. I'm serious. Mrs. Grass's coming up.
If there's anything in this world I fear, it's a stomach bug. Last time I had one, I spent a night "sleeping" in the bathroom, promising anyone that might be listening "up there" (a.k.a. above 3 feet or so, with me slumped over the toilet or the bath or whatever) that I would never do anything bad again if I could just keep lukewarm water down long enough so I wouldn't die of dehydration. I guess I lied, but I was under considerable duress after all. Another reason to go to hell. Thanks, stomach bug!
Now to devout my time to figuring out how to make an asymmetrical yet fair and engaging set of gameplay rules for my soon to be world-renowned board game. Look out world, here it comes. That is not a euphemism either.
Thinking on asymmetrical gameplay made me think about simulating real-world stuff through gameplay and that led me to a thought. It seems like multiplayer games are either cooperative or competitive, but I wonder, is there any room for co-play that isn't necessarily either of those?
ReplyDeleteFor a base example, think of a bar-scene scenario, the guy wants to score and the girl wants... I don't know, everything? To fix her self-esteem issues while getting free food and maybe an orgasm? I don't know, that's not the point. The point is, sometimes both players win, sometimes both lose, sometimes one or the other, and yet the players definitely interact with each other and can affect each other's outcomes.
I find it hard to imagine a multiplayer game (that is not "massively" multiplayer) that could pull this off in a way that isn't boring, but you made me think and, therefore, I'm obligated to post my thoughts here.
Good luck and happy designing, good sir.